Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Thursday, December 4, 2001
Release # 384-01

Contact: Matthew Higgins / Sid Dinsay (212) 788-2958


MAYOR GIULIANI SIGNS BILL RENAMING PARK IN QUEENS "PETER CHAHALES PARK"

Remarks by Mayor Giuliani at a Public Hearing on Local Laws

The next bill before me is Introductory Number 957, sponsored by Speaker Vallone and six of his colleagues. The bill would add the name "Peter Chahales Park" to a triangular park bounded by 69th Street, 58th Avenue and the Long Island Expressway in Queens.

Peter Chahales was born in 1922 on the East Side of Manhattan. Peter was a onetime comic, dancer and emcee in Vaudeville. During World War II, Peter served as a theatrical producer for the Army's Special Services Division in the Panama Canal Zone.

In 1955, after managing several restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn, Peter opened the Spartan Restaurant on Grand Avenue in Maspeth, Queens. Over the years, Peter became known as the "Mayor of Maspeth." Not only did he run one of the neighborhood's great eateries, he was also a longtime member of the Maspeth Post of the American Legion, President of the Maspeth Chamber of Commerce and a member of Queens Community Board No. 2.

Unfortunately, Peter Chahales passed away on April 29, 1994.

Therefore, in recognition of his service to his community, it is fitting that the triangular park bounded by 69th Street, 58th Avenue and the Long Island Expressway be named "Peter Chahales Park."

For the reasons previously stated, I will now sign the bill.



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