4 The QUEE NS Courier • juLY 21, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Fifteen Queens streets will be renamed to honor community leaders By Charlie Perry cperry@qns.com/@QNS From rock stars to basketball players to citizens who gave their lives, the names of 15 community leaders will live on through street renamings or co-namings in Queens. One Rockaway Beach street will be renamed to honor Midshipman Justin Zemser, who died in 2015 at the age of 20. Councilman Eric Ulrich announced that the City Council has approved legislation to rename the northwest corner of Seaside Avenue and Beach Channel Drive to Midshipman Justin Zemser Way. “Midshipman Justin Zemser embodied the very best our nation has to offer. He was a born leader, a gifted student and a tireless servant,” Ulrich said. The class of 2013 valedictorian at Channel View School for Research was in his second year at the United States Naval Academy. He was one of eight killed in the 2015 Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia. He was returning home to Rockaway for the weekend. Zemser was actively engaged in the local community. He was a member of the student government and interned for Councilman Ulrich his senior year. He was the captain of the Channel View School for Research varsity football team and volunteered at a local soup kitchen. “He returned to his former high school often, in his midshipman’s uniform, to deliver motivational speeches to the students,” Assistant Principal of Channel View Research Joseph Featherston said. “In addition, Justin was active in the Rockaway community, especially as a volunteer with Saint Camillus Special Olympics. The signpost bearing his name will be a constant reminder to Channel View’s students that they should live their lives following the ‘Zemser Way,’ patriotism, service, academic success, honesty, friendship and leadership.” Fourteen other streets will be renamed around Queens. Take a look at a list of the renamed streets below to see who will be honored: Lieutenant Theodore Leoutsakos Way: 9/11 first responder and Medal of Valor recipient Queens is experiencing second-highest job growth in NYC By Candace Higgins editorial@qns.com/@QNS Residents across the “World’s Borough” are finding more work, according to a report released on July 12. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) announced that Queens experienced a 7.80 percent rise in jobs, following Brooklyn. This was based on recently released job data dating back to December 2015. The analysis was conducted by NYCEDC. “We’re working to fight income inequality one job at a time,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “We’ve been targeting investments towards historically undeserved communities, and focusing on both raising wages and creating accessible, middle-class jobs. And the data shows we’re already seeing real results.” A number of programs have been launched to provide jobs in neighborhoods across the city. NYCEDC launched the NYC Industrial Developer Fund to help develop space for industrial jobs, and the mayor launched Futureworks NYC to help grow manufacturing jobs. “People want to move here, raise their families here, make their money here,” Queens Borough President Melinda Katz said in welcoming the news of the Queens job surge. “These encouraging jobs figures illustrate the growth and momentum underway here in Queens. This is the result of substantial investments and initiatives throughout the borough, many of which were discussed at Monday evening’s joint Borough Board and Cabinet meeting. Our challenge and focus as government is to help build more sustainable infrastructure to facilitate the growth as well as ensure the growth is more equitable across communities.” Citywide, jobs have increased by 7.4 percent since de Blasio took office, according to the NYCEDC press release, reaching an all-time high of nearly 4.3 million jobs. The unemployment rate in New York City is down 5.1 percent. Emma Brandt Way: Former Queens Woman of the Year and healthcare advocate Detective Joseph A. Picciano Way: 10-year NYPD veteran who was killed in the line of duty Easter Rising Stair Way: Co-naming will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising against Britain’s rule over Ireland Dorothy Neary Way: Former director of the United Forties Civic Association and former mentor to the Saint Teresa’s Rosary Society and Girl Scouts Mary Vavruska Way: Served the Queens community for more than 50 years and was and was instrumental in the construction of Louis Armstrong I.S. 227 The Ramones Way: Co-naming to honor the iconic punk rock band Malik ‘Phife Dawg’ Taylor Way: Former member of “A Tribe Called Quest” hip-hop group Charles ‘Chuck’ Granby Way: Renowned NYC basketball coach who had 722 victories over 45 years at the same high school. He helped mentor a number of future NBA players. Melvin Harris Way: A union representative, community leader and a former aide to Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano Reverend Dr. James C. Kelly Sr. Way: Wellrespected leader of the clergy of Jamaica Coach Stephen Piorkowski Way: A physical education teacher at Bayside High School since 1991. He turned the Bayside High School Lady Commodores into a city dynasty for softball and a powerhouse for girls basketball. D’Aja Naquai Robinson Way: A 14-year-old girl killed by a stray bullet while riding a Q6 bus on Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens. She was the unintended victim of a gang dispute. This crime served as the impetus for the launch of the city’s Gun Violence Crisis Management System (also known as “CMS”) the following year. Anthony Mason Way: Former NBA 6th Man of the Year and New York Knicks player. In the first two years of Mayor de Blasio’s administration, all five boroughs have added jobs at a higher rate than in previous years. One Rockaway Beach street will be renamed to honor Midshipman Justin Zemser
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