Street in Ozone Park co-named Shri Prakash Gossai Way
By Tangerine Clarke
Councilman Eric Ulrich, representing
district 32 in Queens,
recently joined the Bhuvaneshwar
Mandir, in Ozone
Park, to celebrate the legacy of
Shri Prakash Gossai during a
ceremony to unveils the sign
as 86th Street and 101 Avenue
co-named for the late spiritual
leader, who founded the Temple
in Brooklyn in 1984
The Guyanese-born Hindu
leader, who migrated to Queens
in the 1980s, established the
first Mandir in Ozone Park and
quickly became a leader in the
NYC Hindu community. His
services regularly saw more
than 1,000 people in attendance.
When he passed away in
2009, more than 10,000 people
attended his funeral. A few
years later, in 2013, mourners
held a 13-hour ceremony
in remembrance of his life. At
the service, a rotating shift of
musicians played 108 bhajans
(hymns).
The sign commemorating
the street co-naming sits on
86th Street at the southwest
corner of 101 Avenue in Ozone
Park. In 2018 Councilman
Ulrich sponsored legislation
in the New York City Council
legally giving 86th Street
between 101 Avenue and 102
Avenue a second name: “Shri
Prakash Gossai Way.”
“Shri Prakash Gossai was
Caribbean L 24 ife, AUGUST 13-19, 2021
a dear friend. We first met
before I was elected to the City
Council,” recalled Councilman
Eric Ulrich. “He was a
deeply respected religious leader,
across all faiths. He was
also a community leader who
helped make Richmond Hill
and Ozone Park better places
to live, work, and raise a family.
It’s wonderful that this street
will now forever bear his memory
and name.”
“Our hearts are filled in the
Gossai family and the Bhuvaneshwar
Mandir family with
the co-naming of 86th Street
in honor of our beloved leader,
Shri Prakash Gossai. He devoted
his entire life to improving
our community, uplifting
our culture and making New
York City the mosaic we have
called home for decades,” his
wife Acharya Leila Gossai said.
“We miss him everyday, and we
thank Council Member Ulrich
for consistently being there for
our family.”
“Shri Prakash Gossai was a
staple in Richmond Hill, and
was a beacon of light for Hindus
across many neighborhoods.
When he died in 2009,
it sent shockwaves through the
entire Indo-Guyanese community,”
State Senator Joseph
P. Addabbo, Jr. said. “Gossai
was an integral part of our
community, and now through
this street naming he will be
a part of this community that
he loved so much forever. I
congratulate Gossai’s family,
friends and congregation on
this fantastic honor.”
District Leader, Richard David, Councilmember Eric Ulrich, Assemblywoman Jennifer Rajkumar,
son and daughter of late Shri Prakash Gossai, Acharya Arun Gossai and Riya Gossai,
and Queens Borough President, Donovan Richards joined to celebrate the life and legacy
of the Hindu priest, at the street co-naming ceremony in Ozone Park, Queens. Offi ce of
Councilmember Ulric Ulrich
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