2020
Caribbean L 14 ife, FEBRUARY 12-18, 2021
Queens Borough Prez appoints
Guyanese American as deputy
By Nelson A. King
Queens Borough President,
Donovan Richards
has appointed a Guyanese
American as the borough’s
deputy president.
Richards, of Jamaican
heritage, on Jan. 4,
selected Rhonda Binda in
his first round of appointments.
Other first-round
appointees were: Franck
D. Joseph II, chief of staff
and senior advisor; and
Breeana Mulligan, director
of communications.
“Throughout their
careers, Franck Joseph,
Rhonda Binda and Breeana
Mulligan have demonstrated
both exemplary
talent and tireless dedication
to the people of New
York City, and I am confident
they will bring the
same energy to Queens
residents and families,”
said Richards in a statement.
“I am proud to add
these hardworking public servants to
my staff, some of whom represent the
best of our borough, especially as we
quickly move to tackle the ongoing
public health and economic crises,” he
added.
“Franck, Rhonda and Breeana will
make great partners in building a
stronger, healthier and more prosperous
Deputy Queens Borough President Rhonda Binda.
Source: Queens Deputy Borough President Rhonda Binda
Queens in 2021 and beyond,” Richards
continued.
As deputy borough president, he said
Binda is tasked with focusing on “specific
policy areas of the office.”
Richards said policy areas include
land use, technology, food insecurity,
criminal justice reform, parks and
transportation.
“I’m honored and humbled to have
this opportunity to serve, and am
excited to help Queens Borough President
Richards implement his vision for
our borough and take Queens to new
heights,” said Binda in a statement.
“As a woman of color, it is also important
to me that Queens Borough President
Richards is committed to ensuring
that women continue to have a strong
voice in our government and community;
and that, in his appointments, he
has sought to honor the great progress
made by the last four borough presidents
— all women who led and moved
our communities forward,” she added.
Richards described Binda, the
daughter of Guyanese immigrants, who
was raised in Southeast Queens, as
“a visionary leader with a passion for
social and environmental justice.”
In her youth, he said Binda successfully
lobbied the New York City Council
for New York Public Interest Group
(NYPIRG) to shut down Fresh Kills, the
largest toxic site in the country.
As an attorney, Richards said Binda
“represented and released” wrongly
detained clients before the US Immigration
Court of Appeals after 9/11 pro
bono, and broke up internet and cable
monopolies.
In government, he said Binda served
in both the Obama-Biden and Clinton-
Gore administrations as a US diplomat
and in the West Wing.
Inspired by her love for her hometown,
Richards said Binda returned to
Queens as the executive director for
the Jamaica BID, the borough’s largest
business district, where she took
action against “the stark inequality of
resources and investments made in the
borough.”
“Under her leadership, Jamaica
remarkably rose through the ranks to
be named the #1 neighborhood in the
city, and won #1 awards from the NYC
Department of Small Business Services
(NYC SBS) and the state for downtown
revitalization, raising Jamaica’s profile
as a unique, vibrant multicultural
center for retail and tourism,” Richards
said.
He said Binda continued to serve her
community as chairwoman of South
Asian American Voice, vice president
of the Guyanese Girls Rock Foundation,
and on the boards for The Boys
and Girls Club of Metro Queens, The
NY Hall of Science and Positive Women
United.
In addition, the Queens Borough
President said Binda is an “internationally
recognized People’s Choice leader
in building smart and connected communities.”