Official sign erected to welcome visitors to Richmond Hill

By North American Correspondent

Although the community of Richmond Hill in Queens, New York is known to be in existence over for 200 years, there is no official sign identifying the community. However, this has since changed as a beautiful sign now welcomes people at the entrance of the community. This sign has been put up at the initiative of a few Guyanese who began moving in to the area during the early 1980s when White Americans had started migrating to other parts of the country.

The sign was mounted on Liberty Avenue at 133 street, at the Triangle next to the Sybil’s Bakery and the spot well known as Cheddi Jagan Square. This is the area where community leaders congregate for the start of the Phagwah Parade and Diwali Motorcade and other rallies. A group of Guyanese business owners and civic leader unveiled the sign welcoming people from the Jamaica side or the Van Wyck Expressway into Richmond Hill directly onto Liberty Avenue or 103rd Ave.

Liberty Avenue boasts countless number of Guyanese and other West Indian and South Asian stores, restaurants, bars, hair salons and other businesses.

The idea of a sign was the brainchild of businessman Romeo Hitlall – a real estate developer formerly of Corentyne, Berbice. Hitlalll, a member of Community Board 10 which oversees construction for the area, said he used to see a lot of garbage on certain parts of Liberty Avenue and wanted people to be environmentally conscious and to be proud of their neighborhoods.

He encouraged a cleanup campaign and came up with the idea of a sign for and to beautify the Richmond Hill community. He worked with State Senator Joe Addabboo to implement the initiative.

Richmond Hill is one of the busiest business districts in New York City. The community was one of the most neglected and run down areas in the U.S. up until the 1970s. It was a potato farming area until it became a residential area over a century ago. It was historically segregated with ethnic communities and later became home to new set of immigrants. For example, Guyanese and Trinis started moving into the area during the 1980s buying homes from Italians, Irish and Germans.

Senator Addabboo, himself the grandson of Italian immigrants and son of a former Congressman for the area, said he worked with Hitlall and the Parks Department to put up the sign. Addabboo said he hopes the sign gives people a sense of pride about the neighbourhood. He noted that the area has a rich history as the site of one of the bloodiest fights in the American Revolution against the British.

He reminded people that the Battle for Long Island was fought in Richmond Hill and it was also home to a long list of famous people such as actress Mae West, Beat author Jack Korucac, and acclaimed journalist Jacob Riis. “There is so much pride and history of the area that should be recognized”, said Addabboo.

Shanie Persaud, a journalist and Executive Director of the Guyanese and American Business Professional Council noted that the sign is emblematic of a very vibrant busy place. Persaud said: “It gives us an identity.