Photo: QueensPost
July 29, 2013 By Christian Murray
A Woodside street took on a new name on Saturday when it was co-named after Lou Rispoli, the Woodside resident who was murdered on a Sunnyside street last October.
Rispoli’s family and friends gathered at 51st Street (43rd Ave.), where the honoree had lived for 30 years, to celebrate the new street name: Lou Rispoli Way.
“Lou meant so much to the people of 51st Street as well as Woodside,” said Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who was tearing up while speaking at the event. “Lou would sit in [John Downing Square] park and smoke a cigarette and have conversations with people in the neighborhood,” Van Bramer said.
“He was important to this block and we won’t forget him,” Van Bramer said. “While we all know that there has not been an arrest in this case, one of the things this shows is that we will never stop fighting for justice.”
Danyal Lawson, who was Rispoli’s husband, described the occasion as “bitter sweet.”
“Such happiness but such sadness,” Lawson said. “I am really moved that Lou is being honored in this way, and grateful to the people who supported it.”
Rispoli was the president of his coop board and was also active in Woodside beautification projects. He was also known for feeding and caring for AIDs victims in the 1980s, at a time when society was afraid to go near AIDs patients. He also helped mentor aspiring musicians throughout the city.
But the focus of the occasion was on Rispoli’s “free spirit” and how he was well known in the his section of Woodside and Sunnyside—whether it was by restaurant owners, waitresses, bakers, florists or other store owners.
