You are reading

Portion of 130th Street Co-Named After Late Civic Leader

(Council Member Paul Vallone)

Oct. 28, 2019. By Shane O’Brien 

A portion of 130th Street was co-named Joe Femenia Way on Saturday after a College Point civic leader who died suddenly at the age of 62 earlier this year.

Council Member Paul Vallone celebrated the street’s official co-naming at a ceremony at the intersection of 130th Street and 23rd Avenue, where the sign is located.

Femenia was a fourth generation College Point resident and activist. He was born and raised in College Point and attended a number of local schools, including P.S. 129, J.H.S. 194, Flushing High School and Queens College.

He was responsible for restarting the College Point Civic and Taxpayers Association in 2008, where he served as the CPCTA president from 2008 to 2012 and again from 2014 until his death.

Femenia, who worked for the MTA, served as Chair of the Transportation Committee for Community Board 7 for 10 years.

Vallone said that Femenia was someone who really cared about the community and who embodied the values of the neighborhood.

“Joe worked tirelessly to make sure that the community he was born in received its fair share, was vigilant when it came to capital improvement projects, and always stressed the importance of civic engagement,” Vallone said. “If ever there was someone who perfectly personified the neighborhood, it was Joe. A dear friend, an outspoken civic leader, and a great man, our ‘Mr. College Point’ will be dearly missed.”

Vallone was joined by Council Member Daneek Miller and several members of Community Board 7 at the co-naming ceremony along with members of Femenia’s family.

Femenia’s sudden death on Jan. 30 was mourned by the College Point community. He suffered a heart attack and died in his home. He is survived by his wife Laura whom he married in 1992.

Laura, who spoke at the ceremony, said that her deceased husband was someone who devoted his life to College Point.

“He had many victories in protecting and preserving the integrity of College Point. As far as my husband was concerned, every resident in College Point was his neighbor.”

Joe Femenia (left) with Assembly Member Daniel Rosenthal (Photo: Facebook)

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Disgraced former Queens Council Member Dan Halloran arrested on child porn charges

Former Queens Council Member Dan Halloran, who was convicted in 2014 for his role in two bribery and corruption schemes and served five years in federal prison, is in trouble with the law again.

Halloran was arrested at Miami International Airport on Saturday, March 29, and charged with possessing child pornography and transporting child pornography after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspected his Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max and an Apple iPad 6th Generation tablet and discovered several videos of suspected child pornography located in a hidden folder album on the phone’s photos application, according to the criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida.

Southeast Queens man convicted of triple murder in 2022 stabbing rampage that killed girlfriend, her son and cousin: DA

A Jamaica man was convicted at trial Tuesday of murder in the first degree and other crimes for the vicious stabbing deaths of his girlfriend, her son and a visiting cousin during a bloody rampage in June 2022.

Travis Blake, 31, of 155th Street, faces up to life in prison at sentencing following the three-and-a-half-week-long trial. The jury deliberated for just two hours before reaching the guilty verdict in Queens Supreme Court.

AG releases bodycam footage of police-involved shooting of Great Neck senior outside Bayside precinct

New York Attorney General Letitia James released NYPD body-worn camera videos and security camera footage on Tuesday that her office obtained as part of its ongoing investigation into the police-involved shooting death of Emil Williams, a physician’s assistant from Great Neck, LI, who was fatally shot on Feb. 18, following an encounter with NYPD officers in front of the 111th Precinct in Bayside.

At around 6:40 p.m. on Feb. 18, the 79-year-old Williams walked into the parking area next to the 111th Precinct at 45-06 215th St. while holding a firearm.