Adrien (Adriaen) Block (1567-1627) was a Dutch explorer, trader, and ship’s captain best known for his early exploration of the northeast coastal regions of North America. He was among the first to establish trade with various North American Indigenous peoples, and the map of his 1614 voyage was the first to note Long Island and Manhattan as separate islands. This served as an important step in the establishment of the Dutch New Netherland settlement in 1624. Block was born in Amsterdam. Though little is known about his early life, he was married in 1603 to Neeltje Hendricks van Gelder, and they settled in his hometown where they raised their family. He became active in the shipping trade in the 1590s and made four voyages to North America between 1611 and 1613. While there, he helped to establish the fur trade and to chart coastal areas that were first explored by Henry Hudson for the Dutch in 1609. In 1613, he sailed on the Tyger for what would be his last voyage to the New World. While moored off of Lower Manhattan, the ship caught fire and was destroyed. With the help of the local Lenape, the crew built a new ship that they called the Onrust (Dutch for “Restless”), and they continued to explore up the East River. They entered Long Island Sound through a passage Block called “Hellegat” (Hell Gate), a narrow and dangerous waterway separating modern day Randall’s Island and Astoria. The first known European to sail from the Hudson into Long Island Sound, Block went on to explore the Housatonic River and the Connecticut River, sailing as far as Hartford and also through Narragansett Bay. The crew later rendezvoused with another ship near Cape Cod and returned to Europe. Block compiled a map of his travels that showed for the first time many details of the northeastern coast from present day New Jersey to Massachusetts and was the first to describe the region as New Netherland. The “figurative map of Adriaen Block” also identified several Indigenous communities, including the Pequot and Narragansett, who were future trading partners with the Dutch. Block died in 1627, and he is buried in Amsterdam’s Oude Kirk. Named in his honor, I.S. 025 Adrien Block is located at 34-65 192nd Street in Flushing and construction for the school was completed in 1970.

Stanley, Kathleen & Robert Rygor Way, is co-named in honor of a local Astoria family who were activists for LGBTQ rights. Stanley Rygor (1926 - 2019) Kathleen Rygor (1929 - 2021) and Robert Rygor (1953 - 1994) were all deeply involved in the LGBT community. Robert was a well-known LGBT community activist, prominent AIDS activist, and ACT UP spokesperson. In 1978, he became the first openly gay man to run for New York State Legislature. He was a member of Villagers Against Crime, advocating for safer neighborhoods, and in 1992, he testified at the Democratic Platform Committee Hearings to advocate for the inclusion of AIDS awareness and funding into their platform. Stanley, Robert’s father, served in the United States Navy and along with his wife Kathleen became a civil rights activist during the 1960’s, including hosting meetings for the Queens NAACP. The Queens LGBT community referred to the Rygors as outspoken allies and advocates for AIDS Outreach after their son contracted the virus and passed away. Stanley was a member of the Irish LGBT group Lavender and Green Alliance, which honored him and his wife Kathleen, in 1996. Stanley and Kathleen Rygor have been featured in several films regarding their son on the challenges of homophobia and AIDS.

The following text was written by Paul Russo's brother George: Paul was a humble and devout Christian young man. Passing at the age of 33, his life was short but meaningful. He was a person of integrity who devoted his later life to the ministry of the less fortunate. Tending to the homeless, building shelter for the poor in Third World countries and bringing the spiritually disenfranchised to the Lord became his mission. He was also entrepreneurial and business-savvy, always giving back to others whatever success he earned through his hard work. The last months of his life were an inspiration to those who witnessed the selfless acceptance of his medical diagnosis offered for the healing of others. Paul was a heroic saint to those who knew him best.

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Francis Lewis(1713-1802) was born in Wales. He attended school in England then moved to New York for business. Lewis was later taken prisoner in France before returning back to New York where he made a home in Whitestone. He was a member of the Continental Congress for years before the Revolutionary War and was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence.

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.

Saint Rose Of Lima Catholic Academy was opened on September 1, 2013, though St. Rose of Lima School was founded in 1965. It is associated with Saint Rose of Lima parish, which tracks its history back to the first Rockaway Catholics. The first mass in the original St. Rose of Lima Church was celebrated on August 30, 1886. Known for piety and chastity, Saint Rose of Lima (1586-1617) was born as Isabel Flores de Olivia to Spanish colonists in Lima, Peru in 1586. Her great beauty gained her the nickname "Rose," which she took as her name officially at her confirmation in 1597. As a girl, Rose hoped to become a nun, praying, fasting, and performing penances in secret. She attracted suitors as she grew, and her parents hoped she would marry. Rose tried to mask her beauty, and told her parents of her plan to take a vow of chastity. Eventually they gave her a room of her own, where she spent her time praying. At the age of 20, Rose joined the Third Order of St. Dominic, where she continued to follow strict religious piety. Her acts of penance included burning her hands and wearing a heavy silver crown with piercing spikes, like Jesus' crown of thorns, which once became lodged in her skull. Rose died on August 25, 1617, and legend says she had predicted that as the date of her death. She was beatified in 1667, and canonized as a saint 1671. The feast day of St. Rose is August 23, though Peru and some other countries honor her on August 30. St. Rose is the patron saint of embroiderers, gardeners, florists, and others.

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.

Robert A. Van Wyck (1847-1918) was an influential political figure in New York during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in New York City, he was the son of Attorney William Van Wyck. Van Wyck began his academic pursuits at the University of North Carolina before completing his education at Columbia Law School, graduating in 1872. Initially a businessman, he transitioned to law and eventually became a city court judge in 1880. After serving as Chief Justice of New York, Van Wyck entered Democratic Party politics. Elected Mayor of New York in 1897 with the backing of Tammany Hall's Richard Croker, he oversaw the unification of the five boroughs into modern-day New York City. During his tenure, Van Wyck worked to improve the city's fragmented administrative system. Following his term, he retired to Paris, France, where he resided until his death in 1918.

Photos are of signs displayed on the front of the school building.

Lewis Howard Latimer was an African American inventor and humanist. Born free in Massachusetts, Latimer was the son of fugitive slaves George Latimer and Rebecca Smith, who escaped from Virginia to Boston in 1842. Upon arrival, George Latimer was captured and imprisoned, which became a pivotal case for the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts. His arrest and the ensuing court hearings spurred multiple meetings and a publication, “The Latimer Journal and the North Star,” involving abolitionists like Frederick Douglass. The large collective effort eventually gained George his freedom by November 1842. Against this backdrop, Lewis Latimer was born in 1848. Latimer’s young life was full of upheaval as his family moved from town to town while tensions in the country continued to mount before the Civil War broke out in 1861. In 1864, Latimer joined the Union Navy at age 16. After the conclusion of the war, Latimer was determined to overcome his lack of formal education; he taught himself mechanical drawing and became an expert draftsman while working at a patent law office. He went on to work with three of the greatest scientific inventors in American history: Alexander Graham Bell, Hiram S. Maxim and Thomas Alva Edison. Latimer played a critical role in the development of the telephone and, as Edison’s chief draftsman, he invented and patented the carbon filament, a significant improvement in the production of the incandescent light bulb. As an expert, Latimer was also called to testify on a number of patent infringement cases. Outside of his professional life, Latimer wrote and published poems, painted and played the violin. He was one of the founders of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens and was among the first Civil War veterans to join the Grand Army of the Republic fraternal organization. He also taught English to immigrants at the Henry Street Settlement. Latimer Gardens is a public housing development administered by the New York City Housing Authority. Constructed in 1970, it consists of four 10-story buildings with a total of 423 apartments.

Lyndon B. Johnson was born on August 27, 1908 and grew up in rural Texas. Johnson served in the House of Representatives for six terms, from April 10, 1937 to January 3, 1949. He also served in the Senate from January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1961, becoming the youngest Minority Leader in Senate history in 1953, and then Majority Leader in the following year. As a Senator, one of Johnson’s greatest achievements was the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first civil rights law in 82 years. He also pushed the United States on space exploration. In 1961, he resigned to serve as Vice President for John F. Kennedy. After John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, Johnson was sworn in on the same day, and became the 36th President of the United States. The next year he ran for President against Barry Goldwater and won with the widest popular margin in American history. In the wake of Kennedy’s assassination, Johnson resolved to finish what Kennedy was unable to complete. He pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through the Senate, and moved on to focusing on his goal to “build a great society, a place where the meaning of man’s life matches the marvels of man’s labor”. His agenda included aid to education, a war against poverty, and the removal of obstacles to the right to vote. Although Johnson managed to achieve much of his agenda, one of his greatest obstacles was the Vietnam War. Johnson’s goal was to end Communist aggression, and while he pledged in his campaign to limit military involvement in Vietnam, he instead increased the number of U.S. troops. Along with the controversy surrounding the war, controversy around Johnson’s domestic policy also grew, as his Great Society failed to materialize and racial tensions increased significantly, especially in 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Tensions escalated, as did the casualties, and Johnson declared he would not run for re-election in the election of 1968, resolving to focus on achieving peace through negotiations. When he left office, peace talks had begun, but he died suddenly of a heart attack at his Texas ranch on January 22, 1973.

Lewis Howard Latimer was an African American inventor and humanist. Born free in Massachusetts, Latimer was the son of fugitive slaves George Latimer and Rebecca Smith, who escaped from Virginia to Boston in 1842. Upon arrival, George Latimer was captured and imprisoned, which became a pivotal case for the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts. His arrest and the ensuing court hearings spurred multiple meetings and a publication, “The Latimer Journal and the North Star,” involving abolitionists like Frederick Douglass. The large collective effort eventually gained George his freedom by November 1842. Against this backdrop, Lewis Latimer was born in 1848. Latimer’s young life was full of upheaval as his family moved from town to town while tensions in the country continued to mount before the Civil War broke out in 1861. In 1864, Latimer joined the Union Navy at age 16. After the conclusion of the war, Latimer was determined to overcome his lack of formal education; he taught himself mechanical drawing and became an expert draftsman while working at a patent law office. He went on to work with three of the greatest scientific inventors in American history: Alexander Graham Bell, Hiram S. Maxim and Thomas Alva Edison. Latimer played a critical role in the development of the telephone and, as Edison’s chief draftsman, he invented and patented the carbon filament, a significant improvement in the production of the incandescent light bulb. As an expert, Latimer was also called to testify on a number of patent infringement cases. Outside of his professional life, Latimer wrote and published poems, painted and played the violin. He was one of the founders of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens and was among the first Civil War veterans to join the Grand Army of the Republic fraternal organization. He also taught English to immigrants at the Henry Street Settlement. The Lewis H. Latimer House is a modest Queen Anne-style, wood-frame suburban residence constructed between 1887 and 1889. Latimer lived in the house from 1903 until his death in 1928. The house remained in the Latimer family until 1963 when, threatened with demolition, it was moved from Holly Avenue to its present location in 1988. In 1993, it was designated a New York City Landmark. The historic house now serves as a museum that shares Lewis Latimer’s story with the public and offers a variety of free educational programs. The Latimer House is owned by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, operated by the Lewis H. Latimer Fund Inc., and is a member of the Historic House Trust.

Robert Tilitz (1909-1996) moved to Elmhurst in 1917. He served in World War II, and rose to the rank of Captain. After the war he attended the New School and went on to a career at the Veterans Administration - he taught social services at Columbia University after he retired. Tilitz was often referred to as the "Mayor of Elmhurst," where he was very active in the community. He volunteered at a mental health clinic, was president of the Newtown Civic Association and was the associate editor of The Newtown Crier. He also served on Community Board 4 and was a trustee of Queens Borough Public Library for 13 years. In addition, Olga Conway, Bob's sister, was a tireless advocate for gardens and green spaces. She and her crew could be found at the oasis which was the Elmhurst Library Garden, taking care of the wide, spacious, and diverse groups of flowers.

Seymour “Sy” Seplowe was a community activist and youth advocate. He was born in the Bronx, served in World War II, then settled in northeastern Queens during the early 1950s. Seplowe organized the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade and, in 1953, founded the Little Neck-Douglaston Youth Club, an organization of 1,200 members dedicated to providing community youth with athletic opportunities. Seplowe was also a founding member of Community Board 11 and the president of the Little Neck-Douglaston Community Council. Throughout his life, Seplowe worked to promote baseball, and served as the Little League administrator for School District 26 for 35 years. In 1951, the City of New York acquired the land adjacent to P.S. 94 and constructed a park for the school’s use. The City named the new park in honor of Seplowe. In 1985, Parks renamed the property Admiral Park; however, the playground within the park continues to be known as Sy Seplowe Playground.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) was the 35th President of the United States (1961-1963), and the youngest man and first Roman Catholic elected to the office. On November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first thousand days in office, he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, becoming also the youngest president to die. Kennedy Airport, often referred to by its three-letter code JFK, is the largest airport in the New York metropolitan area. Construction of the facility began in 1942 on the former site of Idlewild Golf Course; hence it was initially called Idlewild Airport. When it opened on July 1, 1948, it was officially named New York International Airport but continued to be popularly called Idlewild. It was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 24, 1963, following the assassination of President Kennedy the prior month.

Horace Harding (1862-1929) was born to an influential publishing family. He entered the banking world and moved up through connections on his wife's side. Harding served as a director for multiple entities including American Express and numerous railway trusts. Harding enjoyed art collecting and spent time cultivating the Frick collection. Harding was extremely influential in Long Island and supported Robert Moses' "Great Parkway Plan" to build a highway from Queens Blvd. to Shelter Rock in Nassau County. He also supported the Northern State Parkway and construction of the Long Island Expressway. His support of new roads happened to coincide with his desire for an easier pathway to his country club. Harding died at 65 from influenza and blood poisoning.

Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson (1919-1972) will forever be remembered and honored as the first Black player in Major League Baseball. Born in Georgia, he was raised by a single mother along with his four siblings. His early success as a student athlete led him to UCLA, where he became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports (baseball, football. basketball and track). After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1944 and was selected by Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey as a player who could start the integration of the white major leagues. Robinson was recognized not only for his baseball talents, but because he was thought to have had the right demeanor for the challenges he would ultimately face. Robinson made his National League debut on April 15, 1947, as Brooklyn's first baseman. In spite of the abuse of the crowds and some fellow baseball players, he endured and succeeded in the sport. He won the Rookie of the Year Award that year. Two years later, he was named the National League MVP, when he led the league with a .342 batting average, 37 steals and 124 RBI. A few select players, like Dodgers’ shortstop Pee Wee Reese, were particularly supportive of Robinson in spite of the taunting and jeers and helped him excel. In Robinson’s 10 seasons with the Dodgers, the team won six pennants and ultimately captured the 1955 World Series title. Robinson’s struggles and achievements paved the way for Black players in baseball and other sports. When he retired after the 1956 season, he left the game with a .313 batting average, 972 runs scored, 1,563 hits and 200 stolen bases. After baseball, Robinson operated a chain of restaurants and coffee shops but continued to advocate for social change, serving on the board of the NAACP. He died of a heart attack in 1972. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as its first Black player in 1962. On April 15, 1997, 50 years after his major league debut, his uniform number 42 was retired from all teams of Major League Baseball, a unique honor to this day. Ten years later in 2007, April 15 was declared to be Jackie Robinson Day. In Robinson's honor, all major league players, coaches and managers wear the number 42 on that day.

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.

Russell Risley Sage (1816 – 1906) Was a financier and President of the Chicago, St. Paul & Milwaukee Railroad, he played a large part in organizing the railroad and telegraph systems in the United States. He also served as a delegate to the Whig Convention of 1848, where he supported Henry Clay. Sage served two consecutive terms in the U.S. Congress (1853–57). Sage was born in Oneida County New York, his first job was as an errand boy in his brother's Troy, NY grocery store, very motivated he soon opened his own wholesale grocery business. He was elected as an alderman in Troy, while also serving as a treasurer in Rensselaer County from 1844 to 1851, 1852 he was elected to Congress on the Whig ticket and served for five years until he took over as vice president of the La Crosse Railroad in Wisconsin, a company he had invested in. He also had money invested in Western Union Telegraph. He relocated to New York City in 1863 where he engaged in the business of selling puts and calls, as well as short-term options known as privileges. He has been credited with developing the market for stock options in the United States and inventing the "spread" and "straddle" option strategies, for which he was dubbed "Old Straddle" and the "Father of Puts and Calls."  In 1891, a man entered Sage’s office and demanded $1.2 million, threatening Sage with dynamite. When Sage refused, the man unleashed an explosion that left him dead, but Sage was mostly unharmed. The event was in all the newspapers. By the time of Sage’s death in 1906, he had amassed a large amount of money which he left to his wife Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage (1828 - 1918), and it is largely due to her efforts that so many institutions in New York benefitted from his fortune. Olivia donated large sums to the YMCA, the YWCA, the Women’s Hospital, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a memorial to her husband, she had built the First Presbyterian Church of Far Rockaway, at 1324 Beach 12th Street, where they used to vacation. Olivia also founded the Russell Sage Foundation in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States,” and helped to sponsor the Regional Plan Association’s (‘RPA’) project to develop a regional plan for New York City in 1929, which would provide Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981) with many of the basic ideas that shaped his career.

Sharon Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986) was born in Boston and earned a degree in history from Framingham University in 1970. Later that year, McAuliffe married her high school sweetheart and moved to Maryland, where she began her teaching career. McAuliffe taught American history, civics and economics, and earned an MA in education administration at Bowie State University before her family moved to Concord, N.H., in 1978. There, she continued to teach junior high and high school social studies. In 1984, she became one of more than 11,000 educators who applied to be part of NASA’s new “Teacher in Space Project.” On July 1, 1985, after a rigorous application process, it was announced that McAuliffe had been selected. During the next six months, McAuliffe trained for the space mission and prepared school lessons that would be aired from space. On January 28, 1986, McAuliffe joined six other astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Shortly after launching, the Challenger\_ \_malfunctioned, and everyone on board was killed in the explosion. In 2004, McAuliffe and the 13 astronauts who died during the Challenger and Columbia tragedies were posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) was the 35th President of the United States (1961-1963), and the youngest man and first Roman Catholic elected to the office. On November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first thousand days in office, he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, becoming also the youngest president to die.

Lorraine Hansberry (1930 – 1965) was a playwright, writer, and activist. Her play, “A Raisin in the Sun” (1959), was the first drama by an African American woman produced on Broadway. Hansberry was born in Chicago in 1930, the youngest of four children to a real estate entrepreneur and a schoolteacher. Her parents were members of the NAACP and the Urban League. She was the niece of Pan-Africanist scholar and college professor Leo Hansberry. In 1938 her family moved to a white neighborhood where they were attacked by neighbors. The Hansberry’s refused to move until a court ordered them to do so, and the case made it to the Supreme Court as Hansberry v. Lee, ruling restrictive covenants illegal. The case was the inspiration for her Broadway play, A Raisin in the Sun, which also became a movie starring Sidney Poitier. Hansberry attended the University of Wisconsin but left after two years and moved to New York to work as a writer and editor of Paul Robeson’s newspaper Freedom. She was a Communist and committed civil rights activist. She met her husband and closest friend, Robert Nemiroff, at a civil rights demonstration. Despite her marriage to a man, Hansberry identified as a lesbian, but she was not “out,” though it seems like she was on the path to a more open life before her death, having built a circle of gay and lesbian friends. In 1964, Hansberry and Nemiroff divorced but continued to work together, and he was the executor of her estate when she died of cancer in 1965. Nemiroff donated all of Hansberry's personal and professional effects to the New York Public Library but blocked access to all materials related to Hansberry's lesbianism for 50 years. Nemiroff passed away in 1991, and in 2013, Nemiroff's daughter released the restricted materials for research.

Wilson Rantus (1807-1861) was a free African American businessman, farmer and civil rights activist who owned land in both Flushing and Jamaica in the mid-1800s. He built a school for Black children and took part in the struggle for equal voting rights in New York State, seeking to end property requirements for African American citizens. He also was a financial backer of Thomas Hamilton’s "Anglo-African" magazine and newspaper. The Rantus family farm and cemetery were located adjacent to the site on the Queens College campus where this commemorative boulder is found.

English explorer and navigator Henry Hudson (1575-1611) is credited as the first European to “discover” the North River, later named for him. On September 2, 1609, Hudson, the captain of the Dutch ship Halve Maen (Half Moon), directed his ship to drop anchor in the lower bay of what is now known as New York Harbor. Henry Hudson had been hired by the Dutch East India Company to find a sea route through North America to the Far East. The ship sailed up the river that now bears his name, docking off Spuyten Duyvil and attempting travel even further upstream before abandoning the quest, realizing that the river was narrowing. Hudson’s last voyage was in 1611 when, after discovering Hudson’s Bay and claiming it for England, his crew mutinied and cast him adrift. The Dutch East India Company soon afterward establish an outpost that became New Netherland, and eventually the metropolis we know as New York.

Major James A. McKenna (1885-1918) of the165th Regiment, 83rd Brigade, third "Shamrock" Battalion, of the Rainbow Division (42nd Infantry Division). James Augustine McKenna Jr. was born in Long Island City, Queens, in 1885. He attended local schools and went on to study at Harvard and Cornell, where he was a star athlete. After graduating from law school at Fordham in 1916, he joined the 7th Regiment and fought in the Mexican Border War (1910–1919). In 1917, he was transferred to the 69th Regiment and was promoted to Lieutenant. McKenna commanded the 1st Troop ship of his infantry while crossing into France. In October of that year, he and his compatriots arrived in France, where he was promoted to Major.  In July 1918, McKenna led his battalion across the Ourcq River in France near Villeneuve-sur-Fere, in the Second Battle of the Marne (July-August 1918). His battalion was the only one to successfully cross the river, but McKenna was killed by a stray piece of shrapnel the following day. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery.

Julian “Julie” Wager (1929-2010) was founder of the Central Astoria Local Development Coalition and its president for over 30 years. He was also president of the Steinway Astoria partnership and the Steinway Street Merchants Association, and served on Community Board 1 for 30 years. Wager died in January 2010 at the age of 80; he had been sick for the previous 10 years after being left paraplegic after a spinal cord injury. He had six daughters.

James Edward Heath (1926 – 2020) was a jazz legend who raised his family in the historic Dorie Miller co-ops in Corona and taught at Queens College. James “Jimmy” Heath was born in Philadelphia to Percy Heath Sr. and Arlethia Heath. He attended Walter George Smith School in South Philadelphia and graduated from Williston Industrial School in Wilmington, N.C., in 1943. His father was an auto mechanic who played the clarinet, performing on the weekends, and his mother sang in a church choir. His sister Elizabeth played piano; his older brother Percy Jr. played violin and bass; and his younger brother Albert “Tootie” Heath played the drums. As a teenager, Heath took music lessons and played alto saxophone in the high school marching band. He also played in a jazz band called the Melody Barons and toured with the Calvin Todd Band in 1945, before joining a dance band in Omaha, Nebraska led by Nat Towles. Small in stature (standing 5'3"), he was unable to serve during World War II, because he was under the weight limit. In 1946, he formed his own band, which was a fixture on the Philadelphia jazz scene until 1949. Heath's earliest big band (1947-1948) in Philadelphia included John Coltrane, Benny Golson, Ray Bryant, Specs Wright, Cal Massey, Johnny Coles, and Nelson Boyd. Charlie Parker and Max Roach sat in on occasion. In 1959, Heath briefly joined Miles Davis's group, replacing John Coltrane, and also worked with Kenny Dorham and Gil Evans. Heath recorded extensively as leader and sideman. During the 1960s, he frequently worked with Milt Jackson and Art Farmer. The biological father of R\&B songwriter/musician James “Mtume” Forman, Heath met his eventual wife, Mona Brown, whom he married in 1960; they had two children, Roslyn and Jeffrey. In the early 1960s, encouraged by friends Clark Terry and the Adderley brothers, the Heaths purchased an apartment in the Dorie Miller Cooperative Housing in Corona, where the Adderleys and Terry also lived. In 1987, Heath became a professor of music at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. There, he premiered his first symphonic work, "Three Ears," with Maurice Peress conducting. In 2010, his autobiography, "I Walked With Giants," was published; it was voted Best Book of The Year by the Jazz Journalist Association. He recorded three big band records -- "Little Man Big Band," produced by Bill Cosby, "Turn Up The Heath" and "Togetherness Live at the Blue Note." Heath received a Life Achievement Award from the Jazz Foundation of America and the 2003 American Jazz Master Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. He was nominated for three Grammy Awards and has received three honorary doctorate degrees. He was also the first jazz musician to receive an honorary doctorate in music from the Juilliard School.

Detective Richard Arundell (1927-1963) served with the NYPD for 11 years and tragically died of a heart attack while on duty. Before joining the NYPD, Arundell served in the Army during World War II. Enlisting in 1945 at the age of 18, he served for a year as a Private First Class. Late on February 8, 1963, Arundell and his partner attempted to stop a vehicle that had run a red light at the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and 62nd Road. The two occupants of the car fled on foot. Arundell's partner ordered them to halt and fired warning shots, but the officers pursued the suspects, eventually apprehending one. Following the chase, Arundell experienced chest pains and was taken to the hospital, where he died shortly thereafter. Arundell was survived by his wife and four children and is buried at Saint Charles Cemetery in East Farmingdale, Long Island. In May 1963, the NYPD held a joint memorial service for Arundell and five other officers who had died in the line of duty in the preceding year. In 2024, Council Member Robert Holden proposed co-naming the street where Arundell's final chase began in his honor. The street was dedicated with a ceremony on October 19, 2024.

In 1867 and 1869 Daniel Eldrige and his wife Abbie of Brooklyn purchased six lots from Charles and Libya Paulson in what was then the town of Clarencevill and is now Richmond Hill, Queens. The parcel on Greenwood Avenue (now 111th Street) was the main thoroughfare of the village. The Italianate-Style house was completed in 1870. Daniel Eldrige was a clerk in the city Water Department and alleged member of the Tweed Ring (aka Boss William Marcy Tweed).

Gilbert Ray “Gil” Hodges (1924-1972) helped win championships for his teams both as a player and as a manager. He was born in Indiana and excelled at baseball at an early age. He was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943 but only managed to play one game that year, leaving to serve in the Marines for World War II. Hodges returned to the team in 1947 and played a number of positions before finding success at first base. During his peak offensive production from 1949 to 1957, Hodges averaged 32 home runs and 108 RBI per season. It was during these seasons that the Dodgers won five National League pennants and the 1955 World Series title. One notable achievement for Hodges occurred on August 31, 1950, when he became just the second modern-era National League player to hit four home runs in one game. Hodges moved with the team to Los Angeles in 1958 and helped it win its first National League pennant and World Series on the West Coast in 1959. His abilities and playing time diminished after that; he played two more years with the Dodgers and then with the new New York team, the Mets, in 1962 and 1963. He is credited with hitting the first home run for the Mets. Hodges retired early in the 1963 season with 370 homers (third most for a right-handed hitter at the time), 1,921 hits, 1,274 RBI and three Gold Glove Awards at first base – even though the award was not created until 1957. He was quickly chosen by the last-place Washington Senators to manage the team. He brought the Senators out of recent 100-loss seasons to a more respectable 76-85 record in 1967 with limited resources. This success was noted by the New York Mets, who hired him after the 1967 season to help their expansion team. It didn’t take long for Hodges to turn a team that hadn’t won more than 66 games in a season to “The Miracle Mets” of 1969 that won 100 games and the World Series title. The Mets had winning seasons in 1970 and 1971 but, tragically, Hodges had a heart attack and died just before his 48th birthday on April 2, 1972. Hodges’ uniform number 14 was retired on June 9, 1973, at Shea Stadium. He was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1982. After years of consideration, his number 14 was retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers and he was finally inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Golden Days Eras Committee in 2022. In 1978, The Marine Parkway Bridge was renamed the Marine Parkway - Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, marking the first time a bridge was named for a major sports figure. Appropriately, it spans the Rockaway Inlet from Jacob Riis Park in Queens to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

Cathay Williams (1844-1893) was born in Independence, Missouri. Her mother was a slave and her father was free. She worked as a house slave on the Johnson plantation on the outskirts of Jefferson City, Missouri. In 1861, Union forces occupied Jefferson City during the early stages of the Civil War. Like other captured slaves, she was designated as contraband and served as an Army cook and washerwoman. In this role, she accompanied the infantry all over the country. Williams served under the service of General Philip Sheridan and witnessed the Red River Campaign and the Battle of Pea Ridge. She enlisted voluntarily when she was 17 in 1866. Because of the prohibition against women serving in the military, she enlisted as a man, under the name of "William Cathay". Williams was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry Regiment for three years. Due to health issues, a surgeon finally discovered she was a woman and informed the post commander. She was honorably discharged by her commanding officer, Captain Charles E. Clarke, on October 14, 1868. She then signed up with an emerging all-black regiment that would eventually become part of the legendary Buffalo Soldiers. Following her discharge, Williams worked as a cook and seamstress. She had a troubled marriage and had her husband arrested after he stole her money and a team of horses. It was during this time that her story first became public. A reporter from St. Louis heard rumors of a female African-American who had served in the army and came to interview her. Her life and military service narrative was published in the St. Louis Daily Times on January 2, 1876. Suffering from neuralgia and diabetes, she was denied a military pension in 1893. The exact date of her death is unknown, but it is believed she died shortly after she was denied.

Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) was an Austrian Jewish journalist and playwright best known for role as founder of the political form of Zionism, a movement to establish an independent Jewish State. He was born in 1860 in Budapest, Hungary to Jakob and Jeanette Herzl, who were both wealthy German-speaking Jews. Though Herzl received his degree in law at the University of Vienna, he later focused on literature and was a successful journalist and playwright. He published a Zionist manifesto called “Der Judenstaat” in 1896. Subsequently, he put together the first Zionist Congress to take the steps to establish the Jewish State. He was the leader of the organization until his death at the age of forty-four in 1904. He was the only person mentioned by name in Israel’s Declaration of Independence and was known as the founder of the vision for the Jewish State. The Herzl’s monument was built a hundred years after his birth. It was designed by Joseph DiLorenzi and funded by the Kew Garden Zionist District. The Herzl monument is across the street from a Jewish high school and is regarded as a symbol of Jewish community strength.

Francis Lewis (1713-1802) was a merchant, a Founding Father of the United States, and a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Born in Wales, he attended school in England before working in a mercantile house in London. In 1734, he came to New York to establish a business. While working as a mercantile agent in 1756, Lewis was taken prisoner and sent to prison in France. Upon his return to New York, he became active in politics and made his home in Whitestone, Queens. A member of the Continental Congress for several years before the Revolutionary War, Lewis played a significant role in the nation's founding.

John Bowne (1627-1695) was an English emigrant who arrived in in New Netherland, or Vlissingen (now Flushing) in 1649. He fought against Governor Pieter Stuyvesant's edict to restrict religious freedom by allowing Quakers to meet in his home. Bowne was arrested, fined and imprisoned for months by Gov. Stuyvesant and even deported due to his religious activities, though he was later set free by the Directors of the West India Company. He returned to his home later and acquired more land, including that designated for the Flushing Quaker Meeting House and a burial ground, where he was buried upon his death in 1695. Flushing had the previous name of Flushing Creeke by the original inhabitants who lived there, the Matinecock people, part of the larger Algonquin nation. While the Matinecock people are said to have sold land to the Dutch, and possibly to Bowne as well, there was also documented violence against them prior to this, as well as a smallpox epidemic that devastated the community years later in 1652. Members of the Matinecock tribe remain in Queens today.

Henry Waichitis, undated photo

Lewis Howard Latimer (1848-1928), was an African American inventor and humanist. Born free in Massachusetts, Latimer was the son of fugitive slaves George Latimer and Rebecca Smith, who escaped from Virginia to Boston in 1842. Upon arrival, George Latimer was captured and imprisoned, which became a pivotal case for the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts. His arrest and the ensuing court hearings spurred multiple meetings and a publication, “The Latimer Journal and the North Star,” involving abolitionists like Frederick Douglass. The large collective effort eventually gained George his freedom by November 1842. Against this backdrop, Lewis Latimer was born in 1848. Latimer’s young life was full of upheaval as his family moved from town to town while tensions in the country continued to mount before the Civil War broke out in 1861. In 1864, Latimer joined the Union Navy at age 16. After the conclusion of the war, Latimer was determined to overcome his lack of formal education; he taught himself mechanical drawing and became an expert draftsman while working at a patent law office. He went on to work with three of the greatest scientific inventors in American history: Alexander Graham Bell, Hiram S. Maxim and Thomas Alva Edison. Latimer played a critical role in the development of the telephone and, as Edison’s chief draftsman, he invented and patented the carbon filament, a significant improvement in the production of the incandescent light bulb. As an expert, Latimer was also called to testify on a number of patent infringement cases. Outside of his professional life, Latimer wrote and published poems, painted and played the violin. He was one of the founders of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens and was among the first Civil War veterans to join the Grand Army of the Republic fraternal organization. He also taught English to immigrants at the Henry Street Settlement.

Ann Juliano Jawin (1922 - 2019) a Douglaston resident, was an educator, author and activist who was part of the Second Wave of women’s liberation in the 1970’s and a very active member of her community. Jawin was the founder of The Center for the Women of New York (CWNY). Ann Juliano Jawin was born in Barnesboro, Pennsylvania on May 29, 1922. Her family moved to Brooklyn, NY when she was a child and she remained a New York resident. She attended Hunter College, and soon after met her future husband Edward H. Jawin (d. 2008). Ms. Jawin began her career as a high school teacher and became a Guidance Counselor. She was always active in political movements including opposition to the Vietnam War and support for civil rights and the rights of Italian-Americans and women. Ann and Edward Jawin were founding members of the Bay Terrace Civic Association and the Doug-Bay Civic Association. She was very active in local democratic politics. She served as a State Committeewoman and ran for the NY State Senate against Frank Padavan. She joined the National Organization for Women and became Chair of the Task Force for Education and Employment. In 1979 she published “A Woman's Guide to Career Preparation: Scholarships, Grants, and Loans”. In 1987 Ms. Jawin founded the Center for the Women of New York (CWNY), a voluntary, non-profit organization in Queens that is a one-stop, walk-in resource center for women. CWNY focuses on issues impacting women, including domestic violence, sexual harassment, healthcare, employment, crime prevention and victims’ services. Over the years, the programs have grown to include a weekly Job Readiness Workshop, career counseling, a help line, a Legal Assistance Clinic, a Money Management Clinic, Support Groups for crisis situations and life issues, instruction in computers and other job training courses. CWNY’s new location in Fort Totten, Queens will allow resumption of programs in self-defense, English as a Second Language, General Equivalency Diplomas, and a Walking Club. Ms. Jawin was honored by the New York City Police Department at its 3rd annual women's history month breakfast at the NYC Police Museum on March 14, 2012 and was featured in the Veteran Feminists of America (VFA) Pioneer Histories Project. News of Jawin’s death came less than a month after she celebrated the grand opening of a brand-new women’s center in Fort Totten. Members of the community expressed condolences for the pioneer who dedicated her life to women’s equality and empowerment. Ann was an outspoken activist who, for decades, devotedly dedicated herself to improving the lives of all women throughout the City of New York. “Ann was a tenacious and unstoppable trailblazer who devoted her life to empowering women and never took no for an answer. Just last month, she succeeded in her 16-year legal battle with the City to open CWNY’s beautiful new facility in Fort Totten, which is the only building completely dedicated to full equality for women between the New York metropolitan area and Seneca Falls. This new building will ensure that Ann’s unparalleled service and dedication to women’s rights will be remembered by our community for generations to come,” read a statement from the Jefferson Democratic Club.

Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), known as “Lady Ella,” the “Queen of Jazz,” and the “First Lady of Song,” was the most celebrated jazz singer of her generation. In a career that spanned six decades and more than 50 years, she was widely recognized as a singular vocal talent, known for her wide range, stylish phrasing, clear and pure tone, impeccable diction, heartfelt vocal delivery, and the thrilling virtuosity of her improvisational style of scat singing. She performed with big bands, symphony orchestras, and small jazz groups, and appeared in clubs and concert halls around the world. Her work reflects a mastery of a wide array of styles including swing, bebop, show tunes, jazz songs, soul, novelties, bossa nova, and opera (in a 1959 album of excerpts from "Porgy and Bess" recorded with Louis Armstrong). She earned the respect, accolades, and love of fellow musicians and audiences the world over, as well as dozens of honors for her lifetime of vocal performances and recordings. Of Fitzgerarld, singer and actor Bing Crosby remarked, "man, woman or child, Ella is the greatest." She was born on April 25, 1917, in Newport News, Virginia, to William Ashland Fitzgerald, a wagon driver, and Temperance “Tempie” Henry, a laundress. The couple separated within a year of her birth. In the 1920s, her mother settled with her young daughter in Yonkers, and was joined by her boyfriend, Joseph da Silva. In 1923, Frances da Silva, Fitzgerald’s half-sister, was born. The family struggled financially, and to help out, Fitzgerald took on small jobs such as working as a runner for local gamblers and as a lookout for prostitutes in neighborhood brothels. In 1932, her mother died from injuries sustained in a car accident, and in 1933, Fitzgerald moved in with an aunt in Harlem. In this difficult period, Fitzgerald’s grades suffered, and she started skipping school. She was sent to a state reform school, but escaped and returned to Harlem, where she found herself broke and alone. She began singing and dancing on the streets for tips. On November 21, 1934, she made her debut at an amateur night performance at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. Having planned to dance, she panicked in the moment and sang instead. She took first prize. In 1935, she joined drummer and bandleader Chick Webb’s orchestra and began performing across the country, including at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. “A-Tiskit, A-Tasket,” a song she co-wrote and recorded in 1938, became a hit on the radio, and it boosted her and Webb to national fame. Following Webb’s death in 1939, Fitzgerald took over as bandleader, a position she held until the group broke up in 1942. She recorded prolifically for Decca from 1935 to 1955 and toured internationally with an array of jazz and pop stars such as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, the Ink Spots, and the Mills Brothers. In 1949, she began to appear in producer Norman Granz’s popular Jazz at the Philharmonic series. Granz eventually became her manager, and Fitzgerald was the first artist signed to his newly created Verve label. From 1956 to 1964, Fitzgerald recorded an eight-album series of the Great American Songbook for Verve. Consisting of Fitzgerald’s now classic interpretations of the works of Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, and Ira and George Gershwin, the albums were hugely popular with jazz and non-jazz listeners alike. Lyricist Ira Gershwin said, "I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them." A frequent television guest, Fitzgerald appeared on dozens of programs, including The Frank Sinatra Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Andy Williams Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. She made her film debut in Abbott and Costello’s Ride 'Em Cowboy in 1942, and went on to appear in several others, including Pete Kelly’s Blues in 1955. In 1941, she married Benny Kornegay, a shipyard worker, but the marriage was annulled after two years. While touring with Dizzy Gillespie’s band, she met bass player Ray Brown, and they married in 1947. The couple adopted a child born to Fitzgerald’s half-sister, Frances, naming him Ray Brown, Jr., and they settled in East Elmhurst. However, touring schedules and the work of their respective careers took their toll, and they divorced in 1953. Fitzgerald eventually settled in the Addisleigh Park historic district in the neighborhood of St. Albans, where she resided until 1967. She continued to record and perform in the 1970s, including a two-week engagement in New York City in 1974 with Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. Fitzgerald made her last public performance at Carnegie Hall in 1991. In 1993, she established the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, which focuses on grants for education, basic care for those in need, and medical research. After developing health problems from heart disease and diabetes, she died on June 15, 1996, at her...

Ruth and John Kempisty met while serving in the Armed Forces during WWII and married shortly after the war in 1946. They settled in Maspeth and became members of Community Board 5. The Kempisty’s were very active in the community, some of the organizations to which they belonged include: the Maspeth Anti-Crime Task Force, the Anti-Sludge Group, the United Veterans and Fraternal Organizations of Maspeth, COP 104, COMET (Communities of Maspeth & Elmhurst Together), Kowalinski Post #4 (of which Ruth was the only woman veteran member), Graffiti Removal Special Interest Group, and the Juniper Park Civic Association. Ruth who passed away on October 29, 2013, served on a State Senate Veterans Advisory Commission; while John, who passed away on May 16, 2019, supported the annual Three Man Basket Ball Tournament in Frontera Park, by serving up hamburgers and hot dogs, and was a member of the Parks Service Committee of Community Board 5.

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.

Paul Ferrara (1969-2014) joined the New York City Police Department in June 1992, and began his career on patrol in the 81st Precinct located in Brooklyn. Immediately after the tragedy on September 11, 2001, he was assigned to Ground Zero for the recovery efforts and spent many weeks thereafter assisting with public safety. After serving the Bedford Stuyvesant /Stuyvesant Heights communities for 14 years, he was promoted to Sergeant in February 2006, and was subsequently assigned to the 110th Precinct. On his days off, he would often be assigned to the elite Patrol Borough Queens North Counterterrorism Unit. This unit is responsible for patrolling “sensitive locations” such as stadiums, malls and other terrorist target locations. During his career he was recognized twice for Excellent Police Duty. Ferrara died on August 28, 2014, as a result of 9/11-related illness.

Lance Corporal Thomas P. Noonan Jr. (1943-1969) was a Vietnam War Veteran born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1961 he attended Hunter College in the Bronx, graduating with a B.A. degree in Physical Education in 1966. Noonan enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in Brooklyn at the end of 1967 and was discharged to enlist in the regular Marine Corps early 1968. Noonan completed recruit training with the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, and was promoted to private first class in spring 1968. Summer of 1968 Noonan was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam. He was first assigned duty as a mortar man with H\&S Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein), FMF. Later Noonan was reassigned to the 3rd Marine Division as a rifleman, where he saw combat with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. Noonan was promoted to Lance Corporal January 1st, 1969. Lance Corporal Noonan was killed in action February 5th, 1969 while participating in action against the enemy during Operation Dewey Canyon south of Vandegrift Combat Base in Quang Tri Province. Noonan was awarded the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze stars, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. He was also awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously by President Richard Nixon. As described in the citation, Noonan was awarded this medal for his indomitable courage, inspiring initiative, and selfless devotion to duty. Noonan died attempting to bring wounded men away from enemy fire and back to safety. Noonan dashed across the hazardous terrain of the area and commenced dragging the most seriously wounded man. Although wounded and knocked to the ground by an enemy round, Lance Corporal Noonan recovered rapidly and resumed dragging the man toward the marginal security of a rock. He was however, mortally wounded before he could reach his destination. His actions inspired his fellow Marines to such passion that they initiated a spirited assault which forced the enemy soldiers to withdraw. In December 2004, Jack Lincks wrote: "You are gone from our presence, but never forgotten. You would be amazed that so many remember you, and that our childhood playground is now named for you. Till we meet again - Semper Fi !" The L/CPL Thomas P. Noonan Jr. Playground holds Noonan's memory, as well as those who knew him.

Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863) was a professor of Oriental and Greek literature at New York's General Theological Seminary from 1823 to 1850. He also donated a large piece of land that he had inherited, located in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, to the seminary. The Moore family was among the earliest settlers of Elmhurst, Queens, having been granted 80 acres there in the mid-1600s. Prior to the colonization of Elmhurst, the land was considered part of the Canarsie and Munsee Lenape territories. The Moore Homestead, built by Captain Samuel Moore of the Newtown militia, lasted from 1661 to 1933. The Moore family intermarried with many other colonial families in the area. Clement Moore spent much of his childhood at the family estate in Newtown. P.S. 13 in Elmhurst is also named in Moore's honor. Clement Clarke Moore was born and raised in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. He wrote on a variety of topics but is best known today as the author of the enduringly popular Christmas poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas." The poem was first published anonymously in 1823, and there has been debate over its true authorship. Many scholars believe it was actually written by Henry Livingston, Jr., but decisive proof has been elusive. The poem became a classic popularly known as "The Night Before Christmas” and brought the idea of Santa Claus to mainstream culture. It's been said that Moore was inspired to write the poem for his grandchildren by regaling them in the nostalgic times of his youth, where he would visit family at their ancestral property. Though he never lived there, when he would visit, he stayed at one of the outlier homes - where the 80-20 Broadway apartment building now stands. Moore died in Newport, Rhode Island in 1863.

Fiorello H. LaGuardia (1882–1947) was born in New York City to immigrant parents, attended public schools and graduated from New York University Law School in 1910. After practicing law for several years, he was elected as the nation’s first Italian American member of Congress in 1916. He served as a U.S. Representative until 1919, when he resigned to join the Army Air Service and serve in World War I. Upon his return, he was president of the New York City Board of Aldermen in 1920 and 1921, and was re-elected to Congress from 1923 to 1933. LaGuardia then served as mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1945. Among LaGuardia's many achievements as mayor, he is credited with unifying and modernizing New York City's public transit system, consolidating much of the city government, cracking down on illegal gambling, and beginning transportation projects that created many of the city’s bridges, tunnels, parkways and airports. He was also instrumental in the establishment of Queens College. In September 1937, Mayor LaGuardia broke ground on this airport's site. Its construction was funded through a $45 million Federal Works Progress Administration grant. More than half of the 558 acres on which the airport was built was man-made, filled in with more than 17 million cubic yards of cinders, ashes and trash. The new airport opened in 1939 as New York City Municipal Airport. In August 1940, the Board of Estimates renamed the facility for LaGuardia, who considered the project one of his greatest achievements. Today it is the third largest airport in the New York metropolitan area.

Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson (1919-1972) will forever be remembered and honored as the first Black player in Major League Baseball. Born in Georgia, he was raised by a single mother along with his four siblings. His early success as a student athlete led him to UCLA, where he became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports (baseball, football. basketball and track). After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1944 and was selected by Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey as a player who could start the integration of the white major leagues. Robinson was recognized not only for his baseball talents, but because he was thought to have had the right demeanor for the challenges he would ultimately face. Robinson made his National League debut on April 15, 1947, as Brooklyn's first baseman. In spite of the abuse of the crowds and some fellow baseball players, he endured and succeeded in the sport. He won the Rookie of the Year Award that year. Two years later, he was named the National League MVP, when he led the league with a .342 batting average, 37 steals and 124 RBI. A few select players, like Dodgers’ shortstop Pee Wee Reese, were particularly supportive of Robinson in spite of the taunting and jeers and helped him excel. In Robinson’s 10 seasons with the Dodgers, the team won six pennants and ultimately captured the 1955 World Series title. Robinson’s struggles and achievements paved the way for Black players in baseball and other sports. When he retired after the 1956 season, he left the game with a .313 batting average, 972 runs scored, 1,563 hits and 200 stolen bases. After baseball, Robinson operated a chain of restaurants and coffee shops but continued to advocate for social change, serving on the board of the NAACP. He died of a heart attack in 1972. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as its first Black player in 1962. On April 15, 1997, 50 years after his major league debut, his uniform number 42 was retired from all teams of Major League Baseball, a unique honor to this day. Ten years later in 2007, April 15 was declared to be Jackie Robinson Day. In Robinson's honor, all major league players, coaches and managers wear the number 42 on that day.

Betty Smith (1896-1972) was a Brooklyn-born novelist and playwright who is best remembered for her 1943 publication of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, majority of which was allegedly penned while she lived at this house in Woodhaven, Queens. Smith did not graduate from high school and moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan instead to support her new husband’s pursuit of a law degree. After becoming the mother of two daughters, Smith enrolled as a non-matriculating student of journalism, drama, writing, and literature at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Through a series of awards and fellowships earned by her work, Smith continued her studies at Yale Drama School until she returned home to New York with her daughters in 1934 to continue her writing career. A job opportunity through the WPA’s Federal Theater brought Smith and her daughters to Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1936, where she further pursued writing and drama endeavors including newspaper editing, stage production, playwriting, and working on novels. Some of her most famous novels written after A Tree Grows in Brooklyn include Tomorrow Will be Better (1947), Maggie-Now (1958), and Joy in the Morning (1963).

Maureen Allen (1954-2023), a lifelong resident of Jackson Heights-East Elmhurst, began her remarkable journey in public service as an intern for State Assembly Member Ivan Lafayette while still a student at Lehman College. After graduating in 1977, she joined Lafayette’s staff, and her exceptional dedication and competence propelled her to the position of Chief of Staff. In that role, she served both Lafayette and his successor, Michael DenDekker, for an impressive 43 years, earning a reputation for her professionalism and high standards in constituent service. Her political influence extended further as she became a District Leader, State Committee Member for the 34th Assembly District, and served in leadership roles within the Queens County Democratic Committee and as President of the John F. Kennedy Democratic Club. She was an active member of many advisory boards. She was able to obtain many certificates of merit and citations from many entities, including the NYPD and the NYC Board of Education among others. She was the youngest board president of the Northridge Cooperative in East Elmhurst, and actively participated in numerous advisory boards, which included the Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) program in Jackson Heights, the Beacon Program at PS 149 Advisory Board, the Jackson Heights/Elmhurst Kehillah (Jewish Community Council) Advisory Board, the former Jackson Heights Neighborhood Association, the 115th Precinct Community Council, and more. Additionally, she served as the board president for a group home catering to mentally disadvantaged children in Corona and held a position on Community Board 3. For decades, she played a role in her community and City as a whole. Her many accolades, certificates of merit, and citations from various organizations celebrated her commitment to the community. She was predeceased by her husband, Edward McGowan. On October 20, 2024, the intersection of 92nd Street and Northern Boulevard was co-named in her honor. Located a few blocks from Allen’s home, the intersection is just one block from the junction of 92nd Street and 34th Avenue, which was co-named in 2018 as NYS Assemblyman Ivan Lafayette Way in honor of the long-serving assemblyman.

In the course of his 25 years in politics, Joseph Addabbo (1925-1986) won much respect from his colleagues, constituents and community for his ability to be just, compassionate and effective. A lifelong resident of Ozone Park, he was educated at City College and St. John’s University, where he received his law degree in 1946. Addabbo began his career as a lawyer. First elected to represent the 6th District in Queens in 1960, Addabbo, a Democrat, was re-elected to Congress 12 times. He supported legislation to benefit the elderly, education, small businesses, veterans benefits, and appropriation of funds for economically depressed areas. As Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense (1979-1986), Addabbo played a powerful role in both shaping and challenging national defense policy. He worked to curb defense spending, sponsored legislation to halt the Vietnam War, and advocated a nuclear freeze while at the same time bolstering defense contracts for New York. Addabbo served in Congress until he died on April 10, 1986.