Community Champions of Hollis
The neighbors who served — organizers, advocates, educators, public servants, and everyday leaders whose quiet, steady work helped keep Hollis strong.
The everyday heroes of Hollis. These are the people who organized, advocated, taught, protected, connected, and carried the community forward — often without the public recognition they deserved.
Yvonne Reddick
Yvonne Reddick served as district manager of Queens Community Board 12 for more than four decades — one of the most enduring and effective public servants connected to Hollis and Southeast Queens. In 2002 she received a distinguished community service award captured on HollisNY for securing a major state-of-the-art upgrade to water wells that served the community. Her work represents the kind of long, often difficult civic labor that holds a neighborhood together: listening to residents, navigating city agencies, responding to local needs, and fighting for basic quality-of-life improvements year after year.
- District manager, Queens Community Board 12, for more than 40 years
- 2002 Distinguished Community Service Award for securing major water infrastructure upgrade
- Recognized as one of Hollis’s most consistent civic voices
Donald Richard Daly was a community activist, history teacher, Korean War veteran, botanist, and landscaper who — feeling that Hollis was overlooked and underserved by the press — created HollisNY and Hollis New York, websites that became among the most widely quoted sources about the neighborhood. He passed away in 2001, but his digital archive lives on through the continued support of Dr. Michael Kurtz.
An award-winning dentist who came to live in Hollis as a child in 1959, attended P.S. 35, and has remained an active community champion ever since. He has long supported HollisNY following Donald Daly’s passing and continues to maintain his dental practice at his Hollis home office. A neighbor of the Allens in the civil rights era, Dr. Kurtz represents the generation of Hollis residents who combined professional excellence with deep community commitment.
Elsie St. Louis founded Haitian-Americans United for Progress — an organization that connects people from all backgrounds, immigrants as well as citizens, to the resources they need for a better quality of life. Her work embodies the spirit of Hollis as a community that has welcomed new arrivals and helped them find their footing in American life.
Gladys Warren founded the Hollis Local Development Corporation in 1979, working to fight overdevelopment, combat crime, boost the local economy, and strengthen the Hollis Avenue business district. Her work in local economic development represents the kind of practical, neighborhood-level organizing that preserves the character of a community from the ground up.
A retired teacher and lifelong Hollis resident who has lived across from the Ketcham House since childhood, Sandra Atwell headed the Hollis 11423 block association and worked tirelessly for years to represent the needs of the community. She is one of several neighborhood educators — alongside Mrs. Pulliam and the Shaws — described in HPA’s documentary as “extraordinarily involved in the community, each deserving of their own time and space.”
A devoted Hollis neighbor and educator with deep roots in the community, Mrs. Pulliam was part of a circle of teachers and advocates described in HPA’s documentary record as “extraordinarily involved in the community.” Her own video feature is in production. HPA welcomes additional details about her life and service from anyone who knew her.
The Allens — neighbors of Dr. Michael Kurtz and Donald Daly — played an important role in the civil rights movement from their Hollis Park Gardens home. Coretta Scott King, the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was a frequent visitor to their home in the 1970s, attending garden parties that brought together residents, elected officials, and community leaders. “It was a wonderful party,” Lester Allen said. “Neighbors greeted each other and exchanged information. It was an opportunity to meet and speak with elected officials and community leaders.”
Sharon Chapman followed her calling and created a space on Hollis Avenue where people could fellowship and be supported. Among her programs: during the COVID-19 pandemic she introduced “Bertha” — a community fridge next door to Zanu Simpson’s barbershop — allowing those with surplus food to drop off items and those in need to take what they required, free of charge. Her ministry wove together spiritual life and practical care for the neighborhood around her.
Zanu G. Simpson was a beloved Hollis barber whose shop was a center of community life on Hollis Avenue. Every year at back-to-school time, he and his brother Sam would spend their own money buying books and supplies to give away 100 book bags to neighborhood children. He was described by those who knew him as an unbelievable barber, a great friend, and a man who gave back to the community. Tragically shot at age 32, the corner of 99th Avenue and Hollis Avenue was renamed Zanu G. Simpson Way in his memory.
These public officials have represented Hollis in local, state, and federal government — bringing the neighborhood’s voice to the halls of power.
Hollis resident and Queens Democrat who rose to become Speaker of the New York State Assembly — pushing the first gay rights bill through the chamber and championing education and social services alongside ally Governor Mario Cuomo. His family’s political legacy in Queens continues today.
Raised in Hollis, elected to the Assembly in 2015 representing Laurelton, Rosedale, Hollis, and neighboring communities. Author of New York State’s Juneteenth holiday legislation, now observed statewide. Chair of the Higher Education Committee.
A lifelong Hollis resident who grew up on 194th Street and has spent decades systematically documenting the neighborhood’s history — tracking addresses, and building one of the most detailed living archives of Hollis people and places. He founded and administers the Hollis NY Facebook group, which has become a gathering place for current and former residents to share memories, photographs, and connections. A classmate of Al Sharpton at P.S. 134, a student of Lord Burgess, and a neighbor to figures across every era of Hollis life, Darryl carries firsthand knowledge that no written archive can fully replace.
Tell Us About a Community Champion
Community history is not only made by famous names. It is made by residents who attend meetings, organize neighbors, teach children, serve elders, start groups, advocate for clean streets, protect local places, and refuse to give up on the neighborhood. If you know someone whose service helped Hollis, we invite you to add their name, story, photo, or memory to the conversation.