By Jeremiah Dobruck South & West Forum
The name of a Maspeth native and police detective who responded to the tragedy on 9/11 now graces an intersection near his former home.
On Sunday, city officials hung an extra street sign on the southeast corner of 60th Street and 59th Road in Maspeth. It bore the name Detective Kevin Czartoryski Place.
Czartoryski suffered from pulmonary fibrosis that he contracted while working at Ground Zero where he searched for remains and staffed the makeshift morgue.
At 46 years old, he died on December 5, 2010.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn all attended the co-naming ceremony last week.
Czartoryski was the youngest of six children in a Maspeth family. He studied at St. John’s University where he joined the NYPD cadet program.
He officially became part of the police force when he joined the NYPD in 1988. He worked in Queens, then in the Narcotics Division and then in the Hate Crimes Task Force.
After 9/11, Czartoryski worked in the public information office as the commissioner’s liaison to the LGBT community. He became known for building relationships between the NYPD and gay community.
At the time of Czartoryski’s passing, Kelly praised him and his work.
“He was a consummate professional and a cheerful bridge for understanding, who will be missed terribly,” Kelly said.
