Rep. Benjamin S. Rosenthal (D-NY) represented northeast Queens in the U.S. Congress from 1962 until his death in January 1983. Born in Manhattan, Rosenthal attended New York City public schools, Long Island University and City College before serving in the U.S. Army during WWII. He received his law degree from Brooklyn Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1949. In 1962, Rosenthal won a special election to the Eighty-Seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused when Rep. Lester Holtzman won a seat on the state Supreme Court; Rosenthal was then reelected to the 11 succeeding Congresses.

During his congressional tenure, Rosenthal was an early opponent of the Vietnam War and a champion of consumer protection causes. He was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee for Commerce, Consumer, and Monetary Affairs.

Alexander C. Grey (1866-1933) was aa veteran Queens newspaper man from Whitestone. Grey suffered a fractured skull and died in Queens Flushing Hospital on March 21, 1933. He was single and 66 years old at the time of his death. He is buried in Flushing Cemetery. A 1940 local law renamed the park to honor Grey, a respected community member.

Alfred J. Kennedy (1877 - 1944) was an American politician from Whitestone, New York, who served in New York State Government and as Postmaster of Flushing, Queens.

Kennedy was a member of the New York State Assembly for Community Board 2 in 1911, 1912 and 1913; and was Chairman of the Committee on Privileges and Elections in 1913. He resigned his seat on May 12, 1913, to accept an appointment as Postmaster of Flushing, Queens. On December 22, 1922, Alfred J. Kennedy, his half-brother Robert R. Clancy, and his son Francis Kennedy, were indicted by a federal grand jury for violating the postal laws, where they were accused of having leaked the questions (which had been sent by mail) for a civil service test. He ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 1920, as the Democratic candidate for New York's 1st congressional district. He was again a member of the NY State Assembly Community Board 3 from 1923 to 1926. He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1927 to 1930, and then was appointed Public Administrator of Queens in May 1930.

Kennedy fought as a corporal of the 22nd New York Infantry (U.S. Army) in the Spanish American War. In August 1937, he was elected Commander-in-Chief of the United Spanish War Veterans.

He died on July 28, 1944 and was buried at the Long Island National Cemetery. In 1950, an Alfred J. Kennedy Memorial was erected on the corner of Main and Northern streets in Queens. In 1952, Public School No. 193 in Queens was named for him, Alfred J. Kennedy School.

Bernard L. Shapiro (d. 2009) was a community leader and attorney who gave much of his time to the Garden Jewish Center of Flushing. Born in Ellenville, N.Y., he moved to Flushing in 1960, and for over 30 years, he gave legal advice to the Center’s board of directors and clergy on a pro bono basis and helped to obtain additional funding for the temple. He also established a community youth program at the Center, which named its sanctuary after Shapiro six months after his death. Shapiro offered the synagogue’s space to members of a Korean church after their place of worship was destroyed in a fire. As an attorney, he represented 213 co-ops throughout the city.

Betty Pegen (1912 - 2008), a resident and volunteer in College Point for more than 75 years, dedicated herself to cultivation of the gardens at the Poppenhusen Monument Park. Pegen also devoted many hours to other gardens in College Point including the Municipal Park and the Poppenhusen Library. Known as the “Gardening Angel” of College Point, for over 50 years the German immigrant took it upon herself to plant, weed, trim, cut and cultivate the small garden around the monument to Conrad Poppenhusen -the German-born benefactor of College Point who founded Poppenhusen Institute in 1868, which housed the first free kindergarten in America. 

James Alan Bland (1854-1911) was an African American musician and composer of popular songs, including "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," formerly the official state song of Virginia. Bland was born in Flushing to educated, free African American parents. While attending Howard University he became enthralled with the banjo and learned to play it. In the late 1870s, Bland began his professional career as a member of the first successful all-Black minstrel company, the Georgia Minstrels. Later he worked in minstrel shows throughout Europe and the United States, becoming the highest-paid minstrel singer in the country. He performed for Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace and President Grover Cleveland and Gen. Robert E. Lee in Washington.

After living for 20 years in Europe, Bland returned to the U.S. in 1901. His fortunes declined as minstrel shows were replaced by vaudeville, and he died alone of tuberculosis in Philadelphia in 1911. Though Bland was buried there in an unmarked grave, a memorial was later erected by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

This playground is located adjacent to the James A. Bland public housing complex.

Walter Bowne (1770-1846), served as a State Senator and as New York City Mayor. As Mayor (1828-1832), Bowne is remembered for his strict policies aimed at preventing cholera epidemics.

Following reports of an outbreak in a neighboring town during the summer of 1832, Bowne established a stringent quarantine policy regulating travel in and out of the metropolitan area. Bowne, like others of his time period, believed that cholera was spread through direct human contact. He required that all ships maintain a distance of at least 300 yards from municipal ports and that carriages remain at least 1.5 miles from the city limits.

Bowne's well-meaning attempts to prevent a cholera outbreak failed, and hundreds of New Yorkers died of the disease. It was not until 1883 that the German physician Robert Koch discovered that cholera spreads through contaminated water or food. By that time, cholera epidemics had been largely contained by the construction of the Croton Aqueduct and the provision of clean water for consumption and bathing.  

Walter Bowne (1770-1846), served as a State Senator and as New York City Mayor. As Mayor (1828-1832), Bowne is remembered for his strict policies aimed at preventing cholera epidemics.

Following reports of an outbreak in a neighboring town during the summer of 1832, Bowne established a stringent quarantine policy regulating travel in and out of the metropolitan area. Bowne, like others of his time period, believed that cholera was spread through direct human contact. He required that all ships maintain a distance of at least 300 yards from municipal ports and that carriages remain at least 1.5 miles from the city limits.

Bowne's well-meaning attempts to prevent a cholera outbreak failed, and hundreds of New Yorkers died of the disease. It was not until 1883 that the German physician Robert Koch discovered that cholera spreads through contaminated water or food. By that time, cholera epidemics had been largely contained by the construction of the Croton Aqueduct and the provision of clean water for consumption and bathing.  

Brother John William Donoghue (1915 - 2004) was the founding principal of Holy Cross High School, the first Catholic boys’ high school in Flushing, New York. His career as an educator spanned well over 50 years.

Born in Springfield, MA, on April 8, 1915, Donoghue was the third of four children. After leaving high school he worked at various times at Union Mills Inc., General Electric and the Boston and Albany Railroad, before entering the Congregation of Holy Cross as a candidate for the brotherhood on September 12, 1938, at St. Joseph Juniorate, Valatie, N.Y. He received the habit at the beginning of his novitiate year at Our Lady of Holy Cross Novitiate in North Dartmouth, Mass. He was the founding principal of two schools, St. Edward's High School in Lakewood, Ohio and Holy Cross High School in Flushing, N.Y. From 1962 to 1968, Brother John served as the Provincial Superior of the Eastern Province of Holy Cross Brothers.

Captain Mario Fajardo (1961-1991) emigrated from Ecuador to Flushing, Queens, with his family in 1973. He attended John Bowne High School, and graduated from the Citadel Military College in Charleston, South Carolina, with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He joined the army upon graduation in 1984. He was stationed in Korea, Fort Bragg, and Honduras. While at Fort Bragg N, in 1988, he coordinated planning and construction of a much-needed school recreation area in Fayetteville, and in Honduras he helped to build an airstrip and school buildings.

In 1990, Captain Fajardo was sent to the Persian Gulf as a member of the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne), 20th Engineer Brigade (Airborne) of the XVIII Airborne Corps. On February 26, 1991, shortly before Operation Desert Storm ended, Fajardo was commanding a company of men in an operation to remove unexploded American bomblets from an airfield in Iraq. A pile of bomblets exploded, killing Fajardo and six of his men. Fajardo was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

Charles P. Lucania (1966-2011), an electrician who was raised in Whitestone, Queens, was killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. He was on the 98th floor of the South Tower working for P.E. Stone.

Clinton Davis, Sr. (1962 - 2011) was a Port Authority Police Officer at the World Trade Center, who died in the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. Clinton Davis, Sr. enjoyed people and music, according to his sister, Sandra Davis. He always had his karaoke equipment at parties or celebrations so he could display his singing talent. “He was always one to lift your spirits,” Port Authority Police Officer Luis Solivan said, as reported in the New York Daily News. Davis Sr. was not scheduled to work on September 11, but his family knew he would be at the World Trade Center to help, just like he was in 1993 during the first attack. He was in the north tower helping people evacuate when it collapsed. His body was found on the stairs, next to his close friend, Port Authority police officer Uhuru Houston.

Cadwallader Colden (1688-1776) was born to Scottish parents in Ireland in 1688, and raised in Duns, Scotland. In his early life, Colden trained to become a Presbyterian minister at the University of Edinburgh until transitioning to the sciences. Colden immigrated to the British colony of Pennsylvania in 1710 where he worked as a doctor and a merchant until moving to New York in 1718. As a scientist, Colden studied biology, botany, chemistry, physics, and astronomy, while pursuing research on cancer, yellow fever, smallpox, and climate-based diseases as a doctor. Some of Colden’s famous academic publications include The History of the Five Indian Nations Depending on the Province of New York (1727), a classification of local species in the Linnaean system (1749), and a critique of Sir Issac Newton’s work in The Principles of Action in Matter (1751).

Colden also pursued roles in public service, holding the position of Master in Chancery and Surveyor General of New York, serving on the Governor's Council, and eventually as acting Governor up until the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. Colden was not popular among American colonists due to his British-favoring policies on trade, as seen in incidents such as the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765. Forced out of office by the war, Colden died on his Long Island estate near Flushing, Spring Hill, in 1776. In addition to this playground, the nearby Public School 214 in Flushing, is also named after him.

Marine Corporal Ramon (1984-2006) grew up in an apartment on 45th Avenue and Kissena Boulevard, having immigrated to the United States from Colombia at the age of 4. He attended local schools and graduated from John Bowne High School. He enlisted in the Marines right after high school. It was during his second tour of duty that the 22-year-old Ramon was killed in action in Iraq on July 20, 2006. He was two months away from coming home.

John McHugh Sr. (1924 - 2019) Of Whitestone, Queens, was a decorated American World War II veteran who participated in the D-Day invasion, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Bulge.

Corporal John McHugh graduated from Morris Park High School in the Bronx in 1942 and enlisted in the army with his friends following Pearl Harbor. He was in the 1st Infantry Division, which arrived in landing craft at Omaha Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944. was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the European Theater of Operations Ribbon, Two Presidential Unit Citations, and Combat Infantry Badge and the Fort Eger given by Belgium. The State of New York placed him in its Veterans Hall of Fame.

After the war, McHugh came back to Whitestone, married his childhood sweetheart Rosie McGee, and worked as a Transit Authority conductor.

Corporal Larry Muss (1925-1945) was born in Brooklyn, but his family moved to Bayside later that year. He graduated from P.S. 159 and Bayside High School. Muss entered US Army Air Corps, training as a gunner. He was killed in a training accident at Batista Field, Cuba while preparing for deployment in the Pacific.

Dominick Berardi was killed in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He was twenty-five years old and worked for Cantor and Fitzgerald on the 101st floor.

Marjorie and Nicholas Ferrigno were founding members of The Broadway-Flushing Homeowners’ Association.

Marjorie Ferrigno (1916 – 2013) was an educator who founded the Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts. She was President of the American Educational Theatre Association which represented all nonprofessional theatre in the United States, Secretary and Executive Committee member of the American National Theatre and Academy, was Chair of the North Shore Branch League, taught speech courses at several universities, a founding chairman of the drama department at LaGuardia High School of Music and Performing Arts, past President of the American Educational Theatre Association, chairman of the North Shore Branch of League of Woman Voters and steering committee member of the Economic Development Committee. She was a founding member and President of the Broadway-Flushing Homeowners’ Association and won a landmark court case to enforce a restrictive covenant, which led to a rezoning of part of Northern Boulevard.

Nicholas Ferrigno (d. 2010) was a senior instructor for American Airlines at JFK and LaGuardia Airport and a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers. He was a founding member of The Broadway-Flushing Homeowners’ Association.

Firefighter Carl Francis Asaro (1961 - 2001) died on September 11, 2001, during fire and rescue operations following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, he was a member of Battalion 9 in Manhattan. Asaro grew up in Whitestone, Queens.

Firefighter Michael Carlo (b. 1967) was killed at the World Trade Center during fire and rescue operations following the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. Carlo was a native of Whitestone, Queens and was assigned to Engine Co. 230 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Firefighter Michael F. Lynch (1968-2001) who grew up in Flushing and attended St. Michael's Catholic Academy there, died on September 11, 2001, during fire and rescue operations following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Among the guys at Ladder 4 in midtown, he was sometimes known as Prancer for the way he leapt about when a bell rang. Lieutenant Lynch of was last seen on 9/ 11 helping people trapped in an elevator in the lobby of 2 World Trade Center.

Firefighter Michael Haub (1967-2001) was killed during firefighting and rescue operations following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Firefighter Michael Joseph Cawley (1969-2001) of Ladder 136 in Elmhurst, was killed at the World Trade Center during fire and rescue operations following the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.

Joseph G. Totten (1788-1864,) the namesake of Fort Totten Park in Bayside, Queens, was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He was educated as an officer at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in the Hudson Valley of New York. Totten spent most of his military career in the Army Corps of Engineers, at least partially responsible for the construction of numerous examples of military infrastructure and fortifications around the United States. He began his career in New York Harbor, assisting in the construction of Castle Williams and Castle Clinton in 1808. Totten saw further service during the War of 1812 in upstate New York on the Niagaran Front, engaging the British on the Canadian border.

Totten saw additional combat during the Mexican-American War, gaining accolades for his efforts at the Siege of Veracruz. Totten would pass away at the age of 75 during the American Civil War in Washington, D.C., still in active service. Beyond his military accolades, Totten was a co-founder of the National Academy of Sciences and participant in the founding of the Smithsonian Institution.  

Fort Totten Park was originally planned in 1857, by soon-to-be Confederate General Robert E. Lee, to defend northerly access to the East River in conjunction with Fort Schuyler,  now home to the State University of New York’s Maritime College. The fort, initially called Willets Point, was renamed for Totten upon his death in 1864. It served largely as a hospital, due to its already obsolete construction. Fort Totten would serve in many other capacities, such as a test site for anti-aircraft weaponry, a school for anti-submarine warfare, several communication centers, and most recently as a post for the U.S. Army Reserves. The fort was acquired by New York City Parks in 1987, with a further 93 acres added in 2001, for recreational purposes. The U.S. Army and Coast Guard still utilizes small portions of the fort for their operations, but many of the larger buildings are now either owned and operated by NYC Parks or the Bayside Historical Society, which possesses a large photographic archive regarding the fortification. 

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.

Frank Golden (1915-1968), was a prominent labor leader. Golden was an officer of the New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council as well as the founder and chairman of the Queens Community Labor Committee.

Frank W. Plaut (1884-1949) was a native of Flushing, Queens. He was active in the civic affairs of his neighborhood and also donated the land for this park. Plaut grew up in a house near the present location of St. Mary’s Cemetery. After his marriage to Katherine Siebert in 1917 and the later birth of their daughter Dorothea, Plaut and his family moved to Long Island City.

In 1926, the family relocated to a new home in Auburndale, but finally settled just a few blocks away on 170th Street. Plaut is remembered as an outgoing and spirited citizen who was an active member of the Flushing Democratic Club.

Fred J. Mazzarello (1922 – 2006) was a longtime community activist and founder of the College Point Board of Trade in 1969, where he served as President for many years. He was also Chairman of the College Point Memorial Day parade for over a decade.

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. The park also contains George U. Harvey Memorial Playground.

Hermon A. MacNeil (1866 – 1947), was an American sculptor who is known for designing the Standing Liberty quarter, struck by the Mint from 1916-1930, and sculpting Justice, the Guardian of Liberty on the east pediment on the United States Supreme Court Building. He was best known for his work with Native American subjects, and gained acclaim for his work as a portrait sculptor. He was taught sculpture in many art institutions, and gave Augusta Fells Savage private lessons when her acceptance to the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts was retracted after it became clear she was Black.

MacNeil was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Massachusetts Normal Art School (now the Massachusetts College of Art and Design) in Boston, and then became an instructor in industrial art at Cornell University from 1886-89. He later studied under Henri Chapu and Alexandre Falguière in Paris and was granted a scholarship to study in Roma for four years. He went to Chicago to collaborate with Frederick MacMonnies1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and then came back to teach at the Art Institute of Chicago for a few years.

He married fellow sculptor Carol Brooks in 1895 and they went to Rome and lived there for 3 years until 1899 before moving to Paris. The couple came back to the United States around 1900 when their first son was born, and soon after they purchased a home in College Point, where he lived and worked until he passed away in 1947.

Edward Bleeker (1844-1899) was a member of the Whitestone Board of Education for 25 years. He was a proponent of Flushing hospital and the first president of it's staff physicians.

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Jennifer Y. Wong (1975-2001) grew up near the border between Bayside and Whitestone in Queens, and was a graduate of Townsend Harris High School in Flushing. She died in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks while in her office at Marsh & McLennan on the 96th floor of Tower One; she was 26 years old. Wong was active in Christian youth groups and later became a Sunday school teacher.

Joe Femenia (d. 2019) revived the College Point Civic and Taxpayers Association and served as its president from 2008. He was also a member of Community Board 7 and the Board’s Transportation Committee Chairperson from 2006 until 2016. He successfully campaigned for building a public middle school in College Point. Before the opening of that school, students had to be bused to Whitestone and Flushing. He also successfully advocated for funding to reconstruct the College Point Fields, and for the NYPD to remove illegally parked trucks in the neighborhood.

Joseph M. Rota (1918-2006) was a civic leader who spent many years of his life committed to the betterment of his community as President and Chairman of the Board of the Greater Whitestone Taxpayers and Civic Association and as a member of Queens Community Board 7.

The Latimer Gardens public housing development in 1970, the year it was opened.

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.

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.

Corporal William A. Leonard (1889-1918), was a Flushing native who lost his life fighting in World War I. Leonard, a member of the 107th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division in the First World War (1914-1918), was killed in action on July 16, 1918, in Flanders, Belgium. As a boy, Leonard ran errands at the Flushing Daily Times and worked his way up to the position of city editor. Leonard was appointed to the board of the Queens Borough Public Library by Mayor John Purroy Mitchel (1879-1918), and served two terms before resigning to enter the military.

Leonard P. Stavisky (1925 – 1999) was a history & political science professor, a politician in New York City and State, and a civic leader in his neighborhood in Flushing, Queens.

Stavisky was born in the Bronx and attended New York City public schools. He earned three university degrees: a Bachelor of Science from City College of New York and both a Master’s and PhD degrees from the Graduate Faculty of Political Science of Columbia University. A university professor by background, Leonard Stavisky had more than 25 years of experience teaching and in administration at Columbia University, the State University of New York, the City University of New York, Colgate University, Long Island University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

He began his career in politics in 1954 by serving as a member of the New York City Council. Between 1972 and 1977, he served as a member of the State Charter Revision Commission for the City of New York, and in 1965, Leonard Stavisky was elected to the New York State Assembly, where he represented Flushing, Queens and served as the Chairman of the Education Committee for eight years. He was elected to the New York State Senate in 1983 in a special election. He was re-elected several times, and remained in the State Senate until his death in 1999.

Senator Stavisky served as National Vice-Chairman of the Commission on Organization of the American Jewish Congress, Trustee of the Municipal Lodge of B’nai B’rith, the New York League of Histradrut and the Settlement Housing Fund, Honorary Trustee of the National Amputation Foundation, and as a member of the Board of Directors of Interfaith Movement, Inc.

On a more local level, Senator Stavisky served as the Chairman of the Whitestone Library Committee and on the Board of Directors of the Bay Community Volunteer Ambulance Corps, the Latimer Gardens Community Center, the Bland Houses Community Center, the Flushing Boys Club and the North Flushing Senior Center. He also served on the Advisory Board of the Queens Council On The Arts, the Iris Hill Nursery School, and Save The Theatres, Inc. On a citywide level, Senator Stavisky served on the Board of Trustees of the New York Public Library, the Board of the New York City Employees Retirement System, the New York City Health Insurance Board, the Mayor’s Committee on Scholastic Achievement and the Mayor’s Committee on Coordination of Services to Families and Children.

Undated photo of the Lewis H. Latimer House

Undated photo of the Lewis H. Latimer House

Undated photo of the Lewis H. Latimer House

Lieutenant Philp P. Bayer (d. 1944) , USMC, was a star football player a Columbia University. Lt. Bayer was much-decorated combatant in in the Pacific Theatre of Operations in WWII. He was killed in action on Peleliu on September 18, 1944. The Lieutenant Philp P. Bayer Post No. 1514 of the American Legion is named after him.

Madeline Sershen was struck and killed by an 88-year-old driver who ran a red light on Utopia Parkway near 16th Avenue. She was Seventeen year old. As a result of her death, in 2018, her family has started a petition urging mandatory vision testing every two years for all drivers age 80 and older.

Margaret I. Carman (1890-1976) taught at Flushing High School for 44 years. she was instrumental in establishing the Flushing Freedom Trail to link the area’s rich heritage through its landmarks. Carman was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and served as President of the Bowne House Historical Society for 10 years.

Rev. Edward F. McGoldrick (1857-1930) was the founder and first pastor of St. Andrew Avellino Roman Catholic church in Flushing. The parish was established in 1914 in response to a growing Catholic population in Upper Flushing, and for its first two years, Mass was celebrated at the Ritz Theatre on Broadway and 14th Street (now Northern Boulevard and 154th Street). The first church -- a small wooden structure with a capacity of 567 -- was built several blocks down Broadway in 1916; the present cathedral-like building was dedicated in December 1940. The parish's school (now the St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy) was opened in 1925.

Fr. McGoldrick also sought to bring a public library to the residents of Upper Flushing. In 1921 he joined the Queens Public Library's Board of Trustees to advocate for a new branch in that community, and in 1929 the Broadway- Flushing Community Library was opened. Just one year later Fr. McGoldrick passed away, and in 1933 the branch was renamed in his honor.

A plaque displaying Fr. McGoldrick's photo and describing his role in establishing the library was installed at the branch in a public ceremony in November 2017.

Private Edward M. McKee (d. 1918) was a native of Queens who was killed in World War I. McKee grew up at 67 North Sixth Avenue in Whitestone, and joined the army when the United States entered the war. He served in Company I of the 326th Infantry regiment, and tragically died of wounds on October 15, 1918, just 27 days before Armistice and the end of the war. In addition to McKee Triangle, the American Legion Edward M. McKee Post No. 131 at 10-20 Clintonville Street in Whitestone is also named for him.

Msgr. John C. Tosi (d. 2020) was born in Flushing and attended Cathedral College in Douglaston and the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, Long Island. He served as a priest for more than 45 years and was named a Monsignor in 1997 of the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens for 23 years.

Tosi also was a member of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. He served as an assistant at Our Lady of Grace, Howard Beach, 1973-87, and Resurrection-Ascension, Rego Park, 1987-91. In 1991, he was appointed executive secretary of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission, a position he held until 2005. In 1995, he assumed the additional duty of rector of St. James Cathedral in Downtown Brooklyn. In January 2005, he was named pastor of St. Luke’s, where he remained until his death.

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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.

Edward Hart was among the founding patentees or incorporators of what is now called Flushing, Queens. It 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, 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.

Hart was an open follower of the Quaker faith, and due to this faced persecution and imprisonment by Gov. Pieter Stuyvesant. As a part of his practice, Hart was the cleric and a signer of the Flushing Remonstrance of 1657 that preached a level of religious tolerance after Gov. Stuyvesant passed laws fining and restricting the immigration of Quakers. This document stated that " if any of these said persons come in love unto us, we cannot in conscience lay violent hands upon them, but give them free egress and regress unto our Town."

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the third president of the United States and an American Founding Father. He was born on April 14, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia, and quickly became a key figure in the American struggle for independence. A fierce advocate for liberty, Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence at 33 as a member of the Second Continental Congress.

He held many political offices throughout his life, serving as Governor of Virginia (1779 -81), U.S. Minister to France (1784-90), and Secretary of State to George Washington (1790-97). Jefferson often famously came into conflict with Alexander Hamilton, especially when Jefferson was Secretary of State and Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury. Jefferson consistently advocated for a limited federal government and for states’ rights throughout his political career, while Hamilton advocated for the opposite. Jefferson was also Vice President during John Adams’ term as President, and was himself elected President in 1800, completing his second term in 1809. As President, one of his biggest achievements was the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803, and reducing the national debt significantly.

Jefferson also established the University of Virginia at the age of 76 in his retirement, which he largely spent at Monticello, the plantation he inherited from his father. Jefferson also inherited slaves from his father and his father-in-law, most of whom were enslaved at Monticello. Many of those enslaved who worked in the house were of the Hemings family, including Sally Hemings. Jefferson was the father of at least six of Hemings’ children, and the first was born when Hemings was only 16. He was, however, conflicted about the moral implications regarding slavery, and eventually freed all of Hemings' children. Jefferson died in Monticello on July 4, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence.

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was the seventh president of the United States, serving from 1829 to 1837. Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in Waxhaws, near Lancaster, South Carolina. He was orphaned at 14, after his father died shortly after he was born, and his mother and brothers died during the Revolutionary War. He was the first man elected from Tennessee to the House of Representatives, and also served in the Senate. Jackson was a general during the War of 1812, and fought against the British successfully multiple times. He quickly gained renown for his feats during the war, and became one of the most widely respected figures in the military in the United States, especially after his force’s stunning victory at New Orleans against the British in 1815. Jackson was elected president in 1828.

As president, Jackson consolidated and frequently used his executive power, which invited critiques from Congress and his political opponents, the Whigs. He was watchful over government expenditures, managing to pay off the national debt in 1835. Jackson also advocated for the removal of Native American tribes to the west of the Mississippi River, claiming that the U.S. policy of trying to assimilate them into white society had failed. Congress authorized the Indian Removal Act in 1831, empowering Jackson to make treaties with the tribes and arrange their removal. More than 15,000 members of the Cherokee nation were forced to migrate to present-day Oklahoma. As many as 4,000 died on the journey known as the “Trail of Tears.”

Jackson left office on March 7, 1837. He died on June 8, 1845, after fighting constant infections and pain. He was buried in the garden of his home, the Hermitage, two days later.

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.

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.

Patricia Larkin served as Principal at P.S. 129. She joined the public school system after receiving her bachelor's and master's degrees from Hunter College. She died July 22, 1977, at St. Agnes Hospital, Point Pleasant, N.Y., at age 46.

Alfred J. Kennedy (1877 - 1944) was an American politician from Whitestone, New York, who served in New York State Government and as Postmaster of Flushing, Queens.

Kennedy was a member of the New York State Assembly for Community Board 2 in 1911, 1912 and 1913; and was Chairman of the Committee on Privileges and Elections in 1913. He resigned his seat on May 12, 1913, to accept an appointment as Postmaster of Flushing, Queens. On December 22, 1922, Alfred J. Kennedy, his half-brother Robert R. Clancy, and his son Francis Kennedy, were indicted by a federal grand jury for violating the postal laws, where they were accused of having leaked the questions (which had been sent by mail) for a civil service test. He ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 1920, as the Democratic candidate for New York's 1st congressional district. He was again a member of the NY State Assembly Community Board 3 from 1923 to 1926. He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1927 to 1930, and then was appointed Public Administrator of Queens in May 1930.

Kennedy fought as a corporal of the 22nd New York Infantry (U.S. Army) in the Spanish American War. In August 1937, he was elected Commander-in-Chief of the United Spanish War Veterans.

He died on July 28, 1944 and was buried at the Long Island National Cemetery. In 1950, an Alfred J. Kennedy Memorial was erected on the corner of Main and Northern streets in Queens. In 1952, Public School No. 193 in Queens was named for him, Alfred J. Kennedy School.

Cadwallader Colden (1688-1776) was born to Scottish parents in Ireland in 1688, and raised in Duns, Scotland. In his early life, Colden trained to become a Presbyterian minister at the University of Edinburgh until transitioning to the sciences. Colden immigrated to the British colony of Pennsylvania in 1710 where he worked as a doctor and a merchant until moving to New York in 1718. As a scientist, Colden studied biology, botany, chemistry, physics, and astronomy, while pursuing research on cancer, yellow fever, smallpox, and climate-based diseases as a doctor. Some of Colden’s famous academic publications include The History of the Five Indian Nations Depending on the Province of New York (1727), a classification of local species in the Linnaean system (1749), and a critique of Sir Issac Newton’s work in The Principles of Action in Matter (1751).

Colden also pursued roles in public service, holding the position of Master in Chancery and Surveyor General of New York, serving on the Governor's Council, and eventually as acting Governor up until the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. Colden was not popular among American colonists due to his British-favoring policies on trade, as seen in incidents such as the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765. Forced out of office by the war, Colden died on his Long Island estate near Flushing, Spring Hill, in 1776. In addition to this school, a nearby playground is also named after him.

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Samuel Bowne Parsons Sr. (1819-1906) was the son of famed Quaker abolitionists Samuel Parsons and Mary Bowne Parsons. Along with his brothers Robert and William, he established the Parsons Nursery in Flushing in 1838-1840. Parsons traveled around the world to locate rare plants, including
pink-flowering dogwood, Japanese maple, rhododendrons, azaleas, fruit trees and roses. In 1847, he imported a European Weeping Beech, which became the legendary weeping beech tree that survived on 37th Avenue until 1998; a cross-section of that tree was replanted and now grows in the same spot in Weeping Beech Park.

According to research done by the Bowne House, the three Parsons brothers were actively involved in the New York Underground Railroad in the 1840s, providing assistance to fugitive slaves by raising funds and acting as conductors to help harbor them in their Flushing neighborhood.

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.

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.

Elmer Ebenezer Studley (1869 - 1942) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. From 1933 to 1935, he served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Studley was born on a farm near East Ashford, Cattaraugus County, N.Y. in 1869. He went to local schools before attending Cornell University which he graduated from in 1894. He was a reporter for Buffalo newspapers in 1894 and 1895, and studied law, passing the bar in 1895 and began his practice in Buffalo. He was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Two Hundred and Second Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, serving in the Spanish American War in 1898 and 1899. After the war he moved to New Mexico where he practiced law and began to get involved in politics until 1917, when he moved to New York City.

He continued to practice law in New York and became Deputy New York State Attorney General in 1924 and was United States commissioner for the Eastern District of New York in 1925 and 1926. In 1932, he was elected at-large as a Democrat to the 73rd United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1935. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law. In February 1935 he was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a member of the Board of Veterans' Appeals and served until his death in 1942. Studley is buried at the Flushing Cemetery.

Theresa Crawford (1909-1990) was a beloved and active member of the Flushing, Queens community. She was was born in Whitestone, New York, to Charles and Theresa Carney Barto. At age 17, Theresa took on the tasks of raising her younger brother Vincent and running a candy store that her mother had purchased on the corner of Burling Street and Holly Avenue in Flushing, NY. In 1929, Theresa married John Crawford, of Tuckahoe, NY. This union produced two children, Jacqueline in 1936 and John Jr., in 1940. During this period, Theresa was employed by the New York Telephone Company. She stopped working for a while to raise her children. After returning to work, she attained the position of senior operator and she retired at that level when her health began to fail. Theresa had three grandchildren; Patricia, Eileen and Dennis, who was killed in a car accident at age 14.

Crawford always had an open door policy for family, friends and anyone who was in need. She took in foster Children and raised one of her grandchildren, Eileen. Theresa loved her community and served in a host of organizations in a variety of positions that always aimed to make her community both progressive and safe. She served on the board of the Franconia House, the Holy House, Intermediate School 237 and the 109th precinct. As a member of the Mothers Club she helped to get Crossing Guards, a library and a new wing placed at Public School 24. She was also instrumental in getting sewage systems on Colden Street. When Intermediate School 237 was in the planning stages, she stepped in and saved four of six homes that were scheduled for demolition. When her beloved Holly Avenue became a major thoroughfare, both to and from IS 237, she had it turned into a one way street. Theresa Crawford passed away on Mother’s Day, May 13, 1990. She had just began her fourth term as President of the Holly Civics Association.

Thomas Joseph Shubert (1958-2001) was an international trader who died in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, at the age of 43. Born in Jackson Heights on February 4, 1958, he attended P.S. 27 for several years before entering St. Fidelis Elementary School in College Point. He was an active young man in soccer, Little League, as well as the bowling league every Saturday at the old College Lanes. He graduated from Flushing High School.

His commitment to a solid work ethic propelled him into the business world and Wall Street. He landed a job with the commercial bank, Irving Trust, and later with the financial services firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, where he was working as an Assistant Vice President Equities Trader on the 104th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center on the day of the terror attacks.

A resident of Eastchester, New York, he was married to Diane Rodriguez of Corona and was blessed with a precious daughter named Renee. The intersection of 11th Avenue and 127th Street, located in his childhood neighborhood of College Point, is named in his honor. The sign on the southeast corner reads “Thomas J. Shubert Avenue 9-11-01.”

Thomas R. O'Dea (1962-2004) grew up in a house on 151st Place in Whitestone and graduated from Holy Cross High School. He served with the New York City Police Department for over 19 years.

When the World Trade Center disaster occurred on September 11, 2001, Thomas volunteered at the site to dig and search for survivors during the first 40 days. He was so determined in this effort that he checked into a hotel near the site to spend as much time as possible helping to sort through the rubble.

Shortly after this, Thomas was diagnosed with cancer. He died of this illness on June 7, 2004.

Lance Corporal Kopacska (1945-1967) graduated top of his class in Automotive High School in 1965 and dreamed of opening his own Texaco service station. When Lance Corporal Kopacska was around, friends, neighbors and even strangers’ cars ran like new. He willingly wanted to fight for his country and enlisted in the Marines in 1965. Tragically, he was killed in the line of duty during the Vietnam War in May 1967 at the age of 21.

Vincent Cangelosi (1970-2001) was a resident of Whitestone, Queens and worked for Cantor Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center where he was killed on 9/11. To honor him, residents and family members helped build a 9/11 Memorial Park by the Queens North Presbyterian Church and the St. Mel’s Church in Flushing. The Queens North 9/11 Memorial Park Foundation was set up to raise funds for the upkeep of the park. In addition to honoring heroes that passed away on September 11th, the park, which has a large plaque honoring Vincent Cangelosi, will also include a sustainable conservation learning center for children and community members that will teach them about sustainability, food, water and conservation.

William M Feehan (1929-2001) was First Deputy Commissioner of the NYFD. He was killed during the fire and rescue operations at the World Trade Center following the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.

Sarah Margaret Washington Whiting (1916 – 2017), was a long-term resident of Flushing, Queens, and a community leader. She founded the Holly Civic Association and was an active member of the Flushing Chapter of the NAACP, and the Flushing Democratic Club. She founded an after-school program at PS 24 – then called the PS24Q Mother’s Club. She volunteered her time with the Concerned African Americans of Flushing, Flushing Hospital, Community Board 7, and the 109th Precinct Community Council. Whiting served on Community Board 7 for 20 years before she stepped down in 2007 due to her health. A deeply religious person, Sarah Whiting was also affiliated with Macedonia AME, Ebenezer Baptist Church, and First Baptist Church of Flushing. She was honored by former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman and former Council Member Julia Harrison with an Unsung Heroine Award.