Jackson Heights School Named After Union Leader Héctor Figueroa

JACKSON HEIGHTS, QUEENS — The city has renamed a Jackson Heights elementary school after the late union leader Héctor Figueroa, a longtime labor activist from the neighborhood who died earlier this year.

P.S. 398, which became Queens' newest school when it opened in September, will be known as the Héctor Figueroa School, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in a ceremony Tuesday.

"Héctor Figueroa was the embodiment of the fight for fairness and justice," de Blasio said. "Now, children from this school will see his name daily and learn how to take action for what is right."

Figueroa spent seven years as president of the 32BJ Service Employees International Union, which represents property service workers such as cleaners, doormen, security officers and school and food service workers.

He died of a heart attack on July 11. He was 57.

"This school community could not have made a more perfect choice to name their school after a Jackson Heights leader who was so dedicated to equity in our schools and our workplaces," Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza said. "As our students learn about the world they’ll also learn that everyone’s voice deserves to be heard, just like Héctor believed deeply."

Honored to be joined by @NYCMayor and 32BJ members to remember the legacy of Héctor Figueroa by renaming PS Q398 the Héctor Figueroa School — an honor chosen by the students of the school. #HectorPresente pic.twitter.com/lAXmzsf6KF
— 32BJ SEIU (@32BJSEIU) December 10, 2019

Figueroa was born in Puerto Rico and spent two decades with 32BJ. Under his tenure as the union's president, starting in 2012, its ranks grew by 50,000 people through organizing campaigns and a merger with another union, according to his biography on the 32BJ website.

His union was among those supporting Amazon's bid to bring a massive campus to Long Island City, before the company dropped those plans in February.

Noah Manskar contributed reporting.