QBP RICHARDS RECAPS SUCCESSFUL “BOROUGH HALL ON YOUR BLOCK: SOUTHEAST QUEENS”

  • Nearly $13 million announced for area libraries and hospitals
  • Hundreds of residents connected to available jobs and city resources
  • Historic topping-off ceremony for the 116th Precinct
  • Supporting our kids with backpack giveaways and family fun

(Friday, August 26, 2022 at 1:30pm)

QUEENS, NY – Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr.’s inaugural Borough Hall on Your Block series touched down in Southeast Queens this week with stirring success, following through on his promise to meet Queens families where they live, especially those in historically overlooked communities, and deliver the attention and services they deserve.

Over the course of just five days, Borough President Richards held four press conferences to announce nearly $13 million in capital funding for local libraries and hospitals, participated in a topping-off ceremony for the new 116th Precinct, hosted a community town hall, put on three different resource fairs, staged events for both seniors and youth, organized multiple distributions of backpacks, and held an emergency preparedness supplies giveaway, among other events.

“As a proud son of Southeast Queens, it was an honor to come home and set up shop in these proud, hard-working communities for a week to showcase how my office is not only listening, but tirelessly working to support the families who call them home,” said Borough President RICHARDS. “All 2.4 million Queens residents deserve a government that sees them, hears them and stops at nothing to serve them. That is the mission of my administration and I can’t wait to take Borough Hall back on the road once again.”

Borough Hall on Your Block began on Monday, August 22nd with a Senior Services Day at Rochdale Village, which saw dozens of area elders participate in fitness classes, eligibility benefit screenings and more. Borough President Richards then traveled to the Rosedale branch of the Queens Public Library — where he was once tutored as a child — to announce $3 million in funding for the facility’s expansion. Day 1 ended with an emotional and long-awaited topping-off ceremony for the new 116th Precinct in Rosedale, which local residents had spent decades advocating for.  Borough President Richards was instrumental in securing funding for the $104 million facility, which will also include built-in community space.

Day 2 of Borough Hall on Your Block saw the Borough President announce $6.8 million in funding across NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens in Jamaica Hills and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. The $6.8 million total includes $5 million for a state-of-the-art cancer-treating linear accelerator at the former hospital and $1.3 million for a new MRI machine at the latter facility. Borough President Richards also hosted an Immigrant Resource Fair and a NYC Agency Resource and Job Fair in Jamaica, drawing hundreds of residents, as well as a well-attended, youth-oriented Backpack Giveaway and COVID-19 Vaccination Drive.

Borough President Richards kicked off Day 3 of Borough Hall on Your Block with an Emergency Preparedness Supply Giveaway in Springfield Gardens, giving out dozens of rain barrels and other materials ahead of the coming peak of the hurricane season, before heading to his NYCHA Resource Share event at the South Jamaica Houses. Capping off the afternoon was the Borough President’s inaugural Youth and Young Adult Festival, featuring a basketball clinic, live music, a climbing wall, giveaways and more.

The final full day of public programming saw the Borough President travel to Far Rockaway for a pair of budget announcements, such as his $2.4 million allocation toward the planned expansion of the Arverne branch of the Queens Public Library. Following an announcement of $741,000 in funding for new critical care technology at St. John’s Episcopal, Borough President Richards brought Borough Hall on Your Block to a close with a Southeast Queens Town Hall in St. Albans, where residents were able to ask questions of and raise concerns with city agency representatives who were on hand.

Photos from Borough Hall on Your Block: Southeast Queens can be found here.

Several elected officials and city agencies sponsored one or more of the above events, including State Senator Leroy Comrie, Council Member Nantasha Williams, the FDNY, the NYC Department of Finance, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, NYC Emergency Management, the New York State Department of Health, SOMOS Community Care, NY Connects, the Queens Public Library and Who’s House Ballers, among many others.

Borough President Richards first announced his intention to launch the Borough Hall on Your Block initiative during his State of the Borough address on June 3, a critical aspect of the transformative vision for a stronger, fairer Queens he articulated that morning.

The date and location of the second iteration of Borough Hall on Your Block will be announced in the coming months.

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

###