Elected officials, Filipino community celebrate co-naming of Woodside street in honor of Dr. José Rizal

A host of elected officials joined representatives from New York’s Filipino community in Woodside on Dec. 12 to celebrate the co-naming of a section of Woodside Avenue as the “Dr. José P. Rizal Way,” honoring the legacy of a Filipino national hero whose work helped inspire Filipino independence from Spain.

Rizal, born in Calamba in the Philippines in 1861, became a prolific writer whose work during the Filipino Propaganda Movement, which advocated for political reforms under Spanish colonial rule.