Residents, friends and family gathered Sunday morning to commemorate and immortalize Sal “Ghost” DeFeo, a lifelong Port Washington resident and motorcycle enthusiast, with a street naming.

During a meeting on Sept. 1, DeFeo’s mother’s birthday, the Town of North Hempstead’s Town Board unanimously passed the motion for the street dedication. The corner of Main Street and Madison Avenue in Port Washington, where Ghost Motorcycles operated for many years, is now also named after DeFeo.

Speakers who knew him and were affected by him spoke about his life and the street naming during the event.

“I don’t know, he was just he was a good guy,” said DeFeo’s son, Bobby. “He was Port Washington true and blue. He said ‘I was born here and I’m gonna die here.’ And he did.”

DeFeo was born on May 14, 1927, in Port Washington. He was nicknamed “The Ghost” because of the speed he used to elude local police on his white Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

DeFeo was drafted into the U.S. Army after graduating from Schreiber High School in August 1945 during World War II. He was deployed to Europe after finishing basic training in South Carolina, where he was stationed in France, Belgium and Germany before being honorably discharged in April 1947.

“Sal DeFeo, oh my God,” Commander John Fiore of Port Washington VFW Post 1819 said. “It’s one thing to make a mark in life. But Sal? He carved a canyon in Port Washington and I’m proud that he was part of my command.”

DeFeo fixed and sold motorcycles out of his garage as a teenager and later founded Ghost Motorcycles in 1950. Aside from motorcycle aficionados, competitive riders and mechanics, the store drew several big-name visitors, from Billy Joel to Alan Jackson to see what DeFeo offered.

Other speakers, like DeFeo’s friend Kenny Bunn, said that he embodied the charm of Port Washington and its residents.

“I was with him every day and I still have his voice messages on my phone, they’ll never go anywhere,” said Bunn. “I love the family, you are my family, your Port Washington’s family. There’s no town like this town. I’m never leaving — just like him — I’m never leaving.”

DeFeo died at 94 on Aug 19. 2021.