QBP RICHARDS ANNOUNCES DIVERSE 2023 CLASS OF COMMUNITY BOARD APPOINTMENTS

Half of new appointees are under 45 years old

(April 5, 2023 at 10:30am)

QUEENS, NY – On the heels of his third-straight wildly-successful application process, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. today announced his 2023 class of community board appointees — a dynamic and diverse group of civic-minded individuals who will serve on their respective Queens community board for the next two years.

Of the Borough President’s 366 appointees across Queens’ 14 community boards, 116 are new members who are not currently serving on a board — the highest-ever number of new appointees tapped to serve under the Richards Administration. The 366 appointees were chosen out of this year’s pool of 938 applicants, just three short of the borough’s record of 941 applications in a single year, set in 2021.

“The historic 2023 class of community board appointees represent the best of Queens. I’m immensely confident in this diverse, dedicated and determined group of public servants and I look forward to the great work they will do on behalf of their neighborhoods over the course of their term,” said Borough President RICHARDS. “Thank you to all 366 of our appointees, and especially to our 116 new members, for heeding the call to help create a stronger Queens for all 2.4 million people who call it home.”

Since taking office in December 2020, Borough President Richards has made significant progress in correcting the chronic, long-standing underrepresentation of numerous communities and demographics on Queens’ 14 boards. The 2023 class of new appointees represents another down payment on the Borough President’s push for true and equitable representation in local government.

Of the 116 new members, 50 percent are under the age of 45, and nearly 25 percent are between the ages of 16 and 35, reflecting the growing interest in board membership among Queens’ younger generations, as well as Borough President Richards’ steadfast efforts to promote the importance of community service amongst the borough’s teenagers and young adults. Prior to the Richards Administration, nearly three-quarters of all board members were over the age of 45.

The Borough President’s push to ensure each board looks, sounds and feels like the diverse communities they represent received yet another boost with this year’s class, as well. Of the 116 new members, 20.7 percent identify as Hispanic/Latinx — an increase of nearly four percent from last year’s group of new members. Meanwhile, African Americans make up 21.6 percent of new appointees in 2023, with 13.8 percent and 7.8 percent identifying as East Asian/Pacific Islander and South Asian, respectively. Over two-thirds (67.22 percent) or new appointees do not identify as “White.”

Prior to the Richards Administration, just 43 percent of board members identified as female. While this year’s class represents a slight improvement on the gender makeup of Queens’ boards figure, with women making up 44.8 percent of new appointees, more than half (51.3 percent) of Borough President Richards’ new appointees across his three community board applications cycles have been women.

Mass transit users make up a significant chunk of the 2023 class of new members as well. More than half of the 116 new appointees (50.9 percent) reported they “mostly” or “often” navigate our borough by using the subway, while 89.7 percent said they at least “sometimes” use the subway to get around. In addition, over three-quarters (76.7 percent) of new appointees at least “sometimes” ride the bus, and nearly a third (31.9% percent) at least “sometimes” use a bicycle or other micro-mobility vehicle for transportation. 

There are 59 community boards citywide, and each hold monthly full membership meetings. The boards also hold hearings and issue recommendations about the City budget, municipal service delivery and numerous other matters that impact their communities.

All Queens community board members are appointed by the Queens Borough President, pursuant to the City Charter, with at least half of the appointments nominated by the City Council Members representing their respective community districts. Each board has up to 50 unsalaried members, with each member serving a two-year term. All community board members who wish to continue serving on a board are required to reapply at the conclusion of their two-year term and are subject to review and reconsideration.

Borough President Richards’ appointments for the 2023-2025 term to the Queens Community Boards are as follows:

Community Board 1 (Astoria, Old Astoria, Long Island City, Queensbridge, Ditmars, Ravenswood, Steinway, Garden Bay, Woodside): George Alexiou, Ann Bruno, Jean Marie D’Alleva, Antonella Di Saverio, Katie Ellman, Elizabeth Erion, Dean Feratovic, Frank Fredericks, Christopher Hanway, Brian Hunt, Cristina Lastres, Diana Limongi, Ethan Lowens, Athanasios Magoutas, Jeffrey Martin, Brian Martinez, Doreen Mohammed, Stella Nicolaou, Dino Panagoulias, Margot Riphagen, Marisela Santos, Dominic Stiller, Thomas Wright and Rosemary Yelton

Community Board 2 (Maspeth, Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City): Nellie Afshar, Anatole Ashraf, Ann Marie Baranowski, Kat Bloomfield, Danielle Brecker, Carlos Castell Croke, Warren Davis, Somnath Ghimire, Rosamond Gianutsos, Camille Gray, Mohammed Hossen, Christine Hunter, Lelin Kandel, Badrun Khan, Diana Kichler, Prameet Kumar, Eric Narburgh, Zeeshan Ott, Oumaya Saab, Laura Shepard, Mary Torres, Leticia Vasquez and Kalsang Yangtso.

Community Board 3 (Jackson Heights, North Corona, East Elmhurst): Bill Bruno, Elba Buendia, Muquith Abdul Choudhury, Marjorie Clarke Woolridge, Shiv Dass, Michael De Valera, Renetta English, Ulrick Gedeon, Kara Heffernan, Larinda Hooks, Abdur Howlander, Shyam Karki, Edward Kiernan, Lisa Mesulam, Laverne Nimmons, Nuala O’Doherty-Naranjo, Fausto Rodriguez, Tammy Rose, Lobsang Salaka, Gisele Santana, Dawn Siff, Fahad Solaiman, Marlene Tapper, Frank Taylor, Arthur Teiler, Hamlett Wallace and Edwin Westley.

Community Board 4 (Elmhurst, Corona, Corona Heights): Jonathan Anzalone, Isaac Carmignani, Lynda Coral, Michelle Dunston, Aridia Espinal, Leeanne G-Bowley, Marialena Giampino, Lara Gregory, Alexander Huaylinos, Vincent Laucella, Myrna Littlewort, Sylvia Martin, Rovenia McGowan, Jose Morillo, Edgar Moya, Ruby Muhammad, Sandra Munoz, Georgina Oliver, G. Athena Oliver, Ramon Pimentel, Lindsay Quartini, Mildred Ramirez, Ashley Reed, Cristian Romero, Clara Salas, Delia Sebastian-Cecilio, Meenu Singh, Anthony Szeto and Minwen Yang.

Community Board 5 (Ridgewood, Maspeth, Glendale, Middle Village, South Elmhurst): Vincent Arcuri, Carol Benovic-Bradley, Jessica Boiardi, Michael Byc, Rachel Caracci, Maritza Carmona, Ethan Chan, Deepak Chaudhari, Walter Clayton Jr., Salvatore Crifasi, Daniel DeBrucker, Derek Evers, Steven Fiedler, Dorie Figliola, Paul Kerzner, Maryann Lattanzio, Diego Leclery, Edward Lettau, Katherine Masi, April Narsasian, Donald Passantino, Kenneth Rehberger, Theodore Renz, Lee Rottenberg, Walter Sanchez, Lily Scarabino, Toby Sheppard Bloch, Katarzyna Syta, Gyanal Thapa, Barbara Toscano, Patrick Trinchese, MaryAnna Zero and Brandon Zwagerman.

Community Board 6 (Forest Hills, Rego Park): Michael Arcati, David Aronov, Salua Baida, Kavish Batra, Peter Beadle, Healther Beers-Dimitriadis, Miriam Berfas, Howard Birnbaum, Danny Bowens, Heidi Chain, Gina Chen, Latrice Davis, Keith Engel, Vallon Ellison, Matt Fernandez Konigsberg, Giovanni Gioia, Bruce Grossberg, Marcelle Lashley-Kabore, Jack Medina, Renee Mehrra, Steven Metz, Patricia Morgan, Elizabeth Newtown, Gladys Sandoval, Matthew Salton, David Schantz, Martha Tucker, Edwin Wong, Ephraim Zakry and Katherine Zapata.

Community Board 7 (Flushing, College Point, Whitestone, Bay Terrace, Malba, Beechhurst, Bayside, Queensboro Hill, Willets Point): James Cervino, Kaily Cheng, Kim Cody, Arlene Fleishman, Richard Forman, Vincent Gianelli, Cody Herrmann, Phil Konigsberg, Wensong Li, Wendy Louie, Frank Macchio, Richard McEachern, Selma Moses, Sergio Nicolich, Terrence Park, Frank Quatela, Kris Ram, Joshua Sussman, Joseph Sweeney, Peter Tu, Harpreet Wahan, Maggie Wong, Ruoruo (Lulu) Yang, Linna Yu and Lei Zhao.

Community Board 8 (Kew Gardens Hills, Utopia, Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest, Briarwood, Jamaica Hills Jamaica Estates, Holliswood, Flushing South): Michael Athy, Jenna Citron Schwab, Edward Chung, John Gebhard, Ashan Habib, Meshulam Lisker, Mary Maggio, Tobias Paris, Simon Pelman, Wendy Phaff Gennaro, Mohammad Rahman, Deepti Sharma, Douglas Sherman, Penny Stern, Martha Taylor, Mayer Waxman and Jacob Weinberg.

Community Board 9 (Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, Kew Gardens, Ozone Park): Marla Abarca, Faiuze Ali, Juan Batista II, Kirpal Billing, Zoila Bofill, John Carter, Andrea Crawford, Ruben Cruz, Joan DeCamp, Warlito Deleon, Stephen Forte, Albert Gamarra, Daniel Grieve, Sylvia Hack, Reaz Khan, Nina Kulkarni, Kevin O’Leary, Tiffanie Placeres, Daniel Pollack, Diannedrea Ramoutar, Cristal Rivera, Mohamed Safie, Maharani Singh, Matthew Singh, Raghbir Singh, J. Richard Smith, Victor Starsky, Esta-Joy Sydell, Andrew Taranto, Marie Turley and Seth Welins.

Community Board 10 (Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Howard Beach, South Richmond Hill): Natalie Bissoon, Elizabeth Braton, John Calcagnile, Emily Cheng, Marie Cherenfant, Rosemary Ciulla-Frisone, Amanda Deebrah, Anthony Gellineau, Roger Gendron, Bihari Lall, Nazneen Latchana, Kailash Ludhiana, Ashford Maharaj, Ruben Martinez, Stacy Mohammed, Angelica Nocerino, Pasquale Nostromo, Silvestro Pace, Rusat Ramgopal, Bhola Ramsundar, Kevin Roan, George Russo, Gemma Singh, Isabel VanPutten and Darryl Wesby.

Community Board 11 (Bayside, Auburndale, Oakland Gardens, Little Neck, Douglaston, East Flushing, Hollis Hills): Michael Budabin McQuown, Jessica Burke, Susan Cerezo, Carmen Collado, Paul DiBenedetto, Henry Euler, Mario Ferazzoli, Elias Fillas, Jack Fried, Michael Golia, Tim Hao, Travis Kessel, Jena Lanzetta, Robert Liatto, Mathew Mamak, Fluer Martino, George Mihaltses, Eileen Miller, Akshar Patel, Ann Puckett, Megan Rua, Ralph Ruiz, Seihee Ryu, Christina Scherer, Benjamin Turner, David White and Fern Zimbalist.

Community Board 12 (Jamaica, South Jamaica, Hollis, St. Albans, South Ozone Park, Addesleigh Park, Springfield Gardens): Alam Ahnaf, Mohammed Ali, Angela Allen, Wanda Best, Rene Cheatham Hill, Vishal Hardowar, Jolander Headley, Celeste James, Clementine James, Al-Hassan Kanu, Bilal Karriem, Dawn Kelly, Latoya LeGrand, Abdus-Salaam Musa, Donald Murphy, Shah Nawaz, Krystal Roberts, Sharon Sweeting Lindsey and Carlene Thorbs.

Community Board 13 (Queens Village, Glen Oaks, New Hyde Park, Bellerose, Cambria Heights, Laurelton, Rosedale, Floral Park, Springfield Gardens, Bellaire): Maximus Barton, Bryan Block, Kyle Bragg, Barbara Clements, Bobbie Cole, Sylvia Cothia, Marissa Cronin, Tanya Cruz, Delroy Dawkins, Bess DeBetham, James Delaney, Stephanie Delia, Richard Hellenbrecht, Fay Hill, Violet Huie, Mohamood Ishmael, Rhonda Kontner, Curlene Nelson, Marcia O’Brien, Lenroy Pascall, Latchman Persaud, Sandra Persaud, Ronald Summers, Steven Taylor, Lourdes Villanueva Hartrick, Pritpal Walia and Jackie Wilson.

Community Board 14 (Rockaway Point, Breezy Point, Roxbury, Neponsit, Belle Harbor, Rockaway Park, Seaside, Broad Channel, Hammels, Sommerville, Edgemere, Arverne, Bayswater, Wavecrest, Far Rockaway, Rockaway Beach): Danielle Barker, Ebony Beaty, Lailah Boyd, Natasha Carter, Kimberly Comes, John Cori, Gerald David, Rose Marie Duggan Gulston, Iona Folkes, Jeanette Garramone, Chamaine Gibbs, Eugenia Gibson, Yitzchok Goldstone, Shanell Harper, Samuel Jaroslawicz, Alison Kase, Paul King, Richard Knott, Damra Lee, Denise Lopresti, Lintia Lyons, Jonathan Mack, Nancy Martinez, John McCambridge, Nyjeri Norman, Isaac Parsee, David Rood-Ojalvo, Colin Smith and Karen Sloan Payne.

Follow the Office of the Queens Borough President via @QnsBPRichards on Twitter and @QueensBPRichards on Facebook and Instagram 

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