Walter McCaffrey Campus (PS 343)
Dec. 19, 2014 By Michael Florio
The new elementary school on 42nd Street in Sunnyside has been renamed The Walter McCaffrey Campus.
McCaffrey, who was born and raised in Woodside, represented the 26th Council district—that Jimmy Van Bramer represents today–between 1985 and 2001.
McCaffrey died July 10, 2013, at the age of 64 as a result of ongoing health issues made worse by a car accident two months prior to his death.
This morning former Community Board 2 chair Joe Conley and Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer went to PS 343 (45-45 42nd Street) to formally change the name of the new school and unveil a plaque in the late councilman’s honor.
“We have lost a champion and a good friend,” said Conley, shortly after McCaffrey’s death last year. “His wit, humor and intelligence were unmatched,” he said, adding that “he was still very involved in the community right up to the end.”
Meanwhile, Van Bramer referred to McCaffrey as a “political giant.”
Prior to being elected in 1985, McCaffrey served as chairman of Community Board 2.
In May, the corner of 61st and Woodside Avenue in Queens, New York, was renamed “Walter McCaffrey Place” in his honor.
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13 Comments
I would really like to hear JVB comments on yesterday’s cop shootings.
Give me a break Walter a fool as is cop hating jimmy
can i get my name on a mailbox? ill take the one outside 7-11 @ 43rd and Q blvd. Thanks
Sympathies to the NYPD. The real heroes in our city not the crimminals. Thanks DeBlasio for backing the criminals. That’s what you get!
Walter Mc Caffrey was a Brillant man, A true giant of this Community.
Well done to all involved in this project and for giving Walter deserved respect.
No argument there. He certainly was gigantic.
i will say it again…. george washington refused more than 8 years in office because he didnt want to be another “king”, these career pols today got some freakin nerve hangin on so long.
politicians are so damn full of themselves, once again tossing themselves in when something needs a name. Meaningless, like calling it the ed koch queensborogh bridge.
i will call it ps 343, like 99.5% of Sunnyside will.
why wasn’t it named after Luke Adams or Pat Dorfman?
What was it named before? It just opened in Septemver and this was the ribbon cutting ceremony. If I’m not mistaken, the school BUILDING, not the school, was NAMED, not renamed. The campus houses the new P.S. 343Q The Children’s Lab School and overflow from P.S. 199Q.
politicians love putting themselves on pedastals. They believe they make the world revolve. A worker died curing construction, Id rather see this man or a hero soldier honored than a career politician who means absolutely nothing to me. The name MacCaffrey resonates absolutely nothing in me.
Hey kinda like the ed koch queensborough bridge….
Excellent idea.
Name the school after the man who gave his life building it instead of some politician who already had a street co-named after him.
I heard the library will be named after Walter White and the post office after Frank Underwood.
It’s our school, we should decide how it is named. Why not name it something like Brilliant Minds campus or something like that instead of picking random names off the bag. Why not name it James Caan campus, he is from Sunnyside, isn’t he? It’s so crazy that we keep using politician names who are going to be nobodies to next generations, instead of using actual famous people. Maybe even invite James Caan for ribbon cutting ceremony?