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• WHITESTONE TIMES
June 25-July 1, 2021
QUEENS COLLEGE BREAKS GROUND ON
SOCCER FIELD RENOVATION PROJECT
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
Elected officials on June 16 joined
Queens College staff and students for a
groundbreaking ceremony for the college’s
soccer field and track renovation
project. The $9.3 million modernization
of the outdoor sports facility began
in January 2021 and is projected to
be completed in early 2022.
The project is funded with support
from New York state and New York City
through the efforts of Queens College
Director of Athletics Robert Twible,
Queens College Student Association
President Zaire Couloute, Queens Borough
President Donovan Richards,
Queens College President Frank H.
Wu, Councilmen Francisco Moya and
James Gennaro, state Senator Toby
Ann Stavisky, Assemblywoman Nily
Rozic, Special Counsel for Ratepayer
Protection Rory Lancman, CUNY
Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez
and Queens College student-athlete
Shannon Gibbons.
Queens College Knights defender
Brian Gray was “extremely excited”
about the groundbreaking.
“This turf field will definitely be
a great addition to the team and the
school for sure,” he said. “We love passing
the ball around, so having a turf
field, you know, a consistent field, will
definitely help us in our game a lot, for
sure.”
Knights midfielder Leo Pinto
shared that playing on the old field had
been tough, but the team has tried to
make the best out of it.
“I’m so excited. I just can’t wait to
get on the field with new teammates
Elected officials join Queens College staff and students to break ground for the soccer field renovation at Queens College.
and a new atmosphere,” the rising junior
said.
Queens College President Frank H.
Wu, who moderated the event, acknowledged
that the past year was filled with
challenges, especially for the studentathletes,
who were eager to get back to
working out and competing.
He called the groundbreaking,
which happened a day after Governor
Cuomo lifted most COVID-19 restrictions
throughout the state, a “new beginning,
filled with hope and anticipation.”
“Soccer is the world’s sport, and we
are in the ‘World’s Borough,'” Wu said,
adding that the new soccer field and
track would make the student-athletes
“feel like professionals when they set
foot on a field of this quality.”
CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos
Rodríguez stressed that the investment
in the new pitch and track was
also an investment in the community
because the college hosts NYC public
and Catholic diocese school championships
and Special Olympics events.
“Every dollar, every capital dollar
that you invest in CUNY has that incredible
multiplying effect,” Rodríguez
said.
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards said that the ribboncutting
ceremony was not only about
the new soccer field or track, but also
about providing students with firstclass
sports amenities.
“We don’t play second fiddle to any
other boroughs. In Queens County,
we want every CUNY campus to have
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
state-of-the-art everything,” Richards
said. “And it’s one of the reasons we announced
$4.5 million for CUNY institutions
across the borough a few weeks
ago, and that’s just the beginning of
what we’re gonna do.”
Councilman Fransisco Moya
shared with the crowd his love for soccer
and said the lack of adequate fields
in Queens prompted him to secure
funding for the renovation.
Moya said that soccer is “the one
commonality that brings people together.”
“This is really going to be the way
to get people back into some sense of
normalcy, but in a way that the field in
the conditions won’t hurt its athletes,
and it will be open to everyone,” he
added.
Vol. 87 No. 26 44 total pages
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