Contact: Colleen Roche or Dwight Williams (212) 788-2958
The next bill before me, Introductory Number 901, sponsored by Council Members Povman, Foster, Koslowitz, O'Donovan and Abel, would add through the posting of an additional sign, the name "Reverend James S. Wright Street," to 162nd Street between Highland Avenue and Hillside Avenue, Queens.
Reverend James S. Wright was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1935. He graduated from Carson Newman College in 1959, and went on to receive a Master of Divinity degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1962. Shortly thereafter, he came to the New York City metropolitan area and in 1967, started to work at Highland Church in Jamaica, Queens, then a small Southern Baptist mission of fewer than 100 members.
By 1983, under Reverend Wright's leadership, membership of the church had grown so much that a series of construction projects were undertaken to accommodate the increasing numbers. Eventually, Highland Church would become an inter-denominational congregation of 3,000 people, which over the course of time, served people of all races, classes, ethnic backgrounds and different Christian denominations. The Church's outreach programs, continue to touch the lives of many in Queens County.
Reverend James S. Wright died in 1992, at the age of 57, to the great sorrow of the Church and those who know him. He is survived by his wife, Masako and children Jamie, Russell, Noriko and Sachiko.
Therefore, on the basis of his lifetime commitment to the betterment of his community, it is fitting that 162nd Street between Highland Avenue and Hillside Avenue be named "Reverend James S. Wright Street."
I will now turn to the bill's sponsors; next to any other elected official wish to speak.
There being no one else to be heard, and for the reasons previously stated, I will now sign the bill.