Guillermo Vasquez (1953-1996) was a leading gay rights, AIDS, and Latino community activist in Queens who emigrated from Colombia in 1972. A member of Queens Gays and Lesbians United, Vasquez would go on to serve on the board of the Empire State Pride Agenda, a statewide organization that advocated for LGBT rights. In 1993, he helped organize the first Queens Pride Parade as a member of the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee and served as a translator for Spanish-speaking participants. Vasquez passed away due to AIDS-related complications in 1996. The corner of 77th Street and Broadway was co-named “Guillermo Vasquez Corner” next to the site of the Love Boat, a former gay Latino bar where he educated the community about HIV/AIDS.

Edward Irving Koch (1924-2013) was born in Crotona Park East in the Bronx, NY. He was the second of three children to Louis and Joyce Silpe Koch, Polish Jewish immigrants. His family then moved to Newark, NJ, where he was raised. Koch worked at a hat-and-coat check concession when he was just 9 years old. Later, he worked as a delicatessen clerk and attended South Side High School in Newark. He was president of his school debating society and enjoyed stamp collecting and photography. He graduated from high school in 1941. After Koch’s graduation, the family moved to Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. Koch attended City College of New York and worked as a shoe salesman. He was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II and earned two battle stars in Europe as a combat infantryman in the 104th Infantry Division (1943-1946). After the war, Koch went to New York University Law School and graduated in 1948. He took the New York Bar, practiced law (1949-1968) and became a founding partner of Koch, Lankenau, Schwartz, and Kovner in 1963. Then Edward Koch made a significant impact on New York City politics. He joined the Democratic Party and defeated power broker Carmine DeSapio to become the Greenwich Village district leader (1963 and 1965). He served on the City Council from 1966 to 1968 and in the U.S House of Representatives from 1969 until December 1977. In 1978, Koch became the 105th mayor of New York City, serving three terms. He was known for his intelligence, strong opinions and colorful personality. He supported gay rights, addressed the AIDS epidemic, reduced crime in the city, and helped resolve the city’s financial crisis. In honor of Koch’s 86th birthday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed to rename the Queensboro Bridge after him. It was officially renamed on March 23, 2011. Ed Koch passed away on February 1, 2013, at the age of 88. The bridge itself was designed by engineer Gustav Lindenthal and architect Henry Hornbosted. Construction began in 1901 and it eventually opened to traffic on March 30, 1909. The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge has upper- and lower-level roadways. Major renovations have been made over the years and in 1973 the bridge was designated as a national landmark.

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was a marine biologist who worked for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries (later the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) while developing a career as a nature writer. She published her first book, Under the Sea-Wind, in 1941. After the success of her second book, The Sea Around Us, which won the National Book Award and the John Burroughs Medal in 1951, she resigned from government service to focus on her writing. Her third book, The Edge of the Sea, was published in 1957. Carson is best remembered for her groundbreaking 1962 book Silent Spring, which examined the detrimental effects of the insecticide DDT on wildlife. Despite opposition from the chemical industry, an investigation was ordered by President John F. Kennedy (1917-1962), and in 1963 Carson testified before Congress. She died of breast cancer the following year. DDT was banned with the passage of the federal Clean Water Act in 1972.

Albert Mauro (1911 - 1982), a Kew Gardens Hills environmentalist, civil rights and community activist, and WW II veteran. After returning from military service and while working as an insurance adjuster, Mauro became involved with the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. He demonstrated throughout the South and attended the 1963 March on Washington. Mauro also joined the Sierra Club and Audubon Society, and took on many local environmental issues, including those involving his community and parks. He exposed the sludge problem in the Flushing Bay with organized walking tours and fought against the 1972 plan for installation of a nuclear reactor in the World’s Fair Science Building. His advocacy work included lobbying the state to preserve Willow Lake in Flushing Meadows, according to the Parks Department. The body of water would end up being classified as a protected wetland in 1976, six years before Mauro passed away in 1982.

John J. Florio (1967 – 2001) was killed during fire and rescue operations at the World Trade Center following the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. Florio grew up in Middle Village, Queens and graduated from St. Francis Preparatory High School in Fresh Meadows in 1985. He attended Nassau Community College before joining the FDNY and worked at a fire company in Queens before he was transferred permanently to Engine 214, Ladder 111 in Brooklyn. An athletic person‚ Florio pumped iron and he played halfback on the FDNY football team. The father of two coached his son’s Little League team and his football team in Oceanside where he had moved with his wife. Florio was huge fan of the band Metallica‚ Florio corresponded with the group’s lead singer‚ James Hetfield, and an emotional letter from the rocker was read at Florio’s funeral.

Dr. Paul Klapper (1885-1952) was the first president and guiding force behind the establishment of Queens College. Born in Romania, Klapper came to the U.S. with his parents as a child and enrolled at City College at the age of 14. After receiving his A.B. degree, he taught in the New York City public schools and at City College, eventually earning an M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University. He became head of the education department at City College in 1917, and served as dean of the college from 1922 to 1937, when he was asked to lead the newly created Queens College. Klapper personally selected the college’s first faculty, as well as the 400 students who enrolled in that first year. He led the college through its first decade, retiring in 1948. He then served as acting dean of teacher education for CUNY's five four-year colleges, and was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago from 1949 to 1951. He passed away in 1952 at the age of 66. Over the course of his career, Klapper also was a member of the board of trustees for The State University of New York, Brandeis University and The New York State Commission Against Discrimination. He received various honorary degrees from institutions including Yeshiva University, Columbia University and Queens College. His papers are housed in Queens College's Department of Special Collections and Archives. P.S./M.S. 219, named in Dr. Klapper's honor, is a public school serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

My husband, Joseph Imparato, better known in Long Island City as Joe Imp, was a native of LIC, and he set an example for everyone to follow. He helped the elderly, whether it was bringing them shopping, taking them to the doctors or shoveling snow. He did this for them on his day off. His life was dedicated to helping his community. He opened his restaurant on Jackson Avenue, Joe Imp's, which introduced many people to the area. Saint Mary’s Church was an extremely important part of Joe’s life. His dedication to the people in his community was evident by his dedication to the church. If there were those who couldn’t afford a tree for Christmas and he found out about it, he would buy a tree for them and decorate it, put presents under the tree and would never take credit for doing it. Joe wasn’t only a gem to me, he was a LIC gem. That’s why my husband Joe deserved the honor of having a street named after him.

Neir's Tavern is one of the oldest and most famous bars in Woodhaven, Queens. The tavern was originally named the Old Blue Pump House and opened near the now defunct Union Course racetrack in 1892. Loycent Gordon bought the property in 2009 and renamed it Neir's Tavern in honor of the family that had owned the property from the 1890s until 1967. The tavern had many owners and a colorful history. When the Union Course race track closed down in 1898, it was purchased by Louis Neir. Neir added a ballroom, built the first bowling alley in Queens, and added rooms upstairs for a hotel, calling it “Neir’s Social Hall”. Neir’s Hall was very successful, and was at its height of popularity between 1900-1910. Louis Neir’s nephew Joseph Neir, worked as a cleaning boy, cleaning the racing stables that were across the street and originally part of the Union Course Race Track. When Louis died in 1929, Julia, his wife, became owner, and Joseph the manager of the business. In 1945, Julia turned over the title and ownership to Joseph, who continued to work at the bar until his own death in 1963. Lulu Neir (until 1967), and Carol (Neir) Foley ran the tavern until an arson fire, and declining revenue led to the Neir family selling the property in 1980.

Alberta Lois Alston (1906-1980) was a religious and community leader who made her home in the neighborhood of St. Albans. In 1977, she served as the first African American female moderator of the Presbytery of New York City. Born on December 3, 1906, in Bergen County, New Jersey, Alston was a lifelong member of Zeta Phi Beta, a historically Black sorority founded in 1920 at Howard University. In addition to serving as a spokesperson for her sorority, she also held the position of Basileus, or chapter president, of the group’s Delta Beta Zeta Chapter in Hollis. She was the recipient of several community awards in recognition of her service to her local area. Alston died on May 19, 1980, and is buried at Pinelawn Memorial Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York. The Alberta L. Alston House, a supportive affordable housing residence serving older New Yorkers, first opened in the fall of 1984 and was named in her honor. The facility is run by PSS (Presbyterian Senior Services) and is located at 52-09 99th Street in Corona.

Archie Spigner (1928 - 2020) was a local politician who served for 27 years as a City Councilman for District 27 in southeast Queens, from 1974 to 2001, serving his last 15 years as deputy to the majority leader. He also served as the head of the United Democratic Club of Queens from 1970 until his death in 2020, a role in which he helped shape the borough’s Democratic Party leadership. During his tenure, he advocated for education, infrastructure, and the underserved community. Archie Hugo Spigner was born on Aug. 27, 1928, in Orangeburg, S.C., his family moved to New York when Archie was 7, and he grew up in Harlem. As a young bus driver engaged in union activism, Mr. Spigner drew the attention of the labor leader A. Philip Randolph, who charged him with forming a Queens branch of Mr. Randolph’s Negro American Labor Council. While looking for a meeting place for his group, Mr. Spigner met Mr. Kenneth N. Browne, who was running for the State Assembly, and who became the borough’s first Black member of the New York State Assembly and its first Black State Supreme Court justice. Mr. Browne took Mr. Spigner to the local Democratic club and introduced him to the district leader Guy R. Brewer, and Spigner’s career in Queens politics began. Mr. Spigner went on to attend college, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Queens College in 1972. Spigner went on to become a major power house in an area that reliably voted Democratic, a nod from Mr. Spigner all but assured election. He was known as “The Dean,” and considered “The Godfather of Politics” in southeastern Queens.  As a local-minded city councilman, Mr. Spigner helped shepherd the sale of the oft-criticized Jamaica Water Supply Company, New York City’s last privately owned waterworks, to the city government in 1997, bringing down costs for residents of southeast Queens. To spur local business, he successfully pushed for the construction of a permanent building for York College, part of the City University of New York, in the Jamaica section; a subway extension to downtown Jamaica; and a regional headquarters of the Social Security Administration.

Thurgood Marshall was born in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. His father was a railroad porter and steward and his mother a teacher. After graduating from Lincoln University, he was rejected from the all-white University of Maryland Law School, he attended Howard University Law School. He graduated at the top of his class in 1933, he went into private practice and worked on different civil rights suits. One successful suit was against the University of Maryland Law SchooL for denying a Black applicant solely based on race. Marshall worked for the NAACP first as a staff lawyer, then as a lead chair, and a few years later as the chief of the Legal Defense and Education Fund. He won 29 of the 32 cases the NAACP brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, which related to voting rights issues, segregation and more. His most famous case was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in which "separate but equal" as a justification for segregation was struck down. Marshall was later named U.S. solicitor general and nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here he continued to advocate for change and justice for marginalized peoples throughout the United States. He retired with the nickname "the Great Dissenter," indicative of his continued commitment to advocacy even in the midst of a conservative court.

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist, best known for his invention of the pasteurization process. He attended the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, earning a master's degree in science and an advanced degree in physical sciences before going on to earn his doctorate. He later married Marie Laurent and they had five children together, but only two survived until adulthood. Throughout his career, Pasteur was an important figure in researching molecular asymmetry, and his works in fermentation supported the germ theory of disease. By 1863, Pasteur had developed the process which bears his name, reducing the amount of microorganisms in milk and other liquids. He also contributed to the principle of vaccination and successfully immunized a patient from rabies in 1885. In 1888, the Pasteur Institute was named for him in Paris.

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and influential figures in jazz, known for both his trumpet improvisations and his distinctive singing voice. He also broke down numerous racial divides in the music and entertainment worlds, becoming the first Black performer to get featured billing in a major Hollywood film ("Pennies From Heaven," 1936) and the first Black host of a national radio show (Fleischmann's Yeast Show, 1937). Born in New Orleans in 1901, Armstrong grew up impoverished in a racially segregated city. He dropped out of school in fifth grade to work, and developed a close relationship with a local Jewish family that gave him odd jobs and nurtured his love of music. By the age of 11, Armstrong wound up in the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys, where he joined the band and studied the cornet in earnest. Upon his release from the home in 1914, he began working as a musician on Mississippi riverboats and other local venues. His reputation skyrocketed, and by the early 1920s he moved north, performing and recording with jazz bands in Chicago and New York. Throughout the 1920s and '30s, Armstrong made dozens of records with his own and many other ensembles, toured extensively, and began performing in Broadway productions and movies. After some business and health setbacks, and in response to changing musical tastes, Armstrong scaled his group down to a six-piece combo in the 1940s and resumed touring internationally, recording albums and appearing in movies. Some of his biggest popular hits came in the later years of his career, including "Hello Dolly" (1964) and "What A Wonderful World" (1967). His grueling schedule took its toll on his heart and kidneys and in 1968 he was forced to take time off to recuperate, but he began performing again in 1970. Armstrong died in his sleep in July 1971, just a few months after his final engagement at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Armstrong and his fourth wife, Lucille Wilson, purchased their home in Corona in 1943, shortly after they were married, and lived there for the remainder of their lives. After Lucille’s passing in 1983, she willed the home and its contents to the city of New York, which designated the City University of New York, Queens College to administer it. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 and a New York City Landmark in 1988. The archives became accessible in the 1990s, and the historic house opened for public tours in 2003. It also now serves as a venue for concerts and educational programs.

Lt. Col. Haldane King (1921-2013) was a Tuskegee Airman who served in WWII. Born in Brooklyn, he was the sixth of seven children of Charles and Estelle (Stansberry) King. King earned a basketball scholarship to Long Island University, where he played on championship teams under Coach Clair Bee. In early 1942, he volunteered for military service in World War II and entered pilot training in Tuskegee, Alabama. He became part of the first class (43J) of African-American bomber pilots in the Army Air Corps. Trained at Tuskegee in 1943, King flew U.S. planes over Europe and North Africa. He recalled that military service presented significant obstacles for Black men. "The whole idea at the time was that you weren’t qualified to be an officer of the United States Air Force," King stated. "You were a Tuskegee Airman, which didn’t mean anything to them. You couldn’t get into the officers’ club." While white officers enjoyed refreshments between flights, King had to remain in his plane or bring his own food. After the war, King returned to New York and became one of the first African Americans to join the New York Fire Department. In 1950, he was recalled into the newly integrated Air Force and served in Germany as part of the Army of Occupation following WWII. His military career then took him and his family to Maine, Germany, California, and eventually the Pentagon, where he retired from active service. He later moved to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and frequently shared his military experiences at local schools and community events.

Doreen J. Angrisani (1956-2011) was raised in Ridgewood, Queens, and lived there with her sister and brother-in-law. She worked for Marsh & McLennan at the World Trade Center and was killed in the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001

The Persia Campbell Dome as it was being constructed; the building opened in 1962.

Paul Russo (1986 – 2018) was a lifelong resident of Ozone Park and is remembered as a young man of deep faith who dedicated much of his life to helping others. He attended local schools and was involved with local sports and Little League associations. He was also a member of the Frassati Fellowship of NYC, a Catholic group of young people dedicated to prayer and charity work. He worked as a real estate agent, and participated in volunteer-led efforts to build homes for the homeless in the United States as well as Central and South America,. Paul’s zeal for helping the poor was an inspiration to many others in the community. Paul passed away in 2018 at 33 after a long and courageous battle with cancer, and was survived by his mother, Antha, and father George Russo, owner of the Villa Russo in Richmond Hill, and president of the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Queens. He also left behind four siblings and many, many friends.

Captain William Chrysostom Dermody was a dedicated and outspoken abolitionist who was killed in the Civil War. He was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1830 but came to New York with his family as a young child. He volunteered with the 67th New York Infantry and served in Company K, the first regiment of Long Island volunteers. The backbone of the regiment was formed by members of Henry Ward Beecher’s Abolitionist Plymouth Church Congregation in Brooklyn Heights. It was organized in Brooklyn on June 24, 1861, and the soldiers left for Washington, D.C., on August 21, 1861. The regiment fought in many battles throughout the war, including the Battle of Spotsylvania. The Battle of Spotsylvania took place in Fredricksburg, Virginia, from May 8 to 21 in 1864. A numerically superior Union force met with a smaller but vigorous Confederate force anxious to avenge their previous losses at Gettysburg. During the two weeks of the battle, a total of 152,000 men fought (100,000 Union soldiers and 52,000 Confederate) and 30,000 lives were lost. During May 12 and 13 in particular, Gen. Ulysses Grant managed to capture nearly an entire division of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army and came close to cutting the Confederate army in half. It was at this point that Dermody lost his life, being mortally wounded on May 12 and dying the following day. His remains were buried on the battlefield at the time. In 1865, the Fredericksburg National Cemetery was established to reinter and memorialize the almost 20,000 soldiers who died there. A marker for Dermody can be found in the cemetery. His parents, Patrick and Lavinia Boyd Dermody, are buried in Flushing's Mount St. Mary Cemetery. The plot of land located on 216th Street and 48th Avenue had been the site of the local two-room schoolhouse. In 1866, the site was dedicated to the memory of Captain Dermody by a ceremonial meeting of a Union and Confederate veteran, each planting a special tree: a maple to represent the North and a sycamore to represent the South. The trees were to grow together as a symbol of the communal hope for a better union. A monument was placed in the square with the inscription, “For a Better Union 1861-1865”; it remains there today. Every Memorial Day, the Bayside Historical Society lays a wreath at the park to commemorate Captain Dermody and those who fought in the Civil War. The Board of Aldermen (predecessor of the City Council) officially named this property for Captain William C. Dermody on March 15, 1937. The name was changed simply to Captain Dermody Triangle on July 29, 1997, by an executive decree from Commissioner Henry J. Stern. A low stone wall bounds the triangle.

Joseph Edward Schaefer (1918-1987) was a lifelong resident of Richmond Hill. He distinguished himself in World War II for having repelled, almost single-handedly, a Nazi attack on American troops positioned near Stolberg, Germany. Staff Sergeant Schaefer received the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1945 for his defensive actions. Schaefer later fought in the Korean War, before returning to Richmond Hill.

Adrian Onderdonk (1795-1831) and Ann Wyckoff (1798-1863) Onderdonk were the heads of the last family line to own this house, which is the oldest Dutch Colonial stone house in New York City, and which served as a benchmark in litigation to determine the border between Queens and Kings counties. Adrian was born on June 20, 1795 in Cow Neck, now Manhasset on Long Island, as the sixth generation of Onderdonks, with his family originally from Brabant, Holland. Adrian purchased a farm on April 27, 1821 from the estate of George Ryerson for $600, and in the first years of his ownership, Adrian added a small frame addition to the stone house, whose features are like Dutch homes of the time. The 50-acre farm would have been bounded roughly from Flushing Avenue to Catalpa Avenue, and from Woodward Avenue to Seneca Avenue. Settler ownership of the land dates back to 1662, and includes a who's who of early New York families. It was first granted to Hendrick Barentz Smidt in the Town of Bushwick, which had been founded in 1661 by Peter Stuyvesant. Paulus Vander Ende bought the farm in 1709 and built the vernacular stone house with a wooden Dutch gambrel roof, a combination of Dutch and English styles. Vander Ende's daughter Jane and her husband Moses Beadel inherited the farm in 1796. Their son, Moses Jr., inherited the farm next. When he married Jane Remsen, whose family owned a large farm in what would later be Glendale, he sold the Ridgewood farm to the Van Nuys family. Around 1810, they sold it to John Cozine, who resold it on November 7, 1812, to George Ryerson. From 1661 to 1796, the site was part of land known as "The Disputed Territory," claimed by both Bushwick in Kings County and Newtown in Queens County. An arbitration committee finally decided the exact boundary in 1769. Arbitration Rock, a literal boulder, served to mark the boundary between the two towns. It was found buried on the property in the 1990s and excavated from the ground in 2001, and now sits on the property as a reminder of the long dispute between the boroughs. Adrian and his wife Ann, who was from the Wykoff family, had daughters Dorothy Ann in 1820 and Gertrude in 1825. Adrian died at the age of 36 on July 2, 1831. Ann and the children continued to live on the farm, with Dorothy Ann leaving for marriage in 1838, and Gertrude doing the same seven years later. Ann lived there until around 1849. She passed away at age 70 on November 16, 1863. Adrian and Ann Onderdonk are interred at Cypress Hills Cemetery. By the time Gertrude sold the property in 1912, she and her sister had sold off much of the land in lots, so it was only the house and a large yard around it. With changes to the area, what had once been farmland soon became industrial. The farm became home to a stable and a glassworks, and eventually even a manufacturer that created components for the Apollo Space Program. However, by the 1970s, the house was abandoned. When it nearly burned down in 1975, locals came together to form the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society to restore and preserve the home. The house and the property were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and then to the ew York State Register in 1978. The house became a New York City landmark in 1995. It is now a museum with a permanent exhibit on the archaeology of the Onderdonk site, plus more about the history and culture of the area. The Historical Society is housed on the site, and provides a historical and genealogical research library, and events throughout the year.

Robert F. Wagner, Jr. (1910-1991) was a politician and diplomat who served as the 102nd mayor of New York City from 1954 to 1965. Along with Fiorello La Guardia, Edward Koch, and Michael Bloomberg, Wagner is one of four modern mayors to serve for a total of three terms. When running for his third term, he broke with his supporters from the Tammany Hall organization, beginning the decline of the political machine’s reign over city politics. The son of a U.S. senator, Wagner oversaw the City during a period of political and societal transformation. He was born in New York City on April 20, 1910, to Robert Ferdinand Wagner, a German immigrant, and Margaret Marie (McTague) Wagner. His mother died when he was nine years old, and he was raised by his father in Yorkville on New York City’s Upper East Side. Educated at the Loyola School on Park Avenue and at Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, he went on to receive his bachelor’s from Yale in 1933. He also studied at Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and the School of International Studies in Geneva, and in 1937, he received his law degree from Yale. From 1938 to 1942, Wagner served in the New York State Assembly. He resigned at the outset of World War II, and joined the Army Air Corps as an intelligence officer, where he achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel and received the Bronze Star and the French Croix de Guerre for his service. After the war, he returned to New York City, where he accepted a position as City Tax Commissioner, later holding the additional appointive posts of Commissioner of Housing and Buildings and chairman of the City Planning Commission. In 1949, Wagner was elected Manhattan borough president, a position he held until 1953. That same year, he ran for and won his first term as New York City mayor. At the time, the Tammany Hall political machine was prominent in NYC politics, and Wagner won his first two terms with their backing. By 1961, in an attempt to appeal to a broader electorate, he broke with the group. His third-term win signified a shift in and reduction of the influence of large political groups in the city politics. Wagner’s accomplishments as mayor include granting collective bargaining rights to municipal labor unions and securing state and federal funds to help build public housing. He approved the law that led to the development of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and he helped aid in the saving of historic structures such as Carnegie Hall. Wagner also promoted the arts, leading to the establishment of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and free Shakespeare productions in Central Park. He is credited with the integration of City government through the appointment of more people of color to administrative posts, the development of the City University of New York, and with the construction of parks, roadways, and schools. In addition, despite losing the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to California in 1957, Wagner was instrumental in luring another baseball franchise, the Mets, to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, which opened as Shea Stadium in 1964. Following his years as mayor, Wagner went on to work as a partner at a New York law firm. In 1968, he served one year as ambassador to Spain in the Johnson administration, and later served as presidential envoy to the Vatican from 1978 to 1981 under the Carter administration. In 1942, Wagner married Susan Edwards, the sister of his roommate at Yale, and together the couple had two children, Robert Jr. and Duncan. His first wife died in 1964, and the following year, he married Barbara Jean Cavanagh, the sister of Wagner’s former Fire Commissioner, Edward Cavanagh. They divorced in 1971. In 1975, he married Phyllis Fraser Cerf, the widow of writer and publisher Bennett Cerf. The couple remained together until Wagner’s death at his home on East 62nd street from heart failure on February 12, 1991. He is buried with his first wife, Susan, at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside. Constructed in 1910, the Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology is located at 47-07 30th Place in Long Island City.

Henry Waichitis, undated photo

Daniel Carter Beard (1850-1941) was a prominent Progressive-era reformer, outdoor enthusiast, illustrator, and author, and is considered one of the founders of American Scouting. His series of articles for St. Nicholas Magazine formed the basis for The American Boy's Handy Book (1882), a manual of outdoor sports, activities, and games that he wrote and illustrated. In addition, he authored more than 20 other books on various aspects of scouting. His work with author and wildlife artist Ernest Thompson Seton became the basis of the Traditional Scouting movement and led to the founding of the Boy Scouts of America in 1910. Beard was born on June 21, 1850, in Cincinnati, Ohio. When he was 11, his family moved across the Ohio River to Covington, Kentucky. The fourth of six children, he was the son of Mary Caroline (Carter) Beard and James Henry Beard, a celebrated portrait artist. In 1869, Beard earned a degree in civil engineering from Worrall's Academy in Covington and then worked as an engineer and surveyor in the Cincinnati area. In 1874, Beard was hired by the Sanborn Map and Publishing Company, and his surveying work led him to travel extensively over the eastern half of the United States. His family joined him in moving to New York City in 1878, and they settled in Flushing. From 1880 to 1884, Beard studied at the Art Students League, where he befriended fellow student Ernest Thompson Seton. Beard’s time there inspired him to work in illustration. His drawings appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines, such as Harper's Weekly and The New York Herald, and he illustrated a number of well-known books, including Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889) and Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894). In 1894, he met and married Beatrice Alice Jackson, and together they had two children, Barbara and Daniel. His career led him into the magazine industry, and he became editor of the wildlife periodical Recreation in 1902. While at Recreation, he wrote a monthly column geared at youth, and in 1905, he founded the Sons of Daniel Boone to promote outdoor recreation for boys. By 1906, he had moved on to Women’s Home Companion and then to Pictorial Review three years later. In 1909, he founded Boy Pioneers of America, which merged together a year later with similar scouting groups, including Seton’s Woodcraft Indians, to become the Boy Scouts of America. In 1910, Beard founded Troop 1 in Flushing, one of the oldest continuously chartered Boy Scout Troops in the United States. Beard was one of the Boy Scouts’ first National Commissioners, holding the position for more than 30 years until his death. Affectionately known to millions of Boy Scouts as “Uncle Dan,” he served as editor of Boys’ Life, the organization’s monthly magazine, and he became an Eagle Scout at age 64. In 1922, he received the gold Eagle Scout badge for distinguished service, the only time the badge was awarded. Through his work with his sisters, Lina and Adelia Beard, who together wrote The American Girls Handy Book (1887), Beard also encouraged girls to take up scouting. He helped in the organization of Camp Fire Girls and served as president of Camp Fire Club of America. His autobiography, Hardly a Man Is Now Alive, was published in 1939, and Beard died at his home in Suffern, New York, on June 11, 1941. In 1965, his childhood home in Covington, Kentucky, became a National Historic Landmark. In 1942, Daniel Carter Beard Mall was named in his honor by local law. Located on an esplanade at Northern Boulevard between Main Street and Linden Place in Beard’s former neighborhood of Flushing, it is the western portion of what was formerly Flushing Park, now known as Flushing Greens. Other sites in Flushing named for Beard include Daniel Carter Beard Memorial Square and J.H.S. 189 Daniel Carter Beard.

Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) was an Italian scientist who pioneered the wireless telegraph and subsequently developed the modern radio.

Edward Mandel (1869-1942) was an associate superintendent of the New York City schools. His family immigrated to the United States when he was young, settling in New York. He graduated from NYC public schools, City College at NYU and Teachers College at Columbia University. He also earned a law degree. He taught in city schools before becoming principal of several schools and eventually becoming Associate Superintendent of Schools from 1923 until his retirement in 1939. He helped develop educational policy and was founder of the teacher's pension system. He believed that vocational education was needed in public schools and that schools should teach "good citizenship." After his retirement he started a law practice with his son Austin. He lived in Forest Hills, Queens for much of his adult life and was a member of Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club.

Lieutenant Peter J. Farrenkopf (1952-2009), a 30-year FDNY veteran, died on October 18, 2009, from glioblastoma, a condition his doctors attributed to his work at the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001. Farrenkopf, a resident of 207th Street in Bayside, was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2009 and passed away just 90 days later. He served over 30 years with the FDNY Marine Company and was recognized as a victim of the 9/11 attacks. Farrenkopf began his firefighting career at Engine 84/Ladder 34 in Harlem. Following his promotion, he joined the Marine Division, where he handled numerous projects, including the Summer Boat program, transporting grieving family members to the World Trade Center site, and a boat ride for President Bush to Ellis Island aboard Marine 1. He also coordinated with the Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks. Farrenkopf was instrumental in improving the FDNY's relationship with the Coast Guard by arranging a meeting with the port captain. This collaboration led to better communication, a clearer understanding of each agency's roles, and the inclusion of an FDNY representative in monthly harbor meetings and on the Port of NY/NJ Harbor Safety Committee. In June 2012, Councilmember Dan Halloran unveiled the street sign for the Lt. Peter J. Farrenkopf Place on 207th Street at 26th Avenue in Bayside, a lasting tribute to a dedicated public servant.

Poet, novelist and playwright Langston Hughes (1901-1967) grew up in the Midwest and moved to New York City to attend Columbia University. Hughes is known as a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural mecca for Black intellectuals and artists in the early 20th century. He wrote about African American life between the 1920s and 1960s, including "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "Montage of A Dream Deferred," and "Not Without Laughter," which won the Harmon Gold Medal for Literature. His ashes are interred beneath a mosaic in the NYPL's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in Harlem.

George Upton Harvey (1881-1946) was Queens Borough President from 1928 to 1941. Born in County Galway, Ireland, the Harveys moved to Chicago when George was five years old. His father founded The International Confectioner, a trade paper, and after working there Harvey served as a correspondent and photographer for the Army and Navy journal. A captain during World War I, he commanded Company A of the 308th Infantry Regiment, 77th Division. In 1920, Harvey was appointed Assistant Director of the State Income Tax Bureau in Jamaica, New York.  Harvey began his career in electoral politics when he successfully ran for election to the Board of Aldermen in 1921 as a Republican from Queens and was re-elected in 1923. Though Harvey lost the 1925 election for President of the Board of Aldermen, a sewer scandal resulting in the ouster of Borough President Maurice Connolly vaulted Harvey into the Borough Presidency in a special election to complete Connolly’s term. Harvey was Queens’ first Republican Borough President since the 1898 consolidation of New York City. He was re-elected to this office in 1929, 1933, and 1937, serving until 1941.  Harvey was a bitter foe of the Tammany political machine at home and Communism abroad. In 1928, he initiated a major expansion of arterial highway and parkway improvements in Queens. He also played an active role in the World’s Fair at Flushing Meadow in 1939-40. In 1932 and again in 1938, he considered running for Governor but ultimately declined to do so. On April 6, 1946, Harvey died of a heart attack while helping to battle a brush fire near his home in New Milford, Connecticut.

Kurt Richard Schmeller (1937-2022) was a historian, professor, and executive-level college administrator. He served as president of Queensborough Community College in Bayside from 1966 to 1999 and is among the longest-serving college presidents in the United States. Schmeller presided over a period of historic growth and change at Queensborough. Over his 32-year tenure, he established a strong business and technical curriculum, created programs in electrical and computer engineering, attracted new funders, and doubled enrollment to more than 10,000 students. Schmeller was born in Johnson City, New York, to parents Rudolph F. Schmeller, a civilian employee of the U.S. Army who later worked for a shoe manufacturer, and his German-born mother, Liska L. Schmeller, who worked for a department store. The second of three siblings, he moved with his family to Munich in 1947, where the Schmellers made their home before returning to upstate New York in 1953. He graduated from Binghamton Central High School in Binghamton, New York, going on to receive an undergraduate degree in European history from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, in 1959, and a Ph.D. in modern European history from Princeton University in 1962. While working as an assistant to the president and as a history professor at Wisconsin State University, he met his future wife, Beata (Sowka) Schmeller, a native of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. In 1967, at the age of 29, Schmeller was named as Queensborough Community College’s third president. He and Beata moved to Glen Cove, New York, where they made their home. During his presidency, Schmeller upheld academic standards while advocating for giving students who did not meet typical admission standards a chance to attend college. In response, Queensborough’s College Discovery Program launched strong support efforts, including counseling, remedial courses, tutoring, and other academic assistance. In 1969, Schmeller blocked the reappointment of English professor Dr. Ronald Silberman, an openly Marxist scholar, citing budget cuts. Some critics argued Schmeller’s decision was politically motivated, and the act resulted in a period of student protests around this issue and other pressing societal and cultural tensions. Despite these early challenges, Schmeller oversaw many changes at the College, including the construction of nine new buildings, and the founding of the Queensborough Community College Art Gallery, the Holocaust Center (now the Kupferberg Holocaust Center), and the Port of Entry program. The first of its kind in the U.S., this program was designed to enhance cultural orientation for international students at Queensborough, particularly those from China. In addition to his work for the College, Schmeller was active in local community affairs, serving as chairman of the board of The Flushing Cemetery Association, as well as chairman of the City of Glen Cove School Board, and as president of Queens Council of the Boy Scouts of America. At the time of his death in 2022, he was survived by his wife, Beata, their three children, Rudolph, Sylvie, and Jesse, and four grandchildren. The main campus library at Queensborough Community College, located at 22-05 56th Avenue, was named in his honor as the Kurt R. Schmeller Library.

Carl Clemens (1908-1989), a reporter, editor, and publisher of The Ridgewood Times, was a well-known community activist in the Ridgewood area. He began his career at the Ridgewood Times at 16 years old as a copy boy. For a period, the paper also operated a radio station, WHN, where Clemens announced sports, weather, and news. This station was later sold to Loew's Theaters. Clemens became a co-owner of the paper in 1933, eventually purchasing the entire newspaper and the Ridgewood Times building in 1955. He then served as its editor and publisher until his retirement in the 1980s. Clemens’s involvement with The Times fostered extensive collaboration with local civic groups, working to improve libraries, schools, senior centers, and other community establishments. In 1975, he co-founded the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society with other residents. The group's primary goal, which they successfully achieved, was to save an abandoned Onderdonk Farmhouse which dates back to the 1600s. Clemens also generously provided meeting space in the Ridgewood Times building for community board meetings. In the late 1960s, Mayor John Lindsay appointed Clemens as an honorary Commissioner of Public Events, and in 1985, Mayor Edward I. Koch renamed this intersection in Ridgewood in his honor.

Harry Suna (1924-1992) was born in the Bronx. He worked for Todd Shipyard at age 17. After completing his apprenticeship, Suna joined the Central Sheet Metal Company and in 1946, at 22, became the company's secretary and treasurer. The next year, Suna established A. Suna & Company, which became a multimillion-dollar construction and sheet metal fabrication firm. He successfully developed more than 1,000 units of affordable housing throughout New York City. Suna visited the Silvercup building in December 1979 and purchased it for $2 million in 1980. His sons Stuart and Alan, who were architects, saw the potential for movie sound stages. Suna was chairman of Silvercup Studios, which he turned into New York City's leading film and TV production facility. He passed away suddenly just before his 68th birthday.

Private William Earl Gray (1947-1967), was a Corona resident who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country during the Vietnam War. Born in Stanton, Tennessee, Gray moved to New York with his family, including four sisters and five brothers, in 1956. He attended Brooklyn Automotive High School, where he enjoyed playing basketball. At 18, Gray enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served as a Private First Class with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade in Vietnam, beginning his tour of duty in December 1966. Tragically, he was severely wounded in combat in Gia Dihn, South Vietnam, in February 1967 and soon died from his injuries. The playground, located on 98th Street between Northern Boulevard and 32nd Avenue, officially came under the Parks Department's care in May 1967, when they obtained a permit from the Department of Real Estate. Its development was funded by a Federal Urban Beautification Demonstration Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Edward Fisher (1904-1970), a neighbor, friend, and mentor to Gray, and a member of the East Elmhurst – North Corona Community Board 3, spearheaded the effort to name the park after Private Gray following his death. Mayor John V. Lindsay and Parks Commissioner August Heckscher attended the dedication ceremony in the summer of 1968. In 1990, the Parks Department installed new play equipment with safety surfacing, along with benches and plantings. However, the City did not officially transfer ownership of the property to the Parks Department until 1992.

Dr. Thomas Anthony Dooley III (1927–1961) was an American physician and public figure renowned for his humanitarian work in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Born into a prominent Irish Catholic family in St. Louis, Missouri, Dooley served as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy from 1954 to 1955. His experiences during this time led him to write the best-selling books "Deliver Us from Evil" (1956), "The Edge of Tomorrow" (1958), and "The Night They Burned the Mountain" (1960). After leaving the Navy, Dooley established several hospitals in Southeast Asia and co-founded the Medical International Corporation (MEDICO), funded by his extensive public appearances and media work. Unfortunately, he succumbed to cancer in 1961 and was posthumously honored with a Congressional Gold Medal by President John F. Kennedy. Decades later, it was revealed that Dooley had ties to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and had embellished or fabricated certain aspects of his experiences in Southeast Asia.

Rabbi Moshe Neuman (1930-2022) dedicated his life to spiritual and academic leadership, helping to grow the Bais Yaakov Academy from a small, 27-student school in Corona into a four-story school with 850 students on Metropolitan Avenue in Kew Gardens. Rabbi Neuman was born in Germany on August 9, 1930. Later in Brooklyn, his professional life initially headed toward tax law, but his talents as a teacher soon became apparent, and he worked as a substitute. He began as a third grade rebbe and assistant principal in Detroit, where he worked for four years. When he married Rivkah Hollander, they moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania. There, Rabbi Neuman served as principal of the Jewish Community Center Day School until 1961, when he accepted the position of principal at Bais Yaakov Academy and moved his family back to New York. He went on to lead the school for more than 50 years. Former students remembered him as a warm, welcoming, hands-on presence who remembered everyone's name. Above all, they remember learning from him about the development of community as an essential civic responsibility. On April 15, 2022, Rabbi Neuman suffered a fall at shul on the first night of Pesach. Unfortunately he passed away on May 3, 2022, leaving behind his wife, their sons Rabbi Shomie, Reb Yossie, and Rabbi Nosson, and their daughter Perel Cohen, and Brochie Kramer. Councilmember Lynn Schulman proposed changing this street name in Rabbi Neuman's honor, and the memorial was dedicated just outside of Bais Yaakov Academy in 2023.

Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. (1912-2002) was an aviation pioneer who commanded the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American flying unit in the U.S. military who fought in World War II. He was the son of Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr., the U.S. Army’s first Black general, and he continued his father’s military legacy by becoming the first African American general in the United States Air Force in 1954. He was later advanced to four-star general after his retirement by President Bill Clinton in 1998. Davis was born on December 18, 1912, in Washington, D.C., the son of Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. and Elnora Dickerson Davis, the second of their three children. In the summer of 1926, a barnstorming pilot took Davis for a ride in an open-cockpit plane at Bolling Field in Washington, D.C., and Davis became determined to become a pilot. He graduated from Central High School in Cleveland, Ohio, and then studied for a time at Western Reserve University and the University of Chicago before entering the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. As the only Black cadet, he was shunned by his white classmates. He lived and ate by himself, and fellow cadets would not speak with him except for official business. But Davis persevered, graduating 35th out of a class of 276 cadets in 1936. Soon after, he married Agatha Scott, the couple having met and dated during his years of study. Upon graduation, he received a commission as a second lieutenant of infantry. Though he wanted to be an aviator in the Army Air Corps, he was rejected despite his qualifications, as the U.S. military was segregated at the time and there were no all-Black units. He was assigned to the 24th Infantry at Fort Benning, Georgia, and attended infantry school. In 1937, he worked as a professor of military science at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, a position his father had also held. In 1941, the War Department established an all-Black flying unit at Tuskegee Army Air Field near Tuskegee Institute. Davis was among the first 12 cadets trained in what would become known as the Tuskegee Airmen. In March 1942, he received his pilot’s wings. He was soon promoted to lieutenant colonel and transferred to the Army Air Corps. In August of 1942, Davis assumed command of the 99th Pursuit Squadron, the first unit of the Tuskegee Airmen. In 1943, the Squadron flew support missions in the Mediterranean, seeing combat in North Africa and Italy. In the fall of the same year, Davis returned to the U.S., and he was called to command of the 332nd Fighter Group, an even larger all-Black air unit that was preparing for overseas service. Under his command, they effectively defended bombers on missions deep inside Germany, shooting down 111 planes, destroying or damaging 273 on the ground, and never losing an American bomber to enemy fighters. By the end of the war, Davis had personally flown some 60 combat missions, and he was promoted to colonel. In July of 1948, President Truman’s executive order integrated the armed forces. At the time, Colonel Davis acted as an advisor to the Assistant Secretary to the Air Force, and his draft blueprint on integration, along with the performance of his fliers, helped to set the stage for the end of segregation in the Air Force. Over the next two decades, Davis served in a variety of staff and command positions, including work at the Pentagon and overseas, with a final assignment as Deputy Commander in Chief of United States Strike Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. From 1954 through 1965, he rose in rank from brigadier general to lieutenant general, before retiring on January 31, 1970. He remained active in his post-military years, serving briefly as the Director of Public Safety for the City of Cleveland, Ohio, and later in the same year, as Director of Civil Aviation Security in the Department of Transportation. In 1971, he was named as Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Safety and Consumer Affairs, and he served under both the Ford and Nixon administrations. Davis was highly decorated in his military service. His many honors include two Distinguished Service Medals and a Silver Star. On December 9, 1998, he was awarded his fourth general’s star by President Bill Clinton, making him a general of the highest order within the U.S. military and the first African American to receive the honor in retirement. His memoir, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American, was published in 1991. General Davis died on July 4, 2002, in Washington, D.C., and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. General Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. Boulevard is located at the southwest corner of Tuskegee Airmen Way and 154th Street in South Jamaica.

Townsend Harris (1804-1878) was a merchant, educational leader, politician, and diplomat who served as the first United States Consul General to Japan. Harris's negotiations with the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan at the time, led to the Treaty of Amity and Commerce (commonly known as the Harris Treaty of 1858) and helped shape the future course of Japanese-Western trade and cultural relations. In 1847, he founded the Free Academy (now City College of New York), the first tuition-free, publicly funded university in the United States. Harris was born in the village of Sandy Hill (now Hudson Falls) in northern New York state. After moving to New York City, he became a successful merchant, importing porcelain and silk from China. From 1846 to 1848, he served as president of the Board of Education. Free education was favored at the time by the City’s progressive leaders, and Harris was an advocate for the founding of a university open to all. In a letter published in The Morning Courier and New York Enquirer on March 15, 1847, Townsend stated, “open the doors to all—let the children of the rich and the poor take their seats together and know of no distinction save that of industry, good conduct and intellect.” On May 7 of that year, the New York Free Academy was awarded its charter by the New York Legislature. In 1849, Townsend Harris Hall, a one-year preparatory school for the Free Academy, was opened, and it became a city high school in 1906. Though closed for budgetary reasons in 1942 under Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, it was re-opened in 1984 as Townsend Harris High School and now serves as a public magnet school for the humanities. In 1856, President Franklin Pierce named Harris as the U.S. General Consul to Japan, and the first consulate was opened in the city of Shimoda on the southeast of the Izu Peninsula. After lengthy negotiations, Harris finalized the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the two countries in 1858, thus opening the ports of Kanagawa and four other Japanese cities to trade with the United States. Harris returned to the U.S. in 1861, and he remained active in politics until his death in New York on February 25, 1878. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. To this day, Harris is fondly remembered in Japan for his diplomatic work, with delegations from the city of Shimoda continuing to make yearly visits to his gravesite. The archives of City College house a collection of Harris' letters and papers, as well as other ephemera connected with his legacy. When it opened in 1984, Townsend Harris High School occupied a small building on Parsons Boulevard. In 1995, the school was moved to 149-11 Melbourne Avenue on the campus of Queens College in Flushing.

Mary Vavruska (1932 – 2015) was a well-known Jackson Heights community activist that served the community for over 50 years and was instrumental in the building of Louis Armstrong Middle School, I.S. 227. She worked as the chair of Community Board 3 for many years, and was especially active on issues of land use, economic development, and education. She helped initiate the building of the 115th Police Precinct on Northern Boulevard. Vavruska also helped form the Jackson Heights Community Corp. and organized and implemented volunteer services for the homeless at the Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church. She was an active PTA member and championed the Department of Education to receive continual financial support for the maintenance of the Paired Schools under the Princeton Plan to integrate the schools between Jackson Heights, Corona, and East Elmhurst after the decentralization of school districts. She received the Volunteer of the Year from the Regional Alliance for Small Contractors, the Community Service Award from The Asociacion Benefica Cultural Father Billini and the Small Business Person of the Year from the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

Gwen Ifill (1955-2016) was a trailblazing journalist who covered the White House, Congress and national election campaigns. She was the first Black woman to anchor a national TV public affairs show, Washington Week. Though she held positions with The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC, she spent most of her career at PBS. She worked at PBS NewsHour for 17 years, and along with Judy Woodruff, was on the first all-woman anchor team on network nightly news. Ifill was born in Jamaica, Queens, and lived in several different cities throughout New England, Pennsylvania and New York, due to her father’s work as a minister. She attended Simmons College in Boston and majored in communications. Her first journalism experience was as an intern at the Boston Herald newspaper in her senior year of college, and she subsequently began working at the newspaper full-time in 1977. Until her untimely death from cancer at the age of 61, Ifill had a prolific career as a journalist for more than 30 years. The former Railroad Park was renamed Gwen Ifill Park on June 16, 2021.

Jason Mizell (1965-2002) who went by the stage name Jam Master Jay, was born in Brooklyn, NY, on January 21, 1965. As a child, he was musically inclined, picking up the drumsticks and learning to play bass. As a teen Mizell’s family moved to Hollis, Queens. From this neighborhood he began to change the music industry. He teamed with Joseph Simmons (stage name Run) and Darryl McDaniels (stage name DMC) to form the group Run-DMC in the early 1980s. Known as pioneers of rap, the group helped bring hip hop to the mainstream and were the first rap artists to broadcast on MTV. Run-DMC were the first rappers to have a gold album (Run-D.M.C., 1984), as well as the first to go platinum (Raising Hell, 1986) and multiplatinum (Raising Hell, 1987). Aside from Run-DMC, in 1989, Mizell launched JMJ Records, a successful record label that signed famous artists like 50 Cent and Onyx. Additionally, he starred in films such as Die Hard (1988), The Bounty Hunter (2010), and Friday Night Lights (2004). Mizell was murdered in his recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, on October 30, 2002. Although the case lay unsolved for many years, in February 2024, Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington were convicted of his murder. The sign at the corner of 205th Street and Hollis Avenue honors Jam Master Jay in his former neighborhood of Hollis. A nearby mural created by Art1airbrush reinforces Run-DMC’s ties to the neighborhood.

Peter’s Field is named for two of the city’s most prominent historical figures: Peter Stuyvesant (1610-1672) and Peter Cooper (1791-1905). Peter Stuyvesant, a Calvinist minister’s son, born in The Netherlands, joined the Dutch West India Company at the age of 22. After becoming the director of the company’s Caribbean colonies of Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire in 1643, Stuyvesant led a victorious attack on the island of Saint Martin; he gravely injured his right leg and was forced to have it amputated. The wooden leg he wore from then on earned him the nickname “Old Peg-Leg.” Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam in 1647 as the Director General of New Netherland and quickly worked to limit the sale of liquor, enforce his own church’s domination, and persecute Lutherans, Quakers, and Jews. Stuyvesant bought a farm, the Bouwerie (the namesake of the Bowery), in 1651, and built his home, White Hall, in 1655 at what is now the intersection of Whitehall and State Streets. Often remembered as a violent despot, Stuyvesant also encouraged commerce and helped form New Amsterdam’s municipal government until the British seized New Netherland in 1664. Following his withdrawal from public life, he retired to his farm where he lived until his death in February 1672.  New York City native Peter Cooper, an inventor with little formal education, began his career as a cloth cutter during the War of 1812. After becoming a prosperous glue manufacturer, Cooper built the country’s first steam engine, the Tom Thumb, at his Canton Iron Works factory in Baltimore. Deeply involved in New York City politics, he worked to disentangle the fire and police departments from their political connections, to supply better water and sanitation, to improve prison conditions and to provide the poor with public education. The namesake of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (formed between 1857 and 1859), Cooper was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1876, when he ran on the Greenback ticket.

Born on February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, George Washington was born into a prosperous family, and was privately educated. He gained early experience as a land surveyor, and then joined the militia, serving as an officer in the French and Indian Wars from 1755-1758. Rising to the rank of colonel, he resigned his post, married Martha Dandridge (1731-1802), and returned as a gentleman farmer to the family plantation at Mount Vernon, Virginia, where he resided with his wife, Martha. He soon reentered public life, and served in succession as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses (1759-1774), and as a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses (1774-1775). Upon the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, Washington was made Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. His military prowess and inspirational leadership held the colonial armies together against overwhelming odds, and secured the evacuation and defeat of the British in 1783. Washington again retired to Mount Vernon, but his dissatisfaction with the new provisional government, caused him to resume an active role, and in 1787 he presided over the second federal constitutional convention in Philadelphia. He was then unanimously chosen first president of the United States, and was inaugurated at Federal Hall in New York City on April 30, 1789.  Washington was reelected to a second term in 1893, declined a third term, and retired from political life in 1797. Often referred to as “the father of our country,” Washington is universally regarded as having been instrumental in winning the American Revolution and in the establishment of the new nation. This statue honors George Washington’s close association with the Free and Accepted Masons, a fraternal order founded in 1717, and dedicated to human liberty, religious tolerance, and fellowship. He was installed as first master of Alexandria Lodge on April 28, 1788. The first version of this statue was created by De Lue in 1959 for the Louisiana Lodge. A full-size faux-patined plaster model was displayed at the Masonic Pavilion of the New York World’s Fair of 1964-65 in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.  Following the fair, the sculptor was commissioned to create this replica in bronze, and with the assistance of former Parks Commissioner and Fair President Robert Moses (1888-1981), a site was selected for permanent placement near the former Masonic Center. The statue, cast in Italy, and positioned on a pedestal of North Carolina pink granite, was dedicated on June 3, 1967, the same day in which the World’s Fair Corporation returned the park back to the City. Additional copies of the statue were installed at the Masonic Hospital in Wallingford, Connecticut and at the Detroit Civic Center in Michigan.

Antoinette Jamilah Ali-Sanders (1958-2019) worked to improve society as a designer, developer and organizer. A third-generation college graduate, she trained as a landscape architect with a minor in civil engineering. She was one of the first Black women to graduate in landscape architecture from Rutgers University. Ali-Sanders worked for the NYC Parks Department for 35 years. At Parks, she worked with the first group of women out in the field in 1981. She prepared contract drawings and documents, and inspected, monitored, managed and supervised the construction of parks, playgrounds and structures, as well as the restoration of monuments. She also founded a construction company called Metro Skyway Construction; a foundation for PEACE (Progressive Economics and Cultural Enrichment); and the Jersey City Monitoring Trade Association. She worked closely with Rev. Al Sharpton, Mayor David Dinkins and Dr. Lenora Fulani when she became a member of the Committee for Independent Community Actions. One of Ali-Sanders' last architectural projects was for a Pan African activist named Queen Makkada, who was planning to build a school in Africa. She was given the honorary title of Lady Jamilah before her passing.

Samantha Smith (1972-1985) was an American peace activist during some of the most tense moments in the Cold War. Samantha Smith was born in Maine in 1972. In 1982, at 10 years old, she decided to write a letter to the then current Soviet Union Leader Yuri Andropov. Smith had listened to newscasters and watched science videos on the imposing threat of nuclear war. Feeling anxious about the global situation, Smith followed her mother's advice to reach out directly to the new leader of Soviet Russia. In the letter, Smith expressed her concern over the threat of war. She asked Andropov if he was planning to vote for there to be a war and "why he wanted to conquer the world." The letter was published in the Soviet newspaper "Pravda." Although Smith was excited that her letter was published, she had not yet received a response from Andropov himself. Therefore, Smith wrote a second letter, this time to the Soviet Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Dobrynin, to ask why Andropov hadn't responded. In the spring of 1983, Andropov responded to her letter, assuring that he did not want to conquer the world and inviting Smith and her family to visit the Soviet Union. This letter gained national attention and although some were skeptical on Andropov's reasons for inviting Smith to the USSR, she ultimately decided to go and visited in July, 1983. Samantha was met with a warm welcome from the Russian public and media. During her two week stay in Russia, Smith visited Lenin’s grave, the Bolshoi Ballet, the Artek summer camp in Crimea, and met Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to go to space. She met many people, including fellow children, many of whom had never met an American before. Her visit was widely covered by both Soviet and Western press. She was dubbed "America’s Youngest Ambassador." Upon her return to the United States, Smith appeared on many media outlets such as "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson," Disney Channel (where she interviewed Democratic presidential candidates), had many interviews, and began writing her own book. Smith described that Americans had been given the wrong impression of Soviet people. She reported that unlike how the Soviets were often portrayed, they wanted peace just as much as any American did. Smith also stated that the other children she met in Russia were just like some of the kids she knew in the United States. Overall, the experience was very positive for Smith and highlighted the humanity that exists no matter which country you are from. However, with this coverage, some questioned whether Samantha Smith was being used as a pawn by both governments. Yet some argue that by presenting and representing herself as a regular American girl, Smith evaded this mistrust. Additionally, although the goal of the invitation might have been to show Soviets as peace-loving and kind, the trip also brought a favorable light to Americans. Smith made it hard for both sides to continue villainizing each other. Samantha Smith's journey was inspirational and showed the power of human connection during war. However, her work had little impact on the increasing strain between the two governments. The relationship continued to deteriorate and nuclear war was still a massive threat. Through this turmoil, Smith was prepared to stay in the spotlight and stand as an example of what can be achieved through openness and curiosity. Tragically, Samantha Smith and her father were killed in a plane crash in 1985 on their way back to Maine. She was 13 years old. Both the United States and the Soviet Union mourned her passing. President Reagan sent a condolence letter to her mom and both American and Soviet officials attended her funeral in Maine. In total, about 1,000 people attended. She was also eulogized in Moscow as a champion of peace. Since her death, many places and things have been named in her honor. Such as a bronze statue in Augusta, Maine made in 1986, depicting Smith releasing a dove with a bear cub clinging to her legs. The bear cub represents both Russia and Maine, bears are considered iconic symbols of both areas, and the dove is an international symbol of peace. Additionally, in 1985, Soviet Russia released a stamp with Smith's face and name (in Russian) and named a diamond found in Yakutsk, Siberia after her. Following her death in 1985, her mother Jane Smith, founded the Samantha Smith Foundation. Over the course of a decade, The foundation organized summer visits for children, to and from the Soviet Union and its successor states. In 1986, Jane Smith accompanied 20 of Samantha Smith's classmates on a trip to Moscow to visit some of the site Samantha had also visited 3 years earlier. In 1988, Soviet children came to summer camp in Maine, and Maine children went to summer camp in Russia through the Foundation. Then in 1990 the Foundation hosted children from the Chernobyl fallout zone, many of them suffering radiation-induced health problems. The next year, in 1991, they...

Manuel de Dios Unanue (1943-1992) was a Cuban-born journalist and radio host who was killed in New York City in 1992. De Dios was born in Cuba in 1943 and moved to the United States in 1973, after time spent in Spain and Puerto Rico, he settled in Elmhurst, Queens. He worked as a journalist for several Spanish-language newspapers in New York City, before becoming editor-in-chief of El Diario La Prensa, the largest Spanish-Language newspaper in NYC, in 1984. De Dios was best known for his investigative reporting on the Colombian drug trade. He wrote extensively about the drug cartels that operated in Queens, and he named names. His reporting made him a target of the drug traffickers, and he was slain on March 11, 1992, by a hitman for the Colombian drug cartel in the Meson Asturias restaurant on 83rd Street in Queens. This small park on the border of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst in Queens was named in his honor in 1993.

Marguerite Henderson was very dedicated to her family, seniors and the East Elmhurst community. She attended P.S. 127 in East Elmhurst and went to I.S. 145, Newtown High School, and graduated from LaGuardia Community College. She was a member of Mt. Olivet Church where she was an active choir member. She joined the First Baptist Church and became an active member of the church’s trustee ministry. She was also involved in the East Elmhurst Community Board. She was dedicated to the families and seniors in East Elmhurst, ensuring they had food and resources as part of the First Baptist Church food pantry ministry. From organizing and executing back-to-school giveaways and toy and coat drives during the holidays, to serving thousands of families on a weekly basis before and during the height of the pandemic, she was truly dedicated to her community. She also assisted many families financially, helping with bills, rent, food and shopping for their children. She spent hours talking to teenagers and counseling the neighborhood youth who were at risk of heading in the wrong direction. She was very protective of her family, specifically her children and grandchildren. Everyone on 96th Street and the East Elmhurst/Corona community knew Marguerite and was often affectionately called all sorts of nicknames by her loved ones and friends: Margret, Ursel, Big Marg, Gangsta Boo, Boo Thang, Baby Cakes, Ma, “Reet,” Babe, Mama Marguerite, sweet sweet Marguerite, Gramma and the East Elmhurst General. She was steadfast in her commitment and thanks to her dedication, many families had food on the table, coats for the winter, school supplies for their children, and most of all her love showing them that Marguerite had their back, especially throughout one of the worst pandemics of recent times.

Malcolm X (1925-1965) was a civil rights activist and a prominent leader in the Black nationalist movement in the late 1950s and early 1960s. On February 21, 1965, while preparing to deliver a lecture at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights, he was assassinated when several gunmen rushed the stage and shot him at close range. Three members of the Nation of Islam were tried and sentenced for his murder, though two were later exonerated. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, written by Malcolm X in collaboration with author Alex Haley and published posthumously, is considered a classic of American autobiographical literature. Born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, he was the fourth of seven children of Reverend Earl Little, who worked as a local president and organizer for the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), a Black nationalist group led by Marcus Garvey, and Louise (Norton) Little, a Grenadine-born American who worked as division secretary for the UNIA. His father’s work led to death threats from the Ku Klux Klan, forcing the family to relocate several times, and they eventually settled in East Lansing, Michigan. When Malcolm was six years old, his father died in what was officially ruled a streetcar accident, though he was possibly the victim of white supremacists. In 1939, his mother was committed to a mental institution. After living in foster homes for a period, Malcolm eventually moved to Boston. In 1946, he was arrested on charges of larceny and served time in prison, where he converted to the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Malcolm X. After his release in 1952, he began working with the movement’s leader, Elijah Mohammad, to expand membership nationwide. In 1958, Malcolm married Betty Sanders, and together the couple had six daughters. In 1964, Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam following disagreements with the leadership. He traveled widely in North Africa and the Middle East and underwent a second conversion to traditional Islam, changing his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. In 1965, he established the Organization of Afro-American Unity as a secular platform to unify Black Americans with the people of Africa and to build solidarity with the developing world by shifting the focus from civil rights to human rights. The Malcolm X Garden is located in North Corona at 33-02 112th Street and 111-26 Northern Boulevard. In addition to the Garden, Malcolm X Place in East Elmhurst is also named in his honor.

Thomas Edmund Molloy (1885-1956) was born in Nashua, New Hampshire on September 4th, 1885. He attended Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire. His Irish parents previously lived in Brooklyn, NY. In 1904, Molloy attended St. Francis College in Brooklyn. After attending school, he decided to study for the priesthood at St. John’s Seminary, in Brooklyn. He also attended North American College in Rome, to further his studies.  On September 19th, 1908, he was ordained as a priest in Rome. He also earned a doctorate in theology before returning to Brooklyn. When Molloy returned, he was assigned as a curate at St. John’s Chapel. Molloy held many positions in the Brooklyn diocese and rose up the ranks. He was a secretary to Cardinal George Mundelein , then Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn and was also his secretary for a short period when the prelate moved to Chicago. After he returned to Brooklyn, he joined St. Joseph's College for Women as the spiritual director and professor of philosophy. He later became president of the institution.  Molloy was named Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn on July 28th, 1920. He was consecrated on October 3rd, 1920. The next year, he was named Bishop of Brooklyn following the death of Bishop Charles E. McDonnell. He was installed on February 15th, 1922. At the time, Molloy became the third Bishop of Brooklyn.  In 1930, Molloy created the Immaculate Conception Seminary, a labor school where working men could learn the Catholic principles that apply to trade unionism. He also ordered the diocesan clergy to learn about industrial issues to better serve their parishioners.  On April 7th, 1951, Molloy received the personal title of archbishop from Pope Pius XII.  On November 15th, 1956, Molloy experienced an attack of pneumonia and suffered a stroke. He passed away at his Brooklyn residence on November 30th, 1956.

Conrad Poppenhusen (1818-1883), entrepreneur and philanthropist, was born in Hamburg, Germany on April 1, 1818. After working for a whalebone merchant as a whalebone purchaser in Europe, Poppenhusen moved to the United States in 1843 to set up a whalebone processing plant on the Brooklyn waterfront. In 1852 he obtained a license from Charles Goodyear to manufacture hard rubber goods, and then moved his firm to a farming village in what is now Queens. Poppenhusen is credited with creating the Village of College Point, which was formed in 1870 when it incorporated the neighborhoods of Flammersburg and Strattonport. In order to accommodate his factory workers he initiated numerous developments; including the establishment of housing, the First Reformed Church, and construction of streets.. In 1868, he opened the Flushing and North Side Railroad, which connected the town to New York City. In that same year he also founded the Poppenhusen Institute, which was comprised of a vocational high school and the first free kindergarten in the United States, and is the oldest school in Queens today. After Poppenhusen retired in 1871, his family lost much of its fortune due to the financial mismanagement by his three sons. Conrad Poppenhusen died in College Point on December 12, 1883.

James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael (Mickey) Schwerner were three civil rights workers who were murdered in Mississippi in June 1964, where they were volunteering for the Freedom Summer Project. At the time of their deaths, Goodman was a student at Queens College and Schwerner’s brother, Steve Schwerner, was the director of the college’s counseling program. The three men were primarily involved in registering Black voters, but on the day of their disappearance were investigating the burning of a Black church that had been used for voter registration. They were abducted near the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi, and the case was initially treated as a missing persons investigation. After two months, their bodies were discovered; members of the KKK as well as local law enforcement were charged with the killings, but only seven of 18 defendants were convicted, on lesser charges of conspiracy. However, the case was reopened in 2004 after new evidence came to light and one defendant, Edgar Ray Killen, was convicted of three counts of manslaughter. He died in prison in 2018 at the age of 92. The Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner Clock Tower sits atop the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library on the campus of Queens College. It was dedicated to the three men in 1989, shortly after the library's construction. A campaign to furnish the tower with a real bell carillon, rather than electronic chimes, was spearheaded by Queens College music professor David S. Walker, and a five-bell peal was commissioned and cast at the Royal Eijsbouts Bell Foundry in the Netherlands. The carillon was dedicated in November 1990.