Community Gathers in Kew Gardens to Honor a Beloved Educator, Civic Leader, and Proud Zionist.
On a crisp autumn morning in Kew Gardens – Sunday, October 19 – neighbors, friends, rabbanim, and community leaders gathered to honor the life and legacy of Janice “Jan” Fenster a”h with the official unveiling of Jan Fenster Way, now permanently affixed to the corner of 116th Street and Mayfair Road. The co-naming, sponsored by Council Member Lynn Schulman, paid tribute to a woman whose unwavering presence and leadership helped shape both the civic and Jewish fabric of Queens for decades.
In her personal remarks, Schulman shared, “The date for today’s street co-naming was set a few weeks ago, and it is very much worth mentioning that this event is occurring the same week that the hostages in Israel were released by the Hamas terrorists. Jan was a Zionist, and it was apropos for these two occasions to overlap. Jan was a fixture in both the Jewish community and the neighborhood in which she lived and served on the community board. Now, 116th Street and Mayfair Road will from here on be known as Jan Fenster Way.”
The ceremony drew a broad and heartfelt showing from all corners of the community. Among those in attendance were Congress Member Grace Meng, Assembly Member David Weprin, and Sherry Algredo, chair of Community Board 9. Representing the borough’s rabbinic and communal leadership were Rabbi Aryeh Sokoloff, Rabbi Emeritus of Kew Gardens Synagogue; Rabbi Ephraim Tanenbaum, the synagogue’s current rabbi; Rabbi Mayer Waxman, Executive Director of Queens Jewish Community Council; Rabbi Daniel Pollack; Rabbi Avrohom Hecht, Executive Director of Project Lead; Rabbi Yaniv Meirov, CEO of Chazaq; and Aaron Cyperstein, co-president of Khal Adas Yereim. Longtime friends of Jan, including Chavi Baron and Dr. Paul Brody, stood proudly as the sign was unveiled, their presence underscoring how Jan’s leadership was built on genuine personal relationships as much as public service. The event was carried out smoothly with the valued assistance of Queens Shmira and the 102nd Precinct of the NYPD, who provided security and traffic coordination, ensuring a dignified and seamless ceremony.
Jan was born on March 31, 1945, and raised in the Bronx, where she attended a Hebrew girls’ school at the Mosholu Jewish Center. She earned a BS degree in psychology from Queens College and an MSEd in Early Childhood Education, launching a lifelong career in the New York City public school system. Specializing in early childhood and special education, and later serving as a resource-room teacher, she was known for her warmth, patience, and tireless dedication to her students. Education was not merely her career; it was her mission and her way of nurturing the next generation.
Her influence extended far beyond the classroom. Jan spent 19 years on Community Board 9, where her steady and trusted voice made her a respected fixture in local governance. Within the Queens Jewish Community Council, she held multiple leadership positions – president, executive vice president, vice president, and treasurer – helping to strengthen relationships between government and the Jewish community. She also served as vice president of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Teachers, advocating for educators throughout the city. Her dedication to Jewish memory and identity brought her to the advisory board of the Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center & Archives at Queensborough Community College, as well as the vice presidency of the Queens Jewish Historical Society.
Jan’s communal involvement was both broad and deeply personal. She was a devoted member of the Ladies Auxiliary of Congregation Adath Yeshurun of Kew Gardens and actively participated in the Queens College Black–Jewish People-to-People Project, the JCRC Jewish Heritage Week Advisory Committee, and borough-wide Purim celebrations. She was known for her reliability and quiet strength – showing up not only for high-profile events but for the everyday work that keeps a community strong.
Her identity as a proud Zionist was inseparable from her work. She stood firmly against anti-Semitism, championed Jewish visibility in civic spaces, and lived her values with dignity. That this ceremony took place in the same week as the release of Israeli hostages gave the moment a layer of poignancy that reflected her unwavering love for Eretz Yisrael and klal Yisrael.
Jan Fenster passed away on February 19, 2023, at the age of 77, and was laid to rest the next day at New Montefiore Cemetery. Her loss was deeply felt across the borough. Soon afterward, the New York City Council approved the legislation to co-name 116th Street and Mayfair Road in her honor. Her name is now permanently recorded in the NYC City Record and Urban Archive’s Queens Name Explorer, ensuring her story will endure long after this generation. In a meaningful final tribute, a replica of the new street sign will be presented to Jan’s siblings, creating a lasting keepsake of the honor bestowed upon their beloved sister.
As the new sign was unveiled, the street grew quiet. What might have been a simple civic gesture became something deeper: a communal embrace of a woman whose dedication touched countless lives. Jan Fenster gave herself fully to education, Jewish communal leadership, Holocaust remembrance, civic engagement, and Jewish pride. Now, Jan Fenster Way stands as a daily reminder that one person’s steadfast devotion can shape a neighborhood, strengthen a people, and inspire generations to come.
