New York City Councilmember Francisco Moya.
Jeff Reed/NYC Council
For at least the third year running, New York City pols will rename at least one local street after the parent of one of their own.
The City Council’s Parks & Recreation Committee on Tuesday approved a list of 100 proposed street co-namings that will almost certainly be approved by the full body on Thursday. The renamings generally recognize a community’s history, particularly individuals who made profound contributions on the blocks in which they either grew up or worked.
Honorees include late legends like crooner Tony Bennett and zombie film pioneer George Romero; iconic business owners like Little Italy’s Vincent “Vinny Peanuts” Sabatino; and New Yorkers taken too soon like Ava Conklin, who was killed by a driver who jumped the curb in Queens, and Saheed Vassell, who was killed by NYPD cops in Brooklyn.
There’s also NYPD Officer Paul Heidelberger, who died while trying to break up a bar fight; and FDNY battalion chief Christopher Scalone, who passed from 9/11 related illness. Also honored with a street renaming is FDNY firefighter Joseph “Soupy” Campbell, who died when a burning building collapsed on him in 1959.
And then there’s Edgar Moya, for whom the intersection of 102nd Street and 46th Avenue in Corona, Queens will be co-named. An immigrant from Ecuador to Queens, he was president of the Lions Club Sur American and the founder of the Corona Gardens Neighborhood Association. He passed away in October of 2023.
Edgar Moya was also the father of Francisco Moya, who has represented Corona at City Hall since 2018.
Francisco Moya is far from the first politician to use their position to honor a parent in this way. Last year, the Council voted to name a street in Fresh Meadows, Queens after Sylvia Weprin, the late mother of Assemblymember and former Council Member David Weprin.
The year prior, the Council approved the co-naming of streets after Marie Bichotte, the late mother of Brooklyn Democratic boss Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, and Robert Cornegy Sr, the father of then-Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr. Also last year, a section of Bergen Street in Crown Heights was co-named for the late rap mogul Combat Jack, father of current Council Member Chi Ossé.
Other political relatives to receive the honor include former Brooklyn Assemblymember Lena Cymbrowitz, who died in office and was succeeded by her husband Steven. There’s also Edward Lentol, a long-time legislator and judge and the father of even-longer-time Brooklyn Assemblymember Joe Lentol, and Andy “Pops” King, the father of disgraced ex-Bronx Councilmember Andy King.
Perhaps most famously and notoriously, in 2017 former Gov. Andrew Cuomo convinced the State Legislature to name the newly-rebuilt Tappan Zee Bridge after his late father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo.
Moya did not return an inquiry for comment.
