Athens Square Park Center

Bob Beamon, long jump gold medal winner in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City and a native of Jamaica, Queens, prepares to start the Olympic Torch on the first leg of its 34-mile journey through the five boroughs of New York City from Astoria’s Athens Square Park last Saturday, June 19. The torch will travel by runner relay through 14 other countries until it reaches Athens, Greece to start the 2004 Olympic Games in August. More pictures and related story on page 45.

With bright skies turning Athens Square Park in Astoria into a sunny Greek isle last Saturday morning and hundreds of spectators moving miniature Greek flags, the Olympic relay torch was ignited to start its journey from the city’s largest Greek neighborhood to the real Athens for the launching of the 2004 Summer Olympics this summer.

As musicians and dancers helped to create a holiday scene, 1968 Olympic long jump winner Bob Beamon, originally from Jamaica, ascended the stairs in front of a statue of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare, and lit the torch. He then sprinted off as the first of about 140 torch bearers who would carry the flaming beacon around the five boroughs, ending up in Times Square later that night.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg officiated at the ceremonies in Athens Square Park, which provided a perfect backdrop for the festivities.

Besides the statue of Athena, which is an exact copy of one found in Athens in 1956, the park also features a statue of Socrates, noted Athenian philosopher, and the Columns of Delphi.

According to George Delis, Community Board 1 district manager and a member of the park’s founding group, plans are in the works to install a bust of Aristotle, a philosopher of the Fourth Century B.C.E., in the park.

"It’s going to be a gift from the Museum of Thessalonika, the second largest city in Greece," Delis explained, adding proudly that he was born in the Thessalonian region in the northern part of the country.

"We’re waiting now for the paperwork to be completed and then [the statue] will be shipped here and installed in the park," he said. "It’s an original work."

Delis was part of a group from the Greek American community which formed about 20 years ago under the leadership of Dennis Syntilas, a former official of Atlantic Bank, to create the park.

Syntilas, now retired, had conceived the idea for the cultural center patterned after other, similar facilities throughout Greece. He led the fundraising effort that enabled the group to acquire the statues and other materials.

Syntilas, Delis and most of the other members of the Athens Square committee which developed the park, were in attendance on Saturday.

Also present, among other local community leaders, were Peter Vallone Sr., who was the Astoria representative to the City Council at the time when the park idea emerged, and Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., who succeeded his father in the council.

The elder Vallone played a key role in advancing the ambitious project when Syntilas and the others had decided to pursue it.

The site Syntilas wanted for the park was a school playground at 30th Street and 30th Avenue. Vallone, who was Council Speaker at the time, was able to use his influence at City Hall to acquire the site and get the project rolling.

Syntilas readily agreed in an interview last week, "There would be no Athens Square Park without Peter Vallone’s help."

He recalled that Vallone showed his support for the project immediately when they met at the site to discuss acquiring it.

"Peter, that’s what I want," Syntilas recalled. "Mr. Vallone cracked a smile, took out $100 and gave it to me for the project and said, ‘You can get started on your plans now.’"

Syntilas said he used Vallone’s contribution to open the account for the park project. From that point on, though, Syntilas embarked on a fundraising campaign that brought in about $400,000, all was spent on the project. One of the first contributions came from the Greek American Homeowners Association, an organization he founded and headed as president for many years.

Some $87,000 was collected mostly from Greek Americans, said Syntilas. Another member of the park committee, George Stamatiades, recalled, "Lots of contributions came in in nickels and dimes from school kids."

However, much larger contributions came in from Greek-American business men in $40,000 and $75,000 amounts Syntilas said.

According to Delis, the original Athens Square Park Committee consisted of Syntilas as president, Delis as vice president, Stamatiades treasurer and Irene Matarangas, general secretary. Chris Karastathis and the late Julia Pappas handled public relations. The survivors still make up the committee and it meets from time to time.

Stamatios Lykos did the architectural work, Delis said.

Since the park was established, Delis said, it has become an ethnic center where different nationality groups entertain on an almost nightly basis.

"Italian night is on Wednesdays, Latin night is on Thursday, and Bangladeshi are here on Fridays," Delis said. "We’re trying to set up a Greek night on Tuesdays." During the day, the Central Astoria Local Development Coalition sponsors children’s shows.

Meanwhile, plans are being made to continue the cultural developments by adding to the inventory of statues, Delis said.

"After Aristotle, we’re going to create a space for Sophocles, the playwright and tragedian," Delis said. "This will be a full-scale statue that will cost about $100,000. If we can find someone to contribute that, we’ll dedicate the statue to him or her."

He said that artist Muriel Kastanas had been approved by the New York City Arts Commission to create the statue.

For Syntilas it has all been a work of love. "From the time that I came to this country in 1956, I worked hard all the time, attended night school to try to make a success of myself," Syntilas explained. "But I also wanted to do something to express my love for Hellenic culture, things I had learned from books about philosophers and artists. I thank God I had the energy and the help to build up our park."

Syntilas also expressed his love for Astoria and complimented "all the other groups who live here in harmony and always worked together to make this a fine community."

He continues to have an abiding respect for the elder Vallone who "even now when he sees me he kisses me out of respect, and I will always respect him, too."

The park project also had an impact on Stamatiades, a funeral director by profession but also an ardent community activist who once led the Dutch Kills Civic Association.

"The Athens Square Park project represents for me what our Hellenic forefathers did so many years ago to spread the Hellenic culture, and that’s what we’re doing today," he declared. "This is a gift from all the Greek-Americans and all their friends to New York City. We have now become a cultural center in the most ethnically diverse county in our country."