Intersection in Forest Hills to be renamed in honor of Geraldine Ferraro

On Monday, New York City Council Member Karen Koslowitz announced that a portion of Austin Street in Forest Hills will be renamed after one of the neighborhood’s best known residents, Geraldine Ferraro, DNAinfo.com reports.

Geraldine Ferraro was elected three times as member of the United States House of Representatives for the 9th Congressional District, leaving office early to join Walter Mondale’s bid for President in 1984. Ferraro made history as the first female – and first Italian American – candidate for Vice President on the ticket of a major political party. She spent most of her adult life as a resident of Queens.

Ferraro was born and raised in upstate New York, the daughter of working class immigrants.  In 1960 she moved to Forest Hills, the home of her husband, John Zaccaro, whom she had met while in her senior year at Marymount Manhattan College. After teaching in public schools in Astoria, she attained her law degree from Fordham University. For a number of years, while raising her children, she worked part time as a civil lawyer. Then, in 1974, was appointed an Assistant District Attorney for Queens County and headed a unit on spousal and child abuse.

In 1978 she began her Congressional career, serving on the House Budget Committee, among others. She fought hard for the rights of women, co-sponsoring the 1981 Economic Equity Act, seeking equal pay in wages and pensions for both genders, and advocated for the needs of elderly women. She was outspoken in her criticism of the country’s military involvements in South America. Her brassy and intelligent style, her dedication to her causes and her impressive personal story won her admirers and her mentors through the years included Governor Mario Cuomo and Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill.

In 1984, Mondale and Ferraro famously lost in a landslide to Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, the rigors of the campaign brought to light the somewhat imperfect financial practices of her husband’s real estate firm, which lingered. She also took hits for being a practicing Catholic while maintaining a pluralistic view on female reproductive rights. Although she had two unsuccessful bids for the United States Senate, she continued to utilize her talents, authoring three books, appearing as a regular on CNN’s Crossfire, serving as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights for Bill Clinton and sitting on numerous corporate and non-profit boards.

From her time in Congress until 2002, when she moved with her husband to Manhattan, Ferraro lived at 22 Deepdene Road in Forest Hills Gardens. She died of multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, in 2011, and mourners left flowers outside the gate of the old house. For her beliefs and her unique experience, Ferraro remained a sought-after spokesperson for the political careers of women and for their basic rights.

Austin Street is the home of one of Forest Hills’s busiest shopping districts, and very close to Ferraro’s residence on Deepdene. The exact location of the sign will be on the south-east side of Austin at the intersection of Ascan Road, a corner that houses The Natural gourmet grocery, Our Lady Queens of Martyrs Roman Catholic Church School, Micciche Salon, and the New Town Grocery bodega.

The ceremony will take place on Sunday, October 28 at 10:30am.