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Suozzi celebrates opening of new district offi ce
in Douglaston with ribbon-cutting ceremony
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
Queens/Long Island Congressman
Tom Suozzi celebrated
the opening of his new
Queens district office at 242-09
Northern Blvd. in Douglaston
with a ribbon-cutting ceremony
on Sunday, April 25.
Surrounded by elected officials
including Queens Borough
President Donavan Richards,
state Senator John Liu, Assembly
members David Weprin and
Clyde Vanel, as well as numerous
district leaders and community
representatives, Suozzi was
excited that his ground-floor office
in a Tutor-style building is
now more centrally located and
accessible to his constituents.
“This office is really about
constituent services. It’s one of
the most important things we
do as elected officials is trying
to serve our constituents help
them navigate the bureaucracy
of the government,” said Suozzi,
who explained that his office
continues to receive COVID-
19-related phone calls about
stimulus checks, the PPP and
Shuttered Venues Programs,
but also questions dealing
with immigration, the Internal
Revenue Service and veterans
issues.
Suozzi thanked his entire
staff for the work they accomplish
on a daily basis.
“All these different things
can only be handled because
I have a fantastic staff. I am
so grateful for the great work
that my staff does,” the representative
for New York’s Third
Congressional District said.
Weprin congratulated
Suozzi on his new quarters and
thanked him for his leadership
in Washington, describing him
as a problem solver.
“I want to really thank
you for all your service for so
many years. But particularly
in Washington, providing the
aid that we needed for New
York City and New York state
and helping solve our problems
and really making sure that the
federal stimulus money got out
there to help small businesses,
and to help the theater industry,
to help the economy, not to mention
average New Yorkers,” said
Weprin, who is running for city
comptroller.
Richards apologized for arriving
a tad late but had a forgivable
excuse — he had to bake
a pizza for his son.
Richards also thanked
Suozzi for bringing back
“the bacon” to the borough of
Queens.
“We’re going to need that
coming out of this pandemic. We
talk about getting back to some
semblance of normalcy, and I
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.12 COM | APRIL 30-MAY 6, 2021
always say, Congress member,
we should not go back to where
we were before. We’re heading
to a new normal as we move forward
and this new normal also
includes a new office right here
serving our borough,” Richards
said. “We know that your capable
staff is going to continue
to do what you continue to do
throughout your entire tenure
as a Congress member, and that
is to deliver key quality services
to the residents of Queens
County, and of course, I have to
mention Long Island, regrettably,”
he joked.
Suozzi touched on Richards’
remarks, mentioning the billions
of dollars New York City
has already received from different
COVID relief packages
and that the new infrastructure
package would bring even further
financial relief.
“As the president says, we’re
going to build back better, and
this infrastructure package is
so important. And one of the
things that I’m trying to do
is get earmarks back where I
can actually get specific spending
back to different projects,”
Suozzi said.
State Senator John Liu
said that Suozzi is part of the
problem-solving caucus trying
to break through Washington,
D.C.’s political gridlock — but
he never forgets his district in
Queens.
“He never forgets his own
district, which lamentably includes
a great deal of Long Island,”
Liu quipped.“It also includes
very important parts
of Queens, and this Congress
member never forgets Queens.
And this is a very tangible
sign that his presence is
going to be not only felt but
extremely effective.”
Assemblyman Clyde Vanel
pointed out the diversity of
elected officials that attended
the ribbon cutting.
“We are here from the city,
from the state, from the federal
government, from the borough.
We all work together as partners,
and Tom has been one of
the leaders in Congress to get us
through this most trying time.
What a difficult year for us to
get through, and we needed
partners in Congress,” Vanel
said.
Tom Grech, president and
CEO of the Queens Chamber of
Commerce, thanked Suozzi for
making sure that Queens small
businesses received their fair
share of the PPP.
“When Queens was not getting
its fair share of the Triple
P, we got him on the phone,
not once but twice with 150-175
people, and the trickle-down
became a tsunami, we got the
funding that we needed,” Grech
said.
Grech admitted he got excited
when he heard the congressman
mention earmarks
because the Queens Chamber
of Commerce recently founded
a tech council.
“We want to bring diversity,
equity and inclusion to Queens
when it comes to tech. We’ve got
Amazon, we’ve got Google, Facebook,
you name it. We want
to bring good-paying tech jobs
to Queens County, and we are
not going to stop till we do it,”
Grech said and thanked Suozzi
for his support.
Congressman Tom Suozzi (c.) opened up a new office in Douglaston on Sunday, April 26, 2021.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
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