Another Name on the Boulevard

Here's a shot of the street renaming on Queens Boulevard between 38th Street and 58th Street after the late Tom Manton, a former City Councilman, congressman, the decades-long Queens County Democratic Leader.

To be technical, the boulevard isn't being renamed so much as dual-named. So, no need to change anyone's address.

It would be interesting to find out if anyone can actually get mailed sent to their address on Thomas J. Manton Boulevard.

Anyway, the event took place on April 25, and approved by Community Board 2 two years earlier.

It was a fairly-big event that got picked up some news outlets like New York 1 and my newspaper. It also drew a host of notable guests, including Senator Chuck Schumer and Congressman Anthony Weiner.

So, a big day in the neighborhood.

Attracting the Neighbors

The Western Queens Gazette explains what drew some graffiti people to the neighborhood:

The meeting concluded with Deputy Inspector Kavanagh’s report. In general, the crime rate continues to fall, he said, though grand larceny stubbornly refuses to. Drug dealing is also in decline in the precinct, he said, citing the good work of Lieutenant Mark Wachter and his men in achieving that situation. The graffiti arrest took place Wednesday, April 8, when two cars in the area aroused police suspicion. When their drivers were stopped for questioning, the police discovered a total of 55 cans of spray paint and other marking material in the cars. When they were arrested, the suspects were found to be from the Throgs Neck section of The Bronx, and it transpired they have a huge reputation in that borough. It seems they were attracted to Queens by the prospect of all the wall space made available by the reconstruction, circa 2001-2007, of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway between Woodside and East Elmhurst.