Every so often, local streets are named after persons of note, but few have a record to match Sol Soskin, now the namesake of the street in front of the 111th Precinct headquarters in Bayside.
Soskin began his service in the Army in 1941, made landings in Italy; on D-Day, helped liberate a concentration camp in Salzburg, Austria and survived the war after being twice wounded in combat.
In peacetime, he worked 15 years in the aerospace industry on Long Island and directed an office that helped local businesses qualify for government programs and contracts – working full-time until shortly before his death in August, 2008, at the age of 90.
A Little Neck resident since 1953, Soskin also volunteered his time as a 35-year member of Community Board 11 and a member of the 111th Precinct Community Council for 50 years – being elected Council president 20 times.
On Tuesday, May 4, a crowd of nearly 50 friends, including former First Deputy Police Commissioner, now Criminal Court Judge George Grasso; three current or former city councilmembers; Soskin’s Precinct Council successor Jack Fried and Soskin’s children Scott and Ayna, unveiled “Sol Soskin Way,” at 215th Street and Northern Boulevard.
“In all my years, I have never seen a renaming more richly deserved, or more appropriately located as this one,” Grasso said, a sentiment echoed several times.
“He was a quiet kind of man,” said Scott. “Anyone he met, he touched.”
As sometimes happens at unveilings, there was a hitch – trouble getting the sign’s cover to come off. As police strove to remedy the problem, someone speculated out loud, “The way Sol was, maybe he doesn’t want all the attention.”
Old friends exchanged knowing glances and nodded in agreement.
