ASTORIA — A local street is to be renamed after Demetris Kastanas, the late founder of the country's first Greek cable station that still operates a studio in the neighborhood.
The intersection of Steinway Street and 31st Avenue will be called Demetris Kastanas Way, according to a bill passed by the City Council Friday — the same block where the offices of Kastanas' National Greek Television (now called New Greek TV) are located.
"Demetris Kastanas helped promote Hellenism and Democratic values throughout his life," City Councilman Costa Constantinides, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. "He became a great example of civic engagement to his Greek-American community."
Kastanas emigrated from Greece to the United States in 1968, and started National Greek Television as a weekly show in 1975, according to a 2005 speech by Rep. Carolyn Maloney honoring Kastanas for his contributions to the community.
He launched his cable station on Time Warner in 1987 — the first in the country geared for Greek-Americans, Maloney said. New Greek TV currently airs on Time Warner and RCN, according to its website.
"As the founder of the Greek television channel, he created an opportunity for the Greek-American community, many of whom were not native English speakers, to directly engage with news and current events," Constantinides said.
Kastanas died in 2013, less than year after selling the station, according to an obituary in the Greek Reporter. He was 70 years old.
