Vallone Co-names Street In Memory of Late Bayside High School Coach   Unveils Street Co-naming of 204th Street & 32nd Avenue as Coach Stephen Piorkowski Way

Bayside, Queens – Council Member Paul A. Vallone hosted a street co-naming ceremony on Friday, October 7th in honor of Stephen Piorkowski, a beloved Bayside High School softball coach who lost his life to cancer early last year. Piorkowski, affectionately known by students and colleagues as Coach P, was a physical education teacher at Bayside High School since 1991. He turned the Bayside High School Lady Commodores into a city dynasty for softball and a powerhouse for girls’ basketball.

Joined by Piorkowski’s wife, Susan Hayes, and daughter, Katherine Piorkowski, Congresswoman Grace Meng, Assemblyman Edward Braunstein and Bayside High School Principal Michael Athy, Council Member Vallone unveiled 204th Street at 32nd Avenue as Coach Stephen Piorkowski Way. “Today we stand with the Piorkowski Family and the Bayside High School community as we honor and celebrate the life of a father, a friend, a coach, a leader who had a tremendous impact on everyone he had ever known,” Council Member Vallone said. “The enormous presence of loved ones, family members, students, colleagues, elected officials and civic leaders is a true testament to the incredible person Coach P was. His memory lives on as we stand on the corner of 204th Street and 32nd Avenue, right across the street from the fields where Coach P spent most of his days doing what he loved.”

“My daughter Katherine and I are extremely touched and amazed by the outpouring of love, respect and recognition that has been bestowed on my husband Stephen. To know that he will be memorialized with his name overlooking the Bayside H.S. Athletic Field is truly rewarding. He loved life and lived each day with the goal to make a difference in the lives of his students, athletes and his daughter. We are so very proud and grateful to here today,” Susan Hayes, wife of Stephen Piorkowski, said.

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