Stephen Frosch, a Department of Sanitation worker assigned to the Maspeth garage, died June 21, 2014 while making an adjustment to a street sweeper. The driver of another sweeper vehicle accidentally struck and killed him at the garage. Frosch had grown up in Middle Village and was a married father of 4 children. He started working at the DSNY in 1999 but previously had worked for both the NYPD and FDNY. Last November 19th the Queens West 5 garage was renamed for Frosch and on May 3rd, the street where Frosch grew up, 67th Drive between 78th and 79th Streets, was renamed “Stephen Frosch Way” in his honor.
A local resident noticed recently that trash had been accumulating along the outer lane of the Long Island Expressway between Woodhaven Boulevard & Maurice Avenue like never before, and when she inquired as to why, she was told that Stephen Frosch had been the one keeping it clean and it hadn’t been swept since his passing. Street sweepers generally don’t clean highways, but Frosch did it every day on the way back to his HQ after making his rounds. It wasn’t required of him as part of his assignment, but it was a wonderful gesture on his part to make sure the road through our towns was kept clean. The 43-year old Frosch made a positive impact on Maspeth & Middle Village during his short life and is missed. For more information about Stephen Frosch and how you can honor his memory, visit www.thefroschfoundation.org.