The cover of Time magazine depicts the first time a woman was nominated as the vice-presidential candidate for a major political party.
When PS 290 opens for the 2014-2015 school year at the intersection of Metropolitan Avenue and Tonsor Street in Ridgewood, it will do so with a new name: the Geraldine Ferraro school.
State Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan (D-Ridgewood), who represents the school’s district, said she was a champion of the name from the beginning and that “I could think of no other person more fitting to have a school named in their honor.”
Ferraro died in 2011 after a prolonged battle with cancer. She was 75 years old.
This is not the only renaming in her honor, following her death, the point where the two most well known streets in Forest Hills meet, the intersection of Austin Street and Ascan Avenue, very near to where she lived, the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate was remembered by the renaming of that street as “Geraldine Ferraro Way”.
And, in 2010, she was again honored by the renaming of the Long island City post office.
Ferraro was a Forest Hills congresswoman for six years and was the first woman to run for vice-president on a major political line.
In 1993, she was appointed as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by then-President Bill Clinton.
City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said the new school, at 55-20 Metropolitan Ave., will help to alleviate overcrowding in School District 24, specifically at nearby PS 71 in Ridgewood and PS 153 in Maspeth.
“I am thrilled to announce the name of this new campus after a congresswoman who was a teacher at one point in her career and continues to be an inspiration to youngsters around the country who are interested in public service,” Walcott said.
By Patricia Adams
