‘QUEENS WILL RISE’
Richards outlines vision for the future of Queens in virtual State of the Borough address
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Nearly one year to the day
after Queens’ first case of
COVID-19 was confirmed in
Far Rockaway, Queens, Borough
President Donovan Richards
on Wednesday, March 3,
delivered his first State of the
Borough address virtually. He
detailed his administration’s
accomplishments within the
first 100 days, and presented an
outline for Queens’ path out of
the COVID-19 pandemic offering
a bold vision for a borough
freed of systemic inequities.
“Our message today to all,
hear it loud and hear it proud:
Queens will lead the way out
of this pandemic. Queens will
lead efforts to address health
disparities, economic disparities
and racial and gender disparities,”
Richards said. “We
will create a more just society,
a more just borough, and
together we will improve the
quality of life for all who call
Queens home.”
Filmed at the Museum of
the Moving Image (MoMI)
in Astoria, the hourlong cinematic
program included the
Presentation of Colors by the
New York Police Department
Law Enforcement Explorers’
color guard, a rendition of
“The Star-Spangled Banner”
by students from Astoria’s
Frank Sinatra School of the
Arts High School, remarks
from Deputy Borough President
Rhonda Binda, and a
performance by renowned
Cambria Heights saxophonist
Ashley Keiko, founder of music
academy Keiko Studios in
Queens Village.
Richards’ State of the Borough
address outlined a comprehensive
vision of a borough
freed of the long-standing injustices
in healthcare delivery,
housing, transportation, environmental
policy and more.
“The state of our borough
is not where it ought to be, for
we have been decimated by
the health pandemic, the economic
crisis and racial injustices,”
Richards said. “We, as
a borough, as a people, have
an opportunity to choose how
we define ourselves. As a borough,
we will not stay down.
Queens, we will rise.”
In the past year, the U.S.
has lost over 500,000 people
nationwide due to COVID-19,
with about 7,500 of them from
Queens, according to Richards,
who noted it is the most
deaths of any borough in New
York City.
“Those deaths were preventable.
Those deaths were
systemic failures, not the science
or the challenges of the
crisis alone. We were not prepared,”
Richards said.
As the city continued its
efforts to vaccinate as many
New Yorkers with the distribution
of Moderna and Pfizer
vaccines, while awaiting the
newly approved Johnson &
Johnson vaccines, Richards
highlighted the lack of vaccination
sites across Queens.
Predominantly immigrant
neighborhoods like Richmond
Hill and South Ozone Park,
Richards said, have few testing
sites other than the mobile
units his office helped bring to
the area. Also, neighborhoods
in northeast Queens went for a
long time without having any
vaccination sites nearby.
Though he is grateful for
the opening of mass vaccination
centers at York College,
Aqueduct Racetrack, Martin
Van Buren High School and
Citi Field — which he advocated
for alongside his colleagues
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.2 COM | MARCH 12-MARCH 18, 2021
— Richards said it’s
not enough.
The borough president’s
office will continue to work
tirelessly with the city, state
and the Biden administration
to immediately expand testing
and vaccine networks,
Richards said, in addition to
hosting regional vaccination
town halls to better educate
families on the importance of
getting vaccinated.
With nine hospital campuses
in Queens, and with the
closure of four hospitals in the
last 12 years, Richards said the
removal of more than 840 beds
and thousands of medical professionals
and leaving communities
like Far Rockaway with
even less access to healthcare
is “unacceptable.”
“This means pushing for
more community-based health
centers, offering preventative
medicine and keeping
non-emergencies out of our
crowded emergency rooms,”
Richards said. “This means
advocating for new hospital
construction and increasing
funding to our existing hospitals
— which are already doing
so much with far less than
they need.”
During his time in office,
Richards has offered assistance
to Queens residents
through a number of initiatives,
and has vowed to to
bring forth transformative
opportunities to rebuild the
borough’s economy from the
ground up.
To achieve these goals,
Richards has pledged to establish
an Immigration Welcome
Center at Queens Borough
Hall; create at least 2,000 units
of truly affordable housing;
invest in upgrades across
Queens’ New York City Housing
Authority (NYCHA) housing
developments; overhaul
the community board appointment
process; establish workforce
training programs and
other job creating initiatives;
ensure sustainability is at the
heart of all new land use projects
subject to his review; and
more.
As highlighted in the address,
these efforts will augment
the numerous reforms
Richards has already put into
motion over his first two months
in office, including the creation
of the $17.5 million Queens
Small Business Grant program,
which targeted minority-owned
businesses in communities
hardest hit by COVID-19 and in
low-income areas that needed
help the most.
In the program’s first
month, according to Richards,
126 small businesses
across Queens — from Nepali
restaurants in Jackson
Heights to cosmetic stores in
Jamaica — have already been
approved for up to $20,000 in
funding. Richards continues
to urge small business owners
who are eligible to receive
the grants to contact his office,
and they will receive help with
the application process.
“These are the businesses
that were too often left emptyhanded
in the mad dash for the
federal Paycheck Protection
Program loans last year. But
these are also businesses that
together employ thousands of
Queens residents, with thousands
of families relying on
the job opportunities they create,”
Richards said. “Helping
just one storefront keep the
lights on and the doors open is
worth it.
Other reforms Richards has
launched include digitizing the
community board application
to greatly increase interest in
membership, establishing the
Queens Solid Waste Advisory
Board and hosting an ongoing
series of virtual job recruitment
fairs, a tradition that began last
year under Sharon Lee. More
than 1,400 connections have
been made between Queens residents
and employers in a wide
variety of industries, according
to Richards.
Additionally, the borough
president’s office will continue
to promote tourism to Queens,
support cultural institutions,
stimulate neighborhood
economies and demonstrate
the “resilience, vibrancy and
richness of our borough,”
Richards said.
“We will work diligently
to secure a responsible budget
that works for all Queens
residents, designating funds
towards healthcare, supporting
career training, combating
food insecurity, providing
services to domestic violence
survivors, aiding our veterans,
protecting our youth
and our borough’s most vulnerable,
and so much more,”
Richards said.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718) 260–
4526.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards delivers his first State of the Borough address virtually
from the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) in Astoria on Wednesday, March 3.
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