One of the most beautiful streets in Maspeth is 69th Lane between Eliot and 60th Avenues.  This block is dominated by towering trees and Tudor-style homes unique to the area. The original name of this development may come as a surprise.  The 38 houses here were once marketed as the “Nassau Heights Homes”.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there was a bit of a Nassau naming craze. In 1898 when Brooklyn and Queens became part of the City of New York, the 70% of Queens comprised of the towns of Oyster Bay, Hempstead and North Hempstead was broken off into a new county.  The chosen name of the new county was “Nassau”, which was an old and disused name for Long Island. (The name does not come from a Native American dialect, as is popularly believed, but rather in honor of Dutch and English monarch William III also known as “William of Orange-Nassau”, who ruled over much of Europe as well as New Netherland. The Nassau referred to is actually the name of a town located in Germany.)

Around the time of consolidation, there was an effort to rename Newtown Creek as the Nassau River, due to its polluted reputation. The name never stuck, although even today you can find references to the Nassau River in recent geological surveys and other government documents.

Another part of the Nassau renaming frenzy saw the Maspeth/Middle Village area branded as “Nassau Heights”.  This was located adjacent to “Newtown Heights”, which today is known as South Elmhurst. Taking a neighborhood name and adding “heights” to it was a marketing tactic frequently employed by real estate marketers to make an area sound more appealing, and as the city wanted to promote the development of Queens, it encouraged these renamings, going so far as to include them on official planning maps.

​Real estate is, as the saying goes, all about “location, location, location”. Developers Deinhardt and Brandenstein banked on the Nassau Heights section due to its proximity to the site of the future Juniper Valley Park, which the City was in the process of procuring when ground was broken on the first set of 5 homes in 1936.  D&B built several variations of a Tudor-style 1-family design. Each house was 2 stories tall and made of brick and stone. Their goal was to provide quality construction at an affordable price.  The homes were listed for less than $5,800. Amenities included: 6 large rooms and an attic, colored tile in kitchens and bathrooms, and weather stripping on windows and all outside doors.  It’s funny to think of “sewers, curbs and sidewalks all in and paid for” as a selling point today, but improvements like these were considered modern in Queens in the 1930s. Another thing that the builders marketed was the short walking distance to the Borden Avenue trolley line (today’s Q67 bus route) which would shuttle residents to the subways at Queens Plaza. Nassau Heights Homes were also “convenient to stores, churches, schools and theaters”.

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The homes were developed in units of 5 houses. By 1938, the entire block was completed. A December 1937 press release printed in the Brooklyn Eagle stated that the developers planned to build 100 more 1-family homes in the area, but that never happened.

​The name Nassau Heights is only a memory now, but thankfully, the beautiful Nassau Heights Homes are still here.  All of the homes have been meticulously maintained, many having had improvements (none of them garish or out-of-character) completed within the past few years.  In addition, there are many gorgeously landscaped lawns and gardens as well as stately street trees. The rest of the area could take a lesson in civic pride from our neighbors on 69th Lane.

Vincent Seyfried’s entry in the Encyclopedia of New York City describes the history of Melvina as follows:

• It was originally the farm of the Van Cott family and became one of the first real-estate developments in Maspeth. On a map published in October 1852 by a real estate agent from New York City, John H. Smith, the area was shown as being bounded to the north by Maspeth Avenue and to the south by Flushing Avenue, and extending 257.5 feet (78.5 meters) on either side of 59th Street. There are twenty-five houses on Beers map of 1873. Melvina was later absorbed by Maspeth.

​The Beers map mentioned above is the only map that spells the name of Melvina correctly (although it frustratingly misspells Maspeth Avenue as “Masbeth”).  

​The 1891 Wolverton map refers to the village as “Malvina” but clearly shows what were considered to be the boundaries of the area.  As you look at the maps, note that the site of St. Saviour’s Church, previously known as “Maspeth Hill” was located within the village of Melvina. The Van Cott family, along with neighbor James Maurice, donated the land that St. Saviour’s was built on and co-founded the church. 

​The 1902 Sanborn Map represents the area as mostly residential and sparsely populated (and also unfortunately misspells it as “Malvina”). As for the choice of the name “Melvina”, it likely was named after the developer’s wife or daughter, which was a common practice during the 19th century.

​The Melvina Pet Shop was located in this section of town, at the southeastern corner of 55th Street and Flushing Avenue.  This photo was taken in November 1929. The proprietor of this establishment was named Charles Koferl, whose name appears on the window glass.  In the window display are several bird cages and pet supplies such as dog collars.  A sign advertises a barn dance at the Williamsburg Benevolent Society on Saturday, November 16th.  And then of course, as this was election season, there is at least one political poster – for Democrat Edward W. Cox, candidate for the Board of Aldermen, a body which was replaced a decade later by the City Council.  Below the window are ads for Niagara Dry Ginger Ale, Manhattan Special Beverage and Whistle soda.  Three interesting male characters are present in the doorway and on the steps.  Above the seated man is Halloween chalk graffiti that says “I love you.”  Faint reflections in the window reveal that across the street stood a sign for an auto wrecking company as well as an ad for Lipton’s Tea.  A number of buildings in the Melvina area, including this one, were condemned and demolished when the Flushing Avenue underpass was constructed in the late 1960s.

​The only trace of Melvina left today is a short road called Melvina Place which runs north of Maspeth Avenue. In olden times, a street name would often refer to where the road would take you rather than where it was.  Therefore, Maspeth and Flushing Avenues start in Brooklyn and lead you toward your destination. Melvina Place may have been part of a longer road at one point, originating in another town.

​Most of the former Melvina is today a relatively quiet mixed-use residential and light manufacturing area in the West Maspeth area.

ust before WWII, the German spy ring known as “Joe K”, located in the Brooklyn-Queens area, was busted by the FBI.  The co-conspirators included 2 Brooklyn men: Hans Pagel and Edward Schlosser, a local man: Karl Victor Mueller of Ridgewood, and  2 local women: Helen Pauline Mayer, a 25-year old Ridgewood housewife, and Lucy Boehmler, an 18-year old Maspeth resident and recent graduate of Grover Cleveland High School.

The five worked under the direction of Kurt Frederick Ludwig, the spy ring leader.  According to a September 1941 article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Ludwig “used secret code and invisible ink to send reports abroad, is charged in the indictment with employing [the others] and with having formed a compact, highly efficient military espionage agency for the German government since his arrival in this country a year and a half ago”.

​Ludwig, a native Ohioan and former salesman, lived for most of his life in Germany. He met the others during social gatherings of the German-American Bund and enlisted them. The indictment handed down stated that Ludwig’s crew would transmit to "Germany documents, writings, sketches, photographs, negatives, plans, maps, notes and other information concerning the national defense." The indictment also alleged that Ludwig’s return home from Germany was aimed at gathering intelligence regarding national defense and the shipment of supplies to Great Britain for the war, which the US had not yet entered but had been raging on in Europe for 2 years.

Ludwig had hired Boehmler, a business school student, to be his secretary. Lucy, who insisted that she was involved simply because it “sounded like fun” attempted to reduce her sentence by pleading guilty and testifying against the other members of the ring.  At trial she said that, “Ludwig used her to sweet-talk hitchhiking soldiers into revealing military secrets”. This revelation earned her the nickname, “The Maspeth Mata Hari”.
 
Lucy testified that the other spies spent quite a bit of time “visiting airplane factories and flying fields around New York”. She pointed a finger at Mayer, stating that at a Grumman aircraft plant she attempted to guilt a German-American employee into slowing down production. She also revealed that Mayer was planning to embark on a trip to Japan with secrets of the Douglas B-19, the world's largest bomber, under the orders of Ludwig. Mayer also allowed her house to be the ring’s headquarters and mailed espionage letters to Germany.

​When the trial concluded, all those indicted had been convicted.  For his role as spy master, Ludwig, naturally, received the longest sentence – 20 years.  Mayer received 15 years.  Mueller, who helped gather production figures, and Pagel, who pleaded guilty during the trial, also received 15 years. Schlosser, who with Pagel, reported to Germany observations of New York area shipping docks and military posts reports to Germany, received 12 years.  And in return for her willing cooperation with the prosecution of the others, the Mata Hari of Maspeth received only 5 years in prison.
 
Ludwig was paroled in 1954 and sailed to Germany in 1960, never to return to the U.S. What happened to the other members of the ring after their sentences had been served is not readily found in historical records, likely because they lived low-key lives after being released. But they certainly escaped a fate that had met later spies. Had they been arrested during American involvement in WWII, and not before, they most likely would have been executed.

Only a small percentage of minor league baseball players ever get a chance in the big leagues.  Of those who do, a minority will participate in a World Series game. Taking part in 5 World Series games made Hank Behrman a hometown sports hero.
Behrman was born in 1921 in Brooklyn but his family had moved to Maspeth during his youth.  He attended Grover Cleveland High School and played on their varsity baseball team.  In 1940, the Brooklyn Dodgers held a tryout at Ebbets Field that Behrman participated in and he was signed as a pitcher.  He was sent to Florida to play “A” ball, and his winning record there got him promoted to the AAA Durham Bulls in 1942, where he pitched a no-hitter.

​After the 1942 season was over, Behrman joined the US Army. He was stationed at an army air base in Nebraska for most of the remainder of World War II, but in May 1945, his regiment was sent to France. He was brought home in August and discharged the following January. Still under contract with the Dodgers, Behrman was sent to Montreal, their AAA club, where he met and played alongside Jackie Robinson for the first time. Robinson would famously break baseball's color barrier the following spring when he took to the field as a Dodger for the first time on April 15, 1947.

​Behrman’s biggest year was 1946. Dodgers’ farm team manager Branch Rickey, Jr. was so impressed with this young pitcher that he publicly expressed confidence in him and predicted a successful career.  The Dodgers brought Behrman up as a starter, but over the course of the year manager Leo Durocher felt he would be better suited as a relief pitcher.  In that role, he excelled. The St. Louis Cardinals won the National League pennant that season, but the Dodgers expected more great things from Behrman the following year. Sportswriters dubbed him “The Long Island Nature Boy”.

During spring training in 1947, Behrman hurt his arm.  He also married his wife, Ellen, and bought a home in St. Albans, Queens that year. Unfortunately, he became known more for his off-the-field hijinks than his pitching skills and was traded – with conditions – to Pittsburgh with 4 teammates that May.  He did poorly with the Pirates, and 6 weeks later they returned him to the Dodgers, who had no choice under the agreement but to cough up $25,000 to take him back. Over the course of the 1947 season, Hank pitched in 40 games and had a 5-3 record.  His ERA was a shaky 5.48, but the Dodgers won the pennant that year and entered the World Series – against their crosstown rivals, the Yankees.

​Excited Maspeth residents gathered around their radios to listen to the games and root for their hometown hero.  To think that not only had a well-liked local boy made it to the major leagues but that he was playing for a local team in the ultimate baseball contest was amazing, indeed! Behrman did manage to pitch in 5 of the 7 games of the World Series, all in relief, for a total of 6 1/3 innings in which he gave up 9 hits.  The Dodgers lost the Series that year, but they were honored outside Brooklyn Borough Hall with a reception and parade for winning the National League pennant.

Behrman's tenure with the Dodgers was marred by a paternity suit, drunken escapades off the field and chronic lateness and absences, which may have been partially due to Behrman's soreness at being forced to pitch relief instead of start. In 1948, the Dodgers demoted Behrman by sending him back to AAA Montreal. He straightened himself out there, and returned to the majors to pitch relief in 34 games. His record was 5-4 with an ERA of 4.05. The Dodgers did not make it to the World Series that year.

​Branch Rickey, Sr. still held out hope that Behrman would become a great asset to the Dodgers, but he wanted to keep an eye on him.  In January 1949, Rickey hired Hank to assist with grounds-keeping work, preparing Ebbets Field for the upcoming season. The wage was 90 cents an hour and the work was for 8 hours a day.  It kept him on the straight and narrow, which pleased Rickey.  However, their relationship soured after Hank arrived in Florida and announced that he would not report to spring training. Rickey traded him to the Giants prior to the start of the regular season.  That year, the Dodgers would once again make it to the World Series, but this time without Behrman. They lost to the Bronx Bombers in 5 games that time around.

For the Giants, Hank pitched in 43 games and his wish was partially granted – he had 4 starts during the 1949 season.  His record that year was 3-3 and he had a 4.92 ERA. Although he reported for spring training in 1950, he had several injuries that prevented him from playing in the regular season, and the Giants released him to the Pacific Coast League. Hank floated around the PCL and the MLB minors until 1953, when he could no longer play baseball. In 1955, the Dodgers finally completed the monumental task of beating the Yankees in the World Series, with Hapless Hank having no choice but to watch all the excitement unfold on his TV at home.
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Maspeth may one day see another of her local boys make it to the major leagues. Hopefully our next sports star will avoid the pitfalls that tripped Hank up.  As for Mr. Behrman, after baseball, he worked for decades as a delivery truck driver.  He died in 1986 at the age of 65 after suffering complications brought on by triple bypass surgery. He is buried at Calverton National Cemetery.

From “A Relic of Village Days”, Brooklyn Eagle, June 7, 1891

The Doughty family in America are all descendants of one individual, the Rev. Francis Doughty (left), who emigrated from England and settled at Taunton, Mass., about the year 1633, which places him among the earliest of the Puritan fathers following in the footsteps of the Mayflower pioneers.  The Brooklyn Doughty family are the descendants of Elias, second son of the Rev. Francis Doughty.  Their first appearance in the city is believed to have been about the year 1690; there is, however, no absolute proof in the possession of the writer that this date is correct, although it can’t be more than a decade or so out of the way.

The Doughty family in England is of exceedingly ancient origin, dating back before the Norman Conquest.  Originally the name was spelled “Doghtig”, and its significance now used in derision, was certainly expressive of the characteristics of the race.  The first Doughty mentioned in history was one of Sir Francis Drake’s party on the Golden Hind, in the famous voyage performed by that ship round the world.  Accused of mutiny, this individual, Thomas by name, was convicted and beheaded off the coast of Patagonia.  The accusation was manifestly false and prompted by the jealousy of Drake.

Whether or not the Rev. Francis Doughty was an immediate descendant of Thomas is not known.  The first notice of him is found in the annals of Taunton and reads as follows:

• “Cohannet, alias Taunton, is in Plymouth patent.  There is a church gathered there of late and some ten or twenty of the church, the rest excluded.  Master Hooke, Pastor; Master Street, Teacher.  One Master Doughty (Rev. Francis) opposed the gathering of the church there, alleging that according to the covenant of Abraham, all men’s children that were of baptized parents, and so Abraham’s children, ought to be baptized, and so spake in public, or to that effect, which led to a disturbance, and the ministers spake to the magistrate to order him out, the magistrate commanded the constable who dragged Master Doughty out of the assembly.”

​But for this disagreeable incident, the Doughty family probably would never have played their part in the history of Brooklyn.  Much excitement followed the church wrangle, and it resulted in about one hundred families leaving the Cohannet colony and following the fortunes of Mr. Doughty.  By this party it was determined to leave English colonies and apply to the Dutch for a grant of land upon which they could settle and enjoy the freedom of conscience which the straight-laced Puritans demanded for themselves, but were unwilling to accord anyone else.  With his wife and children, Doughty proceeded to the island of Aquetneck, the present site of the city of Newport, RI, where his friends soon joined him.  A regular association was organized and Mr. Doughty sent to New York to interview Governor Kieft.  So successful was this visit that the Dutch authorities immediately granted Mr. Doughty a tract of land of 13,332 acres at Mespat, which embraced nearly the whole of Newtown, Maspeth and a part of Flushing.  Here the Doughtyites settled in the year 1642, and from their efforts a successful colony was soon established.  Indeed, its success was so great that it excited the jealousy of Kieft, as will presently be seen.  The Doughty patent is recorded in the secretary of state’s office at Albany, book of patents, C.G. page 49.  It bears the date March 28, 1642. 

Mr. Doughty seems to have been a chronic objector and a man of most decided opinions.  Preaching to his flock weekly he took occasion to criticize certain acts of Governor Kieft (left), and trouble was the result.  The director and council of the New Amsterdam colony in April 1647 rescinded the Doughty patents, dividing the property among the members of the association, leaving Mr. Doughty only his bouwery (farm) and the lands he had in possession.  The Doughty bouwery occupied the land on the east of Flushing Bay, now known as Stevens’ (Willets) Point. 

To the decision of Kieft, Mr. Doughty strongly objected, regarding it as not only unjust, but in direct violation of his patent, therefore he appealed from the sentence, which offended Kieft, who had previously cut off the right of appeal to the courts of Holland, and telling Doughty that his judgment was final and absolute, the despotic governor fined the defenseless clergyman $10 and locked him up for 24 hours in the common jail. Discouraged at this, Mr. Doughty requested the director general of New Netherlands “that as he had lived and done duty a long time with suitable support and as his land was now confiscated” he might be permitted to take ship for the West Indies or the Netherlands.  The request was refused, as the director general had no desire to have his acts laid before the diet.  Later Mr. Doughty was minister at the Flushing church, where he preached a year for the sum of 600 guilders.  He finally departed for the “English Virginias” in 1648.

​​This is one side of the story – Doughty’s side.  The colonial records show the Dutch view of the case to be different. Without going into this in detail, we will simply state that the Dutch claimed a debt of 1,100 florins from Mr. Doughty, which he refused to pay.  It was out of this that the trouble arose.  The last notice of this man is found in Dr. O’Callaghan’s colonial documents where it reports a commissioner sent from New York to the Maryland colony as saying that during a visit to Cecil, Lord Baltimore, he met Mr. Doughty at a dinner given by the Maryland governor and found him “looking much the same” as when he last saw him in New Amsterdam and very bitter against the Dutch.  After the burning of Mespat village in 1643, Mr. Doughty sought refuge in New Amsterdam with all his followers.  Here they resided for several years, Mr. Doughty purchasing property just outside the fort.  Within the fort he established an English church and preached regularly to his flock.  Thus the Rev. Francis Doughty was the first preacher in the English language in New York City – a fact we never saw commented on in any history of New York.  Directly descended from Rev. Francis Doughty, through his son, Elias, is the forgotten Brooklyn family for which the street running past the Eagle’s back door is named.

In 1642, Rev. Francis Doughty and his followers left New England to settle a new colony where they could freely practice their unique type of Puritanism. Doughty approached the Director of New Netherland, Willem Kieft, to request a settlement patent.  Kieft granted Doughty 6,666 acres of land on the western end of Long Island, and it was recorded as the “Mispat Patent”, named after the Native American term for the area. The grant stretched all the way to the Flushing River. The translation of the Dutch document, which is preserved in the State Historic Archives in Albany, is presented here:
 
PATENT TO FRANCIS DOUGHTY AND COMPANIONS
 
We, William Kieft, etc., have given and granted, as we herewith give and grant to Francis Doughty and companions their assigns and heirs in real, actual and perpetual possession a certain piece of land, with pastures and whatever else it includes, located upon Long Island of this province containing 6,666 acres Holland measure or thereabouts, geographically enclosed between four straight lines, each 2,000 Dutch perches long, of which the first begins at the east corner of Hans Hansen's meadow dividing by the course of the creek the marsh into two equal parts, and extends to the plantation of Richard Brudnall, and then northeast passing through the middle of the fresh marsh to the small creek bounding the southern part of Henry Agricola's (Henry the Farmer's) land, then following it to its mouth the second line beginning here bends towards the southeast following the seashore to another small creek, then along the course thereof from its mouth to where you come to the eastern extremity of the same marsh (where the said creek arises), then it bends southeast, until it has reached the distance of 2,000 Dutch perches; the third beginning at the end of the last tends more westwardly and is of equal length with the former; finally the fourth starting from the last point deflects to the northwest and closes the square at the abovenamed easterly point of Hans Hansen's meadow, at which corner a stone is to be erected later for the greater certainty of the limits; with power to build on the aforesaid land a village or villages, a church or churches to exercise the Reformed Christian religion which they profess an ecclesiastical discipline; also to legally administer high, middle, and low jurisdiction; to decide civil suits for sums not exceeding 50 Holland guilders while in criminal cases their sentence of fines up to the same sum shall be final and without appeal; in other civil as well as criminal suits of greater import to pronounce the final sentence by which appeal may be referred to the supreme court of New Netherland and execute such sentence and finally to exercise all rights conferred upon the further power of nominating and presenting to the director of New Netherland some of their community, that from their number suitable persons may be selected for the civil and judicial administration with the right of hunting, hawking, fishing and trading and the immunities granted or to be granted to the of this Province, none excepted.
 
Wherefore the said F Doughty and his companions, their assigns and heirs are bound as long as they shall remain in possession of the aforesaid land to acknowledge the said lords’ directors as their masters and patroons, to pay after the lapse of ten years the tenth part of the produce of the fields whether cultivated with the plough, the hoe or otherwise (orchards and gardens not exceeding one acre Holland measure excepted). Finally to use the Dutch standard and no other to avoid confusion not to make use in selling or purchasing of any other Dutch weights, ell and other Dutch measures. All of which under the aforesaid conditions etc., to be countersigned by the Secretary of New Netherland and the seal of New Netherland to be affixed.
 
Done at Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island in New Netherland 28 March 1642.

Herman Ringe was quite the man about town.  Today, it would be multiple towns.  He was born in 1876 and lived his entire life in an area known as “Metropolitan” which was situated between Fresh Pond Road and Flushing Avenues on both sides of Metropolitan Avenue. (The area is now evenly split between Maspeth and Ridgewood.)  His family owned a general store at the corner of Forest and Metropolitan Avenues.

Ringe had worked as a clerk in the Queens Tax Office until 1906 when he became secretary to Queens Borough President Joseph Bermel, who resided in Middle Village. He also was Chief Clerk of the Highways Department. In 1908, he formed a real estate and insurance brokerage, in which he later partnered with his son, Herman Jr. Their office was located at 58-02 Metropolitan Avenue near the corner of Forest Avenue and next to the family store. Decades later, a brick office building was built at the corner to house the real estate office and it sported an iconic clock that many area residents remember fondly.

​In his youth, Ringe had joined the Newtown Fire Department, the volunteer force that predated the FDNY in our area. He worked out of the Metropolitan NFD #12 house, which was located just east of Forest Avenue, around the corner from where he lived and down the block from the family store.  By the time the FDNY took over in 1913, Ringe had attained the rank of chief. At a reunion in 1948 that was covered by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, he recalled an incident that occurred in 1902:

• "It was the custom, before we had our own horses, to have horses come in from neighboring stables and draw the apparatus at a fixed fee," he recalled. "The drop harness was always in position so that when the horses were brought in they went immediately to their places.  The harness was made in only one way – large. But on this occasion one of the team was what we called at that time a carriage horse. I was the driver, and as we sped up Forest Avenue atop the old steam pumper, I turned to the chief and told him that the harness would not stay put. The chief gave one command, and I had to crawl out upon the wagon pole, even though the horses were galloping at top speed, and hold the harness into position until we reached the fire. It was certainly a wonderful sight to see a team of powerful horses gallop down our street, drawing the apparatus." He shook his head sadly. "When the paid department took over and motorized equipment was installed, it took away that glamour." 

Herman Sr. became consolidator of the Ridgewood Savings Bank and in 1944 was elected its president.  He also was vice president of the Wyckoff Heights Hospital, director of both the Queens and Ridgewood Chambers of Commerce, and a trustee of Lutheran Cemetery and the Queensboro Elks.

Ringe Sr. was past president of the Ridgewood-Metropolitan Civic Association and a member of the Queens Planning Commission when he was asked to speak at the grand opening of Eliot Avenue in February 1939. The December 2000 Juniper Berry remembered the event as follows, “He spoke of the improvement as a ‘dream of twenty-five years come true.’ He cited the fact that he and other property owners in the vicinity had been assessed for the thoroughfare fifteen or more years ago. Alluding to the thoroughfare as a direct connecting link to the World's Fair, Mr. Ringe declared that the opening of Eliot Avenue represented one of the outstanding improvements in the history of the community.”

In 1946, Ringe suffered a great personal tragedy when his son and business partner, Herman Jr., passed away.  Almost immediately after that, the City of New York came after his property. The house in which he had lived his entire life, located at 62-35 Forest Avenue, was under threat of condemnation in order to allow the extension of Greene Avenue through to Metropolitan Avenue.  Ringe was at a hearing at Lost Battalion Hall in 1948 preparing to defend his home when he suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 72.  More than 400 people attended his funeral at the Old First Presbyterian Church on 60th Place near Metropolitan Avenue.

Greene Avenue was never cut through Herman Ringe’s property although it remains marked on official zoning maps.  A Walgreens now occupies the site of Ringe’s home and its parking lot replaced his office.

​Before his death, the “Herman Ringe Bridge” was dedicated in his honor.  It is located on 60th Street in Maspeth over the LIRR tracks. Sadly, the official name appears only on city planning maps and not on the bridge itself.

The rear-room of a two-room shanty in the gypsy camp are where Maspeth Romanies from all over the Metropolitan area are gathering to have a last look at one of the leaders of their race. Steven Georgovitch, wealthy and wise by the standards of the Romany, died suddenly of heart failure Thursday morning. By 6 o'clock last night the word had spread far and wide and the members of the Georgovitch clan, which are many, were hurrying by train and automobile to pay their respects to the old man.
 
The low ceilings, un-papered rear room presented an unusual scene last night, a section of the gray rear wall was blotted out by the green of many potted palms, and before this was placed on silvered stands a great oaken casket, beautifully and expensively lined with soft white silk.
 
Within this casket, as fine as any ever used by their supposedly more prosperous "gajos" neighbors, lay the white haired, white mustached leader, attired in a suit of fine grayish material. At head and foot burned candles in great silver candlesticks, while from the center of the room hung an old fashioned oil lamp.
 
A constantly changing crowd filled the room. There were old men in shabby suits and young men in the latest cut styles of the gajos, old and middle-aged women in the flowing, many colored dresses and blouses characteristic of their race for ages, and young girls in the latest creations of Sixth Avenue modistes.
 
The members of the family were easily distinguished by the fact that they were seated and either crying or calling out loud their grief. The others stood by quiet, gazing for a while, then leaving with brief comments to the bereaved.
 
Outside there is talk of the funeral. It will be Sunday, in a church in Brooklyn. And the talk is of the band that is to be hired. A great band, as befits a great man. The band will play "all the way to the church in all the way back again to the cemetery and Maspeth."
 
Meanwhile the camp is in mourning and between now and Sunday will take place a peculiar mixture of century old customs and modern American ideas, for the Romany in America does not forget his forefathers' customs nor does he reject the ways of those about him. – Brooklyn Daily Eagle December 8, 1928