QBP RICHARDS ANNOUNCES 2024 CLASS OF COMMUNITY BOARD APPOINTEES

Group includes a record-breaking 117 new members

(April 4, 2024 at 10:30am)

QUEENS, NY — Taking another significant step forward in the work of ensuring local government looks like the communities it represents, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. today announced his 2024 class of community board appointees — a markedly diverse group of public servants who will serve on their respective Queens community board for the next two years.

Of the Borough President’s 355 appointees across Queens’ 14 community boards, 117 are new members who are not currently serving on a board already — the largest number of new members appointed in a single year under the Richards Administration.

The 355 appointees were chosen out of this year’s pool of 848 applicants, representing a continuation of Borough President Richards’ historic run of successful community board application processes.

“It takes dedication and a true love of one’s neighborhood to apply to serve on a community. That’s what each member of this historic 2024 class signed up to do, and I am deeply grateful to all 355 of our appointees for answering the call of public service,” said Borough President RICHARDS. “We made tremendous strides this year toward correcting historic inequities on our boards, and I cannot wait to see the great work our new and reappointed members do over the next two years to make our neighborhoods better places to live, work and play.”

Upon taking office in December 2020, Borough President Richards emphasized the importance of correcting historic, longstanding demographic inequities on Queens’ community boards. Significant progress has been made to diversify the boards to ensure they look, sound and feel like the neighborhoods they represent, including with this year’s class.

Prior to the Richards Administration, just 43 percent of board members identified as female. But of the 117 new community board members this year, nearly 55 percent identify as female. When combining all four of Borough President Richards’ community board application cycles, more than 52 percent of his new appointees have identified as female.

People of color were also strongly represented amongst the 117 new members. People who identify as Hispanic/Latinx — a demographic that has historically been severely underrepresented across the city’s community boards — made up 27.4 percent of that group. Meanwhile, African Americans made up 26.5 percent of new members, and those who identify as East Asian/Pacific Islander or South Asian made up 23.9 percent of new members.

Broken down by age, over half — 54.7 percent — of new members appointed this year are under the age of 45, with the youngest new appointee being just 19 years old, reflecting persistent growth in interest among young people in community board membership. Prior to the Richards Administration, less than 25 percent of community board members were younger than 45.

Additionally, 24.7 percent of new members are parents or guardians of a school-age child while 17.9 percent are immigrants. In terms of LGBTQIA+ representation, 10.3 percent of new members identified as such, up from 3.4 percent of community board members as of 2020 prior to Borough President Richards taking office.

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 2024-2026 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): Daniel Aliberti, Cristian Batres, Kian Betancourt, Gerald Caliendo, Adam Fisher-Cox, Tyrone Gardner, Shahenaz Hamde, Evie Hantzopoulos, Amy Hau, Corinne Haynes, Jacqueline Ibarra, Vanessa Jones-Hall, Richard Khuzami, Huge Ma, Raga Maddela, Patricia Mahecha, Amin Mehedi, Andreas Migias, Juliet Payabyab, Rose Marie Poveromo, Thomas Ryan, Marie Torniali, Rod Townsend, Judy Trilivas, Mario Vergara, Kathleen Warnock and Quinella Williams.

Community Board 2 (Maspeth, Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City): Amparo Abel-Bey, John Laurence Bahia, Thalia Karesia Batan, Nicholas Berkowitz, Lisa Charles, Tannia Chavez, Osman Ali Chowdhury, Stephen Cooper, Lisa Deller, Morry Galonoy, Alexandra Gonzales, Kenneth Greenberg, James Kim, Chhemang Lama, Sheila Lewandowski, Benjamin Lucas, Patrick Martinez, Thomas Mituzas, Andrea Olivares, Reilly Owens, Jolly Patel, Norberto Saldana, Ryan Smith, Caroline Spitzer, Lauren Springer, Akello Thomas, Mai Tran and Michael Zoorob.

Community Board 3 (Jackson Heights, North Corona, East Elmhurst): Pat Beckles, Ann Brown, Mark Buhrmester, Deborah Chang, Sonya Davis-Roberts, Vivian Dock, Margaret Dozier, Oscar Escobar, Kevin Hughes-Noboa, Michael Johnson, Stephen Kulhanek, Marta LeBreton, Richard Gregory Mullings, Dorothy Phelan, Potrirankamanis Queano Nur, Jairo Rodriguez, Diana Rodriguez Davila, Leoncio Romero, Jessica Rosario, Edmund Rosenbaum, David Rosero, Jasmine Taveras, Shanel Thomas Henry and Arssath Uthumalebbe.

Community Board 4 (Elmhurst, Corona, Corona Heights): Eduardo Arias, Rownoka Ashakhan, Michelle Calderon, Brianna Cea, Indira Chongbang, Kathy Corona, Andrea Cumberbatch, Ioannis Demopoulos, Mohammed Ismail, Adam Lee, Moe Liu, Carol Machulski, Matthew McElroy, Marilyn Mendoza, Mac Merchan, Camila Noguera, Jennifer Ochoa, Israel Rosario, A. Redd Sevilla, Alton Smith, Morgan Taylor, Marcello Testa and Louis Walker.

Community Board 5 (Ridgewood, Maspeth, Glendale, Middle Village, South Elmhurst): Eric Butkiewicz, Robert Cermeli, Elizabeth Chen, Patricia Crowley, Dmytro Fedkowskyj, Mati Gonzalez, Gail Grabowski, Fred Haller, Daniel Heredia, Christopher Herman, Fred Hoefferle, Naho Matsuzawa, Charles Ober, Margaret O’Kane, Michael O’Kane, Melissa Rebecca, Luis Antonio Rodriguez, Enriquez Rosa, Dennis Stephan and Jasmine Valle.

Community Board 6 (Forest Hills, Rego Park): Edgar Alfonseca, Robert Ashe, Julieth Avila, Anisa Ayon, Samir Charaibi, L.T. Ciaccio, Kandra Clark, John Dereszewski, Tamara Gavrielof, Karen Imas, Sarina Jain, Mark Laster, Kevin Ly, Sabah-un-nasr Munawar, Natalie Pienkowska, Jessica Pooran, Joi Pratt, Diana Rachnaev, Pedro Rodriguez, Shari Rolnick, Herbert Schonhaut, Amit Pratap Shah, Eugene (Yevgeniy) Shvartsman, Jean Silva and Brently Winstead.

Community Board 7 (Flushing, College Point, Whitestone, Bay Terrace, Malba, Beechhurst, Bayside, Queensboro Hill, Willets Point): Charles Apelian, Michael Cheng, Nicholas Corrado, Fred Fu, Doreen Gatanas, Pablor Hernandez, Chun-Hsiung Jeff Huang, Lawrence Hughes, Eugene Kelty Jr., Esther Lee, Betsy Mak, Barbara McHugh, John Park, Vipul Patel, Yacov Pshtissky, Maureen Regan, Paul Rifino, Warren Schreiber, Kevin Shields, Matthew Silverstein, Saleem Syed, John Tsavalos, Clarissa Wong, Dian Song Yu and Rachel Zhang.

Community Board 8 (Kew Gardens Hills, Utopia, Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest, Briarwood, Jamaica Hills Jamaica Estates, Holliswood, Flushing South): Dilafroz Ahmed, Saaif Alam, Heather Bennett-Idels, Kenneth Cohen, Maria Deinnocentiis, Marva Dudley, Allen Eisenstein, Kevin J. Forrestal, Howard Fried, Martha Fulton, James Gallagher Jr., Joshua Glikman, Michael Hannibal, Mohammed Islam Delwar, Neeta Jain, Elke Maerz, Jennifer Martin, Caitlin Marziliano, Nikolas Michael, David Mordukhaev, Dilip Nath, Alan Ong, Tamara Osherov, Hersh Parekh, Frances C. Paterson, Israel Peskowitz, Jesse Rosenbaum, Aliyah Salim, Seymour Schwartz, Harbachan Singh, Mohammed Tohin, Amy Tse and Steven Villaran.

Community Board 9 (Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, Kew Gardens, Ozone Park): Inderpaul Ahluwalia, Sherry Algredo, Dulal Bhattacharjee, Kamal Bhuiyan, Visnoonand Bisram, Swapan Chakraborty, Rick Chetram, Daniel Chu, Marylin Custodio, Steve Esposito, Alicia Hassin, Orazio Iaboni, Carmella Isabella, Christian Orellana, Jonathan Rodriguez, Regina Santoro, Himmat Singh, Jarnail Singh, Mohinder Singh, Alexandria Sumpter-Delves and Stacey Yearwood.

Community Board 10 (Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Howard Beach, South Richmond Hill): Sonnya Acuqui, Luis Amorim, James J. Caruso, Brina Ciaramella, Anthony S. Cosentino, Frank Dardani, Anoop Dhanpat, Irene Dimoh, Karen Edwards, Edna Fraylon, Peter Granickas, Frank P. Gulluscio, Gary Hewitt, Anthony Hill, Romeo Hitlall, Pierre Kishun, Dorothy Mitchell, Fazlurrahman Mohamed, Rohan Narine, Jose A. Quijano, Amar Rajnauth, Amanda Sancler, Nellie Santiago, Asheley Siewnarine, Jody Stahl, Ashley Vital and Linda Walker.

Community Board 11 (Bayside, Auburndale, Oakland Gardens, Little Neck, Douglaston, East Flushing, Hollis Hills): Adriana Aviles, Lana Bind, Sharon Chin, Victor Dadras, C. Omarr Evans, Leanne Michelle Fields, Albert Galatan, Joan Garippa, Rosemarie Guidice, George Hadjiconstantinou, Laura James, Mohan Jethwani, Karen Mazza, Kenneth O’Keefe, Stephen Pivawer, Gunjan Rastogi, Ralph Ruiz, Amesh Sarecha, Jyothi SriRam, John Sullivan, Eileen Taylor, Sam Wong, Jiao (Athena) Wu and Mina Youn.

Community Board 12 (Jamaica, South Jamaica, Hollis, St. Albans, South Ozone Park, Addesleigh Park, Springfield Gardens): Sophia Abel, Pamela Bluford, Jacqueline Boyce, Maxine Brannon, Kenny Carter, Manuel Caughman, Jennifer Delatour, Jonnel Doris, Marcia Francis, Glenn Greenidge, Nurul Haque, Frankco Harris, Crystal Isaac, Khondokar Islam, Audrey Lee Jacobs, Leonard Jacobs, Sharmayne Jenkins, Chantel Johnson, Bernadette Logan, Benjulkys Martinez, Akther Rahman, Jean Randolph-Castro, Fitzroy Searles, Amit Shivprasad, Christopher Smith, Toni Totten, Linette Townsley, Khari White, Andrew Wilkins, Jeanette Wilson and Patricia Wooden.

Community Board 13 (Queens Village, Glen Oaks, New Hyde Park, Bellerose, Cambria Heights, Laurelton, Rosedale, Floral Park, Springfield Gardens, Bellaire): Angela Augugliaro, Corey Bearak, Loleta Beckett-Nicholson, Sheila Beverly-Skinner, John Boyd, Ella Caynes, Latanya Collins, Sequoyah Douglas, Charles Farruggia, Lorraine Gittens-Bridges, Robert Glover, Vernal Holder, Leonard Hookum, Michael Mallia, Sophia Mighty, Kangela Moore, Laura Morand, Michael O’Keeffe, Cinnamon Paltoo, David Pecoraro, Nagassar Ramgarib, Anup Ramnauth and Ashok Satkalmi.

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): Brittny Chong, Amber Clinkscales, Jack Epter, Maria Foreman, Wayne-Neisha Fowles, Menashe Friedman, Josephine Gonzalez, Avionne Gumbs-Cummings, Dave B. Heffernan, Betty Leon, Annette Lord Cohen, Sonia Moise, Helen Montero, Zina Moratti, Josmary Ochoa-Cruz, Dolores Orr, Harold Paez, Shannel Parker, Eric Rasmussen, Vernell Robinson, David Shelborne, Nichole Smith, Christopher Tedesco and Jose Velez.

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