Former southeast Queens Councilman Archie
BY QNS STAFF
Former longtime Councilman
and District Leader Archie
Spigner died Thursday,
Oct. 29. He was 92 years old.
The Guy R. Brewer United
Democratic Club announced
the news of Spigner’s death on
its Facebook page on Friday.
Oct. 30.
“It’s with great sorrow that
we announce the passing of
our great leader former City
Councilman and District Leader
‘The Dean’ Archie Spigner,”
the Facebook post reads. “We
will keep everyone updated on
memorial services.”
As news of his passing became
public, tributes dedicated
to Spigner were shared on
social media.
The Queens County Democratic
Party said the borough
lost “an absolute giant.”
“From South Carolina to
St. Albans, from shoe shining
to City Council, from volunteer
to legend– Archie "The
Dean" Spigner lived an almost
fabled life that personifies the
#Queens story,” the party said
on Twitter.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said
on Twitter that Spigner was
an “absolute legend” who “will
be greatly missed.”
“Queens lost one of its
champions today. Archie
Spigner was a force, a tireless
organizer and an absolute legend
of South East Queens,” he
wrote. “Thinking of his family
and countless friends today.
He will be greatly missed.
Queens Congressman
Gregory Meeks said on Twitter
that southeast Queens “lost
a godfather of politics.”
“New York City lost a great
leader last night, and our nation
lost a great man,” Meeks
wrote. “Archie Spigner will be
missed dearly. May god rest
his soul.”
State Senator Leroy Comrie,
who represents southeast
Queens, said Spigner was “a
transformative figure in civics,
government and politics,
and is as responsible as anyone
else alive today for making
Black representation in
government a reality.
“Our community and indeed
our whole city lost a giant
this week in the passing of the
Hon. Archie Spigner. Archie
Spigner forged a career in public
service that spanned more
than half of a century and
made him a legend in his own
time, and not just in Southeast
Queens or New York City,
but throughout our country,”
Comrie said.
“To me and to so many others,
Archie was not only the
‘Dean’ of southeast Queens
politics, he was my friend and
mentor — in fact, my political
father — and my heart is
heavy because of this tremendous
loss,” Comrie added. “As
we process and mourn his
passing, we will determine
how we can commemorate and
memorialize him in a way befitting
someone of his stature.
He was one of a kind, and I and
many of my colleagues in government
were blessed to have
been guided by his wisdom
and his caring ways. May we
celebrate his legacy and the incredible
life he led in the service
of others.”
Brooklyn Borough President
Eric Adams, a close friend
of Spigner, said the “Dean of
Southeast Queens” will be
missed.
“He was the consummate
organizer and a distinguished
public servant, a man who was
instrumental in advancing
the welfare of our city’s Black
community and uplifting its
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.16 COM | NOV. 6-NOV. 12, 2020
leaders into roles that made
change possible,” Adams said.
“Archie was a respected advisor
to me for many years, dating
back to my years in 100
Blacks in Law Enforcement
Who Care. On behalf of Deputy
Borough President Chaplain
Lewis-Martin and our entire
borough, my heart goes out to
his wife Leslie and the entire
Spigner family.”
Dr. Berenecea Eanes, the
president of York College, said
on Twitter that she was “saddened”
to learn of Spigner’s
passing.
“The ‘Dean of Southeast
Queens Politics’ had a long history
of service & was among
several elected officials involved
in establishing @York-
CollegeCUNY Rest In Peace
to a friend of York & beloved
mentor to many,” she wrote.
Queens Assemblywoman
Alicia Hydnman said on Twitter
that Spigner’s legacy will
“live on forever.”
Queens Congresswoman
Grace Meng called Spigner
a “trailblazer and titan who
fought to improve the lives of
those he represented.”
Former Borough President
and current Queens District
Attorney Melinda Katz said
Spigner’s “legacy as a champion
and tireless fighter for
his community will live on
forever.”
“We are so grateful to have
had the pleasure of honoring
Archie earlier this year
in celebration of Black History
Month for all the incredible
work he has done for the
people of this great borough,”
Katz said on Twitter. “Rest in
Power, Sir.”
Spigner was born on Aug.
27, 1928, in Orangeburg, S.C.,
the last of five kids. His family
moved in shifts to the northeast
in the late 1930s and beyond,
some members living
with relatives in Stamford,
Conn., and others staying behind
on a farm. Spigner migrated
to Harlem, then to the
Bronx, and finally, to southeast
Queens.
Along the way, he picked up
loose change shining shoes,
QNS file photo
helping out in local barber
shops. He would get married,
then go on to work in a shoe
factory, a bakery, and as a bus
driver, juggling employment
with raising a family.
Spigner enrolled in Central
Needle Trades High School
(a “fashion high school,” he
calls it) in Manhattan, graduating
in 1947. He joined its coop
program and went to work
in a shoe factory, no different
than the average sweat shop
at the time. At the suggestion
of a co-worker, he enrolled in
the Jefferson School of Social
Science, a prominent left-wing
institution where he learned
parliamentary procedure —
still one of the anchors of politics.
He became the factory
shop steward and thus began
his long association with labor
and organizing.
Leaving the garment trade,
Spigner became a New York
City bus driver and in the
mid-1950s, he joined the Negro
American Labor Council
founded by the late great labor
leader, City College alumnus