Born in Veracruz, Mexico, Lorena Borjas (1960-2020) was a fierce advocate for the transgender and Latinx communities in Queens. Borjas moved to the U.S. in 1980 and earned a green card through a Reagan-era amnesty program. She was convicted of charges related to prostitution in 1994, but the charges were later vacated, since she was forced into prostitution by human traffickers. However, other convictions remained on her record until 2017, when then-Governor Andrew M. Cuomo pardoned her. She became a U.S. citizen in 2019.

Borjas inspired many people through her advocacy for the LGBT community. She co-founded the Lorena Borjas Community Fund in 2012 and was actively involved in many organizations, including the AIDS Center of Queens County, the Hispanic AIDS Forum and the Latino Commission on AIDS. In 2015, she founded El Colectivo Intercultural TRANSgrediendo, a non-profit organization that works to defend the rights of transgender and gender non-binary people. The organization provides legal and medical services to trans and non-binary sex workers and undocumented members of the community. Although Borjas had already been taking sex workers to clinics to get tested for HIV and helping to get lawyers for possible deportation cases, El Colectivo was a way for her to officially continue that work. She also became a counselor for the Community Healthcare Network's Transgender Family Program, where she worked to obtain legal aid for victims of human trafficking. Borjas died on March 30, 2020, of complications from COVID-19.

On June 26, 2022, a bill was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul establishing the Lorena Borjas transgender and gender non-binary (TGNB) wellness and equity fund, which will be used to invest in increasing employment opportunities, providing access to gender-affirming healthcare, and raising awareness about transgender and gender non-binary people in New York.

On May 29, 1919, Nancy Leo, the oldest of five children, was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Her parents, Francesco Leo and Irene Fiore, emigrated from Bari, Italy, in 1917. After working on the railroad and then in the ice and coal business for some time, Francesco went into the food business, opening his first store in Brooklyn, on Lorimer and Skillman Avenues.

Nancy and her sisters, Mary, Lily and Grace, and their brother, Al, attended P.S. 132 in Brooklyn. They often came to Corona, Queens, for "vacation" since Corona at that time was still mainly farms and countryside.

In the early 1930s, the family moved to Corona where Nancy's parents set down roots and opened Leo's Latticini, later to become known as "Mama's," an affectionate nickname given to Nancy when she was raising her daughters.

Nancy Leo worked at Leo's Latticini alongside her parents for some time. Then, during World War II, she became one of the first pioneer women to help in the war effort. In November 1942, Nancy completed the airplane assembly course at Delehanty Institute. She then joined the ranks of women riveters working for American Export Airlines on some of the first non-stop transatlantic flight planes carrying passengers, cargo and mail overseas.

A few years later, Nancy took a vacation to visit her aunts in Italy and met her future husband, Frank DeBenedittis, who was born in Corato, Bari, Italy. They were married on August 29, 1948, in Rome's St. Peter's Basillica.

Years later, when Nancy's parents retired, she and Frank took over the family store and continued in the food business. They worked very hard serving the community while raising their loving family. They had three daughters, Carmela, Irene and Marie, all of whom attended St. Leo's Elementary School in Corona.

Carmela, the oldest, married Oronzo Lamorgese and owns Leo's Ravioli and Pasta Shop in Corona. Their daughter, Marie Geiorgina, who is married to Fiore DiFelo, is a teacher at P.S. 16 in Corona. They have one child, Mama's first great-grandchild.

Irene, a former New York City public school teacher, joined the family business in order to keep the family traditions alive.

Marie, though the youngest, has been in the store the longest. She, like her mother and grandmother, is very business-minded and also an excellent cook who strives for quality in all she does.

In 1985, Frank, who was a major part of the family business, passed away at the age of 73. He was sorely missed by everyone. After Frank's passing, Nancy, with her daughters, decided to continue on with the family business and for years Nancy became known as "Mama" to everyone.

After so many years of dedication to family and community, Mama passed away in 2009 at the age of 90. Upon her passing, there was a true expression of love and appreciation by all her patrons, neighbors and friends for all she had done for the community.

When many of the original Corona residents moved away to "better neighborhoods," Mama stayed and lived and worked with the community's people. She instilled in all her family a sense of discipline, respect for each other and good character. She was truly a wonderful role model for all.

Throughout her lifetime, Nancy saw immense change. From ice and coal to refrigeration and gas heat, from radio and television all the way to today's world of computers.

She made everyone around her appreciate all the little things in life that are special and "Mama," Nancy DeBenedittis, was truly a special person.

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.

Marguerite Henderson was very dedicated to her family, seniors and the East Elmhurst community. She attended P.S. 127 in East Elmhurst and went to I.S. 145, Newtown High School, and graduated from LaGuardia Community College. She was a member of Mt. Olivet Church where she was an active choir member. She joined the First Baptist Church and became an active member of the church’s trustee ministry. She was also involved in the East Elmhurst Community Board. She was dedicated to the families and seniors in East Elmhurst, ensuring they had food and resources as part of the First Baptist Church food pantry ministry. From organizing and executing back-to-school giveaways and toy and coat drives during the holidays, to serving thousands of families on a weekly basis before and during the height of the pandemic, she was truly dedicated to her community. She also assisted many families financially, helping with bills, rent, food and shopping for their children. She spent hours talking to teenagers and counseling the neighborhood youth who were at risk of heading in the wrong direction.

She was very protective of her family, specifically her children and grandchildren. Everyone on 96th Street and the East Elmhurst/Corona community knew Marguerite and was often affectionately called all sorts of nicknames by her loved ones and friends: Margret, Ursel, Big Marg, Gangsta Boo, Boo Thang, Baby Cakes, Ma, “Reet,” Babe, Mama Marguerite, sweet sweet Marguerite, Gramma and the East Elmhurst General. She was steadfast in her commitment and thanks to her dedication, many families had food on the table, coats for the winter, school supplies for their children, and most of all her love showing them that Marguerite had their back, especially throughout one of the worst pandemics of recent times.

Staff Sgt. Alex R. Jimenez (b.1982) was captured in an ambush south of Baghdad in May 2007. In 2008, approximately one year after he went missing, the U.S. military found and identified his body. He was killed in the line of duty.

Peter Magnani (1938-2021) left an indelible mark on the built environment of Queens through his life’s work as an architect and city planner. He shepherded the creation of many of the most important public buildings in the borough over the past 35 years. Peter viewed all his projects through the lens of how they would promote the welfare and quality of life of the community. Fairness, equality and balance were his motivating principles. Queens is home to more green spaces, beautiful libraries and other architecturally noteworthy public buildings thanks to his vision and expertise. Peter started his career in the public sector in 1968 in the Bronx Office of City Planning, rising by 1977 to the position of director. In 1980, he assumed the same post at the Queens Office of City Planning, the borough where he was born and where he lived. In this role, Peter advocated for a mixed-zoning plan for Long Island City to protect the area’s factories and industrial production and the current owners of single-family homes from unchecked high-rise development. His plan permitted construction or expansion of light industry and one- and two-family houses. The plan also called for the preservation for public use of Long Island City’s waterfront, which was no longer heavily used by industry. With an eye to balance and job growth, Peter also got Planning Commission approval for the Citicorp Office Tower in Long Island City. His work set the stage for the current development of Long Island City.

In 1986, Claire Shulman asked Peter to become her deputy. Over the next 16 years as deputy borough president, he planned and implemented the Queens West mixed-use waterfront development and championed the building of the new Queens Hospital Center, the Flushing Meadow Corona Park Olympic swimming pool and ice rink, the Queens Hall of Science addition and Queens Borough Public Library at Flushing. Following Peter’s advice, Shulman allocated funding in the 1990s to restore sections of the 34th Avenue median between 69th Street and Junction Boulevard that had been removed in the 1960s. In the spring of 2020, thanks in part to that green median bisecting the street, 34th Avenue became one of New York City’s most successful Open Street projects.

In 2002, Peter became the director of capital program management for the Queens Borough Public Library. In that role, he oversaw the largest and most successful building program in the history of the library. The Children’s Library Discovery Center in Jamaica and notable new branch libraries in Long Island City, Glen Oaks, Elmhurst, Far Rockaway and Hunters Point were all built during his tenure. Peter was instrumental in the selection of Steven Holl and his “Beacon of Light” design concept for the new Hunters Point branch near the waterfront. In addition to the construction of new library buildings, he brought all the branches of the library system into the 21st century by installing machines that patrons could use to check out books on their own.

Alongside his work as a city planner and builder, Peter played an instrumental role in the Towers Cooperative, his home of nearly 53 years in Jackson Heights. In the 1970s, he led a successful tenant-sponsored conversion of this complex of 120 rental apartments into a cooperative and became the founding president of the co-op’s board. Jackson Heights was referred to as the “Cocaine Capital” by New York Magazine at the time, and the success of the Towers conversion to co-op status helped stabilize the neighborhood. In 2010, the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects awarded Peter its Public Architect Award for achieving architectural design excellence in the public realm.

Sister Mary Patrick McCarthy (1935-2002) served as principal of the Blessed Sacrament School from 1967 to 2002. She aided many recent immigrants from South America, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Cuba by providing access to good and affordable education.

Mary Lena Waller Moody (1924 – 2021) was a committed community leader in Corona, Queens.

Waller Moody was a volunteer with the Board of Education and later became the president of the Parent Teacher Association of P.S. 92 in Corona, Queens; this led to a career in the education field when, in 1962, she was offered a job as a school aide at P.S. 92, later became the school’s supervisory paraprofessional. She retired from the New York City Board of Education in 1995.

Waller Moody served as a Girl Scout Leader at the First Baptist Church in Corona, was an election inspector in the neighborhood, supervised the Saturday educational program for children in Corona at Grace Episcopal Church, owned and operated Big City Realty, which helped provide residence for low income families in Corona, and provided daycare services for working mothers in Corona. She was involved in other community efforts, including supporting the Flushing Meadow Soap Box Derby and collecting toys for disabled children at Goldwater Hospital. She received many citations, rewards, and proclamations in her lifetime, but two highlighting experiences of her life were being crowned Miss Fine Brown Frame of Harlem, and receiving the City Proclamation of “ Mrs. Mary Moody Day” at City Hall in October 2019.

James Nicholas Pappageorge (1972 – 2001) grew up on 95th Street in Jackson Heights. he attended day school at the Transfiguration of Christ Elementary and went on to Newtown High School. Having been deeply involved in a variety of sports since childhood that included volleyball‚ softball and football‚ Jimmy went on to pursue a career in physical therapy at Hunter College. After graduation he became an emergency medical technician, working at the scene of traumatic accidents and fires. He then became a paramedic and later, a firefighter. He graduated in July 23‚ 2001 from the Fire Department’s academy and was assigned to Engine 23 in Manhattan. He died during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001.

Rory Staunton (1999-2012) was a young resident of Sunnyside Gardens and a student at the Garden School in Jackson Heights who was known for his civic responsibility, inspiring leadership and kind heart. A member of the Garden School's student council, he led the "Spread the Word to End the Word" campaign to discourage the use of the term “retarded.” Staunton tragically died of sepsis after a minor sports injury at the age of 12. Following his death, the Staunton family founded the End Sepsis organization to increase sepsis awareness and advocate for mandatory sepsis protocols in hospitals.

Mary Vavruska (1932 – 2015) was a well-known Jackson Heights community activist that served the community for over 50 years and was instrumental in the building of Louis Armstrong Middle School, I.S. 227. She worked as the chair of Community Board 3 for many years, and was especially active on issues of land use, economic development, and education. She helped initiate the building of the 115th Police Precinct on Northern Boulevard.

Vavruska also helped form the Jackson Heights Community Corp. and organized and implemented volunteer services for the homeless at the Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church. She was an active PTA member and championed the Department of Education to receive continual financial support for the maintenance of the Paired Schools under the Princeton Plan to integrate the schools between Jackson Heights, Corona, and East Elmhurst after the decentralization of school districts. She received the Volunteer of the Year from the Regional Alliance for Small Contractors, the Community Service Award from The Asociacion Benefica Cultural Father Billini and the Small Business Person of the Year from the Queens Chamber of Commerce.