Queens Borough President Melinda Katz will swear in 54 newly appointed community board members during a ceremony to be held tomorrow (Thursday, June 12th), at 6 p.m. in the New York Hall of Science located at 47-01 111th Street in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
The 54 members were appointed by Katz to serve two-year terms on their respective community boards, which play an important advisory role in dealing with land use and zoning matters. Community boards also contribute to the dialogue about the city budget, municipal service delivery and many other matters that impact their communities.
Despite the important role community boards play in city government, community board members are not compensated for their service.
“I want to thank all of our newly appointed community board members of volunteering their valuable time to help serve their communities and ensure that our city government serves their communities effectively,” Borough President Katz said. “I am thrilled to see that Queens has so many civic-minded residents who are willing to help make our neighborhoods, our borough and our city the best places they can be.”
In addition to the swearing-in of the new members, 265 current community board members will be sworn in to new two-year terms during tomorrow’s ceremony.
Sixty individuals will also be honored in recognition of their many years of excellent service on their respective boards. They include three individuals who are being given Lifetime Achievement Awards for serving a community board for at least 40 years. Those individuals are Bernard Haber of Community Board 11,who will be recognized for 45 years of service on that board, and Joseph DiMartino of Community Board 4 and Sylvia Hack of Community Board 9, who have served for 40 years each on their boards.
“I want to commend this year’s honorees and all of our veteran board members for their excellent service to our borough,” Borough President Katz said. “Their many years of collective wisdom have helped make Queens a better place to live, work and visit.”
There are 14 community boards in Queens and a total of 59 citywide, with each board having up to 50 unsalaried members. All Queens community board members are appointed by Borough President, with half of her appointees being nominated by the City Councilmembers who represent the districts covered by the community boards the appointees will serve.
“Our borough’s community board members are a diverse and talented group of people who reflect the makeup of Queens, the most diverse county in the United States,” Borough President Katz said. “We truly are ‘The World’s Borough,’ so it is great that we have a community board membership that reflects our borough’s incredible array of cultures and perspectives.”
The new community board members who will be sworn in tomorrow are:
Community Board 1 (Astoria, Old Astoria, Long Island City, Queensbridge, Ditmars, Ravenswood, Steinway, Garden Bay, Woodside): Amy Hau, Mackenzi Farquer, Nancy Konipol, Yawne Robinson and Nancy Silverman
Community Board 2 (Maspeth, Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City): Dana Frankel, Jordan Levine, Charles J. Markey, Jr. and Rebecca A. Trent
Community Board 3 (Jackson Heights, North Corona, East Elmhurst): Ladisla Perez
Community Board 4 (Elmhurst, Corona, Corona Heights): Monzur Chowdhury, Erica Cruz, Eduardo F. Medrano-Salas, John C. Peters, Jr., Pasang Tsering, Rosa Wong, Shwe Zin OO
Community Board 5 (Ridgewood, Maspeth, Glendale, Middle Village, South Elmhurst): Henry Cross
Community Board 6 (Forest Hills, Rego Park): Yaniv Meirov, Jarett Monterio and Marsha Silverstein
Community Board 7 (Flushing, College Point, Whitestone, Bay Terrace, Malba, Beechhurst, Bayside, Queensboro Hill, Willets Point): Devon Michael O’Connor, Matthew Silverstein, Clarissa Wong and Jie Zhu
Community Board 8 (Kew Gardens Hills, Utopia, Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest, Briarwood, Jamaica Hills Jamaica Estates, Holliswood, Flushing South): Mohammed Fakrul Islam, Bright Dae-Jung Limm, Jennifer Martin, Shlomo Nisanov and Mohammed Tohin
Community Board 9 (Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, Kew Gardens, Ozone Park): Cheryl Alexander, Kamal Bhuiyan, Laraine Fletcher and Jarnail Singh
Community Board 10 (Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Lindenwood, Howard Beach, South Richmond Hill, Rockwood Park): Mohammad Iqbal Ali
Community Board 11 (Bayside, Auburndale, Oakland Gardens, Little Neck, Douglaston, East Flushing, Hollis Hills): Sila Asa, Lawrence T. Gresser, Jr.
Community Board 12 (Jamaica, South Jamaica, Hollis, St. Albans, South Ozone Park, Addesleigh Park, Springfield Gardens): Mabel Everett, Joan E. Flowers, Rodney Pride, Kamal F. Saleem, Bryan D. White and Tiffany Victoria Williams
Community Board 13 (Queens Village, Glen Oaks, New Hyde Park, Bellerose, Cambria Heights, Laurelton, Rosedale, Floral Park, Springfield Gardens, Bellaire): Terrance A. Banks, Alain Berrouet, Jacqueline Campbell, Terryl Ebony DeMendonca, Vernal Holder and Matthew Thomas
Community Board 14 (The Rockaways, Rockaway Point, Breezy Point, Roxbury, Neponsit, Belle Harbor, Rockaway Park, Seaside, Broad Channel, Hammels, Sommerville, Edgemere, Arverne, Bayswater, Wavecrest, Far Rockaway, Rockaway Beach): Silaka Cox, Ahmad Edwards, Sonia Moise, Edward Pastore, Sr. and Christopher Tedesco