Clearing the way to honor the late state Senator Leonard Price Stavisky for his long, distinguished career in public service, the United States Senate gave final passage last week to legislation naming the Mitchell–Linden Post Office in Flushing in his memory.

The bill, sponsored by U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, is now awaiting President George W. Bush’s signature.

It had previously passed in the House where it had been sponsored by Queens Congressmembers Gary Ackerman and Joseph Crowley.

Stavisky passed away in 1999, ending a 35-year career as a Flushing legislator which started in 1966 in the Assembly and ended in the state senate. He was succeeded by his wife, Toby Ann.

Schumer and Clinton hailed the late lawmaker as a champion of education, recognizing his service as chairman of the Assembly Education Committee. During the period when he chaired this panel, he shepherded landmark legislation through both houses which established that a fixed percentage of the budget must be allotted to New York City’s education establishment each year.

Following passage of the bill in the Senate, Schumer, who served in the Assembly alongside Stavisky, stated: “Dr. Stavisky dedicated his life to serving the people of Queens and promoting education as the great equalizer that can level the playing field for every New Yorker, regardless of class, race or gender. The memory of state Senator Stavisky will be preserved through his neighborhood Post Office and will serve as inspiration to generations of educators and public servants alike.”

Clinton stated, “This is a wonderful development and puts us well on the way to renaming the Flushing Post Office after Dr. Leonard Price Stavisky. This was the right thing for the Senate to do and the fact that they approved it unanimously is even more of a tribute to the legacy of Dr. Stavisky. The Post Office renaming will be a fitting honor for a man who served his community so passionately and I am very pleased that we will now be able to achieve this important goal.”

The present Senator Stavisky commented, “Leonard was nationally recognized as an expert on educational issues and as someone who published extensively as a scholar in Black history, but it was his role as a legislator that he relished. Nothing was more important to him than his constituents and that’s why naming the Mitchell–Linden Post Office after Leonard is so appropriate.”

Stavisky said their children, Evan and Kristen, joined in thanking all the lawmakers involved for bestowing such an honor on their father.

Besides his long legislative career, Stavisky taught history and political science from 1945 to 1979 and worked as an administrator at Colgate University, Long Island University, the State University of New York and the City University of New York.

He was a graduate of the City University of New York. He received master’s and doctorate degrees in political science from Columbia University.