Tom Seaver & Sophia Farrar RIP

We lost two important but very different NYC icons this week. They were people who did good and did right by their city -- and both were closely identified with Queens.

Tom Seaver was a legendary baseball player who, within three years of its creation, led the Mets to its first World Series victory in 1969 (along with Joe Namath leading the Jets to a Super Bowl victory that same year, it was a great time for NYC sports). Dubbed the "Miracle Mets" during his time with the team in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Seaver not only won a World Series but was also one of the best pitchers the game has ever seen, striking out batters at an amazing rate -- over 3600 strike outs in his career, placing him 6th on the all-time list. He played for other teams later in his career but his time with the Mets has gone into the history books. He has died at the age of 75.

Sophia Ferrar was a very regular person who found herself thrust into history in a very unwanted way. On the night of March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese was murdered into Forest Hills, one of the most notorious murders in NYC history. Allegedly her screams were heard and ignored by roughly 38 people -- although this has been hotly disputed over time. But what isn't in dispute is that Sophia, on that night, heard Kitty's screams in the middle of the night, got dressed, ran through alleyways to find her, then held and comforted Kitty in her final moments until the ambulance came. Sophia was a hero. She was a good samaritan. She was a great New Yorker. She has passed away at 92.