Spotlighting LGBTQ+ activists and organizers honored in the borough of Queens with place names. 🌈🏳️‍🌈

In June, we celebrate African-American Music Appreciation Month by honoring the many notable Black musicians honored with place names in Queens.

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

Ivan Mrakovcic (1963-2020) was an architect, historian, environmentalist and preservationist whose contributions enhanced the Richmond Hill neighborhood. His civic involvement earned him many leadership positions and stewardships and resulted in the establishment of the Historic District in North Richmond Hill on the New York State and National Historic registers in March 2019. He was the founder and president of the Richmond Hill Historical Society, served as treasurer of the Forest Park Trust and was a member of Queens Community Board 9 for 15 years, of which he served as chairperson from 2002 until 2007. He was a founding board member of the Friends of QueensWay park advocacy group and was also a Greenway Committee Member.

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.

Alice Cardona (1930-2011) was an eminent Puerto Rican activist and community organizer. She is widely recognized for her advocacy in bilingual education, women’s rights, and political representation. Born the first of nine children to Puerto Rican parents who relocated to New York in 1923, Cardona was raised in Spanish Harlem. After graduating high school in 1950, Cardona volunteered at the Legion de Maria, offering psychological support to Black and Hispanic communities. In 1961, she joined the Sisters of St. John, a religious order in Texas, but ultimately left the order, realizing that religious life was not her calling. Returning to New York, she worked at a financial institution and later joined the United Bronx Parents (UBP), eventually getting involved with the Head Start program in 1964. Between 1970 and 1978, Cardona’s career flourished, especially during her time at ASPIRA, a nonprofit organization that seeks to empower and educate the Latino youth community, where she worked as a youth counselor and later as the director of counseling for parents and students. Her work at ASPIRA motivated her to complete her degree, which she did through an independent study program at Goddard College in 1973. Cardona was also an active member of the National Conference of Puerto Rican Women (NACOPRW) and served on its national board starting in 1975. She founded HACER (Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research) / Hispanic Women’s Center to support Latinas in reaching their professional aspirations through education. From 1983 to 1986, Cardona served on the executive board of the New York State Association for Bilingual Education (NYSABE) and represented New York City at the organization. She then worked as assistant director of the New York State Division for Women from 1983 to 1995, under Gov. Mario Cuomo’s administration. There, she oversaw daily operations and continued her advocacy for bilingual education, women’s rights, and prisoners’ rights. She played a key role in addressing health issues like AIDS/HIV, breast cancer, and domestic violence, founding the Hispanic AIDS Forum in 1986 and the Women and AIDS Research Network. Additionally, she co-founded Atrévete, a political participation and voter registration program. After retiring in 1995, she remained active and served as director for the Puerto Rican Association for Community Affairs and on the boards of the National Women's Political Caucus, the National Association for Bilingual Education and the Puerto Rican Educators Association. In 1997, Cordona was one of 70 U.S. women invited to “Vital Voices of Women in Democracy” in Beijing. She also is the author of the book, “Puerto Rican Women Achievers in New York City,” and she was the first Hispanic woman to receive the Susan B. Anthony prize from the National Organization for Women (NOW). Cardona passed away from cancer at the age of 81.

Lawrence Murphy (1970-2013) was an architect and community activist who successfully advocated for more green space in Jackson Heights. He played a crucial role in establishing the Jackson Heights Green Alliance, which focused on creating and maintaining public open spaces and green areas. Projects included the expansion of Travers Park, and the Grow-a-Park campaign, which successfully turned private school land near Travers Park into public parkland. His work in the Jackson Heights community helped serve as the archetype for the transformation of 34th Avenue into one of the city’s most prosperous open streets during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the years following. Originally from the Bronx, Murphy studied urban design and architecture in Brussels at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels de La Cambre, known as La Cambre, and in New York City at The Cooper Union. He began his career in design and construction administration in the early 2000s, ultimately working for Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx as a project architect. During his morning commutes on the 4 train to Montefiore, Murphy noticed many dilapidated staircases in the Bronx. In response, he and fellow Montefiore architect Alvin Niere created The Bronx Steps Up initiative, encouraging residents to use outdoor staircases for exercise as well as raising money to renovate the borough’s many street steps located on hillsides too steep for roads. Murphy died on December 15, 2013, and was survived by his wife, Nadine Kela-Murphy, and sons Max and Luke. On May 19, 2024, a street co-naming ceremony was held to dedicate the intersection of 88th Street and 34th Avenue, just ten blocks from the park Murphy advocated for, as Lawrence Murphy Street.

Luis Alvarez (1965-2019) was a retired NYPD bomb squad detective who died from complications of cancer linked to 9/11-related illness. He worked with other first responders during the search and rescue operation at Ground Zero. He also worked tirelessly for an extension of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Shortly before his death, Alvarez, alongside television host Jon Stewart, testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee in Washington to replenish the fund.

Steve Knobel (1943-2021) served as President of the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights for over twenty years, during which time the Center served not only its congregants but also the entire community. Under Steve’s tenure, the Center became the de facto community center of Jackson Heights. The Jewish Center offered many programs including piano lessons for children, ESL classes for immigrants, tutoring sessions for young people, lectures, opera concerts and Broadway and Bagel performances.

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

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.

Officer Vitale and and Officer Abruzzo were two police officers, both assigned to the 109th Precinct in Flushing, who died in the line of duty. Officer Vitale was killed on December 24, 1980 and Officer Abruzzo less than a year later, on December 16, 1981.

Malik Izaak Taylor (1970-2016), known professionally as Phife Dawg, was an American rapper raised in Saint Albans. Taylor co-founded the rap group A Tribe Called Quest in 1985 with his classmates Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Their biggest hit came in 1991, with the single “Can I Kick It?” The group went on to release five albums that sold millions of copies. Its album “Midnight Marauders” is often ranked as one of the best hip-hop albums of all time. Taylor also released a solo album in 2000 called “Ventilation: Da LP.” He died of complications from diabetes in 2016. Queens -- particularly the intersection of Linden Boulevard and 192nd Street -- was a fixture in A Tribe Called Quest’s rhymes, most notably on “Check The Rhime,” “Steve Biko (Stir It Up)” and “1nce Again.”

William H. Latham (1903-1987) was a Consulting Park Engineer under Robert Moses, and one of the few aides with whom Moses would directly interact. Born in 1903, Latham graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in civil engineering. Hired by Moses in 1927, Latham, along with several other associates hired during that period known as the “Moses Men,” became legendary throughout state and city government for his ability, loyalty and determination. In 1954, Moses selected Latham to oversee construction of the Niagara Project, a hydroelectric dam on the St. Lawrence River in Lewiston, N.Y.; it was the world's largest such project at the time. Latham remained as the dam's resident engineer until his retirement in 1971.

Ralph Johnson Bunche (August 7, 1903 - December 9, 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.

Aurora Gareiss (1909-2000) was a community activist and conservationist who was a member and substantial contributor to many community and conservation organizations. She was born in 1909 to Peter and Anna M. Varvaro, both of whom came from Palermo, Italy, and settled in Bay Ridge. Aurora studied art in the United States and Italy and become an accomplished artist. She married Herbert Gareiss in 1932 and as newlyweds, they lived in Jackson Heights. In 1943, they moved with their son to Douglaston. For the next 20 years or so, Aurora worked as a housewife and an artist. By the 1960s, the environment and its degradation became a major concern for her, but when real estate developers began filling in the marsh in the wetlands of Little Neck and Great Neck, this concern grew into action. In 1969, with the help of neighbor Ralph Kamhi, Gareiss co-founded the Udalls Cove Preservation Committee. This not only saved this land from development but spurred a host of Douglaston, Little Neck and Great Neck residents into becoming activists themselves. Gareiss was involved with many other environmentally focused groups, including the State Northeastern Queens Nature and Historical Preserve Commission (Commissioner, 1974-1993; Vice-Chair, 1974-1977; Chair, 1978-1986); the Alley Restoration Committee; the Water Quality Management Plan Program; the Citizens Advisory Committee, Coastal Zone Management; the Research Committee, Council on the Environment of New York City; the Sierra Club; the Alert Committee, League of Conservation Voters; and Friends of the Earth. She was also a member of the Douglaston Civic Association and served as an environmental aide to State Senator Frank Padavan and U.S. Rep. Lester Wolff. In the mid-1990s, Gareiss moved upstate to Warwick, NY, to be close to her son Herbert and his family; she passed away in 2000.

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

In 1967, Benjamin N. Cardozo High School was named after Benjamin N. Cardozo (1870-1938), former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1932-1938). Justice Cardozo is notable for both his defense of the New Deal’s social programs during his six short years at the Supreme Court and his advocacy for the common-law approach throughout his judicial career.  Born in New York City to a Portuguese Sephardic Jewish family, Justice Cardozo was tutored by Horatio Alger and various home tutors as a youth, before being admitted into Columbia College at age fifteen. Cardozo had ambition to restore his family’s honor, after his father, Judge Albert Cardozo of the Supreme Court of New York, achieved notoriety for his involvement with the corrupt Tweed ring. The elder Cardozo resigned in 1872, just before he could be impeached. After the younger Cardozo’s graduation from Columbia College and a few years at Columbia Law School, he joined his father’s law practice and entered the bar. In 1914, Cardozo was appointed to the Court of Appeals, he would serve eighteen years at the court - five of which at the head. Following Oliver Wendell Holmes’s retirement from the United States Supreme Court in 1932, Justice Cardozo was named to the Supreme Court by President Herbert Hoover. This appointment earned him the distinction of being the second Jewish judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court, after Justice Louis Brandeis. Despite later describing himself as an agnostic, Justice Cardozo volunteered within the Jewish community throughout his life. He was a member of the Judean Club, a board member of the American Jewish Committee, and a member of the Zionist Organization of America at various points. At the point of his appointment to the Supreme Court, he resigned from all offices except for his membership on the Executive Committee of the Jewish Welfare Board and on the Committee on the Advisor to the Jewish students at Columbia University. On the Supreme Court, he was one of the “Three Musketeers” - the nickname given to the three liberal members of the Court that supported the New Deal agenda, including Justice Brandeis and Justice Harlan Fiske Stone. He is noted for his defense of social security and old-age pensions in particular. 

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.

Lieutenant Theodore “Teddy” Leoutsakos (ca. 1950 - 2015) was a lifelong Astoria resident and a first responder during the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, where he was trapped when the towers collapsed. He survived the attacks and was credited with helping many survivors that day. Leoutsakos was a United States Air Force Veteran who served during the Vietnam War. He was honorably discharged when he was wounded in combat. For 24 years, he served as a New York State Court Officer and worked perimeter patrol outside of the New York County Supreme Court at 111 Centre Street in Manhattan. He was a founding member of the Fraternal Organization of Court Officers, a charitable organization that began in 1990 and has held hundreds of fundraisers helping people in need. Shortly after his retirement, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer as a result of his response to the World Trade Center and his time spent at Ground Zero.

Lewis Mumford (1895 - 1990) was a literary critic, historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology and city planner, who was an expert on urban architecture and cities. Mumford was an original homeowner in Sunnyside Gardens, where he lived with his wife, Sophia, and their two children from 1927 to 1936, at 40-02 44th Street. Mumford was born in Flushing and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1912. He studied at the City College of New York and The New School for Social Research. Showing his early interest in utopianism, he wrote his first book at the age of 27, entitled, The Story of Utopias, where he argued that utopian literature could provide useful ideas for the present. Mumford had a broad career as a writer whose literary output consisted of over 20 books and thousands of articles and reviews. He was also the long-time architecture critic at The New Yorker magazine. In 1962, his book, The City in History, won the national book award for nonfiction. Mumford was arguably the most read and influential urbanist of the mid-20th century.

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.

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John McHugh Sr. (1924 - 2019) Of Whitestone, Queens, was a decorated American World War II veteran who participated in the D-Day invasion, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Bulge. Corporal John McHugh graduated from Morris Park High School in the Bronx in 1942 and enlisted in the army with his friends following Pearl Harbor. He was in the 1st Infantry Division, which arrived in landing craft at Omaha Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944. was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the European Theater of Operations Ribbon, Two Presidential Unit Citations, and Combat Infantry Badge and the Fort Eger given by Belgium. The State of New York placed him in its Veterans Hall of Fame. After the war, McHugh came back to Whitestone, married his childhood sweetheart Rosie McGee, and worked as a Transit Authority conductor.

Abigail Adams (1744-1818) had the distinction of being the first Second Lady of the United States and the second First Lady. She was also the mother of the sixth President, John Quincy Adams. A political influencer, she is remembered for the many letters of advice she exchanged with her husband, John Adams, during the Continental Congresses and throughout his political career. In 1776, Abigail wrote her most famous letter, exhorting the Founding Fathers to “remember the ladies.” She added, “Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could.”

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

Rev. Dr. Timothy P. Mitchell (1930-2012) was pastor of Flushing’s Ebenezer Baptist Church for 47 years, from 1961 until his retirement in 2008. His father, Rev. James B. Mitchell, had also been pastor of the church from 1930 to his death in 1947. Mitchell was born in Whitestone and graduated from Flushing High School. He continued his education at Queens College, Hartford University and the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut. Prior to his position at Ebenezer, he served as pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church in Hartford. Mitchell had a strong interest in social justice and participated in many regional and national organizations, including the social service committee of the National Baptist Convention and the special affairs committee of the New England Baptist Missionary Convention. He marched on Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 and was one of the principal strategists of King’s Poor People’s Campaign in 1968. In his later years, Mitchell took on causes including police brutality and affordable housing for senior citizens. He also worked on the presidential campaigns of Rev. Jesse Jackson and the mayoral campaign of David Dinkins.

Rev. Floyd H. Flake (b. 1945) is a former congressman and the longtime pastor of the Greater Allen African Methodist Episcopal Cathedral. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1997; served as president of Wilberforce University from 2002 to 2008; and is the senior pastor of the Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral of New York in Jamaica. Rev. Flake is also the author of the books "The Way of the Bootstrapper: Nine Action Steps for Achieving Your Dreams" and "The African American Church Management Handbook." In Congress, he funded the nation’s first One Stop Small Business Capital Center; it has been the model for additional centers that are now operating in the Federal Empowerment Zones and provides technical assistance and loans to small businesses.

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.

Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish humanitarian who worked at his country's legation in Budapest during World War II and used his diplomatic status to save the lives of tens of thousands of Jews threatened by the occupying Nazi forces and their Hungarian collaborators. His determination and accomplishments in the face of great opposition and personal danger have made him a figure honored around the world.

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

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

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

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

Paul A. Vallone (1967-2024) was an attorney and civic leader whose political career in the service of northeastern Queens and New York City was cut short when he died of a heart attack on January 28, 2024, at the age of 56. Part of a noted Queens political family, Vallone served as City Council member for District 19 from 2014 to 2021, and then as deputy commissioner of external affairs for the New York City Department of Veterans' Services from 2022 to 2024. His grandfather, Charles J. Vallone, was a judge in Queens County Civil Court. Both his father, Peter Vallone Sr., and his brother, Peter Vallone Jr., represented Astoria on the City Council, from 1974 to 2001 and 2002 to 2013 respectively, making for a 47-year run of City Council service by the Vallone family. Born on June 2, 1967, and raised in Astoria, Vallone attended high school at St. John's Preparatory School, graduated from Fordham University, and received his law degree from St. John's University. He was admitted to the New York and New Jersey Bar Associations in 1992. Prior to his political career, he was a managing partner at his family’s general practice law firm, Vallone and Vallone LLD, which was founded in 1932 by his grandfather. Vallone moved from Astoria to northeast Queens and, failing in a bid for City Council office in 2009, he followed in his family’s footsteps in 2014 when he won the District 19 seat. He was known as an advocate and champion for the Queens communities he served. During his tenure, he sponsored 800 pieces of legislation — 128 of which he was the first primary sponsor — and was credited with fundraising nearly $40 million in funding for his district. He was at the forefront of adopting participatory budgeting, which allows constituents the opportunity to vote for and prioritize the capital projects they want funded by their councilmember’s office. As Vallone shared with the Queens Daily Eagle in 2021, “It was a beautiful way to create community involvement in your own tax dollars.” Vallone was dedicated to supporting students and seniors in his district. While on the council, he helped expand school capacity by 4,500 seats and reinstated the New York City Council Merit Scholarship, known as the Peter F. Vallone Academic Scholarship, awarding high school graduates up to $350 per semester. He also helped to launch a free transit service for northeast Queens seniors. In addition, he spearheaded a project that brought $3.6 million in improvements to Flushing’s Bowne Park. The work was completed in the spring of 2023 and included upgrades to the playground, pond, plaza, and bocce court. In recognition of Vallone’s dedication to improving schools for his district, a 627-seat addition to P.S. 169 Bay Terrace School and Bell Academy in Bay Terrace was named in his honor. Located at 18-25 212th Street, the Paul Vallone Community Campus officially opened at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 17, 2024. The site serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade and includes 16 classrooms, five kindergarten rooms, and three special education rooms. As a strong advocate for veterans, Vallone voted as a city council member in favor of a measure that established the New York City Department of Veterans' Services in 2016, making it the first City agency in the country dedicated to serving veterans and their families. After his tenure on the city council ended due to term limits in 2021, Vallone lost a bid for a Civil Court seat in eastern Queens. But he continued his public service in 2022, when Mayor Eric Adams appointed him as deputy commissioner of external affairs for the new Department of Veterans' Services. Vallone held that role until his death in 2024. In addition to his government work, Vallone was active in his Flushing community as a soccer coach for St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy, winning two championships for the school, and also coaching his two daughters, Lea and Catena, and his son Charlie (Charles J. Vallone III). Vallone was survived by his wife, Anna-Marie, and three children. Two other city locations are named in Vallone’s honor. They include Paul A. Vallone Way, at the intersection of 157th Street and 32nd Avenue in Flushing, and the Paul A. Vallone Queens Animal Care Center, located at 1906 Flushing Avenue in Ridgewood.

Patrolman Joseph W. Norden (1916-1954), a Marine veteran who served in combat in the Pacific during World War II, was a five-year veteran of the New York Police Department when he was killed at the age of 38 in the line of duty on December 3, 1954. That night, Norden and his partner, who worked for the 104th Precinct, reported to a home where an ambulance required assistance removing a man in emotional distress. The man appeared calm, so the officers held him by the arms to descend the stairs, rather than restraining him any further. At the ground level, however, the man lunged at Norden, grabbing his revolver and firing three shots that killed Norden and the ambulance worker. Norden's partner then fired at the shooter, killing him. Norden was survived by his two daughters, then 7-year-old daughter Susan, 4-year-old daughter Mary, and his wife, Theresa, whom he had married in 1946. She was three months pregnant at the time of his death, and that daughter, Jody Norden Castro, grew up in a home that worked to ensure she always remembered her father. At the time of his death, Norden and his family lived at 62-15 Catalpa Avenue. The nearby intersection was co-named in his honor on Saturday, September 28, 2024 following a bill for the name change that was sponsored by Councilmember Robert F. Holden.

Exterior of the Lewis H. Latimer House, 2018

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.

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

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

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

In February, we celebrate Black History Month by honoring the many Black faith leaders honored by the borough of Queens with place names.

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

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

Text courtesy of Walter Mugdan, president of the Udalls Cove Preservation Committee. The name “Udalls Cove” is a bit of a misnomer. In 1833 Richard Udall bought from the Allen family a grist mill, located about a mile north of the Douglaston peninsula in a much smaller cove on the eastern shore of Little Neck Bay where a stream enters. The stream had been dammed up at its mouth to create a mill pond. When the tide was low, Udall let water flow from the pond to the bay to turn his mill wheel. When the pond was drained empty he would close the dam gate and wait for the tide to rise. When the tide was high he would open the gate and let the sea water from the bay flow into the pond. This would turn his mill wheel again, but in the opposite direction. Gears and belts inside enabled the mill machinery to run in the correct direction regardless of which way the mill wheel was turning. Udall’s mill, now a museum, still stands on the little cove in front of the mill pond. But his name was eventually assigned to the larger cove a mile south that lies between the Douglaston peninsula and the Village of Great Neck Estates. Strangely, the correct name of the cove is Udalls – without an apostrophe.

Anthony Suraci (d. 2006) lived with his wife in Sunnyside, Queens, for over 60 years. He served as President of the Thompson Hill Civic Association, district Leader. In addition, he served as a Republican district leader, a cub-master of Cub Scout Pack 221, and held a number of annual charity events for needy families through United Republicans of Western Queens (URWQ), where he was a driving force.

Born on February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, George Washington was born into a prosperous family, and was privately educated. He gained early experience as a land surveyor, and then joined the militia, serving as an officer in the French and Indian Wars from 1755-1758. Rising to the rank of colonel, he resigned his post, married Martha Dandridge (1731-1802), and returned as a gentleman farmer to the family plantation at Mount Vernon, Virginia, where he resided with his wife, Martha. He soon reentered public life, and served in succession as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses (1759-1774), and as a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses (1774-1775). Upon the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, Washington was made Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. His military prowess and inspirational leadership held the colonial armies together against overwhelming odds, and secured the evacuation and defeat of the British in 1783. Washington again retired to Mount Vernon, but his dissatisfaction with the new provisional government, caused him to resume an active role, and in 1787 he presided over the second federal constitutional convention in Philadelphia. He was then unanimously chosen first president of the United States, and was inaugurated at Federal Hall in New York City on April 30, 1789.  Washington was reelected to a second term in 1893, declined a third term, and retired from political life in 1797. Often referred to as “the father of our country,” Washington is universally regarded as having been instrumental in winning the American Revolution and in the establishment of the new nation.

Frank P. LoCicero (1918-1997) lived in Bellerose, Queens from 1950 until his death. LoCicero was an active member and later president of the Bellerose Hillside Civic Association, which fought to maintain the suburban character of the neighborhood. LoCicero was born in Manhattan and studied art at Haaren High School. At age 17 he became the youngest person to have a sculpture exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Following graduation from college, he was hired by Norcross Greeting Cards as its graphic designer. During World War II, LoCicero enlisted in the U.S. Army, spending five years in Hawaii drawing aerial maps for the Army before resuming work at Norcross. He married his wife Marie in 1946 and they had two sons, Ronnie and Ricky. In 1950, the family purchased a home in Bellerose, New York, and soon after arriving, Frank became active at St. Gregory the Great Church, joining the Holy Name Society and Nocturnal Adoration Association. He also became a member of the Bellerose Hillside Civic Association, and was later voted its president. During his tenure as president, Frank led successful campaigns against undesirable projects that were proposed to be situated at the Creedmore Psychiatric Center, such as a prison and a sanitation garage. He also was responsible for editing and distributing a monthly newsletter.

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.