By Betsy Scheinbart
The Southern Queens Park Association honored Borough President Claire Shulman at a ceremonial ground-breaking of the African American Hall of Fame at Roy Wilkins Park Tuesday.
Solomon Goodrich, president of the park association, made a presentation to Shulman, and Assistant Parks Commissioner Ed Lewis gave the borough president a bouquet of roses.
Although the official ground-breaking is a year away, the organizers of the Hall of Fame said they wanted to honor Shulman before she left office at the end of the year.
Shulman was unable to run for borough president again because of term limits. During her tenure as the “Queen of Queens,” Shulman secured $10 million of the $20 million needed to build the hall near at Roy Wilkins Park.
Several people, including former Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton, have already been inducted into the African American Hall of Fame and plaques commemorating their induction are temporarily being housed at the Family Center in Roy Wilkins Park.
Southern Queens Park Association Chairman Paul Gibson presided over Tuesday’s ceremony, where Sutton was among the speakers.
