Doris “Dorie” Miller (1919 – 1943), was a World War II hero who shot down several enemy planes during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the first African American recipient of the Navy Cross for valor. Miller joined the US Navy on September 19, 1939, at age 19 and was assigned to the Messman Branch. At the time, African Americans were limited to positions on supply ships. The easy-going serviceman was described as an impressive 200 lbs., and over 6 feet tall. On December 7, 1941, he was assigned as a Mess Attendant aboard the ammunition supply ship Pyro anchored in Pearl Harbor. In the Japanese attack that day, the Pyro was struck by at least six torpedoes and two bombs. Miller, leaving his post, raced to his ship commander Captain Mervyn Bennion, who was mortally wounded. After helping move the captain to a safer place, Miller, in the midst of bombing and a flame-swept deck, proceeded to help pass ammunition to two machine gun positions. When one of the gunners was killed, Miller took over his position and he downed at least two Japanese planes and as many as six. Shortly after, he was ordered to leave the bridge as bombing and danger increased. Dorie Miler was awarded the Navy Cross by Admiral Chester W. Nmitz to become the first US Hero of WW II and the first African American to receive the Navy's highest award. Two years later, on November 24, 1943, Miller was among more than seven hundred crew members who died in the sinking of the USS Liscombe Bay, torpedoed by an enemy submarine. In his honor, the Navy named a Knox class frigate ship the USS Miller. In December 1953, the first of three hundred families moved into the six buildings of the Dorie Miller Housing Cooperative. 34th Avenue between 112th and 114th is known as Dorie Miller Place.

In honor of Veterans Day, we are highlighting a few of the many public spaces in Queens named after veterans, some of whom emerged as community leaders.

Millie Rigoli (1923-2024) was a beloved centenarian who actively served her community of Bayside for over 50 years. She volunteered at P.S. 159, the Board of Elections the Department of Education, the Selfhelp Clearview Senior Center, St. Josaphat’s Church, and Blessed Sacrament Church, where she taught in the Religious Education Program for over 25 years. She also served as a board member of the Church's Senior Citizens Center. P.S.159 is located at 205-01 33rd Avenue in Bayside, NY, between 205th Street and Clearview Expressway Service Road. Millie Rigoli Way is at the intersection of 33rd Avenue and 205th Street, by the school where Millie made a lasting impact with her years of dedicated service.

Chanta Monique Howard (d. 2019) was a community activist and president of the Redfern Housing Advisory Board. Howard was a pillar of the NYCHA Redfern Housing community, especially for youth – she served as manager of the Stack Angels Dance group, co-founded the Rockaway Female Softball league, organized barbeque events and provided free school supplies for students. She also founded the annual “White Affair” event that honored local individuals who perished as a result of gun violence or sickness, and organized the “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child” event to honor all the seniors in the development by providing certificates labeled as Redfern Heroes. The 48-year-old mother of three passed away in March 2019.

William Steinway (1835–1896), born Wilhelm Steinweg, was a German-American piano manufacturer and former president of Steinway & Sons. The company was founded by William's father, Henry E. Steinway, shortly after the family moved from Germany to New York City in the early 1850s. William took over Steinway & Sons in the 1870s after the death of his father and two of his brothers. Steinway was a generous patron of the New York opera and orchestra companies, as well as touring European musicians. His investments in the arts and innovative print advertisements led to the construction of Steinway Hall in Manhattan and other halls worldwide. In the 1870s, Steinway relocated the company's operations to what is now northern Astoria, Queens, after purchasing a home, Steinway Mansion, and the surrounding property to establish a company town, Steinway Village. The Steinway Mansion and Steinway Piano Factory still stand, and many nearby buildings bear the Steinway name. As one of New York City's leading industrialists, Steinway's developments included the transportation industry. One of his former resorts east of Astoria became LaGuardia Airport; he was a partner in the American production of Daimler AG/Maybach cars, and served as head of the New York Subway Commission. Steinway wanted to expand his Steinway Railway Company, a trolley system for his workers under the East River. Steinway died in 1896 before the completion of tunnels and subway line. The Steinway Tunnels under the East River and the Astoria subway station Steinway St were named in his honor.

Rabbi Sholem B. Kowalsky (d. 2010) served a number of Jewish communities in the United States and Israel beginning in 1942. In 1959 he became rabbi at the Young Israel of Hillcrest which, under his leadership, became the largest Young Israel in New York City.

Barbara Smith (d. 2019), a Jamaican immigrant, came the United States in 1968 before settling in Far Rockaway in 1979 and becoming an EKG Technician at St. John's Episcopal Nursing Home. Actively engaged in civic life, Barbara was a dedicated member of the Deerfield Area Civic Association and collaborated with various community organizations. Her leadership as President of the Deerfield Area Civic Association shaped it into a respected organization. Barbara's commitment to social justice extended beyond her community. She participated in the NAACP, Thurgood Marshall Democratic Club, and Queens General Assembly, and served as a delegate for 1199 SEIU at St. John's, advocating for her fellow healthcare workers. Her tireless efforts for the community were recognized with awards form many organizations and elected officials, a testament to her lasting impact on Far Rockaway.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

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.

Jules Taylor, Jr. (1962-2020), local civic leader in Rosedale, Queens, who was a board member of the Rosedale Civic Association, a member of the JFK Rotary Club, and past president of the Brookville Park Tennis Club. Taylor was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and later moved to the United States. He began his career in HR after receiving his Master of Science in Human Resource Management from The New School University and worked in various positions over his more than 30-year career. His last position was at East Side House Settlement in the Bronx as their Human Resources Manager. After settling in Rosedale, Queens, NY, he became active with the JFK Rotary Club, and served as president from 2008 until 2010. As president, he assisted in helping the biggest fundraiser for the JFK Rotary Club, the “5K Runway Run”, going from 150 runners to 1,500 runners and from $10,000 to $40,000 in 5 years. In addition, he served as president of the Brookville Park Tennis Club, where he was instrumental in securing a brand new tennis court for the club. He also served on the Board of the Rosedale Civic Association, Inc. for many years, where he held the positions of second vice-president and co-chair of the fundraising committee. He died of COVID-19.

Msgr. Francis J. Dillon was the seventh and longest-serving pastor of St. Luke Roman Catholic Church in Whitestone, where he presided for 46 years, beginning in 1918 until death in 1965. Dillon was an active member of the community, where he was committed to the youth and needy of the area. In a Council committee hearing in 1995, Queens City Councilman Michael Abel noted that, “during the holidays, Francis Dillon would provide anonymous gift packages of food and clothes and leave them on the doorsteps of those families he knew were in need but were too ashamed to ask.” The Monsignor’s positive impact on his community led the local Whitestone chapter of the Knights of Columbus to be named in his honor. To mark the 30th anniversary of Dillon’s death in 1995, 150th Place between 17th Avenue and the eastbound service road of the Cross Island Parkway was renamed as Msgr. Francis J. Dillon Place. A commemorative sign is located at the northeast corner of 150th Place and 15th Drive, about a 4-minute walk from the church where Msgr. Dillon served for nearly a half century.

Harry Van Arsdale, Jr. (1905-1986), was a recognized national labor leader & President of NYC Central Labor Council from 1959 to his death. While serving in this capacity he set up the Hispanic Labor Committee, and the Black Trade Union Leadership Committee, organized the NYC Taxi Drivers Union Local 3036 and served as its first president, and served as treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Father Bernard J. Reilly (1889-1945) was the founder of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, serving as pastor until his death. He served in the US Army in WW I and was awarded the Silver Star for bravery under fire. Father Reilly also built the parish elementary school in 1932. During the Depression, Reilly organized a parish Save-a-Home fund that rescued some 30 homes from foreclosure.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Bernard M. Aquilino (1928-2018) was active in the Rocky Hill Civic Association for more than 40 years, and was its president for over 25 years. With State Senator Frank Padavan, he successfully worked to prevent the City from closing P.S. 18Q. Aquilino also facilitated the relocation of a Sanitation Department garage that had been proposed for the Creedmoor Campus so the community would not have to hear trucks constantly rumbling through its streets. Aquilino supported athletic programs for local youth, educated homeowners about government services, and personally weeded and cleaned public spaces in his neighborhood. He also led the fight to have the U.S. Postal Service rename his community Bellerose Manor.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Arthur J. Katzman (1903-1993) was born in Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire. He immigrated to the United States at the age of five and settled in Brownsville, Brooklyn. After graduating from Brooklyn Law School, he practiced law in Forest Hills for 65 years. Elected to the New York City Council in 1962, he championed the development of Yellowstone Park on Yellowstone Boulevard in Queens, securing its inclusion in the Mayor's Capital Budget for 1964-65. Known as "the conscience of city government" for his advocacy for ethics, Katzman retired in 1991. He died at the age of 89 on August 30, 1993, in Mountain View, California.

Justin Wallace was 10 years old when he was shot and killed on June 5, 2021 as he and his uncle were entering their home. Police say it was over a parking dispute. He died just days before his 11th birthday and his scheduled graduation from elementary school.

Frederick T. Haller, Jr. (d. 2007) was a longtime Glendale and western Queens community leader. He organized the first Home School Association at Sacred Heart School, was a Charter Member of the Monsignor Sherman Council, Knights of Columbus and of the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society. In addition, he was the founder of the Greater Ridgewood YMCA, held several Board positions of the Glendale Kiwanis Club, was the Chairman of Queens Community Board 5 for more than ten years, and served on the Board of Trustees of Wyckoff Heights Hospital for forty years.

Colonel Jacob Blackwell (1717-1780) was a businessman, landowner, and a colonel in his local militia of Newtown, now Astoria. He was a veteran of both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. When the British advanced through Queens from the south and the east in September 1776, he retreated to New Jersey, later returning to find his property and fortune seized by the crown. He died on October 23, 1780, at the age of 63, three years before the Treaty of Paris established the United States as an independent nation. Blackwell was born in Newtown on November 20, 1717, to Jacob and Mary (Hallett) Blackwell. With his first wife, Frances Sackett, he had three children. After Frances died in 1754, the following year he married Lydia Hallett, and their union yielded four children. Blackwell’s large inherited farmland estate in Newtown included Blackwell’s Island, now Randall’s Island. Blackwell served initially as a captain in the Newtown militia during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1776, Blackwell sided with the patriots and fled to New Jersey when the British advanced through present-day Astoria. Soldiers marked the door of his home with an arrow to signify that it was property of the crown. Though he eventually returned to Newtown, Blackwell never recovered from the financial losses, and he died on October 23, 1780. He was buried at the time in the family cemetery, which stood across from his estate at the foot of what is now 37th Avenue, just west of Vernon Boulevard. The family home was demolished in 1901, but the original door was retrieved. After passing through several hands, the door is now part of the collection of the Greater Astoria Historical Society. Named in his honor, P.S. 111 Jacob Blackwell was built in 1950. It opened the same year and is located at 37-15 13th Street in Long Island City, half a mile from the former location of the Blackwell family estate and burial ground.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Roger Laghezza (1930-2009) was a co-founder of the Queens Gazette newspaper and a lifelong resident of Dutch Kills. He was a member of the Ravenswood Chapter of Lions Club and over several years collected more than 100,000 pairs of used eyeglasses for the Lions' eyeglass recycling program.

Nathan Weidenbaum (1908-1983) was a longtime Woodside resident and one of the first occupants of the Wynwoode Gardens Homes, where he moved in 1936. At the time, the area was lacking basic amenities such as street signs and lampposts, so Weidenbaum formed the Wynwoode Gardens Homeowners Association to bring civic improvements to the area. He served as president of the association for over 45 years. He ran a busy law practice while also publishing a monthly newsletter on civic issues and services for homeowners and succeeded in getting local bus service to the area. Weidenbaum retired in 1981 and died in March 1983.

Ivan Lafayette (1930-2016) was a longtime champion of the Jackson Heights community who served for 32 years in the New York State Assembly. Throughout his career, he advocated for schools, passed legislation that made it illegal to drive without insurance, and was also one of the first elected officials to support same-sex marriage in New York. He was a founding member of the Jackson Heights/Elmhurst Kehillah, or Jewish Community Council, a member of the Jewish War Veterans Post 209, president of the Jackson Heights Community Federation, and a trustee of the North Queens Homeowner and Civic Association. Born in Monticello, New York, Lafayette grew up in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. He graduated from high school in 1947 and attended Brooklyn College. After serving in the United States Army from 1952 to 1954, he and his wife, Bertine, née Rabin, moved to Jackson Heights where they raised their family. Lafayette worked as a car mechanic and repair person, and then as a general manager of his father’s automotive franchises. He first sought the state assembly seat in 1970, ultimately winning a seat in his fourth race in 1976. Lafayette's career as an assemblyman spanned from 1977 to 2008, and in that time he sponsored hundreds of bills that became law and took on many roles in the Assembly, including leader of the Queens delegation, speaker pro tempore, and deputy speaker, among others. The Uninsured Motorist's Law he sponsored created penalties for driving without insurance coverage, and he took particular pride in helping to establish a statewide pre-K education program in the 1980s. Rather than seek re-election in 2008, Lafayette opted for a spot in Governor Paterson’s administration when he was named the state Insurance Department’s deputy superintendent for community affairs. On his passing in 2013, Lafayette was survived by his wife, three sons, and nine grandchildren. A celebration of the naming of PS 228Q The Ivan Lafayette Early Childhood School Of The Arts in Lafayette’s honor was held on October 5, 2019, at the site of the new school at 32-63 93rd Street in East Elmhurst. The school offers specialized, developmentally appropriate academic and arts programs for all students from pre-K to grade 2. It is located about two blocks from NYS Assemblyman Ivan Lafayette Way (92nd Street and 34th Avenue), a nearby intersection that was co-named in Lafayette’s honor in 2018.

Daniel M. O’Connell (1900-1918), a native of New York City who gave his life for his country in World War I. At the age of seven he moved with his family to Rockaway Beach where he attended P.S. 44 and served as an altar boy at St. Rose of Lima’s Church. In June 1917, O’Connell enlisted in the army and served with the 23rd Regiment at the Mexican border. In October of that year, he sailed for France with the 69th Regiment, later called the 165th Regiment, of the Rainbow Division. He was killed in action during the Ourcq Offensive in France, on July 29, 1918. At the time, O’Connell was the youngest soldier to receive the Croix de Guerre, a French decoration for gallantry in war.

Robert Cruz (1977-2022) was a 16-year veteran of the FDNY. He was assigned to Engine 301 in Hollis in September 2005. Known as a hard worker who was always ready to go beyond to serve the Hollis community, he became a staple of his firehouse’s reputation for always doing the right thing. From probationary to senior firefighters, he always set a good example for his colleagues, informally known as the “Hollis Hogs.” As a mentor to probationary firefighters, he helped countless people early in their careers and would help guide them through the academy. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on January 2, 2020, a rigorous task that led to his working with Battalion 7 in Manhattan. Cruz attended Xavier High School in Manhattan, where he played for the football and baseball teams. On February 17, 2022, at the age of 44, he died in a sudden and tragic medical episode. He was survived by his wife, Lauren, and two children, Noah and Lydia Grace. On February 17, 2023, the intersection of 197th Street and 91st Avenue in Hollis, located in front of Cruz's former Engine 301 firehouse quarters, was co-named Lt. Robert Cruz Way in his honor.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

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.

Olivia C. Banks (1927–2024) was a respected administrator, social services pioneer, and civic leader from Addisleigh Park whose work spanned school systems, government agencies, hospitals, and community organizations at the local and national levels. She was best known for the roughly ten-year period during which she founded and led New Yorkers for Inclusive Educational Curricula, organizing monthly bus trips to Albany to lobby for a more diverse and inclusive educational system. She was a lifelong member of the NAACP and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Born in Madisonville, Kentucky, to Isaiah H. Brown, a minister, and Ollie (Hobson) Brown, a homemaker and opera singer, she was the third of their six children. Banks graduated from Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., in 1945 and earned her bachelor’s at Howard University. While there, she met her first husband, John David Coleman, an international student from Liberia and the grandson of Liberia’s thirteenth president, William David Coleman. Olivia and John married on July 24, 1953, in Arlington, Virginia, and later returned to Liberia, where John worked as Acting Secretary of Public Works and Utilities. The couple had two children, Mulbah David and John DowDow. In 1955, John and his father, the former Minister of the Interior Samuel David Coleman, were killed by government security forces under President William V.S. Tubman after accusations of a failed coup. Following her husband’s death, Olivia returned to the United States with her sons, settling in Addisleigh Park in 1958. She earned a master's degree in social work from New York University. In 1959, she married Hugh C. Banks, a psychologist and professor at NYU. In 1969, Hugh was appointed assistant chancellor, the first African American to become one of NYU's general officers. Over her career, Olivia led with distinction in a myriad of social services roles, including Administrative Supervisor at Interfaith Medical Center, Associate Director at Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center, Director of Social Services at Community Service Society, and Social Service Director within the Manhasset School System. In addition, she founded the Nassau County School Social Work Association and assisted Queens Child Guidance in opening its first South Jamaica clinic as District Clinical Administrator. She was civically engaged throughout her life, serving on Mayor John Lindsay's Task Force for Community Residence and Rehabilitation, on the Queens Borough President's Summit on Racial and Religious Harmony, and on the executive board of the advisory committee for Queens General Hospital. She also worked as a consultant to the Supreme Court of Queens and as a part-time consultant to the NYC Chancellor’s office of Parent Advocacy and Engagement. Her community work was wide-ranging. As Vice President of Addisleigh Park Civic Association, she instituted the "Adopt a School" relationship between neighborhood schools and the association. She was a member of the youth committee of Community Planning Board 12, and for ten years she held various positions on Community School Board 29, including President, and First and Second Vice President. Her leadership extended to faith-based initiatives as well. She was a member of the Joint Board of Deacons and Deaconesses at the St. Albans Congregational Church and Acting President of its St. Albans Family Life Center. She also represented her community as a delegate to the President's National White House Conference on Children and Youth in 1960, 1970, and 1980 under Presidents John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter, respectively. On October 19, 2025, a co-naming ceremony was held in Addisleigh Park renaming the corner of 179th Street, between 114th Road and Murdock Avenue, in her honor as Olivia C. Banks Way.

Alice L. Feurtado (1940–2006) was a prominent educator and community leader based in Southeast Queens. Born in Anderson, Alabama, on November 22, 1940, Feurtado moved to Harlem with her family in 1945. After high school, she married Owen Feurtado, a police officer, and they had three sons. In the 1960s, Feurtado moved her family to Jamaica, Queens, and began her career as an educator, becoming one of the first teachers at the Concerned Parents of Jamaica Early Learning Center. Feurtado was deeply committed to uplifting her students. To ensure a safe environment and access to snacks while they waited for their working parents, she started an after-school program. She also organized a toy drive, mentored young women in the neighborhood, and took her students to pumpkin patches to expose them to areas outside of New York City. Feurtado lived in New York City until her death on July 6, 2006. Her legacy is carried on by her three sons, Tony, Lance, and Todd, who founded the King of Kings Foundation in 2005, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering at-risk youth. At the street co-naming ceremony for Feurtado, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said: “Alyce L. Feurtado touched countless lives as an educator, mentor, and community leader in Southeast Queens. Her contributions as a caretaker of the neighborhood and its youth will be remembered forever.”

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Jermaine L. Green originally founded P.S. 354Q as a K to 2 school in 2011 (the school, which has since been named in his honor, now serves students from 3K to grade 5). He was chosen to serve as its principal following his time as an assistant principal at P.S. 121 in South Ozone Park, when the new school was created to take the place of a struggling school. Green, who passed away in 2013, envisioned a school of students who were strong readers and writers who engage critically with science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. This is the guiding light of the school today, whose mission is for students to become self-sufficient and independent thinkers through collaborative discussions, cross-curricular activities, and STEM activities.

Giuseppa Vendome (1923-2024) known as “Mama” among 9/11 recovery workers, was born in Sant Angelo dei Lombardi, in southern Italy. She migrated to the United States, along with her husband Rocco and their 2 children: Gennaro and Antonio, in 1955. She worked, at various times, as a candy maker, a tailor and owner and manager of real estate and restaurants. In the wake of the September 11th attacks she, Rocco, and Antonio “Nino” expanded service at Nino's Restaurant on Canal Street and served over a million meals to the rescue and recovery personnel. Over the following nine months, they kept the Restaurant open, sometimes 24 hours a day, to serve her famous meatballs to the Police, Firefighters, FBI, Secret Service, soldiers, sanitation workers, and other workers at Ground Zero. To honor her, Mayor Eric Adams proclaimed September 10, 2022 as Giuseppa Vendome Day. She is survived by Gennaro and wife Carol, Antonio and fiancé Candida, as well as many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. According to her obituary "Giuseppa leaves behind a legacy of love, resilience, and unwavering devotion to family. She will be deeply missed by all who were fortunate enough to know her."

Melvin Harris Jr. was a union representative, community leader and a former aide to Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano. As a young man, he started a youth group for the purpose of steering his peers away from the drug gangs in southeast Queens. He continued this work in his adult years working with such community leaders as the late Dr. Charles Mixon, pastor of the Maranatha Baptist Church of Queens Village, and other clergy to oppose the widespread drug violence and crack dealing on the streets of his community. To accomplish this, he helped unite the civics and clergy in the group “Concerned Citizens Against Drugs” in collaboration with Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward. Harris was also very active in the Jamaica Branch of the NAACP in its fight for better schools, safer streets and concerned candidates for elected office. He organized a group of ardent social justice supporters, “People United Against Brutality,” which opposed the systematic stopping and searching by the police of innocent schoolchildren and pedestrians. In 1987, Harris joined Local 1056 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represented the public bus drivers in Queens. He became the Local’s political director and the union representative for the Queens Depot. As such, he not only attended and participated in civic-sponsored meetings on improving public transportation in southeast Queens but had a significant role in the preparation of a union contract that had national implications because of its trail-blazing benefits. Harris later moved to Uniondale in Nassau County, where he served as a public liaison for the County Executive and was appointed Commissioner of the Nassau County Human Rights Commission. He was also the president of the Hempstead chapter of the NAACP from 2012 to 2014. In 2019, Harris was honored with the designation of a portion of Front Street in Uniondale as Melvin Harris Jr. Way.

Reverend Dr. Robert J. Johansson (1936-2016) was a prominent leader in New York City's evangelical community, serving his for over 50 years as the head of Evangel Christian Church and School. Born in Queens on January 4, 1936, he attended local public schools and graduated from Flushing High School. After Bible school and Roberts Wesleyan College, he entered the ministry in 1956 and pastored in Rochester, New York. In 1965, after leading three upstate New York churches, Reverend Johansson returned to New York City to lead the church his grandfather had founded. In the 1980s, seeking more space for the growing congregation, Reverend Johansson purchased the former P.S. 4 building and established Evangel School in the heart of Queens Plaza, Long Island City, Queens. By 2017, the school had grown to over 550 students and earned a reputation for academic excellence, also distributing $600,000 annually in scholarships. The church also played a vital role in providing social services to the community, organizing clothing drives and supporting residents of Pam's Place Homeless Shelter.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Stephen A. Halsey (1798-1875) was known as the “Father of Astoria.” He was a wealthy fur trader who bought a large swathe of land along the East River. He incorporated the village in 1839 and changed the name to Astoria, after his mentor: the millionaire John Jacob Astor.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Joseph H. May (d. 1987) was the long-time pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church as well as a civic leader in the Rockaways. He had attended Virginia Union University before coming to New York in 1941. Later that year, he was inducted into the all-black 366th Infantry and saw combat in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. In 1945 he completed his bachelor's degree at LIU and went on to earn a Doctor of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary. In 1947 he became pastor of Mount Carmel, which he served for 40 years, until shortly before his death in 1987.

The Lefferts family was a prominent Dutch family in Brooklyn. The family's roots can be traced to the Dutch colonist Pieter Janse Hagewout, a farmer and shoemaker who emigrated from Holland with his family in 1660. Pieter died shortly thereafter, leaving his seventeen-year-old son, Leffert Pieterse (1650–1704), as head of the household. In 1687, Leffert purchased fifty-eight acres of land in Flatbush. By the time of his death in 1704, he had become one of the largest landowners in Kings County, amassing property across Kings and Queens Counties, Staten Island, and New Jersey. His children established distinct branches of the family: his son Peter Lefferts (1680–1774) inherited the homestead in Flatbush, while his son Jacobus Lefferts (1686–1768) settled on family land in Bedford Corners. The family went on to become influential in business and politics, with members founding banks and serving in Congress.

Janice Fenster (1945-2023)  was born and raised in the Bronx where she received her early education at a Hebrew Jewish Girl School housed at Mosholu Jewish Center. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology at Queens College (CUNY) and later, a Master of Science degree in Early Childhood Education. She relocated to the Borough of Queens and the Richmond Hill neighborhood, which she called her home for most of her adult life and served as a New York City public school teacher until her retirement. She specialized in early childhood education with emphasis on special education and later served as a resource room teacher at a local high school. She served as Vice President of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Teachers, as well as the Jewish Teachers Association, was very involved with the Annual Queens Purim Parades.  She was on the Advisory Board of the Queens College Black-Jewish People-to-People Project, served on the Jewish Heritage Week Advisory Committee of the Jewish Community Relations Council and was a member of the Steering Committee of the Queens Chapter of the Jewish Teacher’s Community Chest. She served on Community Board 9, the Advisory Board of Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and Archives at Queensborough Community College,  was vice president for the Queens Jewish Historical Society, was a member of the board of the Ladies Auxiliary for Congregation Adath Yeshurun of Kew Gardens and served as executive vice president, vice president, treasurer and president of the Queens Jewish Community Council.

Saviour “Sammy” Borg volunteered around his community. He was very involved in Police Precinct 114 Council meetings and Block Watcher meetings. He volunteered to clean and close Sean’s Place, a park on 38th Street every evening.

Ralph Goldstein (1921-1986) was Assemblyman for the 30th District from 1977 until his death on May 21, 1986, at the age of 64. The Forest Hills Assemblyman chaired the Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee. Notably, among the bills he sponsored was the 1984 "lemon law," designed to protect the rights of used-car buyers. Mr. Goldstein was born in New York City, graduated from De Witt Clinton High School, and served in the US Army Air Corps during World War II. He earned a law degree from New York University Law School after graduating from City College. Before establishing his law practice in the 1950s, he taught civics and economics in New York City high schools.

Rev. Lucile Chambers Hill (1944-2013) was ordained a Full Elder in the United Methodist Church (UMC) in 2007 and faithfully served Long Island People’s UMC until her death. Rev. Hill also founded the Theater of Dance Movement, which trained thousands of young student, and championed liturgical dance at the renowned Allen A.M.E. Cathedral and other houses of worship.

Corporal John Ruoff was the first resident of Ozone Park to fall on the battlefields of Europe during World War I (1914-1918). Ruoff was killed in action on August 14, 1918.

Thomas Abbey (1899-1943) joined New York City’s Police Department in 1927. Throughout his life, Abbey was a resident of Middle Village. Due to his military service in the First World War, he was released from the Police Department to train pilots in the Army Air Corp during the Second World War. On September 12, 1943, he was killed while conducting an air search for his commanding officer, whose plane went down in a storm.

Lance Cpl. Michael V. Postal (1984-2005) was a Queens native killed in action in Iraq by an improvised explosive device during a convoy in Company L’s area of operations.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

A. Gordon Webster (1895-1925) was born in Richmond Hill, Queens in 1895. He served in the US Navy in World War I. Later in life, he was part of a group of veterans working to form an American Legion Post in Ozone Park. After his death in 1925, the A. Gordon Webster Post No. 951 American Legion was named in his honor.

Nathan Sanford (1777-1838) was a prominent politician and lawyer from Flushing who held a variety of elected state and federal offices for a period of 29 years extending from 1802 to 1831. At various points in his career, he served as United States district attorney, New York state assemblyman and senator, and finally as a US senator. Born in Bridgehampton, Long Island, on November 5, 1777, he was educated at Clinton Academy in East Hampton and studied law at Litchfield Law School and Yale University. After passing the bar in 1799, he practiced law in New York City. Sanford was appointed as US commissioner in bankruptcy in 1802 and, a year later, was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson as US attorney for the district of New York, a post he held until 1816. He was elected to the New York State Assembly and served from 1808 to 1809, and then briefly as speaker in 1811, though he had to relinquish that role due to ill health. He then served as New York State senator from 1812 to 1815, followed by a term in the US Senate, from 1815 to 1821. He was defeated in his second run for the US senate by future-president Martin Van Buren. He served as a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821, and as Chancellor of New York, then the highest judicial officer in the state, from 1823 to 1826. He was again elected to the US Senate in 1826, where he served until the end of his term in 1831. Sanford married three times and fathered seven children. His first wife, Elizabeth Van Horn, died in 1811, and he then married Mary Isaacs in 1813. Following her death in 1816, he was last married to Mary Buchanan, who survived him. Following his last term in the US Senate in 1831, he settled in Flushing and continued his law practice. By 1836, he had erected a three-story Greek Revival-style mansion on a large area of land located between Parsons Avenue on the east and what is now Kissena Boulevard on the west. Sanford died on October 17, 1838, of tuberculosis. In 1844, the property became a private psychiatric hospital. By 1910, the institution was no longer in use and the land was eventually sold. Sanford Avenue extends from Delong Street in the east to Northern Boulevard in the west, and passes through the area where Sanford’s mansion once stood.

April Simpson-Taylor (1962-2024) was a passionate and dedicated leader in her community and served as President of the Resident Association of the NYCHA Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing complex in the nation, for almost a decade. This block on 12th Street between 40th Avenue and 41st Avenue was named in her memory in December 2024 and is located between the Queensbridge Houses and the Center of Hope and Urban Upbound where April Simpson-Taylor worked. As Resident Association President, she worked tirelessly to advocate for improvements and safer conditions throughout Queensbridge Houses. She actively pushed local elected officials and organization leaders to bring attention to the many capital and infrastructure needs and helped foster closer ties between Queensbridge residents and the surrounding neighborhood. In addition to her work with the Resident Association, she volunteered her time advocating for better services and resources for the unhoused and undocumented migrants and immigrants that increasingly called Long Island City their new home. She worked closely with Center of Hope and Urban Upbound to provide much-needed programming in financial literacy, free tax preparation, and business entrepreneurship training. She also worked as a substance abuse counselor at Samaritan Village. She received a number of city and state citations, awards, tributes and honorary recognitions by such organizations as the NAACP, Healthfirst, and Public Housing Associations nationwide.

Louis Hammel (1836-1904) was a prominant landowner in the Rockaway area of Queens. Originally from Germany, he emigrated to the United States and lived in Elm Park on Staten Island before moving to Brooklyn. During the summers he ran the Eldert House hotel in the Rockaways. In 1878, he gave land to the New York, Woodhaven & Rockaway Railroad for construction of a station, which was named “Hammels.” The name “Hammels” came to designate the entire community. In 1897 Hammels merged with Hollands and was incorporated as the Village of Rockaway Beach. The following year Rockaway Beach became part of Greater New York when the five boroughs consolidated into a single city.

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.

Nathan Kohlreiter (1878-1961) was active in the development of Rockaway Beach. His son Fred Kohlreiter (1912-1990) was a Democratic leader in the 23rd Assembly District.

Clare Droesch (1982 – 2018), was a lifelong Rockaway resident and legendary basketball player and coach who passed away from breast cancer in 2018. The Christ the King women’s basketball assistant coach and former Boston College star was just 36 years old. Even after her diagnosis, she continued to coach basketball at Scholars’ Academy and Christ the King High School as she underwent treatment. During her time at Christ the King in the late 1990s, Droesch was arguably the best high school player in the state, as she helped lead the Royals to 106 wins. Christ the King also won three state federation championships in her time at the Middle Village school, which ended with an All-American selection in 2001. Droesch then went on to star at Boston College, where she helped lead the Golden Eagles to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the Sweet Sixteen. She was an inspiration to countless young girls and was a beloved figure in the whole community.

Sylvia Matz Weprin (1930-2022) was born in Cuba and came to the United States at the age of eight. Inspired by the teacher who helped her learn English, Weprin became a teacher at Jamaica High School, where she taught in English and Spanish until her retirement in 1991. She left teaching to join her husband, Saul Weprin, in Albany, where he served as Speaker of the Assembly during a long career in local and state politics. Two of her sons, David Weprin and Mark Weprin, also served on the City Council and in the State Assembly. Sylvia Weprin was active in Queens civic life, serving on Community Board 8 and on the boards of several local institutions, including the Queens Symphony Orchestra and Queens Botanical Gardens. At the co-naming ceremony, Council Member Linda Lee described Weprin as "a pillar of our Eastern Queens,” whose "shaped the neighborhoods around us and cultivated generations to serve and lead in our City’s cultural, civic, and political life." Sylvia Weprin passed away October 26, 2022, at the age of 92.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Sandee (1951-2024) and Jate (d. 2010) Doremus were dedicated members of their Rockaway community. Sandee worked for State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. for 22 years, helping Addabbo handle Rockaway-related issues when his senate district covered parts of the peninsula. Jate and Sandee both served on their local community council; Jate as council president and Sandee as corresponding secretary.

Pope John Paul II, born Karol Józef Wojtyła, was pope for almost 27 years, from October 16, 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the first non-Italian pope since the 16th century. His early reign was marked by his opposition to communism, and he is often credited as one of the forces which brought about the fall of the Soviet Union. His papacy is remembered by his ecumenical approach to accommodate other Christian sects as well as to forge a better understanding with the Islamic world.

Thomas White Jr. (1939-2010) was a long-time member of the New York City Council representing the 28th District in Queens. He was chairman of the Economic Development Committee and co-founder and executive director of J-CAP, one of the largest substance abuse treatment programs in the state. Economic development and substance abuse were two of his primary issues. However, he also pushed for job-training programs and initiatives that helped the poor and protected victims of violence. Mr. White also worked on issues such as teen pregnancy prevention and helped to create primary care programs for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

Joseph Austin (1904-1998) was a longtime youth league coach and active member of the Jamaica, Queens community. Austin worked after school at the Boyce MotoMeter Company in Long Island City to support his family. He played on the company baseball team and would later play semi-professional baseball on various teams. After losing his job during the Great Depression, Austin coached co-ed youth sports teams in baseball, basketball, and football. He continued coaching after he found a job at the Piels Brewery in Brooklyn once the 21st Amendment ended prohibition in 1933. One of Austin’s most famous players was Governor Mario M. Cuomo (1932-2015), a fellow dedicated public servant and accomplished baseball player.

Lamine Sarr (2001-2018) began his community involvement in 2012, after the Rockaway peninsula was rocked by Superstorm Sandy. He began volunteering with the Action Center and he continued until 2017. He was a mentor in a mentorship program at his local high school and he was an active participant in the Rock Safe Street site of the NYC Crisis Management System, contributing to the drastic decrease in gun violence within the Rockaways over the last few years. He drowned on September 15, 2018 while swimming near Beach 86th Street.

Harry M. Douglas (1919 – 1999) sometimes spelled as Douglass, was the lead singer of The Deep River Boys, an American gospel music group active from the mid-1930s and into the 1980s. Douglas lived on Sidway Place in Locust Manor/St. Albans Queens and in his later years was dedicated to community service in his Southeast Queens neighborhood. With The Deep River Boys, Harry Douglas delighted audiences around the world for more than 30 years, and was featured on nine albums and many singles released by the group. The Deep River Boys performed twice at the White House and gave a Command Performance for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. In 2019, their 1941 single "They Look Like Men of War" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Douglas was elected Vice-President of the Merrick Boulevard Local Development Corporation at its formation in 1980 and served in that capacity until his death. He was also instrumental in organizing the Springfield Gardens Business Merchants Association. He worked closely with the men and women of the 113th Police Precinct on a regular basis to address problems that confronted the community. Due to his leadership, grants for neighborhood improvements were provided by Federal, State and City agencies. As the architect of Project Lamb, he was responsible for the annual installation of holiday lights on the Merrick Boulevard shopping strip. Through his persistence under the banner of the Merrick Boulevard Local Development Corporation, Harry Douglas won approval for the Locust Manor Civilian Patrol and for the two neighborhood redevelopment contracts awarded to provide security and safety equipment for 46 merchants from Archer Avenue to Springfield Boulevard.

Vincent Daniels, Jr. (d. 1918), was a Woodside resident killed in action during World War I. He served as a Private 1st Class in the 102nd Field Signal Company and lost his life during the final days of the war in 1918. In 1933 the Board of Alderman named this site Vincent Daniels Square, “to pay tribute to a son of Queens County who made the supreme sacrifice in the World War.”

Rabbi Avraham Schechter ( 1936 - 2006)  was born in East New York, Brooklyn and moved to Kew Gardens Hills in 1961. He became a member of Community Board 8, where he served for 26 years, and was chairman of the zoning committee. He was the founder and chairman of the Jewish Action Committee and United Yeshiva, and was a member of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, the Queens General Assembly and the JFK Democratic Club. He also served as a liaison to the 107th Police Precinct and worked on a community patrol, and was a member of the board of directors of the Queens Valley Homeowners Association. He was also president of the Clergy Council of Queens and editor of the Voice of Mid-Queens newspaper. Schechter also informally served his neighbors as a marriage counselor, a financial advisor, a parenting mentor and a listening ear for anyone who needed the advice of an elder.

Morris R. Lee (1931 – 2008) was a longtime civic leader in southeast Queens, best known as the executive director of the Council for Airport Opportunity, where he secured thousands of jobs for youth and minorities in the borough. Lee was born and raised in Tuscaloosa and served in the United States Air Force for 10 years. He moved his family to New York and settled in Cambria Heights, Queens, in 1968. He earned a B.A. and Master’s Degree in economics from Queens College and served on the board of the Health Systems Agency of New York City. In addition to the work he did at the Council for Airport Opportunity, he was also very active in many community activities and was a founding member of the Cambria Heights Kiwanis Club, served as treasurer of the Queens County Overall Economic Development Corporation and was vice president of Community Planning Board, Community Board 13 in Queens.

Reverend Charles Mixon, (1929 – 2013) was a spiritual and community leader in Southeast Queens. Mixon arrived in New York from South Carolina in the early 70s. Ordained in 1975, he founded Maranatha Baptist Church in Queens, nurturing it for 27 years. Beyond the pulpit, his passion for social justice led him to champion voting rights, education, and countless civic causes through Community Board 13 and numerous organizations. Balancing faith and service, Mixon also dedicated 20 years to the NYC Transit Authority as a towerman.

Amanda Leah Clarke (1939 – 2017) was a community activist who lived in Queens. She had a deep passion for civic, community and political engagement and was actively engaged in several community groups such as the Federated Blocks of Laurelton, where she served as a block watcher during the crime spikes of the 1970’s and 80’s, and the Laurelton Garden Club. After the murder of her son Michael in 2002, she teamed up with friends and community members to form the Michael Arthur Clarke Foundation which provides scholarships to deserving students in southeast Queens. In addition to her community activism, she was elected to be the Democratic Party District Leader and in 2001, and ran for the New York City Council in the 31st District of Queens. Although she did not win, she remained actively involved in numerous campaigns as a volunteer, donor, and fundraiser. This corner also has been named for her son Michael A. Clarke.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Theodore Foulk (1848-1924) was a prominent nurseryman who established a successful business in Flushing. In 1895, he acquired and, for the next 29 years, ran Bloodgood Nurseries on Broadway in Flushing, along with other properties in Mineola, New York, and New Jersey. Now located in Horsham, Pennsylvania, Bloodgood Nurseries was first established in 1798 by Joseph Bloodgood and, still in business, it is considered the oldest continuously operating nursery and landscape company in the United States. On his death, Foulk left the City of New York $10,000 in his will, designating half of his gift for the improvement of Kissena Park in Fresh Meadows and the other half for the improvement or extension of the playgrounds at Flushing. Foulk was born in Andrews Bridge, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to Aaron Foulk and Margaretta J. (McIntyre) Foulk, the first of their four children. In 1882, he married Mabel Pyle Way, a Quaker who was originally from Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The couple had three children: Helen, Donald, and William. In 1894, Foulk moved with his family from Red Bank, New Jersey, to Flushing, where he established his nursery business and made his career. By 1895, he had acquired Bloodgood Nurseries, which was located on the south side of Northern Boulevard between 134th and 150th Streets. His son, William, later joined him in the business. Foulk also partnered with William Flemer Sr. of F\&F Nurseries in Springfield, New Jersey, to form the American Nursery Company—an effort to expand operations and increase efficiency—and he ran his nurseries up until his death. In his will, Foulk made additional gifts to a variety of organizations and charities, including Flushing Hospital and Associated Charities of Flushing. On September 19, 1924, Foulk died at his home in Flushing, and Mabel followed in 1942. The couple are buried in Oxford Cemetery in Oxford, Pennsylvania. Foulk’s contributions to local parks and institutions left a lasting legacy in Flushing, reflecting a deep connection to the community. In 1935, an NYC Department of Parks press release announced the opening of the new Bowne Playground, adding that some of the funds used in its construction were obtained through Foulk’s bequest, as he was “particularly interested in playground development.” In 1936, the City installed a plaque in Bowne Park in Flushing to commemorate Foulk’s gift.

Rayquon Maurice Elliot (1982-2007), aka "Stack Bundles", began modeling for his relatives clothing line “Ruff Ware” when he was 14 years old. He also had a passion for dancing and regularly took lessons at the Devore School for Dance. He, along with some friends, formed a dance group named the “True Playaz.” He was committed to dance and would attend practice and lessons by using roller blades as his only means of transportation. The True Playaz went on to compete in a city-wide talent competition known as the All-Stars. The group had a lot of success, including landing a performance at the Apollo and later starring in music videos for acts like 702 and Busta Rhymes. His love for dance ultimately developed into a love for music. His early performances started out at events held at Bayswater Park. By the age of 19, his rap career was beginning to develop. He went to Chicago where he met up with Lupe Fiasco. As Stack Bundles, he was signed by Lupe Fiasco. As his skills grew, so did his fame, success and popularity. He was becoming a household name. His songs were played on radio stations, such as Power 105.1 and Hot 97.1, Myspace, Spotify and YouTube. A pillar of his community, he loved children and would regularly treat them to pizza from Gino’s Pizza or ice cream from a Mr. Softee truck. He mentored youth to stay in school and to stay out of trouble. As his success grew, he had remained in Far Rockaway, living alone in a second-floor apartment. On June 11, 2007 Eliot was shot and killed in the lobby of his building in the Redfern Houses in Far Rockaway. In 2010, to memorialize his life and his contributions to his community, his sister organized a stop the violence basketball tournament. With the help of the late Manny Fiallo, Jr., the tournament began bringing peace and harmony to a community ravaged by violence.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Chief George R. Vierno (1940-1990) was a 28-year veteran of the NYC Department of Corrections. In 1984, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Operations. He also served as Acting Correction Commissioner and Chief of Department.

John Adams (1735-1826) served as the second President of the United States. A graduate of Harvard University, Adams quickly emerged as a prominent lawyer known for his keen intellect and unwavering dedication to the principles of justice and liberty. His commitment to the cause of American independence led him to play a central role in the Revolutionary War and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. As the second President of the United States, serving from 1797 to 1801, Adams faced numerous challenges, both domestically and internationally. Although he faced intense in political opposition and grappled with the complexities of foreign relations, Adams remained persistent in his commitment to upholding the principles of the Constitution. His presidency was marked by efforts to preserve American neutrality under the pressure intercede in European conflicts and to strengthen the young nation's economy and infrastructure. Beyond his presidency, Adams continued to contribute to the development of American democracy through his prolific writings and advocacy for the importance of education and civic engagement. Some say that his words as a philosopher were even more important than his leadership as the executive chair. His letters, essays, and speeches offer invaluable insights into the political and intellectual landscape of his time, earning him a legacy of honor and light in American history as a founding father.

Cavaliere Peter Cardella (1917-2014) was a dedicated Ridgewood resident who always advocated for the senior community. In 1974 he founded the Ridgewood Senior Citizens Center, which at one time served roughly 60,000 senior citizens each year and is now named for him. He also founded the Italian Cultural Center at St. John’s University, organized the Santa Maria del Soccorso annual street fair for 18 years, and helped raise thousands of dollars to assist victims of the South Asian tsunami. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by former Borough President Helen Marshall in 2005.

Gloria Brochin Warshofsky (1928-2003), an interior decorator, was also a staunch community activist. She was President of the Bayswater Civic Association and a member of Queens Community Board 14 for many years.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

James A. Sherry (1889 - 1955) was the Chief Park Administrator under former Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1889-1981).

Father Latona (1938-2008) was dedicated to the College Point and Whitestone communities. He was an honorary Chaplain for the New York City Fire Department as well as the Knights of Columbus. He was also the founder of the Italian Tradition Lodge of the Order of the Sons of Italy.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Raymond O’Connor (d. 1931) was a journalist, war veteran and municipal employee. He served in World War I. In 1929 he was appointed as assistant to Borough President Harvey. He was 39 when he died in 1931.

Brian Piccolo (1943–1970) was the former fullback and running back for the National Football League's Chicago Bears, until he died at the age of twenty-six of embryonal cell carcinoma. Piccolo was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts to Joseph and Irene Piccolo, and was the youngest of three brothers. His family moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida when he was three years old. He attended Central Catholic High School and was the star running back. He attended Wake Forest University on a football scholarship. In his senior year, he set nine school records and was named Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year. He joined the Bears in 1965 as a free agent and had his most productive season in 1968. During that season he ran for a career-high 450 yards, scored two touchdowns on 123 attempts and had twenty-eight receptions for 291 yards. His accomplishments came to light mainly in the last six games of the season after friend and teammate Gale Sayers sustained a season-ending knee injury in a game against the San Francisco 49ers. Sayers and Piccolo were both rookies in the Bear’s 1965 team. The two were the first interracial roommates in the NFL, which came during a time of racial strife across the nation. Piccolo played his last football game on November 16, 1969. His career ended after taking himself out of the game due to difficulty breathing. This shortness of breath was a symptom of embryonal cell carcinoma. He had surgery shortly after but the cancer returned in February of the following year. After months of chemotherapy, he underwent a mastectomy and had lymph nodes removed from his chest. In April of that year, Piccolo had his left lung removed but the cancer had already spread to other parts of his body. Piccolo died June 16, 1970 and is buried at St. Mary Catholic Cemetery in Evergreen Park. He was survived by his wife Joy and his three daughters. Piccolo’s life inspired the made for television film “Brian’s Song,” which was loosely based off of Sayers’ autobiography and tells the story of their friendship. After Piccolo’s death The Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund was created and due to their research in the 70s and 80s, Piccolo's disease, which was once a death sentence, now has a 95% survival rate. Today the Fund focuses on breast cancer research at Rush Medical Center in Chicago and provides support to the Clearbrook Center for the developmentally disabled in Arlington Heights. Overall, over $13 million has been raised in Piccolo’s name for cancer research. Brian Piccolo was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 1970 following his death. In 1972, Brian Piccolo Middle School opened in Far Rockaway, Queens. The students at the school decided on the name after watching the film “Brian’s Song.”

Dr. Daniel Malakov (1974-2007) was a popular local orthodontist whose life was cut short following a contentious custody battle with his wife. Malakov was born in Shahrisabz, Uzbekistan on January 13, 1974, though by the time he was nine months old, the family had moved to Tashkent. He moved to the United States in 1991, attending York College and then New York University's School of Dentistry. He finally pursued the orthodontic specialty program at Columbia University, garnering him the honor of being the first Bukharian orthodontist trained at an Ivy League institution in the United States. Malakov saw an opportunity to serve his local Bukharian Jewish community, and the Queens community at large, and he opened his practice in Forest Hills. He was known to provide pro bono treatment to the children of first responders and others who weren't able afford orthodontic care, and he inspired his late sister's children to follow his path toward dentistry and orthodontics. During this time, Malakov married Dr. Mazoltuv Borukhova, a specialist in internal medicine at North Shore University Hospital on Long Island, and they had a daughter, Michelle. The couple's relationship faltered early on, particularly over disagreements on how to raise Michelle. They separated and reunited, then separated again, at which point the contentious custody dispute began. On October 28, 2007, Malakov brought then-4-year-old Michelle to be picked up by Borukhova at Annadale Playground. He had been granted temporary custody of Michelle by a judge about a week earlier. After Michelle ran to her mother, Malakov was shot and killed by a gunman who immediately fled. Borukhova was accused of hiring her distant relative, Mikhail Mallayev, to murder Malakov. Both Borukhova and Mallayev were arrested, tried, and convicted for the killing, and each was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Community Board 6 voted to rename this intersection next to Annadale Playground for Malakov in 2010. City Councilmember Lynn Schulman introduced the renaming in 2024.

Krystyna Naprawa (1960-2023) served for 13 years as a crossing guard before she died in the line of duty while directing traffic near PS 60. Born in Poland on September 28, 1960, Naprawa moved to New York City in the 1980s. She made a new home in Howard Beach. She loved to garden, cook, and bake. She became a crossing guard in 2010, where she enjoyed greeting school children and locals each day. On the morning of October 20, 2023, Naprawa was posted at her regular location, the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue. At about 8 a.m., after helping a group of pedestrians cross the street, she was in the crosswalk when she was struck and killed by the driver of a dump truck who was making a right turn. Naprawa was 63 years old. The driver stayed at the scene and was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian. Naprawa had previously been struck by a driver while on the job, but she went back to work the same day. At the time of her passing, she still lived in Howard Beach, along with her daughter and son-in-law. Her son, Tomasz Naprawa, has served as a Port Authority Police Officer for more than 15 years. Following the crash, the city instituted several new safety measures meant to prevent similar deaths, including giving crossing guards new reflective vests, whistles, and 18-inch “stop” signs with six-foot telescopic, detachable poles for use at larger intersections and along truck routes. Additionally, the Department of Transportation installed a right turn signal at the intersection where Naprawa was killed. The NYPD also added another crossing guard to the post. The state legislature also passed legislation in her honor to ensure all crossing guards are enrolled in the Board of Education Retirement System pension plan. In February 2024, Naprawa was posthumously awarded a promotion and given a ceremony honoring her years of service. Naprawa lived in the same neighborhood as Council Member Joann Ariola, who said she'd visit her district office on coffee breaks. Ariola proposed the street co-naming, located at the site of the crash. She hosted the unveiling ceremony on September 28, 2024—which would have been Naprawa's 64th birthday.

Pauline Rhodd-Cummings (1925-2002) was a 25-year resident of the Rockaways. She served in the New York State Assembly for 8 years, and was the past President of the Deerfield Area Association; Executive Board Member of Queens Community Board 14; Executive Board member of the Rockaway Development Corporation among other posts. She died on January 27, 2002 after a year-long battle with cancer.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Stephen Cooper lived on Beach 46th, Street, Far Rockaway, NY for over 50 years and was very devoted to his neighbors in Edgemere. He was an active member of Community Board 14 for over 35 years and he was involved in many activities not only to help Edgemere, but to assist the residents on the Rockaway Peninsula. He worked with the Bayswater Civic Association, Beachside Bungalow Association, as well as other civic associations on the peninsula. He was the President of the Frank Avenue Civic Association for over 30 years. His neighbors on Beach 46th Street remembered the many times that he would walk up and down the street in order to pick up the trash, shovel snow, cut grass, or run errands for elderly and infirm residents. He was very caring and sensitive to the needs of people. He helped the teenagers who lived on his street by employing them in garden work and buying them lunch. Whenever there was any trouble on his street, the residents knew he would reach out to the 101st Precinct where he was known for his involvement in the area. He was the Democratic State Committeeman for Rockaway in the 1980s and the 1990s. He represented the Peninsula at many political functions and gatherings. He was extremely active in the Bernard Weiner JWV Post 258 in Rockaway, and served as Commander several times. He was instrumental in the closing of the Edgemere Landfill, as well as supporting the Farm on Beach 45 Street. Active with DC 37, he held many positions in Local 375 over the many years of his membership. He was delivering documents in Lower Manhattan when the South Tower collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001. A photographer captured him fleeing the scene amidst a cloud of smoke and debris. The image of Cooper, taken by an Associated Press reporter, was reprinted in magazines and newspapers around the world and was later featured in the 9/11 Museum. Stephen Cooper died on March 28, 2020.due to complications related to COVID-19.

Rabbi Solomon Goldman (d. 2006) was a distinguished civic leader in the Fresh Meadows community, dedicating much of his life to its improvement. He served as the spiritual leader of the Utopia Jewish Center congregation for 35 years starting in 1964. Beyond his work at the center, Goldman also held chaplain positions at Ossining State Prison (Sing Sing) for two years and Brookdale Medical Center in Brooklyn for 23 years. Prior to his time at the Utopia center, he was the rabbi of Tiferet Yisroel in East New York, Brooklyn, a once predominantly Jewish neighborhood, for 18 years. Rabbi Solomon Goldman Way, located at the corner of Utopia Parkway and 65th Avenue, faces the Utopia Jewish Center. He passed away in 2006, and the street sign was unveiled three years later.

Leroy H. Gwirtzman (1927-1992) was a World War II veteran, civic leader in the Rockaways and an active community member who contributed many years of dedicated service to his neighborhood.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

This triangle honors Barnett (Barnie) and Gussie Federoff who once lived and raised their family near this triangle in the Rego Park neighborhood of Queens. Gussie Federoff (1889-1967) was born in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. After she immigrated to America and married Barnie, Gussie became a member of the Washington Heights branch of the Hadassah and raised money for the United Jewish Appeal. She died on December 16, 1967. Barnie died on February 10, 1970.

Anthony Mason (1966-2015) was a professional basketball player. During his 13-year career, he played for the New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Miami Heat. Mason achieved several accolades: he earned the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1995 and was named to the All-NBA Third Team and NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 1997. Mason grew up in South Jamaica, Queens, and attended Springfield Gardens High School. In 2015, the school's gymnasium was dedicated to him and renamed "Mase Court" in his honor. Mason founded the charity "Family On Three Foundation," which educated youth on financial management and healthy life skills.

Delphin H. Greene (1935-1992) was a policeman, community activist, and longtime resident of the Cambria Heights, Queens. Greene served in the United States Army and received an honorable discharge in 1961. He then joined the New York City Police Department, reaching the rank of detective. Greene was a founding member and President of the Douglass/King Regular Democratic Club, managed the Cambria Heights Little League and was a member of Cambria Heights Kiwanis Club for 16 years, serving as president in 1983.

Rev. Freddie Brunswick (1927-2018) was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He was drafted into the United States Military and served until 1949. He moved to Harlem in 1951 and joined the Southern Baptist Church where he preached his trial sermon under the leadership of Rev. C. B. Wilson. He was ordained at the Mount Nebo Baptist Church and pursued further religious studies at Union Theological Seminary. Early in his ministry, he was called to pastor the Mt. Cellar Baptist Church in Harlem, where he met and married the former Shirley Edmonds. He was later called to pastor the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Jamaica, New York. In September 1964, Pastor Brunswick and others organized the Salem Missionary Baptist Church, where he served as the Pastor for over 42 years. Pastor Brunswick was active in public and denominational affairs and had the distinction of being the Senior Baptist Pastor in Queens. He maintained friendships with many Civil Rights Movement leaders, including Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Rev. Dr. Wyatt T. Walker. Throughout his ministry, he participated in and led several marches, sit-ins, and other community actions. Notably, his efforts led to keeping the campus of York College in its current location; and the development and support of the Springfield Gardens Civic Association. Among his many offices and honors, he was the former President of the Sunday School and Baptist Training Union (BTU) Department, Chairman of the Trustee Board of the Eastern Baptist Association, and was the former President of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Queens, NY.

Freddie Dill, Sr. (d. 2001) was a business owner and active member of his South Jamaica community. Dill moved from Pittsburgh to Jamaica, Queens at age 17 in the late 1950s, where he started working at a gas station, and went on to start a landscaping business. In 1973 he opened his first “Pooor Freddie’s” business (with 3 o's), a tire and towing shop on Liberty Avenue. From then on, Freddie became a successful business owner, moving to 129th Avenue and Merrick Boulevard, where he ran a towing service, a tire center, a take-out and catering establishment and finally, an auto center, all under the Poor Freddie's name.  Dill was not only an entrepreneur, but also an active part of the southeast Queens community, serving as the chairman of the board of directors of the Jamaica YMCA, where he chaired the “Uniting for Youth” campaign. He was a member of the Masons, the Pride of Jamaica Lodge #217, 100 Black Men, and The United Black Men of Queens County, Inc. and is well known for sponsoring an annual July 4 cookout. 129th Avenue between Merrick Boulevard and 174th Street in St. Albans was named "Freddie Dill Sr. Avenue" in his honor in 2007, and was renamed “Poor Freddie’s Avenue,” in 2009, to better reflect how he was known in the community.

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.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

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.

The Persia Campbell Dome, August 2022. The dome houses a lecture space for the Queens College community.

Betty Jean DiBiaso (1993-2015), a 21-year-old resident of Astoria, was killed in a hit-and-run accident while she was crossing the street at Ditmars Boulevard and 19th Street. In the aftermath of Ms. DiBiaso's death, the Department of Transportation, using community input, developed and implemented traffic safety measures in the Astoria Park area. These upgrades calmed traffic, separated cyclists from pedestrians and shortened the crossing distance for pedestrians.

Bishop Moses Taylor (1924-2004) was founder of The Long Island City Gospel Tabernacle and the Center of Hope International (COHI), which provides various services to the needy. Taylor, was born in 1924, and came to the Queensbridge Houses/Long Island City community in 1961. He began the Long Island City Gospel Tabernacle with just 12 members, and later opened up the Center of Hope International Church at 12-11 40th Avenue in Long Island City. He was involved in many philanthropic endeavors including an award-winning bread pantry in LIC and the Astoria Outreach Ministries.

Thomas J. Manton (1985 – 1999) was born in Manhattan and attended private Catholic schools in Queens and Brooklyn before becoming a flight navigator in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1951 to 1953. He graduated from St. John’s University in 1958 and was a member of the New York City Police Department from 1955 to 1960. He was admitted to the bar in 1963 and became a practicing attorney. In 1970, Manton was elected to the New York City Council, where he served from 1970 until 1984; he was then elected as a Democratic representative to Congress from 1985 until 1998. As co-chairman of the Congressional Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs, Manton helped persuade President Bill Clinton to meet with Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, the political arm of the Irish Republican Army, in 1995. Manton also was the chairman of the Queens Democratic Organization for 20 years.

Rosa Parks (1913 - 2005) was a civil rights activist and leader for most of her life. She was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her father was a stonemason and carpenter and her mother was a teacher. After her parents separated, she moved to a farm in Pine Level, Alabama and lived with her mother, sibling, and grandparents. There, she and her family lived under constant threat by the Ku Klux Klan and went to a segregated school. Jim Crow laws made racism and white supremacy a part of her daily life. Rosa attended school through most of 11th grade but was forced to leave after a family illness. When she refused to give up her seat on a public bus to white passengers, Parks inspired the Montgomery bus boycott and, thus, the civil rights movement in the U.S. Though not the first Black person to refuse to give up their seat, the established activist had the backing of the Montgomery NAACP chapter as the chapter's secretary. The chapter president helped her appeal the arrest. They brought the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, who deemed racial bus segregation unconstitutional.

Peter G. Van Alst (1828 – 1900) was a surveyor who helped to build the roads and infrastructure of western Queens. Van Alst was born in Dutch Kills on May 28, 1828, and was a member of the large extended Van Alst family, a prominent Dutch farming family who moved to the area in the early 1700s and resided there until the 1870s, when they spread out and moved elsewhere. Van Alst received his education at the District School and the Astoria Institute. He apprenticed as a surveyor for a few years, and worked independently until 1872, when the city legislature appointed him to serve as a commissioner, surveying and supervising the construction of several roads in Long Island City, Queens. In 1874, Van Alst and three fellow Long Island City citizens comprised the First Ward Improvement Commission, which was in charge of raising the grades of Jackson Avenue from Vernon Avenue to the courthouse from three to eight feet, which profoundly affected the daily life of the city. Van Alst’s job consisted primarily of constructing maps, which revealed detailed organizations of street lines, grades, and sewage lines of the Long Island City area.

Father John J. Gribbon (1925-2005) was a priest with the Church of St. Anastasia in Douglaston for 39 years. He also served as chaplain for the Little Neck-Douglaston Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

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

Roy Wilkins (1901-1981) was a Civil Rights activist and NAACP leader. In his early days, he became the editor of the Kansas City Call in 1923, a weekly newspaper serving the Black community of Kansas City, Missouri. He also helped organize the historic March on Washington in August 1963 and participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery marches in 1965 and the March Against Fear in Mississippi in 1966. Under Wilkins's direction, NAACP played a major role in many civil rights victories of the 1950s and 1960s, including Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act.

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

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Remington Vernam (1842-1907) was born in McConnville, New York, and moved to New York City with his family in 1854. He attended public school and went on to law school. He first came to Far Rockaway as a retreat from the stress of his work as a lawyer, but soon saw an opportunity to develop the area.

Tom Seaver (1944-2020), also known as “The Franchise” and "Tom Terrific," signed with the New York Mets in 1966 and pitched for the team from 1967 to 1977. He won the National League Rookie of the Year in 1967 and Cy Young Award in 1969. During his time with the team, he was selected to ten All-Star teams, led the league in strikeouts five times, and had five one-hitters and five 20-win seasons. He also led the "Miracle Mets” to win the World Series in 1969 and appeared again in the 1973 World Series. Fans were heartbroken when Seaver was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in June 1977, where he continued to dominate. He finally pitched a no-hitter in 1978 and recorded his 3,000th strikeout in 1981. He found himself back on the Mets in 1983 and finished his career with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox from 1984 to 1986. When he retired in 1987, he had a record of 311-205, with a 2.86 ERA and 3,640 strikeouts. Seaver was a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee in 1992 and wears the New York Mets cap on his plaque in the Hall. After retiring from playing, Seaver continued with baseball as an announcer, working for both the New York Yankees (1989-1993) and New York Mets (1999-2005) before retiring again to run Seaver Vineyards in California. The Mets retired Seaver's uniform number, 41, in 1988. Shortly before his death in 2020, the New York Mets changed their address to 41 Seaver Way, naming the part of 126th street outside the ballpark in his honor. On April 15, 2022, a statue of Seaver created by sculptor William Behrends was unveiled in front of the stadium. The bronze and stainless steel work, which stands 10 feet high and weighs more than 33,000 pounds, depicts Seaver in his trademark pitching stance.

Exterior of the Lewis H. Latimer House, 2018

Alfred "Al" Oerter Jr. (1936-2007) was a four-time Olympic Champion in the discus throw, and the first athlete to win a gold medal in the same event in four consecutive Olympic Games. Oerter was born in Astoria and grew up in Long Island. As a child, he had high blood pressure and spent little time participating in athletics. His start in discus throwing was accidental and would become a legend: as a teenager, a discus fell into his path as he was running. When he casually threw the discus back, it soared far past the original thrower, revealing Oerter’s hidden talent. Five years later, he would be an Olympic gold medalist. When he won his first gold medal, at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, he was so overwhelmed that he nearly fainted on the medal podium. The following year, he was in a car accident that rendered his throwing inconsistent. He nonetheless managed to win another gold medal in the 1960 Olympics. In all Olympic Games he competed in, he was never the favorite to win, often going into the games with various injuries, but he managed to continue winning gold until his retirement after the 1968 Olympics. Oerter was never interested in being a full-time athlete, and worked as a computer specialist for Grumman Aircraft Corporation alongside his Olympic career. After his retirement, he toured as a public speaker and became an abstract painter. He co-founded Art of the Olympians, an organization dedicated to supporting Olympian and Paralympian athletes’ creative expression and celebrating the connections between art and sports. Oerter was married twice, first to Corinne Benedetto, with whom he had two daughters, and second to Cathy Carroll. He made his home in Fort Myers, Florida, where he died in 2007. The Al Oerter Recreation Center in Flushing opened in 2008 and was named for Oerter in honor of his Queens origins.

Nina Adams (1944-2015) was president of the Queensbridge Tenant Association and received many awards in recognition of her community work. She represented approximately 12,000 residents of the Queensbridge Houses, and lobbied city, state and federal officials for programs to benefit them. She started the Queensbridge Outreach program, which organizes after-school activities and field trips to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., for children from Queensbridge. During the 1980s, she took in many children under her own care to keep them from wandering dangerous streets after school.

Hortense Powdermaker was one of the original members of Queens College’s faculty. She was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Philadelphia, earned a B.A. in history from Goucher College in 1919 and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of London in 1928. The following year, she became the first woman anthropologist to live alone among the Melanesians of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea; she published her study of the experience, Life in Lesu, in 1933. For periods in 1932-1934, Powdermaker lived in Indianola, Mississippi, examining its Black and white communities and their interactions. Her book, After Freedom (1939), is still notable for its insightful analysis of race relations and of the impact of psychological adaptations to segregation. Powdermaker joined Queens College upon its opening in 1937 and founded the departments of anthropology and sociology. During her 30-year teaching career at Queens, she continued to conduct research and published highly influential books on racism (Probing Our Prejudices, 1944) and the social structure of the American filmmaking industry (Hollywood: The Dream Factory, 1950). Her final book, Stranger and Friend: The Way of an Anthropologist, was published in 1966 as a candid examination of her fieldwork experiences and the appropriate role of the anthropologist and social scientist. She retired from Queens College in 1968 and was undertaking a study of youth culture in Berkeley when she died in 1970. Powdermaker Hall was built in 1962 as the Social Science Building, sometimes called Academic I. In 1977, it was renamed to honor Powdermaker. The building is home to the college’s departments of anthropology and sociology, along with its School of Education. The Hortense Powdermaker Papers are housed in the college library’s Department of Special Collections and Archives.

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.

Patrolman Arthur Howarth (d. 1938) had served with the NYPD for 11 years when he was killed in a car crash with another police car while both were responding to an alarm. Howarth was with the 85th Precinct when he and Patrolman Angelo Favata responded to a report of a stabbing at 7:30pm on July 9, 1938. They collided with the other police car, which was also responding to the call, at the corner of Bushwick and Johnson Avenues in Brooklyn. The impact led the two cars to collide with a third car, which was parked. Howarth suffered a fractured skull, and died in the hospital an hour later. Favata, also suffering from a fractured skull, died later. The two officers in the other car, Patrolman Philip Faber and Patrolman Paul Storll, suffered injuries but survived. A man in the parked car was also injured. Howarth was 33 years old at the time of his passing. He left behind his wife, Rose, who had been in critical condition at the time following a leg amputation after the birth of their daughter a few weeks earlier. Family and police officials held a funeral procession on July 13, 1938, from the home of Howarth's mother-in-law in Greenpoint, Brooklyn to St. Columbkille Church (now Ss. Cyril & Methodius Church), after which Howarth was buried at St. John's Cemetery. Council Member Robert Holden proposed this street co-naming in June 2024, and a commemoration ceremony took place on November 16, 2024. The intersection is near where Howarth had lived, at 72-21 Calmus Avenue.

Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Wilson Rantus Rock, October 27, 2022.

Portrait of Louis Armstrong, between 1938 and 1948.

Firefighter Scott A. Larsen (1966–2001) of Glendale, Queens, died during fire and rescue operations following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Although assigned to Ladder 163 in Woodside, the 35-year-old Larsen was working on rotation at Ladder 15 in lower Manhattan that morning. He died during a rescue mission in the South Tower. Scott loved spending his free time with his wife and children; they were the most important part of his life.

William Steinway (1835–1896), born Wilhelm Steinweg, was a German-American piano manufacturer and former president of Steinway & Sons. The company was founded by William's father, Henry E. Steinway, shortly after the family moved from Germany to New York City in the early 1850s. William took over Steinway & Sons in the 1870s after the death of his father and two of his brothers. Steinway was a generous patron of the New York opera and orchestra companies, as well as touring European musicians. His investments in the arts and innovative print advertisements led to the construction of Steinway Hall in Manhattan and other halls worldwide. In the 1870s, Steinway relocated the company's operations to what is now northern Astoria, Queens, after purchasing a home, Steinway Mansion, and the surrounding property to establish a company town, Steinway Village. The Steinway Mansion and Steinway Piano Factory still stand, and many nearby buildings bear the Steinway name. As one of New York City's leading industrialists, Steinway's developments included the transportation industry. One of his former resorts east of Astoria became LaGuardia Airport; he was a partner in the American production of Daimler AG/Maybach cars, and served as head of the New York Subway Commission. Steinway wanted to expand his Steinway Railway Company, a trolley system for his workers under the East River. Steinway died in 1896 before the completion of tunnels and subway line. The Steinway Tunnels under the East River and the Astoria subway station Steinway St were named in his honor.

Sgt. Gerard J. Dunne (1946–1968) was a U.S. Army squad leader serving in the 11th Infantry Brigade of the Americal Division in Quang Ngai, Vietnam. He was killed in action on August 25, 1968, and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star—the military's third-highest decoration for valor. Born in Brooklyn, he was the son of Dorothy Dunne, a longtime resident of Breezy Point on the Rockaway Peninsula and a columnist for the local paper, The Wave.

Vito Frank Maranzano (1923 - 2006), also known as “Uncle Vito, was a longtime Glendale resident and neighborhood activist. Born in Italy, Maranzano immigrated with his family to Bushwick, Brooklyn. He served in the Navy during World War II and moved to Glendale afterward. He was a member of multiple organizations in the neighborhood, including as president of Glendale Property Owners Association, Greater Ridgewood Restoration Corporation, and the Ridgewood Local Development Corporation. He was also active in the Kiwanis Group of Glendale, the Glendale/104th Precinct Civilian Observation Patrol (GCOP), UNICO International and had served as chairman of the Community Board 5 Public Safety Services Committee.

Brendan Byrne (1908 – 1987) was a former member of the New York City Board of Education and a public-relations consultant who helped revitalize Richmond Hill, Queens A high school teacher for 10 years and the author of several history books, he was appointed to the Board of Education by Mayor Robert F. Wagner in 1961. Earlier in his career Mr. Byrne was an editor of Facts magazine and other publications. During the 1960s he was executive director of the American Heritage Foundation, a nonpartisan philanthropy that encouraged voter registration, and a vice president of the Valley Forge Foundation. He also was a consultant on philanthropy. In later years he worked with Queens merchants to improve the economic well-being of the area and served as president of the Richmond Hill Development Corporation. Among his published books is a How-to marketing guide for Richmond Hill that is in the Queens Public Library catalog.

Issac Newton Failor (1851-1925) was a mathematician and astronomer who served as the first principal of Richmond Hills High School. Born in Ohio on February 9, 1851, Failor graduated from Ohio Weslyan University in 1875. Before Richmond Hill, he worked at schools in Alabama, New Orleans, Long Island, and Brooklyn. Richmond Hills High School opened in 1897, and when it expanded to its current spot not long after, its astronomy observatory and telescope, spearheaded by Failor and built at a cost of $6,000, was its crown jewel. RHHS publications were still called “The Dome" long after it was demolished to accommodate an even larger school, where the library is named for Failor. Failor retired in 1917, after which point he spent much of his time cultivating dahlias and roses. At the time of his passing on April 2, 1925, he lived with his wife Eva at 8424 113th Street. Failor, his wife, and his children are interred in a plot in Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens.

Exterior view of the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library and Cooperman Plaza on the Queens College campus.

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.

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).

Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968) was a lawyer and politician who served in the administration of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, as attorney general and a key presidential advisor from 1961 to 1963. In that time, Robert fought organized crime and was an instrumental supporter of the Civil Rights movement. He left the administration in 1964, the year following President Kennedy’s assassination. From 1965 to 1968, Robert represented New York in the U.S. Senate, where he continued to advocate for human rights and the economically disadvantaged, while opposing racial discrimination and the nation’s deepening involvement in the Vietnam War. On June 5, 1968, while campaigning in Los Angeles for the Democratic presidential nomination, Kennedy was shot several times by gunman Sirhan Sirhan. He died the following day at age 42. Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, Robert was the seventh of nine children born to businessman and financier Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose (Fitzgerald) Kennedy, the daughter of the mayor of Boston. After serving in the navy in World War II, Robert graduated from Harvard in 1948 and earned his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1951. In 1950, he married Ethel Skakel, and the couple had eleven children together. Following law school, Robert joined the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, leaving in 1952 to manage his brother John’s successful campaign for the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts. In 1953, Robert was an assistant counsel to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, headed by Joseph R. McCarthy, but left the position because of his opposition to unjust investigative tactics. In 1957, he began to help investigate corruption in trade unions as Chief Counsel for the Senate Rackets Committee, resigning in 1960 to help run his brother’s presidential campaign. Robert is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, adjacent to the gravesite of President Kennedy. Opened in 1936, the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge consists of three bridges, a viaduct, and 14 miles of approach roads connecting Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. Originally named the Triborough Bridge, it was renamed in Kennedy’s honor at a ceremony in Astoria on November 19, 2008. Other locations in Queens also named in recognition of his public service include Robert F. Kennedy Hall on the campus of Queensborough Community College and Robert F. Kennedy Community High School in Flushing.

Raoul Gustav Wallenberg (1912-c. 1947) was a Swedish humanitarian who saved the lives of approximately 100,000 Hungarian Jews threatened by Nazi persecution and execution during World War II. Wallenberg was born on August 4, 1912 to a prominent, wealthy family in Stockholm. He moved to the U.S. to study architecture at the University of Michigan in 1931, and then worked abroad before returning to Sweden in 1936. There he worked for a company owned by a Hungarian Jew, learning Hungarian after that country adopted anti-Jewish policies in 1938 so that he could travel to Budapest in place of his employer. In 1944 a U.S. War Refugee Board representative identified Wallenberg as someone who could lead efforts to rescue Jews in Hungary with assistance from the U.S. Department of State. He used his drafting skills to design counterfeit Swedish passports and distributed them on trains headed toward concentration camps. He purchased homes and painted them the colors of the Swedish flag, becoming neutral sites where Jews found safety. He also stocked warehouses with food for both rations and for bribes for Nazi officers. Wallenberg left Hungary on January 17, 1945 to meet with Soviet commanders about relief plans. He was reported missing soon after. A Soviet counterintelligence agency reportedly brought him to Moscow on suspicion of espionage. The Soviets claimed not to know what had become of him, but in 1957 the government shared documents that said he had died in a Russian prison in 1947 from a heart attack. Though the circumstances of his death remain unclear, it is widely believed that he was executed by the KGB. He was only formally declared dead in 2016. In October 1981, Wallenberg was made an honorary citizen of the United States. That December, City Council Member Arthur Katzman sponsored the bill to name this sitting area after Wallenberg. The site was dedicated in Wallenberg's honor on April 25, 1982. Several other locations are named for Wallenberg across the city, including streets in Brooklyn and the Bronx, a playground in upper Manhattan, and Wallenberg Forest in the Bronx.

Charles J. Steinmann (d. 1918), died in World War I. Steinmann grew up at 109 Greenpoint Avenue, in Woodside, and served in Company F of the 321st Infantry Division. He died of pneumonia on November 1, 1918, just ten days before the Armistice.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Undated photo of the Lewis H. Latimer House

Albert Shanker (September 14, 1928 – February 22, 1997) served as president of both the United Federation of Teachers (1964-1985) the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) (1974-1997.) Early in his career, he was a math teacher at I.S 126, the school that now bears his name.

Born in Brooklyn, Maurice A. FitzGerald (1897-1951) was a lifelong public servant. He began his career as a postal clerk at the age of 14. In the 1920s, FitzGerald became the president of the South Side Allied Civic Association and championed the construction of John Adams High School in Ozone Park. He also successfully opposed the displacement of local residents by the widening of streets. In 1929, FitzGerald was elected to the State Assembly where he served for nine years. During his tenure, he actively supported laws that extended the parkways through Queens, earning him the nickname “The Father of Queens Parkways.” FitzGerald also led a successful campaign to regulate utility companies, saving taxpayers millions of dollars. A staunch supporter of civil service and labor, he sponsored many pro-worker bills, including ones that restricted court injunctions and prohibited contracts that prevented workers from joining unions. In 1937, FitzGerald was elected Sheriff of Queens and embarked on a vigorous beautification and enforcement campaign for the 1939-40 World’s Fair. In 1942, he was appointed Borough Public Works Commissioner, a position he held for seven years. FitzGerald was then elected as Queens Borough President on the Democratic ticket with Mayor William O’Dwyer in 1949. Unfortunately, FitzGerald only served as president for two years; he suffered a fatal heart attack in 1951 while vacationing in the Adirondacks, ending a productive career of public service. Later that year, the City Council named a new playground for FitzGerald in Ozone Park where he had been a longtime resident. He had been instrumental in securing this site as a park and had participated in the groundbreaking ceremonies months before his death.

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

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.

André-Marie Ampère (1775-1836) was a French physicist, mathematician, and chemist who founded and named the field of electrodynamics, today known as electromagnetism. His name survives today in the ampere (commonly shortened to amp), the unit of measurement of electrical current. The property was acquired by the city on October 22, 1927 and a playground, originally called the P.S. 64 Playground, opened on the site on June 5, 1958. The name of the park was changed to honor Ampère in 1985.

Kathryn M. Phelan was the principal of P.S. 011 from 1974 to 1980. She was known to be fair to all and extraordinarily supportive of her students and staff. She was diagnosed with cancer while serving as principal of P.S. 11, and passed away shortly after. The Community School Board approved naming the school after her and P.S. 11 became the Kathryn M. Phelan School thereafter.

Frank Gerard Macri (d. 2007) was a resident of Forest Hills and served with the New York City Police Department for over 12 years. On 9/11, he survived the collapse of World Trade Center Tower Two and was later assigned to Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills landfill, where he inhaled toxic chemicals. He died on September 3, 2007, of 9/11-related illness at the age of 51.

W. Arthur Cunningham (1894 – May 5, 1934) was Irish American lawyer, war hero, and NYC comptroller. Cunningham was born in Manhattan, grew up in Brooklyn, and received his law degree from Fordham University in 1915. Cunningham served in the United States Army during World War I and rose to the rank of major, he fought the Germans in Lunéville, France, and received the Croix de Guerre with Palm for conspicuous bravery and the Purple Heart decoration for military merit. After the war he went into banking, and was an officer in the Textile Banking Corporation, first as counsel and later as vice president, until 1933. He lived with his wife and two sons in Forest Hills, Queens. Cunningham, an independent Democrat, and successfully ran for the position of New York City Comptroller in 1933 on Mayor LaGuardia's Fusion ticket, he served for four months before suffering a heart attack at age 39 in May 1934.

Anna Moscowitz Kross (1891-1979) served as NYC Commissioner of Corrections from 1953-1966. She was a lawyer, judge and advocate for women and the poor.

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

Marie Curie (1867-1934) was a noted scientist and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics. Born in Warsaw, Poland, Maria Skolodowska-Curie moved to Paris in 1891 to study at the Sorbonne. Soon after, she joined a research laboratory and in 1898, she and her husband Pierre expanded on Henri Becquerel’s discovery of radioactivity, discovering two new elements, Polonium and Radium. This discovery earned Curie her first Nobel Prize, in Physics. She won a second Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911, becoming the first person to earn two such awards. Curie died in France in 1934 from leukemia, thought to be caused by exposure to radiation.

Natalie Katz Rogers (1919-2023) was the founder of Queens Centers for Progress, a nonprofit organization established in 1950 to advocate for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A champion for those with these disabilities, she served on the board of directors for the Cerebral Palsy Association of New York State. Rogers advocated for policies at the state and federal levels that would empower individuals with disabilities and helped expand the range of services available to them. Rogers began advocating for children with cerebral palsy after visiting a ward of patients at Queens General Hospital in 1950. Recognizing the specific needs of these children, Rogers and several concerned parents worked together to establish United Cerebral Palsy of Queens, which is now known as Queens Centers for Progress. In addition to her work in advocacy, Rogers was an aerodynamic engineer for TWA during World War II and served as Mayor of the Village of Ocean Beach on Fire Island from 1998 to 2006.

Queens Public Library Connection John Jacob Astor was born in Walldorf near Heidelberg, in what is now Germany. His father was a butcher and Astor spent his youth working in his father's shop. At the age of 20 and emigrated to the United State. Astor made his fortune as a fur trader, among other business dealings. Later in life, he invested in New York City real estate and was the first multi-millionaire in the United States. Astor was a patron of the Arts, and he made many charitable bequests by his will. Notably, he left $400,000 to found the Astor Library, now part of the New York Public Library system. In 1839 another prominent fur trader, Stephen A. Halsey, bought a large swathe of land along the East River. He incorporated the village and changed the name to Astoria, after his mentor: the millionaire John Jacob Astor, in the hope that Astor would invest in the area. Though Astor only invested $500, the neighborhood and later it's branch of the Queens Public Library, bears his name.

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.

Alphonse “Al” Volpe (1925-2015) applied his volunteer efforts to improving the quality of life of his neighbors, particularly in the areas of housing and transportation. While working professionally in information systems, he served as Vice President of the Federation of New York Housing Cooperatives and Condominiums, working to help tenants of rental buildings that were being converting to middle-income cooperatives to navigate the conversion process and to protect their investment in housing ownership. He was a Board Member and Officer of Berkeley Cooperative Towers in Woodside for 27 years and also served as President of the Woodside Community Council, an umbrella civic association, and as Vice President of the 108th Precinct Community Council. He was a very active member of Queens Community Board 2 and its City Services, Transportation and Environmental committees for more than 13 years. When the MTA temporarily halted No. 7 Express service for repairs and wanted to make it permanent, he and fellow commuters started the No. 7 Flushing Line Committee. After documenting train overcrowding, they successfully lobbied to restore Flushing Line Express Service. Volpe was also Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of “Woodside on the Move” and President of the Board of Woodysun Senior Housing.

Sergeant Wilbur E. Colyer (1901-1918) was an American soldier who served in the U.S. Army during World War I. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and later moved to South Ozone Park, Queens. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the army and served as a member of Company A of the 1st Engineers, 1st Division. On October 9, 1918, near Verdun, France, Colyer volunteered to lead a team of soldiers to locate and destroy enemy machine gun nests. While advancing on the enemy positions, Colyer became half surrounded by machine gun nests. He killed the gunner of one nest with a captured German grenade and then turned the gun on the other nests, silencing them all. He then returned to his platoon, having saved them from heavy fire. Colyer was killed in action the following day, October 10, 1918. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery and selfless actions, the first and youngest Queens resident to do to so. This small triangle in South Ozone Park named in his honor features a historic stone marker and plaque commemorating Colyer's service and sacrifice.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Joseph J. Pelosi served with the NYPD for four days and was assigned to Newton Station, now the 110th Precinct. He was killed in the line of duty while escorting an ambulance on Queens Boulevard when he was struck and fatally injured on his police bicycle.

Firefighter Thomas R. Kelly "Tommy" (1962–2001) died during fire and rescue operations following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. A dedicated firefighter, Kelly served with Engine Company 219/Ladder 105 in Brooklyn, following in the footsteps of his father and older brother. His other brother is a retired police detective. An avid cyclist, Thomas rode from Bear Mountain to Boston for two consecutive years to raise AIDS awareness and was an active member of a local cycling club. He also volunteered his time at the Atlantis Aquarium and was a certified deep-sea diver who frequently dived with his club team in Cozumel and Bonaire. Additionally, he volunteered for the DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team). Thomas truly enjoyed life, and helping others was always his top priority.

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.

Gregory Razran Hall on the campus of Queens College, July 2022.

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

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and influential figures in jazz, known for both his trumpet improvisations and his distinctive singing voice. He also broke down numerous racial divides in the music and entertainment worlds, becoming the first Black performer to get featured billing in a major Hollywood film ("Pennies From Heaven," 1936) and the first Black host of a national radio show (Fleischmann's Yeast Show, 1937). Born in New Orleans in 1901, Armstrong grew up impoverished in a racially segregated city. He dropped out of school in fifth grade to work, and developed a close relationship with a local Jewish family that gave him odd jobs and nurtured his love of music. By the age of 11, Armstrong wound up in the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys, where he joined the band and studied the cornet in earnest. Upon his release from the home in 1914, he began working as a musician on Mississippi riverboats and other local venues. His reputation skyrocketed, and by the early 1920s he moved north, performing and recording with jazz bands in Chicago and New York. Throughout the 1920s and '30s, Armstrong made dozens of records with his own and many other ensembles, toured extensively, and began performing in Broadway productions and movies. After some business and health setbacks, and in response to changing musical tastes, Armstrong scaled his group down to a six-piece combo in the 1940s and resumed touring internationally, recording albums and appearing in movies. Some of his biggest popular hits came in the later years of his career, including "Hello Dolly" (1964) and "What A Wonderful World" (1967). His grueling schedule took its toll on his heart and kidneys and in 1968 he was forced to take time off to recuperate, but he began performing again in 1970. Armstrong died in his sleep in July 1971, just a few months after his final engagement at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Armstrong and his fourth wife, Lucille Wilson, purchased their home in Corona in 1943, shortly after they were married, and lived there for the remainder of their lives. The Louis Armstrong Community Center is located several blocks away from their home, which is now the Louis Armstrong House Museum, offering public tours, concerts and educational programs. The Community Center, opened in 1996, offers local residents a variety of activities and programs, including basketball, soccer, martial arts programs and dance classes for both young and old.

Klapper Hall as it appeared in the 1950s, then called the Paul Klapper Library.

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.

Arthur O’Meally (1935-2022) dedicated over 40 years to volunteering and service in his community. He was an active member of the North Flushing Civic Association and the Flushing chapter of the NAACP. He was deeply committed to preserving historical sites and green spaces in New York. As a trustee of the Queens Historical Society, he served as vice president of operations. He was a certified Citizen Pruner for the NYC Parks Department and helped care for the Wyckoff-Snediker and Moore-Jackson cemeteries, two of the oldest burial sites in Queens. For his preservation work, he was honored with a Declaration of Honor from then-Queens Borough President Claire Shulman in 1999 and a Civic Achievement Award in 2005 during Black History Month. O’Meally was born at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica, New York, to Gladys L. and Vernon Edward O'Meally. Edward, was born in the British West Indies and worked as a porter after coming to the city. Arthur was drafted in 1958 to serve in the U.S. Army, where he served in the 1st Missile Battalion, 39th Artillery, attaining the rank of Specialist 4. He was stationed in Mainz, Germany, during the Cold War. When he returned to the states, he dated Millicent Chisolm, whom he married in 1961. They remained married for over 55 years. Arthur worked at York Industries, where he was eventually promoted to plant manager. The family moved from Jamaica, Queens and purchased a home in Flushing in 1976. Millicent O’Meally also has a long history of devoted community service, having served as a member of Queens Community Board 7 for 36 years before retiring in 2024, and as a member of the Flushing NAACP.

William Hallett (1616 – 1706), an early English colonizer in America, was born in 1616 in Dorsetshire, England. Hallett's arrival in America is not definitively documented, but by 1647 in Connecticut, he married his second wife, Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallett. Elizabeth was the niece of John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her first husband died by drowning, and she divorced her second husband due to mental illness. When Elizabeth married William while pregnant with their first child, it caused a scandal in the Puritan colony. The Puritan church didn't recognize mental illness as grounds for divorce, and the townspeople of Connecticut, upon learning they were considered "living in sin," demanded Elizabeth be hanged. John Winthrop Jr., Elizabeth's uncle and the governor of Connecticut, intervened. He struck a deal with Peter Stuyvesant, allowing the Halletts to flee to New Amsterdam. Under the cover of darkness, Elizabeth left behind all her property, and they sailed to Hell Gate in Newtown, present-day Hallets Cove. Stuyvesant appointed Hallett Sheriff of Flushing around 1650. However, he later imprisoned Hallett for hosting an Episcopalian minister. Hallett was eventually forgiven. In 1652, William Hallett purchased 160 acres of land, which became known as Hallett's Cove. Twelve years later, his holdings expanded to include all of present-day Astoria, encompassing roughly 2,200 acres. The area remained largely rural and used as a ship landing until 1839 when fur merchant Stephen A. Halsey officially founded Hallets Cove. A steamboat and ferry line were then established, connecting the area to 86th Street in Manhattan. The original farmhouse at Hallett's Cove was burned down by indigenous people, forcing the Hallett family to flee to Flushing. Despite this setback, they persevered and built a life in the new world, becoming part of early American history. Elizabeth's actions in Connecticut helped establish women's property rights, while William's banishment and reinstatement played a role in setting the stage for future protests like the Flushing Remonstrance. The couple eventually left the Anglican church and converted to Quakerism. William Hallett died in April 1706 in the area now known as Hallets Cove in Newtown, Queens, New York Colony, British Colonial America. A fictionalized account of their marriage appears in the book The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton.

Officer Anthony Abruzzo Jr. (1947-1981) lived in Flushing and served with the New York City Police Department for 13 years, assigned to the 109th Precinct. He died trying to rescue his father-in-law who was being attacked by three men in front of his home. Office Abruzzo was shot in the chest and died from his wounds. He was survived by his wife and one child.

Clifford Glover (1962-1973) was a ten-year-old Black boy who was fatally shot by a white police officer. At ten years old, he was the youngest person killed by an NYC police officer. On the morning of April 28, 1973, Clifford (known as “Cliffie” to friends and family), a fourth-grader at P.S. 40, was accompanying his stepfather Add Armstead to his job at a junkyard. As they were walking, a car pulled up to them, and two plainclothes police officers emerged, looking for robbery suspects. Clifford and Armstead ran away, fearing they would be robbed (Armstead was carrying the wages he had been paid the previous day). One of the officers, Thomas Shea, shot and killed Clifford in the back. Despite Clifford being four feet, eleven inches tall and weighing fewer than one hundred pounds, Shea claimed not to have realized that Clifford was a child. He also claimed that Clifford pointed a gun at him; however, investigators found no weapon when they searched the area. Clifford became the youngest person ever killed by an NYPD officer, and his death sparked protests across South Jamaica. Shea stood trial for his murder a year later but was found not guilty by the jury. Half a century after Clifford’s death, in the spring of 2023, the intersection where he was killed was co-named in his honor in a ceremony attended by prominent political leaders, clergy, criminal justice reformers, and Clifford’s family.

Pianist, band leader and composer Edward K. "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974) was one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century. Born in Washington, D.C., he studied piano as a child and began playing professionally at age 17. He moved to New York during the Jazz Age of the 1920s and, with his band, was a fixture at Harlem's Cotton Club. After gaining much wider popularity through radio broadcasts and recordings, Ellington and his band began touring the world in 1931, a model he followed for the rest of his life. After the popularity of big-band and swing music waned in the later 1940s and 1950s, Ellington began working with the younger generation of jazz musicians, including John Coltrane, Max Roach and Charles Mingus. He died in New York City in 1974. Ellington wrote more than 2,000 works throughout his career, and often worked closely with composer/arranger Billy Strayhorn. Among the jazz standards he composed are "Sophisticated Lady," "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore." During his lifetime, Ellington won 11 Grammy awards, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and an honorary doctorate of music from Yale University, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, among many other honors.

Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto (1917-2007) was born in Brooklyn to Italian parents but moved with his family to Glendale, Queens, in his youth. He played baseball at P.S. 68 in Glendale and Richmond Hill High School, which he left before graduating to play in the major leagues. Although disregarded by some local teams because of his height (5’ 6”), he convinced the New York Yankees to sign him in 1937. After proving himself in the minor leagues, Rizzuto played shortstop for the Yankees starting in 1941 and, after serving in the Navy from 1943 to 1945, played the remainder of his career with the team from 1946 to 1956. His superb defense and offensive contributions helped the team win 10 American League pennants and eight World Series during his 13 years with the club. After finishing second in MVP voting in 1949, he followed with a career year in 1950 in which he achieved career highs in multiple categories, including hits (200), batting average (.324), on-base percentage (.418) and runs (125), while winning the AL MVP Award. As a shortstop, he led all AL shortstops in double plays three times, putouts twice and assists once. By the time he retired in 1956, he left the game with a batting average of .273, 1,588 hits, 149 stolen bases, 38 home runs, 563 RBI and five All-Star Game selections. Rizzuto was hired quickly afterward by the Yankees as a broadcaster in 1957 and would announce for the team for 40 years, retiring in 1996. He was beloved by new generations of fans who adored his style – his “Holy Cow!” signature line is recognizable to this day. The Yankees retired Rizzuto's uniform number 10 in 1985 and placed a plaque in his honor in their stadium's Monument Park. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994, recognizing his career of more than 50 years in the game. The Glendale intersection co-named for Rizzuto is located in the neighborhood where he played ball in the street as a child.

Gordon Parks (1912 - 2006) was one of the best-known photographers of the twentieth century. He was the first African American photographer for Life and Vogue magazines. He did groundbreaking work for the FAS (Farm Security Administration) and left behind an exceptional body of work that documents American life and culture from the early 1940s into the 2000s, with a focus on race relations, poverty, civil rights, and urban life. Parks also published books on the art and craft of photography, books of poetry, which he illustrated with his own photographs, and wrote three volumes of memoirs. He pursued movie directing and screenwriting, working at the helm of the films The Learning Tree based on his semi-autobiographical novel, and Shaft. In addition, Parks was a founding member of Essence Magazine, and served as its first editorial director.

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.

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

Héctor Figueroa (1962-2019) was president of 32BJ SEIU, a New York local of the Service Employees International Union representing more than 170,000 building cleaners, security guards, doormen and airport workers. Mr. Figueroa was also a leader in the Fight for 15, the grass-roots effort by fast-food workers in New York that grew into a nationwide campaign for a higher minimum wage. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Héctor J. Figueroa understood the importance of hope. As the visionary president of Service Employees International Union 32BJ from 2012 until his death in 2019, he empowered workers who toil in grueling service jobs – from fast-food workers to office cleaners – to demand respect, a living wage and better working conditions. Hector used his position as a union leader to fight not just for his members, but for all low-wage workers. He was ready to organize wherever working people were hurting. He had a profound sense of how all of us are connected and depend on one another, and he had a style of leadership that empowered those he led. Héctor inspired a whole generation of young leaders in the immigrant justice movement to come out of the shadows and take a stand. He fought to make sure immigrant families could drive safely in New York, Connecticut, Washington, D.C. and Maryland. He helped win the passage of TRUST acts up and down the east coast so undocumented immigrants need not fear local police.

Remington Vernam (1842-1907) was born in McConnville, New York, and moved to New York City with his family in 1854. He attended public school and went on to law school. He first came to Far Rockaway as a retreat from the stress of his work as a lawyer, but soon saw an opportunity to develop the area. His wife Florence, noticing that he signed his checks "R. Vernam," decided to name the hotel and surrounding community as a variation, "Arverne," which she thought had a nice French sound.

Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746-1817) was a war hero from Poland. He fought to obtain freedom for all, whether that be in his home country or abroad. Kościuszko went to a Military Academy for his developmental years and went on to pursue art and engineering education in Paris, France. After receiving his education, he migrated to Philadelphia in 1776. Heavily moved by the Declaration of Independence, he joined the Engineers of the Continental Congress, connecting him with Thomas Jefferson. In 1776, he decided to travel with the Continental Army as a military engineer. During the American Revolution, he assumed leadership and defended Saratoga during the Battle of Saratoga and fortified West Point, NY. When odds were stacked against the U.S., these feats became some of the turning points putting the war on his side. West Point grew to become home of West Point Military Academy in 1802 to train more soldiers for the expanding U.S. army. In 1784 Kościuszko moved back to Poland to help fight for its independence against European Powers. He assisted in the Battle of Raclawice which led to Warsaw and Wilno being liberated. Upon fighting in a revolt, Kościuszko was imprisoned by the Russian Government. After being released in 1796, he returned to America. Old Penny/ Meeker Avenue Bridge was renamed Kościuszko to commemorate the work he put into defending the United States in its early stages.

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

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and influential figures in jazz, known for both his trumpet improvisations and his distinctive singing voice. He also broke down numerous racial divides in the music and entertainment worlds, becoming the first Black performer to get featured billing in a major Hollywood film ("Pennies From Heaven," 1936) and the first Black host of a national radio show (Fleischmann's Yeast Show, 1937). Born in New Orleans in 1901, Armstrong grew up impoverished in a racially segregated city. He dropped out of school in fifth grade to work, and developed a close relationship with a local Jewish family that gave him odd jobs and nurtured his love of music. By the age of 11, Armstrong wound up in the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys, where he joined the band and studied the cornet in earnest. Upon his release from the home in 1914, he began working as a musician on Mississippi riverboats and other local venues. His reputation skyrocketed, and by the early 1920s he moved north, performing and recording with jazz bands in Chicago and New York. Throughout the 1920s and '30s, Armstrong made dozens of records with his own and many other ensembles, toured extensively, and began performing in Broadway productions and movies. After some business and health setbacks, and in response to changing musical tastes, Armstrong scaled his group down to a six-piece combo in the 1940s and resumed touring internationally, recording albums and appearing in movies. Some of his biggest popular hits came in the later years of his career, including "Hello Dolly" (1964) and "What A Wonderful World" (1967). His grueling schedule took its toll on his heart and kidneys and in 1968 he was forced to take time off to recuperate, but he began performing again in 1970. Armstrong died in his sleep in July 1971, just a few months after his final engagement at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Armstrong and his fourth wife, Lucille Wilson, purchased their home in Corona in 1943, shortly after they were married, and lived there for the remainder of their lives. I.S. 227, a public middle school serving grades 5 through 8, is located approximately one mile from their home, which is now the Louis Armstrong House Museum, offering public tours, concerts and educational programs.

Johann Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825) was born in Germany. He was a novelist and essayist who went by the pseudonym Jean Paul. His early works were satirical but largely unsuccessful and his fame came after publishing a novel titled the Invisible Lodge in the early Romantic style.

Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. (1932-1983), a public servant dedicated to his homeland, the Philippines, served as a senator and was a candidate in the country's 1973 presidential election. However, when Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972, the election was cancelled. Aquino was imprisoned and eventually sentenced to death in 1977. His sentence was commuted to exile in 1980, allowing him to leave for the United States for medical treatment. He remained there until his assassination on August 21, 1983, as he disembarked from his plane at Manila Airport. Political pressure stemming from the incident forced Marcos to hold new elections, in which Corazon Aquino, Benigno's widow, was elected president.

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!

Firefighter James E. Bohan (1973–1998) of Ladder 170, is remembered for his exceptional bravery. He died in the line of duty on December 18, 1998, while battling a fire at the Vandalia Senior Housing Complex in Brooklyn. Bohan perished along with fellow firefighters Joseph Cavalieri and Christopher Bopp while attempting to rescue a resident who, unbeknownst to them, had already escaped the blaze. While the exact cause of the fire remains unconfirmed, it is believed a resident’s cigarette may have been responsible; tragically, the building's sprinkler system had been shut off for unknown reasons. This event is also commemorated by a park named for Christopher Bopp, located near his home in Brooklyn. Bohan grew up in Middle Village, where he and his friends frequently went to Juniper Valley Park to play. His deep-seated love for children was always in evidence. One Memorial Day, for instance, at the Irish Festival in East Durham, Bohan purchased a balloon stand's entire inventory and, with the help of his friends, distributed them to every child at the fair. Even on the day before his death, he and his fellow firefighters walked the halls of Brookdale Hospital to hand out toys to sick children. New York City honors his kindness, heroism, and sacrifice.

Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (1943-1993) was born in Richmond, Virginia, and began playing tennis at the age of 10. In 1966 he graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles, where he won the United States Intercollegiate Singles Championship and led his team to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. At the 1968 U.S. Open, Ashe defeated several competitors to win the men’s singles title. By 1975, he was ranked the number-one tennis player in the U.S. After this string of athletic successes, he began suffering heart problems. Retiring from the sport, he underwent heart surgery in 1979 and again in 1983. During one of his hospital stays, Ashe was likely given an HIV-tainted blood transfusion and he soon contracted AIDS. Despite his illness, he remained involved in public life. His participation in many youth activities, such as the National Junior Tennis League and the ABC Cities Tennis Program, and his role in protests against South African apartheid earned Ashe recognition as 1992 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, long after his athletic career had ended. He died of pneumonia in New York at age 49.

Anthony Dominick Benedetto (1926 - 2023), known commonly as Tony Bennett, was often referred to as the King of the American Songbook. Self-identified “tenor who sings like a baritone,” Bennett was known for his smooth voice and musical crossings between pop and jazz. Over the decades (from the 1950s to the 2020s), he released more than seventy albums and won nineteen competitive Grammy Awards. He composed, arranged, and sang his music and produced singles including: Because of You, I Left My Heart in San Francisco, and Rags to Riches. He has worked with Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Micheal Bublé and performed for eleven presidents.  Bennett was a storied icon of the Queens community of Astoria, having been born and raised there by his Italian immigrant father, Giovanni, a grocer, and his Italian-American mother, Anna, a seamstress. He grew up in an apartment building off Ditmars Boulevard at 32nd Street.  There are many accounts of Bennett’s association with Astoria businesses and residents throughout the years. In 1936, at ten years old, he performed at the opening of the Tri-Borough Bridge. Following his father’s death, Bennett dropped out of high school, and was often seen singing at Italian restaurants like Ricchardo’s by the Bridge. With the onset of World War II Bennett was drafted into the Army. He fought on the front lines and was involved in the liberation of the Kaufering concentration camp in Germany. Bennett also performed with military bands. After his military discharge in 1946, he performed at the Shangri-La on Ditmars Boulevard and The Red Door on Steinway Street. In 1949, Bob Hope scouted him in Greenwich Village, becoming the catalyst of a fruitful career. In 2001, he and his wife, Susan Crow, helped found the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens.  Bennett's songs and humanitarian work have earned him many accolades. He was recognized as a Citizen of the World by the United Nations and has received several Grammys, but most importantly, he is a role model for the citizens of Queens. In 2024, the New York City Council passed a bill for the intersection of 32nd Street and Ditmar Boulevard to be co-named in honor of Bennett.

Emanuel Gold (1935-2013) was senior ranking Democrat in the New York State Senate from 1971-1998. He was the prime sponsor of over 80 laws. In 1977, he crafted the nation's first "Son of Sam" law which calls for victims of notorious criminals to be compensated from profits criminals gain from the sale of their stories. He also wrote laws covering health and medicine and the rights of the disabled.  Adam Gold (1972-2012) was an avid fan of comic books, chess and Star Wars. He was devoted to his family and lived his life with courage and dignity.

Police Officer George Scheu (d. 1987) was a resident of Flushing, Queens. He served in the Navy for three and a half years before joining the New York City Police Department, where he served for over 19 years and received 14 medals for outstanding work as a police officer. An active member of the Naval Reserve since 1967, he was named the 1985 Sailor of the Year for New York State. Scheu was also vice president of the East Flushing Civic Association. On July 16, 1987, he was shot while attempting to stop an armed robbery while en route to a meeting of his Naval Reserve unit. Found on Murray Street in Flushing, Scheu died from his wounds five days later at the age of 41.

In 1970, Iccey Elvalina Gibbs Newton (1939-1993) and her husband moved to Woodside where they raised four children. She helped form the Woodside Tenants Association and then worked for NYCHA for 20 years. She started tenant patrols in Woodside Houses and served as District Coordinator for the Girl Scouts of America. She served on Community Board 1 from 1991 until her death.

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.

Ann and two gentlemen (probably members of the board) at Annual Dinner, some time in the 1960's, taken at Waldorf-Astoria.     Library Dedication at then Boys Club of Queens, Ann is the woman in a dark dress standing in doorway facing camera, Taken in the 1960-70's.   Mary Demarkos Ann Buehler and Lucille Hartmann posting before bleachers in gym at Variety Boys and Girls Club, taken some time in the early 2000s Ann working on a crafts project with kids, Taken sometime in the early 2000.

Henry Waichitis, undated photo

Abigail Adams (1744-1818), was the wife of John Adams, patriot leader, lawyer and second president of the United States. She was a patriot in her own right and a supporter of education for women. She married John Adams in 1764. From 17874 to 1784, she raised four children alone and ran the family farm. Her son, John Quincy Adams, was the sixth President of the United States.

Lieutenant Frank McConnell (1896-1918) was the first Richmond Hill resident killed in World War I. A star member of the Princeton crew team, McConnell was killed on July 26, 1918 in northern France during the Second Battle of the Marne. This battle marked a turning point of the war. On July 18, 1918, the Allied commander, General Ferdinand Foch, counterattacked German troops with forces that included McConnell’s division. At Château-Thierry, American troops won their first decisive victory of the war by forcing German troops back across the Marne in what was one of the first large-scale retreats by the German army.

Henry E. A. Meyer (1886-1927) served with the NYPD and was assigned to the 54th Precinct, now the 104th Precinct, when he was killed while attempting to capture two robbery suspects. He was known as "Big Hen" to distinguish him from his brother, Philip "Big Phil" Meyer, who was also a member of the NYPD. The brothers were called twins despite the difference in their ages, as they had joined the force together in January 1914. The two worked together at the same station for a period, and together and separately became known for their ability to break up gangs. On September 16, 1927, Meyer was driving with his wife Tillie on Cypress Hills Street when someone stopped him to say he'd heard a woman screaming in the Beth-El Cemetery and had located and freed the two women, who had been locked in a crypt. They told Meyer they'd been robbed of money and jewelry at gunpoint by two men while visiting their father's mausoleum. Driving with his wife to find a police call box, Meyer saw two suspicious-looking men, who denied any connection to the crime and agreed to let the women have a chance to look at them. Tillie went back to meet the women, and Meyer was going to take the men in his car, but when Tillie looked back, she saw them running off. She rushed back to the car, where a crowd had gathered around her husband. He has been shot multiple times. He died at Wyckoff Heights Hospital hours later. Fellow officers from Meyer's 54th Precinct tracked down one of the suspects, who was identified by Tillie and the victims, and who had a piece from his shirt missing – the fabric was found gripped in Meyer's hand. He described the other assailant, who police tracked down through pawn shops. He admitted to the robbery as well, and police found the stolen items at a pawn shop he pointed them to. A large crowd that included many police officers gathered in support as Meyer's casket was led from his home of Loubet Street Forest Hills to Lutheran Cemetery on September 20, 1927. The two suspects, 18 and 22 years old, were convicted of second-degree murder and illegal weapons possession, and later for robbery as well. They were sent to Sing Sing, with the gunman sentenced 50 years to life, and his accomplice sentenced 45 years to life. Council Member Robert Holden proposed co-naming this street in Meyer's honor in June 2023. A ceremony to dedicate the street was held on October 25, 2023. Meyer's brother, Philip, passed away while on duty on June 19, 1929, as a result of heart disease. The street where he had lived in Glendale was co-named in his honor in December 2023.

Michael Simanowitz (1971-2017), affectionately known as "Mikey," was a dedicated public servant for over 20 years in Queens. Simanowitz, who grew up in Forest Hills, spent 15 years as Chief of Staff to former Assemblymember Nettie Mayersohn of Assembly District 27. He was then elected as an assemblymember himself in 2011, representing the district that included Kew Gardens Hills, where a street was named for him, and Pomonok, where he called the Electchester Co-Ops home. Prior to his legislative career, he served as the commanding officer of the 107th Auxiliary Police Unit, where he achieved the rank of Deputy Inspector. As an auxiliary officer, Simanowitz played a key role in the rescue efforts following the 9/11 attacks and assisted during the Northeast Blackout of 2003. During his time in the Assembly, Simanowitz sponsored and passed several notable laws, including one requiring parental consent for minors to receive body piercings and another prohibiting the use of unclaimed bodies for medical or mortuary school purposes without the written consent of a spouse, next of kin, or unless the deceased had registered as a body donor. Simanowitz was instrumental in advancing legislation that strengthened drunk driving laws, protected vulnerable children and rape victims, and created a pilot program for stroke centers in Queens and Brooklyn, which eventually expanded to 110 regional hospitals. Simanowitz passed away in 2017 at the age of 46 from cancer, which is believed to be linked to his rescue efforts after 9/11.

William T. Gunn, Jr. (1961-1992) grew up in Bellerose and joined the New York Police Department in 1982. He received many commendations during his seven years of service, including an award for meritorious police duty. On January 20th, 1989 he was shot and badly wounded by a dangerous fugitive who was wanted for questioning in connection with two separate murders. Detective Gunn fell into a coma and died on November 27, 1992.

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.

Dr. Dolores Beckham (1954-2016) was an educator for 40 years and served as the principal of Joseph Pulitzer Middle School since 1999. She was an alumna of Queens College, Columbia University, and St. John’s University, where she received her Ph.D. Under her leadership, Joseph Pulitzer Middle School in Jackson Heights introduced a dual language program. It was one of 15 recognized as Chancellor’s Citywide Model Dual Language Programs. She was a Fulbright Award-winning principal in 2008 and traveled around the world for conferences on education and leadership.

Aristotle (384 BCE-322 BCE) lived in ancient Greece, and is known as one of the most highly regarded philosophers and scientists in human history. Though he was prolific in many fields, some of his most famous contributions include creating a discipline of formal logic, zoology, and his ethical and political theories. He studied under and with Plato in Athens, which is reflected in many of his writings. In his later years, Aristotle founded his own school called the Lyceum where he taught students and lectured to the larger public for free.

Thomas J. Travers (1897-1958), was a prominent Queens Democrat and Jackson Heights community leader. Born and raised in Manhattan, he attended St. Agnes Church and Parochial School and MacDowell Lyceum. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War I, he returned to New York to marry his childhood sweetheart, Ann Desmond. The couple settled in Jackson Heights, where Travers took an active part in the social and political life of the community. In addition to his involvement with St. Joan of Arc Church, the Catholic Youth Organization, and the Jackson Heights Sandlot Baseball League, he was an active member of the Jackson Heights Taxpayers Association and the Queens Chamber of Commerce. During World War II, he worked on three War Loans Committees and chaired the Jackson Heights Committee for the New York War Fund. He served as Democratic District Leader for Woodside-Jackson Heights from 1940 until his death in 1958.