“Years ago, we used to call this Kitty Genovese Lane,” he said as he walked along the paved walkway that Ms. Genovese ran along in a futile attempt to flee her killer.

Mr. Granados noted that the crime resulted in the term “Genovese syndrome,” the tendency not to intervene when witnessing an act of violence.

“It’s in every psychology book,” he said. “Why not put a plaque up here?”

Diane Lazinsky, the office manager of Fairchild Fine Furniture on Austin Street, said that when she moved to Kew Gardens in the mid-1980s, the neighborhood was practically synonymous with the murder.

“I knew two things about Kew Gardens: Pastrami King and Kitty Genovese,” Ms. Lazinsky said, referring to the well-known, and now shuttered, deli nearby on Queens Boulevard. “It really stuck with women here — you don’t go out late by yourself.”

The local population 50 years ago was largely of European descent and included Italians, Irish and Germans, said Murray Berger, 91, who lived in the neighborhood at the time and who is a member of the Kew Gardens Civic Association. The 1980s brought Iranians, and the 1990s brought Russians and Orthodox Jews, he said. Today, the area is predominantly white, but with an ethnic mix.

Still, the Kitty Genovese story remains familiar to nearly everyone here, from old-timers who can recall her and the crime to younger residents who are familiar with the case from current manifestations such as “The Witness,” a documentary about Ms. Genovese’s brother, Bill, by the filmmaker James Solomon, which opens in New York in June, or from the HBO series “Girls,” which included the murder in the plot of a recent episode.

Brittany Kahn, 24, who works on Austin Street, said she was inspired when she read an account that described Ms. Genovese as having been gay and living with her girlfriend.