QBP RICHARDS ANNOUNCES EXPANSION OF SERVICES FOR VETERANS AT QUEENS BOROUGH HALL

NYS Division of Veterans’ Services advisor to work on-site every Monday

(October 13, 2022 at 10:40am)

QUEENS, NY – To better serve the tens of thousands of veterans who call The World’s Borough home, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. today announced a partnership with the New York State Division of Veterans’ Services to assign a veterans’ benefits advisor to Queens Borough Hall once a week, starting Monday, October 17.

The veterans’ benefits advisor, who normally works at the St. Albans VA Medical Center, will operate out of Borough Hall on Mondays from 8am to 4pm (excluding holidays) for at least the next four months. This assignment will enable the NYS Division of Veterans’ Services to offer a centralized, easy-to-reach location for Queens veterans to apply for and inquire about veterans’ benefits.

Appointments to meet with the advisor can be made, starting October 17, by calling (718) 526-1000 ext. 2217. Walk-ins will also be welcome.

“The addition of the veterans’ benefits advisor will make Queens Borough Hall an even more comprehensive and useful one-stop shop for veterans looking for answers to their benefit questions,” said Borough President RICHARDS. “The advisor will work well with the existing Veteran Resource Center satellite office and will make life simpler for our veterans, who will have easier access to the benefits and services that their valiant service has entitled them to. I’m proud to host both the City DVS and State DVS here in the People’s House, and I invite all of our borough’s veterans to visit Borough Hall to get the information and assistance they deserve.”

“We are honored to continue our work with the New York City Department of Veterans Services to further serve Queens Veterans, Service members, and their families,” said New York State Division of Veterans’ Services Director VIVIANA DeCOHEN. “This new collaboration with the Borough President’s Office will expand our agency’s ability to ensure those we serve are accessing all of the benefits they earned from their military service.”

The advisor will complement the services provided by the NYC Department of Veterans’ Services’ Veteran Resource Center satellite office at Borough Hall since 2016.

Established to serve the nearly 42,000 military veterans in Queens, the largest such population in the five boroughs, the satellite office offers information and one-on-one consultations for veterans seeking information about the benefits and services available to them.  The office was closed for more than two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it reopened in April 2022. Services are available Mondays and Thursdays (excluding holidays) from 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The NYS DVS advisor will work with the City’s satellite office to coordinate city and state action regarding veterans’ benefits and services. This will reduce bureaucratic red tape and make it easier to get benefits and services to the veterans seeking them.

The NYC DVS Veteran Resource Center satellite office at Borough Hall is open to both walk-in visitors and to those who make appointments in advance by calling (646) 499-0098.

Subway riders can get to Queens Borough Hall by taking the E or F trains to the Union Turnpike-Kew Gardens station. Borough Hall is also served by several bus lines, including the Q60, Q46, Q10 and Q37 lines.

تابع مكتب رئيس كوينز بورو عبر @QnsBPRichards على تويتر @QueensBPRichards على فيسبوك وإنستغرام

###