Once I saw this photo shared by an online contact, Professor Wang Ping, I became transfixed by the subject and foreground across Queens Blvd showing the iconic Elmhurst Macy’s building (now the Queens Place Mall). I contacted Ms. Ping about the photo. She was pleased with my reaction, initially a little vague about the location due to the passage of time. I shared the photo on two Elmhurst social media pages where it garnered over 250 likes and comments waxing nostalgic about Macy’s, the Mary Sendek saga, the style, fashion, and hairstyle, which evoked the 80’s, and her gaze and posture which imbued a strength of purpose. One person even inquired if the same hydrant was at the location.

I also shared the photo with a class of ESL learners who viewed Ms. Ping’s ascent as a success story. I asked Ms. Ping if she could perhaps write something reflecting her experience with Macy’s or the Elmhurst area, to which she graciously agreed.

James McMenamin is Vice President of both the Elmhurst History and Cemeteries Preservation Society and the Newtown Civic Association.