Frank Carvill (1952-2004) was an immigrant rights campaigner who was killed on National Guard duty in Iraq. Carvill was a founding member of the Irish Immigration Reform and also a founding member of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, where he was later its treasurer and a board member. He was killed in Iraq on June 4 in a landmine attack on a vehicle in which he was traveling. He and another soldier killed in the same attack and were the first New Jersey National Guards to be killed in combat since World War II.

Patrick Deignan (1946-1983) was a civic and community leader in his neighborhood of Jackson Heights. He co-founded the Jackson Heights Civic Association and was founder and board chairman of the Catherine M. Sheridan Center for Senior Citizens (now the Catherine Sheridan Older Adult Center). He was also active in various charitable, fraternal, and church organizations. In 1971, he became a member of Community Board 3, serving as its chairman from 1973 to 1975. He was a Democratic District leader in Jackson Heights from 1974 to 1982, chairing the Borough President's Commission on Charter Revision and also serving on the executive committee of the Queens Democratic Party. Deignan was born on Staten Island on March 17, 1946, and raised in Jackson Heights, where he attended Blessed Sacrament School. He later continued his studies at Manhattan College (now Manhattan University) in Riverdale. He died on October 6, 1983, at Lenox Hill Hospital after a brief gastrointestinal illness. Survived at the time by his wife, the former Joy Laskowski, and a son, Patrick Jr., he is buried at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York. On November 5, 1997, a ceremony was held at 34th Avenue and 69th Street, at the western end of a 26-block-long mall in Jackson Heights (also known as Paseo Park), to co-name the stretch of traffic islands in Deignan’s honor as Patrick C. Deignan Mall.

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

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.

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.

Paul A. Vallone (1967-2024) was an attorney and civic leader whose political career in the service of northeastern Queens and New York City was cut short when he died of a heart attack on January 28, 2024, at the age of 56. Part of a noted Queens political family, Vallone served as City Council member for District 19 from 2014 to 2021, and then as deputy commissioner of external affairs for the New York City Department of Veterans' Services from 2022 to 2024. His grandfather, Charles J. Vallone, was a judge in Queens County Civil Court. Both his father, Peter Vallone Sr., and his brother, Peter Vallone Jr., represented Astoria on the City Council, from 1974 to 2001 and 2002 to 2013 respectively, making for a 47-year run of City Council service by the Vallone family. Born on June 2, 1967, and raised in Astoria, Vallone attended high school at St. John's Preparatory School, graduated from Fordham University, and received his law degree from St. John's University. He was admitted to the New York and New Jersey Bar Associations in 1992. Prior to his political career, he was a managing partner at his family’s general practice law firm, Vallone and Vallone LLD, which was founded in 1932 by his grandfather. Vallone moved from Astoria to northeast Queens and, failing in a bid for City Council office in 2009, he followed in his family’s footsteps in 2014 when he won the District 19 seat. He was known as an advocate and champion for the Queens communities he served. During his tenure, he sponsored 800 pieces of legislation — 128 of which he was the first primary sponsor — and was credited with fundraising nearly $40 million in funding for his district. He was at the forefront of adopting participatory budgeting, which allows constituents the opportunity to vote for and prioritize the capital projects they want funded by their councilmember’s office. As Vallone shared with the Queens Daily Eagle in 2021, “It was a beautiful way to create community involvement in your own tax dollars.” Vallone was dedicated to supporting students and seniors in his district. While on the council, he helped expand school capacity by 4,500 seats and reinstated the New York City Council Merit Scholarship, known as the Peter F. Vallone Academic Scholarship, awarding high school graduates up to $350 per semester. He also helped to launch a free transit service for northeast Queens seniors. In addition, he spearheaded a project that brought $3.6 million in improvements to Flushing’s Bowne Park. The work was completed in the spring of 2023 and included upgrades to the playground, pond, plaza, and bocce court. In his time on the City Council, he also advocated for the creation of animal shelters in every borough. The Paul A. Vallone Queens Animal Care Center, located at 1906 Flushing Avenue in Ridgewood, is the first public animal shelter in Queens, and a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 10, 2024, served as the official opening. The shelter is run by Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC), a nonprofit that operates the city’s animal shelters on behalf of the Health Department. Vallone was a champion of ACC and its mission to end animal homelessness in New York City. As a strong advocate for veterans, Vallone voted as a city council member in favor of a measure that established the New York City Department of Veterans' Services in 2016, making it the first City agency in the country dedicated to serving veterans and their families. After his tenure on the city council ended due to term limits in 2021, Vallone lost a bid for a Civil Court seat in eastern Queens. But he continued his public service in 2022, when Mayor Eric Adams appointed him as deputy commissioner of external affairs for the new Department of Veterans' Services. Vallone held that role until his death in 2024. In addition to his government work, Vallone was active in his Flushing community as a soccer coach for St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy, winning two championships for the school, and also coaching his two daughters, Lea and Catena, and his son Charlie (Charles J. Vallone III). Vallone was survived by his wife, Anna-Marie, and three children. Two other city locations are named in Vallone’s honor. They include Paul A. Vallone Way, at the intersection of 157th Street and 32nd Avenue in Flushing, and the Paul Vallone Community Campus at 18-25 212th Street in Bay Terrace, an addition to P.S. 169 Bay Terrace School and Bell Academy.

Dr. James Darius Dillingham (1865-1939) was an educator and school administrator whose 40-year career included 34 years of service as the first principal of Newtown High School. He was a defender of co-education in secondary school, arguing that it played a crucial role in readying students for adult life. An innovator in the field of vocational training, Dillingham instituted the only course in agriculture in any New York City high school while at Newtown. In addition, he sponsored a four-year music course and established other courses in subjects like merchandising. Serving as principal until 1935, he retired from Newtown High School at the age of 70. Dillingham was born in Berkley, Massachusetts, to Ajes D. and Lucinda I. (Harris) Dillingham. He attended Bristol Academy in Taunton, Massachusetts (now the Old Colony History Museum), and graduated from Amherst College in 1887. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar, but preferring teaching to law, he continued his studies at the School of Pedagogy at New York University, graduating in 1892. Dillingham began his teaching career in Toms River, New Jersey, and later taught in Jersey City. In 1894, he came to Queens, where he became the first principal of Corona High School. On August 7, 1901, he married Harriet Mahaffy of Salem, New York, a teacher and vice principal who also served two years as assistant principal at P.S. 16 in Corona. In 1898, Corona High School merged with what was then Newtown Union School to form Newtown High School, and Dillingham took over as principal. He obtained significant support for the school during his tenure, with funds allocated for two major construction projects, one in 1920 for $1,250,000 and another expansion effort in 1932 for $900,000. Beginning with 60 students, the school was serving more than 8,000 students by the time Dillingham retired in 1935. Dillingham and his wife lived at 41-47 Denman Street in Elmhurst, and she predeceased him in 1933. Active in civic affairs, he served as a director of Corona National Bank, a trustee of Elmhurst Presbyterian Church, and in several fraternal organizations including the Masons, Elks, and Odd Fellows. When Dillingham retired, he returned to live on the family homestead, a 200-acre farm in Berkley, where he was joined by his brother, John. On August 3, 1939, he died at the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence at the age of 73. A marker commemorating Dillingham’s 34 years of service as principal stands at Newtown High School, located at 48-01 90th Street in Elmhurst.

Virgil I. Grissom (1926-1967), also known as Gus, had an experienced life as a combat flier, jet instructor, and NASA astronaut. Grissom knew his passion for aircraft from his young adult years and pursued it as an aviation cadet and through studying mechanical engineering at Purdue University. Shortly after graduating, he obtained his pilot wings and went straight to work with the United States Air Force. During his time in the Air Force, the US was involved in the Korean War; as a result, Grissom flew over 100 combat missions with the 334th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. He left Korea in 1952 but was distinguished for his work with the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal Award. In 1959, Grissom was accepted to the original NASA Mercury Class of astronauts; only seven were let in. With his crew, Grissom worked tirelessly to make Mercury’s final test flights successful. He became the second American in outer space. From there, he served as Commander Pilot of the spacecraft Gemini III. After trials and tribulations, the Gemini crew was the first to accomplish orbital maneuvers around the world. Grissom was the backup pilot for Gemini 6 and commander for Apollo/Saturn 204, a three-man mission. During a launch pad test, Grissom and his team were killed in a flash fire. The mission was renamed Apollo 1 to honor those who were caught in the accident. His legacy lies with his family and the leadership he provided to everyone he worked with.

On May 29, 1919, Nancy Leo, the oldest of five children, was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Her parents, Francesco Leo and Irene Fiore, emigrated from Bari, Italy, in 1917. After working on the railroad and then in the ice and coal business for some time, Francesco went into the food business, opening his first store in Brooklyn, on Lorimer and Skillman Avenues. Nancy and her sisters, Mary, Lily and Grace, and their brother, Al, attended P.S. 132 in Brooklyn. They often came to Corona, Queens, for "vacation" since Corona at that time was still mainly farms and countryside. In the early 1930s, the family moved to Corona where Nancy's parents set down roots and opened Leo's Latticini, later to become known as "Mama's," an affectionate nickname given to Nancy when she was raising her daughters. Nancy Leo worked at Leo's Latticini alongside her parents for some time. Then, during World War II, she became one of the first pioneer women to help in the war effort. In November 1942, Nancy completed the airplane assembly course at Delehanty Institute. She then joined the ranks of women riveters working for American Export Airlines on some of the first non-stop transatlantic flight planes carrying passengers, cargo and mail overseas. A few years later, Nancy took a vacation to visit her aunts in Italy and met her future husband, Frank DeBenedittis, who was born in Corato, Bari, Italy. They were married on August 29, 1948, in Rome's St. Peter's Basillica. Years later, when Nancy's parents retired, she and Frank took over the family store and continued in the food business. They worked very hard serving the community while raising their loving family. They had three daughters, Carmela, Irene and Marie, all of whom attended St. Leo's Elementary School in Corona. Carmela, the oldest, married Oronzo Lamorgese and owns Leo's Ravioli and Pasta Shop in Corona. Their daughter, Marie Geiorgina, who is married to Fiore DiFelo, is a teacher at P.S. 16 in Corona. They have one child, Mama's first great-grandchild. Irene, a former New York City public school teacher, joined the family business in order to keep the family traditions alive. Marie, though the youngest, has been in the store the longest. She, like her mother and grandmother, is very business-minded and also an excellent cook who strives for quality in all she does. In 1985, Frank, who was a major part of the family business, passed away at the age of 73. He was sorely missed by everyone. After Frank's passing, Nancy, with her daughters, decided to continue on with the family business and for years Nancy became known as "Mama" to everyone. After so many years of dedication to family and community, Mama passed away in 2009 at the age of 90. Upon her passing, there was a true expression of love and appreciation by all her patrons, neighbors and friends for all she had done for the community. When many of the original Corona residents moved away to "better neighborhoods," Mama stayed and lived and worked with the community's people. She instilled in all her family a sense of discipline, respect for each other and good character. She was truly a wonderful role model for all. Throughout her lifetime, Nancy saw immense change. From ice and coal to refrigeration and gas heat, from radio and television all the way to today's world of computers. She made everyone around her appreciate all the little things in life that are special and "Mama," Nancy DeBenedittis, was truly a special person.

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.

Officer Disdale Enton, a four-year veteran of the NYPD, was assigned to the 113th Precinct. He collapsed and died on August 28, 2002, after suffering a brain aneurysm while chasing a suspect in Jamaica, Queens.

Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero (1909–1998) was a bass fiddle player who worked as a musician at the famous Stork Club, a New York City nightclub. However, he is most well-known for the harrowing experience he endured in 1953 when he was arrested in a case of mistaken identity outside his Jackson Heights home and charged with the armed robbery of an insurance office. Balestrero, a family man with a wife, Rose, and two young sons, struggled to prove his innocence. A key point of suspicion against him was the argument that he needed money for his wife's $300 dental work. During his trial, a juror's outburst resulted in a mistrial. Shortly afterward, the real thief, Charles J. Daniell, was caught before Balestrero's second trial began. Daniell confessed to forty robberies, including the two for which Balestrero was accused. Balestrero sued the city for false arrest, asking for $500,000 but accepting a settlement of just $7,000. He earned $22,000 from the Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Wrong Man, which was based on his story and starred Henry Fonda. The film, which Balestrero reportedly liked, was shot at the actual locations where the events occurred. The money from the film went to repaying loans for Rose's care, though she never fully recovered and died in 1982. Manny died in 1998. A street sign reading "Manny 'The Wrong Man' Balestrero Way" is located at 73rd Street and 41st Avenue, not far from his former Jackson Heights home.

Benjamin Wheeler (2006 -2012) was born in New York City and lived in Sunnyside, Queens for the first year of his life before moving to Connecticut. He was just six years old when he was killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Edward F. Guida(1924-2014), nicknamed Eddie by those who knew him, was born and raised in Corona, Queens. He was a City Marshal for 29 years and owned a family-run funeral home, the Guida Funeral Home, opened in 1909 by his Grandfather. The Corona community loved and respected him for his compassion and ethics in both jobs. He was sympathetic to all the families that mourned the deaths of their loved ones in his funeral home. His wife, Mary Guida, remembers him as "generous, loving, caring, and respectful." As Guida ran his funeral home, he was highly involved in the community of Corona, working with the Corona Lion's Club, The Latino Lawyers Association, The Italian Heritage Foundation, The American Diabetes Association, The Golden Age, and the local Precinct Council. The funeral home was also involved with the Northside Democratic Club, St. Leo's Church, and St. Leos School. He assisted in creating St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital's Queens Chapter in 1991, earning him the title of "Man of the Year." As a City Marshal, Guida would show compassion to those he needed to evict as it was part of his job. He would try to assist the people he was evicting by giving them information and showing a kind heart. Although kind, he was still "tough when he had to be," according to his wife. When Guida passed, his wife, Mary and their son, Edward Guida Jr., continued to run the funeral home. Eddie Jr. would also continue his father's City Marshal business, even taking up his badge number, #14. The intersection of 104th Street and 48th Avenue was named after him, Edward F. Guida Sr. Way, this same intersection being the location of the Guida Funeral Home.

Police Officer Anthony F. Mosomillo (1962-1998) served the NYPD for more than 14 years, and was killed in the line of duty while attempting to serve a bench warrant on a parolee who had failed to appear in court. Born in Brooklyn on January 30, 1962, Mosomillo graduated from Lafayette High School in 1981, then joined the NYPD in 1984. He met his second wife, Margaret, on a blind date in 1988, and the couple married four years later. Their family moved to Glendale in 1996, though he continued to work for precincts in Brooklyn, and is said to have returned to Bensonhurst for haircuts and bagels. Mosomillo was a warrants officer at Brooklyn's 67th Precinct on May 26, 1998, when he and his partner, Officer Miriam Sanchez-Torres, went to arrest Jose Serrano at his East Flatbush apartment, because Serrano had missed a court date following an arrest on a minor drug charge, violating the terms of his parole. When the officers arrived and found Serrano, a gunfight ensued, Serrano having reportedly gotten a hold of Sanchez-Torres' gun, and Mosomillo and Serrano fatally shot one another. Officer Sanchez-Torres carried Officer Mosomillo out of the apartment and drove him to the hospital. More than 14,000 police officers and state troopers attended Mosomillo's funeral, which was held at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Ridgewood—the same church where he had married Margaret six years before. In addition to his wife, Mosomillo left behind two daughters, Marie and Francesca, and his brother, Salvatore. Francesca followed in her father's footsteps, joining the NYPD in 2019, gaining the rank of detective in 2024. She was issued her father’s old police officer’s shield number, 20316, on her badge. An area of basketball and handball courts in Dyker Beach Park in Brooklyn are also named for Mosomillo. Then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani dedicated the Anthony Mosomillo Memorial Courts on Bay Eighth Street and Cropsey Avenue in 1999, not long after the Mayor and the Police Commissioner honored Mosomillo by presenting his family with the Medal of Honor, the highest honor bestowed by the Police Department. City Councilmember Joann Ariola proposed this street co-naming in 2024. It was dedicated on November 22, 2024.

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.

Maureen Walthers (1934 – 2020) was the owner and publisher of the Ridgewood Times and Times Newsweekly. Walthers was a homemaker in the 1970s when she wrote a letter to the editor of the Ridgewood Times about drug use at a playground a block away. The letter impressed the paper’s then-publisher, and she was offered a job as a writer - it began a five-decade association with the weekly newspaper covering the Greater Ridgewood area (Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth, and Middle Village). She was on the front lines covering the civic scene in Ridgewood and neighboring Bushwick, Brooklyn, during the 1970s. She would ride along with police officers and firefighters as they responded to emergencies in both communities and chronicled the rampant urban decay in Bushwick an award-winning seven-part series, “The Agony of Bushwick,” published in the Ridgewood Times in the summer and fall of 1977. The series brought further public awareness of the community’s woes, and action from the city to reverse the decline. Walthers was one of the founding members of the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society and took an active role in helping to preserve and landmark the Onderdonk House, a colonial farmhouse on Flushing Avenue. She was also an active member of Queens Community Board 5 for many years and served for a time as the chair of its Public Safety Committee. She was also involved with the Greater Ridgewood Restoration Corporation, which promotes the preservation of the neighborhood’s housing stock. In 1981, she became the Ridgewood Times’ first female editor, as well as executive vice president and co-owner. She became owner of the paper and expanded it over the next three decades beyond the Greater Ridgewood area. She launched the Times Newsweekly in 1989, a version of the Ridgewood Times distributed in northwestern and southwestern Queens communities, extending out as far north as Astoria and as far south Howard Beach. The Times Newsweekly sponsored Cop of the Month awards at eight precincts covering western Queens and Bushwick.

Undated photo of the Lewis H. Latimer House

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.

Roy Wilkins (1901-1981) was a Black American civil-rights leader who served as the executive director (1955–77) of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Roy Ottoway Wilkins (1901-1981) was an American civil rights leader from the 1930s to the 1970s. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, he worked for the weekly newspaper, the Kansas City Call. His reporting on the treatment of blacks in Army flood control projects helped to bring about change. In 1931 he began working with the NAACP, eventually serving as as Executive Director from 1955-1977. In 1963 her helped organize the March on Washington. In 1967 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Lyndon Johnson.

Sheikh Hamoud Saeidi (1937-2023), a good samaritan who had once saved a girl from a kidnapping, was killed by a person on a shooting spree while heading to his mosque. Born on January 25, 1937 in Yemen, Saeidi moved to New York City in the 1970s. He worked to eventually own several bodegas and delis in the city, employing dozens. Once, when he saw a person in a van attempting to lure a small girl inside with candy and toys, he intervened. The van drove away, but Saeidi remembered the license plate and reported it to the police, who caught the suspect. On July 8, 2023, a man on a scooter randomly shot several people, killing Saeidi and injuring three others. The 25-year-old shooter, Thomas Abreu, was later caught and arraigned on charges including murder and attempted murder. If convicted, he could face 25 years to life in prison. Saeidi was the central figure in his family. He and his wife were married for nearly 60 years, and they had six children, 30 grandchildren, and 31 great-grandchildren. Nearly 2,000 people, including Mayor Eric Adams, filled a mosque for the funeral of this beloved member of the Yemeni community. “This person did not kill one person only, he did not kill my father only, he killed the whole community, my whole family," his son, Main Saeidi, told the news at the time. Council Member Lynn Schulman proposed co-naming this street, which is the site where Saeidi was killed, in his honor in 2023, and an unveiling ceremony took place on June 26, 2024.

Henry Bohack (1865-1931) was born in Oster-Wanna, Hanover, Germany. He came to the United States at age 17, in 1882. He began clerking in a grocery store in Lower Manhattan and three years later opened his own store in Brooklyn with his future brother-in-law. His business expanded in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island to 740 stores and 8,000 employees. Bohack served on the boards of many businesses and organizations. He participated in the Queens and Long Island Chambers of Congress and the Kew Gardens County Club. He resided in Kew Gardens at the time of his death. The operations for the supermarkets was located at the intersection of Metropolitan and Flushing Avenues. The supermarket chain faltered after Bohack’s death, struggling to survive through a succession of management teams. In 1972, the supermarkets were permanently closed. According to the Bohack Square website, "The complex went through many tenants... Bohack’s industrial, manufacturing warehouses have been converted into a mixed-use commercial complex consisting of class “A” creative office and retail space. Bohack Square offers retail opportunities to Brooklyn focused food and retail, as well as loft-style office space geared towards creative professionals and teams".

The Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner Clock Tower sits atop the main library on the campus of Queens College.

Police Officer Charles James Reynolds (1893-1923). On the night of July 26, 1923, Reynolds, along with fellow officer Frank Romanelli, got a ride from Queens to their station house at the 116th precinct in Manhattan. While crossing the Queensboro Bridge, they heard a woman screaming from a taxicab. They managed to stop the cab in Manhattan on 2nd Avenue at 64th Street. The passengers, a man and a woman, insisted that, though they had had an argument, everything was fine. Reynolds, who had pulled the man from the cab, then told the man to get back in and instructed the cab driver to take them to the nearest precinct, where they would be questioned. The man then shot and killed both officers and escaped. Council Member Robert F. Holden introduced legislation to rename the street 100 years later, in December 2023, and the new street name was unveiled on April 13, 2024. The intersection is located near the 104th Precinct station house on Catalpa Avenue. Prior to his Manhattan post, Officer Reynolds had served at the Glendale station for three of his four years in the department. He left behind a wife and two young children. Because his time with the police had been brief, his family did not immediately receive his pension. Therefore, officers arranged a block party fundraiser to assist his widow. The event took place on September 22, 1923, near the renamed intersection, on what is now 70th Avenue, between 60th Street and Fresh Pond Road.

Tommie Lee Agee (1942-2001) helped the New York Mets win the World Series in 1969 and was a resident of Queens for much of his life. Born in Alabama, Agee initially signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1961 but mostly played in the minor leagues for them. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1965 and won the AL Rookie of the Year in his first full year of play. Agee was traded to the Mets in 1968 and played a large role in their successful season of 1969, leading the team in home runs (26), RBIs (76) and runs scored (97). The Mets had 100 winning games in 1969 and won the World Series, thanks in part to two amazing catches by Agee in Game 3 that are remembered to this day. Agee was the first African American player to win a Gold Glove award in both the American League and National League. He is also credited with the longest home run in Shea Stadium at 505 feet on April 10, 1969. Injuries shortened Agee's career, and he retired after the 1973 season in which he played for both the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals. But he would remain in the New York area, living and working in East Elmhurst for more than 30 years. He died of a heart attack in January 2001. Agee was posthumously inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2002, the last Met so honored at Shea Stadium. The naming and location of the Tommie L. Agee Educational Campus (I.S. 419) is particularly significant because it is the former site of The Outfielder's Lounge, a bar that Agee owned with fellow Met Cleon Jones; it was also where he met his wife Maxcine. At the naming ceremony, New York City Mayor Eric Adams concluded his speech by proclaiming Aug. 26, 2022, “Tommie Lee Agee Day.”

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.

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.

Howard Ames Von Dohlen (1895-1918) Died in battle in France during WWI. Von Dohlen grew up in Ozone Park, Queens, and attended a local public high before working for the brokerage firm V.C. Brown. He was a member of the Men’s Club Epiphany Church of Ozone Park and was also Superintendent of the Sunday School Epiphany P.E. Church. In June 1917, he enlisted in the U.S. Cavalry and was assigned to Troop D, Squadron A of the New York National Guard. Von Dohlen was promoted to corporal while stationed in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and then again to sergeant shortly before his unit sailed for France in May 1918. Sergeant Von Dohlen assumed a leadership role during every engagement and battle in which the 27th Division fought. On three separate occasions he volunteered to carry wounded men to the dressing station through a heavy counter barrage of enemy artillery and machine gun fire. On the morning of October 17, 1918, Von Dohlen was killed in action while commanding a machine gun section in the Battle of La Salle River in St. Supplet, France. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action.

Herman Alvin Schleicher (1828-1866) and his wife, Malvina Schleicher (born c. 1830), were the owners of a 14-acre estate in College Point that included a two-and-a-half-story, red brick home. Among the oldest houses in the area and designated as a historic landmark in 2009, the Herman A. and Malvina Schleicher House is one of the earliest surviving buildings in New York City that combines elements of the Italianate and French Second Empire styles and was among the first in the City to feature a mansard roof, a design that maximizes attic space. Herman Schleicher was born in New York City on April 20, 1828, the son of Prussian immigrants. He married Malvina, a Prussian-born immigrant, in the 1840s, and the couple had four children, Herman, Julia, Frederick, and Walter. Herman worked as a merchant and wholesaler, trading in coal, stationary, and hardware. In the 1860s, he was active in local business and civic affairs, including serving on Flushing’s first board of education starting in 1858. In 1857, the couple built a home in College Point located on a tract of land purchased by Malvina. They worked with Morris A. Gescheidt, a German-born painter and architect, for the design of their house. Three years prior, the area around College Point had quickly developed into a thriving community after Gescheidt had designed and built a factory for hard rubber products for the industrialist Conrad Poppenhusen. The home Gescheidt built for the Schleichers was originally part of a walled compound with landscaped carriage paths, and it was located on the western end of the estate. The neoclassical design is one of the earliest surviving structures of its kind in New York City. Herman died on July 17, 1866, at the age of 38. In 1892, the Schleicher House became the Grand View Hotel and Park. When the original estate was subdivided into building lots in 1902, the house ended up at the center of a traffic circle as the surrounding neighborhood developed around it. The house was divided into apartments in 1923 and has continued as a rental property after its landmark status was established in 2009. The Herman A. and Malvina Schleicher House stands in its original location at 11-41 123rd Street in College Point.

Detective Anastasios Tsakos (d. 2021) was a 14-year veteran of the NYPD’s highway patrol unit, the 43 year old was killed when he was struck by an intoxicated driver as he directed traffic away from another fatal accident on the Long Island Expressway in Queens. Tsakos was born in Dover, N.H. and then moved with his parents to Greece, their home country, where he lived until he was 14. The family then came to Astoria, Queens, where Tsakos graduated high school. Tsakos earned his undergraduate degree in aviation administration from Dowling College on Long Island - he had a dream to fly airplanes and helicopters. After college, he worked at his father’s Port Washington diner for a while, and then returned to Greece and enlisted in the Greek army, where he became second lieutenant. In 2007, he moved back to the U.S. and joined the NYPD with the goal of flying an NYPD helicopter. He worked in the 75th and 83rd precincts before joining the highway patrol unit.

Ferdinand Foch (1851 – 1929), was a French general and the marshal of France and who served as Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. He is generally considered the leader most responsible for the Allied victory. Foch was born in Tarbes, France, his father was a civil servant. When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, the 17-year-old Foch enlisted in the French 4th Infantry Regiment in 1868. He entered the artillery corps in 1873 and from 1885 taught military strategy at the war college, becoming its commandant in 1908. After World War I broke out, he commanded an army detachment and planned the strategy that enabled Joseph-Jacques-Césaire Joffre to win the First Battle of the Marne. After commanding at the Battles of Ypres and the Somme, Foch was appointed chief of the general staff in 1917, adviser to the Allied armies, and then in 1918, commander in chief of all Allied armies, winning the battlefield against Erich Ludendorff. When Germany was forced to ask for an armistice, the conditions were dictated by the recently promoted Marshal Foch. Considered the leader most responsible for the Allied victory, he was showered with honors after the war and was buried near Napoleon in the Invalides.

Detective Randolph Holder (d. 2015) came from a family of Guyanese immigrants who all served as police officers and settled in Rockaway, Queens. Holder had served with the New York City Police Department for five years and was assigned to Police Service Area 5. He and his partner were on patrol in East Harlem when they responded to a call of shots fired. The officers canvassed the area for the suspect and located him approximately 18 blocks away, near a footbridge over Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive at 120th Street. A gun battle ensued, and Officer Holder was struck in the exchange of gunfire and was killed in the line of duty on October 20, 2015. He was 33 years old. The suspect, who had been wounded in the exchange of gunfire, was located several blocks away by responding officers and taken into custody.

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was born in the Italian seaport of Genoa in 1451, to a family of wool weavers. He went to sea from an early age, and was an experienced sailor by his twenties. In 1476 Columbus moved to Lisbon, Portugal, and for many years attempted to gain support for a journey he was planning to find new trade routes to the Far East. Eventually Ferdinand and Isabella, the King and Queen of Spain, agreed to finance him. He is known for his 1492 ‘discovery’ of the 'new world' of the Americas on board his ship Santa Maria. In actual fact, Columbus did not discover North America. He was the first European to sight the Bahamas archipelago and then the island later named Hispaniola, now split into Haiti and the Dominican Republic. On his subsequent voyages he went farther south, to Central and South America. He never got close to what is now called the United States. Columbus called all the people he met in the islands ‘Indians’, because he was sure that he had reached the Indies. This initial encounter opened up the 'New World' to European colonization, which would come to have a devastating impact on indigenous populations. Columbus died in 1506, still believing that he had found a new route to the East Indies. Today his historic legacy as a daring explorer who discovered the New World has been challenged. His voyages launched centuries of European exploration and colonization of the American continents. His encounters also triggered centuries of exploitation of Indigenous Peoples. The City acquired this land on July 19, 1910, and since the 1920s Italian-Americans of Queens have gathered here to celebrate Columbus. The Board of Aldermen, on April 1, 1930, named the site for the famed explorer. The Italian Chamber of Commerce installed a bronze tablet here on October 12, 1937, indicating its intention to build a full monument to Columbus. In 1938, with funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Italian sculptor Angelo Racioppi was commissioned to create the seven foot tall bronze of a youthful Christopher Columbus standing in front of a ship’s tiller.

Paul Stier (1874-1916) was a prolific builder in Ridgewood, constructing over 2,000 buildings in the early 20th century, which led to the area being called "Stierville." His civic involvement also grew, culminating in his election as Queens County Sheriff, a position that ended tragically. Born in Mecklenburg, Germany, Stier immigrated to Buffalo, NY, in 1891. He became a mason's apprentice and married Anna Muller in 1898. In 1902, they moved to Ridgewood, where he began building brick rowhouses. He quickly became Ridgewood's largest developer and a major builder in New York City. His rowhouses, often attributed to the architectural firm Louis Berger & Company, are notable for their curved bay fronts and alternating brick colors. Stier and Berger used standardized floor plans to speed up construction. Stier developed several areas, including 64th Place, 69th Avenue, and 70th Avenue. Around 1910, he purchased a portion of the Frederick Ring Farm, located between Fresh Pond Road (from present-day Catalpa Avenue to 68th Avenue) and west to Buchman Avenue, where he created Silver and Hughes Streets and constructed dozens of homes. He then built homes on 71st Avenue and 68th Avenue, followed by Elm Avenue. Later, he acquired and developed part of the John C. Debevoise Farm, on the corner of Catalpa Avenue and Fresh Pond Road. In 1909, Stier co-founded the Ridgewood National Bank. The following year, he partnered with Louis Berger and August Bauer to form Bauer and Stier, Inc. They purchased a portion of the Wyckoff Farm, which they began developing in 1914. On Gates Avenue, Palmetto Street, Woodbine Street, Madison Street, Putnam Avenue, and Cornelia Street, they constructed 80 three-story, six-family brick houses. They built the first large apartment buildings in Queens at the corner of Cypress Avenue and Woodbine Street, each four stories tall with 16 apartments. Stier was active in politics, founding the Jefferson Democratic Club. He was a member of the board of arbitration for the Building Trades Council, and served as president of the Bricklayers Union Local No. 35. When he found out he was under consideration for the position of Queens County sheriff in 1915, he mounted his campaign, with a slogan of "A German from Ridgewood,” and was elected by a large majority. On October 23, 1916, less than a year after his election as Sheriff, Stier was killed while serving an arrest warrant on Frank Taff. Taff, an inventor whose latest invention had failed, was in debt and behind on his rent. Two of Stier's deputies had attempted to serve the warrant two days earlier and were threatened with a firearm and a demand that they leave. When they returned, Taff, armed and barricaded inside his home, opened fire, fatally wounding Stier and injuring two other officers. On October 26th, a wake for Stier drew approximately 200 attendees, including employees of Bauer and Stier, members of the Democratic Club, and a homeowners' association comprised of residents from houses Stier had built. Stier is interred at Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens.

Detective Brian P. Simonsen (1976-2019) was a 19-year veteran of the NYPD who was tragically killed in the line of duty on February 12, 2019, while responding to an armed robbery. The corner of Jamaica Avenue and 118th Street, which leads to the 102nd Precinct where he served his entire NYPD career, has been named in his honor.

Conrad Poppenhusen (1818-1883) was an early developer of College Point, Queens and a local entrepreneur and philanthropist.  Born in Hamburg, Germany on April 1, 1818, he emigrated to the United States in 1843. He started a whalebone processing plant in Brooklyn and then manufactured rubber goods, eventually moving his firm to Queens, then a farming village. Poppenhusen developed the Village of College Point, which was formed in 1870, to accommodate his factory workers. In 1868, he also opened the Flushing and North Side Railroad, connecting College Point to New York City. At the same time, he founded the Poppenhusen Institute, which was comprised of a vocational high school and the first free kindergarten in the United States. It is still in existence today.  After Poppenhusen retired in 1871, his family lost much of its fortune due to financial mismanagement by his three sons. He died in College Point on December 12, 1883. The bronze memorial was created by Henry Baerer (1837-1908). Baerer, born in Kirscheim, Germany, came to the United States in 1854. He created six sculptures in New York City Parks, including statues of Ludwig von Beethoven in Prospect and Central Parks.

Paul Heidelberger (1964-1992) was a police officer who served with the New York City Housing Authority Police Department (now the NYPD) for six years. A resident of Queens Village, he was off duty when he was shot and killed on July 18, 1992, while attempting to break up a fight at a bar in Bayside, Queens. He was 28 years old. Heidelberger was born on June 18, 1964. The youngest of seven children, he attended grade school at Our Lady of Lourdes in Queens Village and high school at St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows, graduating in 1982. Heidelberger had a brother and a brother-in-law who were police officers, and he dreamed of pursuing the same career. He graduated from the police academy in June of 1986. At the time of his death, he was living in Queens Village with his mother and was working out of a police unit in the Vladek Houses in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. He was awarded three medals for Excellent Police Duty over the course of his career, including one received in January of 1991 following an incident where he was wounded in the leg while responding to a burglary. He was survived at the time by his mother, two brothers, and two sisters. On September 22, 2024, a ceremony was held to co-name the intersection of 217th Street and Jamaica Avenue in Queens Village as PO Paul Heidelberger Way in honor of his service on the police force. The location is about one hundred yards from Heidelberger’s childhood home.

Teddy White was born on July 25, 1971 to Edward and Regina White, in Boulevard Gardens in Woodside, Queens. His family grew to include brothers Jimmy, Chris and Billy, and a sister, Sue. Teddy attended kindergarten at Public School 151 and then went to the Corpus Christi School for eight years. After grammar school he continued at Monsignor McClancy High School from which he graduated in 1989. On April 18, 1998 Teddy White married his lovely wife Jennifer, and a daughter, Taylor, was born to the couple on December 16, 1999. The young family bought an apartment at Boulevard Gardens and settled there. Mr. White joined the New York City Fire Department and was assigned to Engine Company 230 in Brooklyn. On September 11, 2001 Teddy White and the members of Engine Company 230 responded to the emergency brought on by the attacks on the World Trade Center. Mr. White died while attempting to save lives when the twin towers collapsed. He was survived by his wife, Jennifer, his daughter, Taylor, his parents, Edward and Regina, and four siblings.

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson may be best known as a rap icon, but he's also helped spark a love of nature in kids growing up in his old neighborhood through this community garden. Born July 6, 1975, Jackson grew up in South Jamaica, Queens. After his mother passed away when he was eight, his father left him to his grandmother's care. Though boxing and school took up his time, he also began dealing drugs around the age of 12. While attending the now-defunct Andrew Jackson High School, he was arrested for drug and gun possession, but served time in a boot camp rather than prison. With a GED in hand, it was around this time he decided to pursue hip hop. Attempting to break through with his music—and suffering some near-death experiences that included being shot several times outside of his grandmother's old house - Jackson's career took off when Eminem and Dr. Dre signed him for a record deal that resulted in the release of his debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin', in 2003. The album's single "In da Club" hit number one on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Jackson has since made several more albums, appeared in films and television, and developed business ventures from apparel to real estate. And in 2007, he worked to give back to the community where he grew up with an investment into the former Baisley Park Community Garden. Working with the New York Restoration Project and Bette Midler, the new Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson Community Garden is underwritten by 50 Cent’s G-Unity Foundation and reopened in 2008 following several renovations. The space now features a rainwater harvesting system for regular irrigation, a solar-powered water pump, and new garden beds. The garden has also provided new opportunities for youth encountering the criminal justice system. According to a 2016 article, teens in an alternative-to-detention program volunteered at the garden, where they built connections to both people and nature.

Police Officer Santos Valentin Jr. (b. 1961), a member of the New York Police Department's Emergency Service Squad 7, was killed on September 11, 2001, during rescue operations following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

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

Henry Waichaitis (1919 – 1982) was a community leader in Broad Channel, who lived on West 20th Road. Born in Maspeth, Waichaitis was a veteran of World War II and a United States Merchant Marine. After the war, he moved to Broad Channel where he met and married Helen Hutchinson, and started a career as a civil servant in the Department of Sanitation. His love of the Broad Channel community prompted him to become involved with the local Democratic Club, of which he would later serve as president. He joined and revitalized the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department, where he worked his way up the ranks to Chief and was responsible for the acquisition of the first volunteer ambulance on the Island. He was Chief of the department from 1960 to 1963. He also served as President of the Civic Association, and became the first Chairman of Community Board 14.

Edgar Garzon (1966 – 2001), better known as "Eddie," was a young openly gay man and member of the Jackson Heights based organization Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association (COLEGA). Garzon was a creative talent who worked as a set designer and was known for his designs of floats for pride parades. Garzon was walking home from Friends Tavern, a local gay bar, in August 2001 when he was beaten in a hate attack. He died Sept. 4, 2001, after nearly a month in a coma.

Ralph Johnson Bunche (1903 - 1971) was an African-American political scientist, diplomat, scholar, civil rights activist, and Nobel Prize winner. Bunche is most celebrated for his accomplishments while working at the United Nations, which he helped found. While at the U.N., Bunche was a leading figure in the decolonization movement and the Arab-Israeli conflict in Palestine. His mediation efforts during the conflict in Palestine earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1950, making Bunche the first African-American to earn the award. Upon his return following the armistice, he received a hero’s welcome in New York, where a ticker-tape parade was held in his honor.  Bunche was born in Detroit, Michigan, to parents Fred Bunche and Olive (Johnson) Bunche, as the oldest of two siblings. His father was a barber in a whites-only shop, while his mother was an amateur musician. He also had a younger sister, Grace, born in 1915. Little is known about Bunche’s childhood in Detroit; he had a modest upbringing, although his family struggled with finances. When Bunche was about ten years old, his family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, after his mother developed rheumatic fever upon the birth of his younger sister, Grace. Despite hopes that the arid New Mexico climate would help his mother’s ailing health, she died shortly after the move. Shortly after, Bunche’s father died for unknown reasons, leaving Bunche and his sister orphans.  After the death of his parents, he moved in with his maternal grandmother, Lucy Taylor Johnson, in Los Angeles, California. Bunche’s grandmother lived in a bungalow in a primarily white neighborhood, where Bunche would be subjected to racism. Recognizing Bunche’s potential and sage-like wisdom, his grandmother enrolled him and his sister at a local public school and encouraged him to aspire to a college education. Despite some school officials wanting to enroll Bunche in a vocational program, his grandmother insisted that her grandson receive a college preparatory education. Bunche maintained strong ties to education throughout his life. In high school, Bunche excelled intellectually and graduated as valedictorian of Jefferson High School. With the encouragement and support of his grandmother, Bunche accepted a scholarship from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied international relations. At UCLA, Bunche was an active student; he played on the school’s basketball and football teams, participated in debate and journalism clubs, served as a Phi Beta Kappa honor society member, and worked multiple jobs to support his education. In 1927, Bunche graduated with his Bachelor of Arts at the top of his class. Later, Bunche continued his studies, earning his master's and doctorate from Harvard University in 1934, becoming the first African American to earn a doctorate in political science. While earning his doctorate, Bunche worked as a political science professor at Howard University. Following his time at the United Nations, Bunche served as a New York City Board of Education member from 1958 to 1964 and was a trustee for the New Lincoln School in New York City. Bunche fiercely advocated for the desegregation of New York City Schools.  Outside of his diplomatic career, Bunche was heavily involved with the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He frequently criticized America’s social systems, specifically segregation and racial oppression, arguing they were incompatible with democracy. Bunche participated in several marches led by Martin Luther King Jr., most notably the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 Selma March. Moreover, he actively served on the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1949 until his death. Bunche’s support of the Civil Rights Movement demonstrated his commitment to racial justice and equality.  Ralph Bunche died in New York at the age of sixty-seven due to complications with kidney and heart-related diseases. Many regarded him as one of the most accomplished and brilliant figures of his time, including President John F. Kennedy, who bestowed him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963. Over the course of his career, he earned several doctorates, honors, and accolades, overcoming racial and systemic barriers. Bunche’s accomplishments and support for human rights, education, racial justice, and decolonization cemented him as an influential figure in Black History for decades to come.

Mike Crowley (1936-2007) was a founding member and president of the Jackson Heights Beautification Group (JHBG). Under his leadership, JHBG landmarked Jackson Heights as a historic district, operated the first ever community based anti-graffiti program in the City, established the JHBG Architectural and Good Neighbor Awards, the JHBG Halloween Parade, the garden club, created the Friends of Travers Park, operated Town Hall Meetings and Candidates Nights and created the publication of a community newsletter.

Mamie Fay (1872-1949) was the first principal of P.S. 122 in Astoria, now named in her honor as P.S. 122 The Mamie Fay School, where she served from 1925 until her retirement in 1942. Following the consolidation of Queens into New York City in 1898, she became the first teacher in the borough to be designated as a principal. As a member of the Queensborough Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, she also worked to protect children’s rights. Born in Brooklyn to John and Mary Archer Fay, Mamie graduated from Flushing High School and Columbia University before beginning her career in education as a teacher in 1898. In 1905, she earned her principal’s license. Five years later, she became principal of what was then P.S. 7 in Astoria, moving on to serve at P.S. 122 when it first opened in 1925. She was active in her community, serving as a member of the Teachers’ Council of the City of New York, the New York Principals Association, the Teachers’ Organization for Women’s Suffrage, and the League of Women Voters. In addition, she was the first woman to become a member of the Queensborough Chamber of Commerce. Fay died at her home in Flushing on March 19, 1949. On September 20, 2024, the section of Ditmars Boulevard between 21st and 23rd Streets in Astoria was co-named Mamie Fay Way in her honor. The street is located directly in front of P.S. 122 Mamie Fay School where she served for 17 years.

Dr. Gregory Razran (1901-1973) was a psychology professor at Queens College from 1940 to 1972, serving as department chair for much of that time (1944-1966). Born in present-day Belarus, he was considered a leading authority on Russian psychological research, especially during the Soviet era. Razran came to the U.S. in 1920 and studied at Columbia University, receiving his Ph.D. in 1933. He continued at Columbia as a lecturer and research associate until joining the newly established Queens College. During World War II, he also served as a statistical consultant to the U.S. Office of Strategic Services. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1948, and in 1952, took a leave from Queens College to help establish the psychology department at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In addition to his teaching and research at Queens, Razran was co-chair of the International Pavlovian Conference on Higher Nervous Activity in 1961, and published "Mind in Evolution: An East-West Synthesis of Learned Behavior and Cognition" in 1971. Razran retired from Queens College in 1972 to St. Petersburg, Fla., and tragically drowned there the following year. At the time of his death, he was Distinguished Professor at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. His papers are housed at the Archives of the History of American Psychology at the University of Akron (Ohio). Razran Hall was erected in 1970 as the New Science Facility and renamed to honor Dr. Razran in 1994. Among other purposes, the building houses laboratories for the department of psychology.