By Ivan Pereira
Community Board 6 unanimously voted last week to rename the street close to where a Forest Hills orthodontist was shot in cold blood right in front of his little girl.
Representatives from the board said Daniel Malakov’s death at the Annadale Playground was tragic not only because it left his 7-year-old daughter without her father and with her mother in jail for the murder, but also because he was an active member of the community.
Malakov, who was killed Oct. 28, 2007, in a hit plotted by his estranged wife, Mazoltuv Borukhova, after he gained legal custody of the girl, opened his offices up to patients from around the neighborhood, according to the board.
“The essence of renaming a street is for someone who did good in the community,” board member Lynn Schulman said during the May 12 meeting. “It looks like he did a lot for the community and we should honor him in some way.”
The proposal to rechristen 64th Road between 108th Street and Yellowstone Boulevard, where his dental office was located, “Daniel Malakov Way” must get approval from the City Council and the mayor before it becomes a reality.
The dentist, who like his wife was a Bukharian Jewish immigrant from Uzbekistan, was taking Michelle to the playground at the corner of 64th Road and Yellowstone to meet her mother when he was shot twice in the chest at point-blank range by Borukhova’s distant uncle, Mikhail Mallayev.
Borukhova hired Mallayev to come to Queens from his home in suburban Atlanta to kill her husband after he had gained custody of the girl a few weeks earlier.
Both Mallayev and Borukhova were eventually arrested, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Although Malakov’s family did not attend the community board’s vote, they had previously told TimesLedger Newspapers they were honored by the proposal and hope it passes.
“He would have been a good father for his daughter,” Khaika Malakov, the dentist’s father, said.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
