Amidst the alcoholics, drug addicts and homeless that gather in the evening hours at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Woodbine, there is a memorial to a fallen New York City Police Officer. Of course, all one would have to do is look up to see it. Though, rarely does anyone look up in this part of Queens. Detective Anthony Venditti was killed right here at this exact location in 1986. The clock and plaque were established in the square to honor his memory and his sacrifice for the people of Queens. The base of the clock has been sprayed in graffiti. Trash has collected near the plaque. No one seems to care and I was shocked to see how majestic this area once had been in the past. In the golden years of New York City, this area was comprised of beautiful buildings. Marble enhanced theaters held chandeliers of enormous proportions. The Italian immigrants who once called this part of New York home kept the location beautiful and clean. Now, it seems to have fallen victim to the same trap that other parts of New York have – those parts where the tourists don’t venture, where the city can forego the act and be what it really is – derelict, in disrepair, filthy and selfish. Now, every other business is vacant. Gang related barbershops are fronts for drug dealing. Dollar stores on every corner where the owners put in 18 hour days just to scratch a living. Cars with 20 inch rims with base pumping speed by and throw their trash out the window. No one cares. And I think if people could choose where they died, Detective Anthony J. Venditti surely would not have chosen this place.