The New York street where veteran Greek-American police officer Anastasios Tsakos spent his childhood was renamed in his honor on Monday, April 27, 2026—five years to the day after he was struck and killed by an intoxicated driver while on duty on the Long Island Expressway.
The intersection of 42nd Street and 23rd Avenue in Astoria, Queens, is now officially designated as “Detective Anastasios Tsakos Way.”
“This is where Tasos lived when he was a teenager. This is where he lived when we first met, and where we spent our first year of marriage,” said his widow, Irene Tsakos, during a poignant ceremony.
“Every person who drives or walks on these sidewalks will see his name and know that a dedicated officer, a devoted husband, and a loving father once called this place home. It is proof that a good man left this world better than he found it.”
Anastasios Tsakos was responding to a car accident
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch also spoke at the dedication, noting, “The grief will never heal, regardless of how many streets we name, how many plaques we hang, or how many helicopters we dedicate.”
Tsakos, a father of two with 14 years of service in the NYPD and a member of the elite Highway Patrol Unit 3, was responding to a car accident on the Long Island Expressway in Fresh Meadows at approximately 2:00 a.m. on April 27, 2021, when he was struck by a speeding vehicle.
The driver, Jessica Beauvais, was intoxicated and driving without a valid license at the time of the collision. She was subsequently arrested and faced charges of aggravated manslaughter, driving with a suspended license, and driving under the influence.
She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County.
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