Western Queens leaders join city officials for a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Northern
Boulevard High School in Woodside. Photo courtesy of SCA
TIMESLEDGER | Q 2 NS.COM | DEC. 17 - DEC. 23, 2021
Museum of the Moving Image
honors screen icon Rita Moreno
BY BILL PARRY
Just days before her 90th
birthday, legendary screen
and stage star Rita Moreno
graced the stage of the Sumner
Redstone Theater at the
Museum of the Moving Image
in Astoria where she was
honored for her remarkable
career spanning more than
seven decades.
The Puerto Rico-born star
has won all four of the most
prestigious awards in show
business, including an Oscar,
a Tony, two Emmys and
a Grammy, and has appeared
in more than 40 feature films.
The gala was the first inperson
event at the museum
since the outbreak of the COVID
19 pandemic.
“There is no better time
to celebrate the illustrious
career of Rita Moreno,”
MoMI Executive Director
Carl Goodman said. “She is
a legendary figure who has
been a constant and formidable
presence in American
cinema for almost 70 years,
from her brief but unforgettable
appearance in ‘Singin’ in
the Rain,’ through her Oscarwinning
role in the original
‘West Side Story,’ and to her
latest, in the eagerly anticipated
Steven Spielberg adaptation.”
In conjunction with
the MoMI benefit event on
Wednesday, Dec. 1, and her
appearance in Steven Speilberg’s
upcoming adaptation
of “West Side Story,” the museum
kicked off a seven-film
retrospective devoted to the
prolific performer’s career,
including classics such as
“The King and I,” “Carnal
Knowledge,” “I Like it Like
That” and “The Four Seasons”
as well as the recent
documentary “Rita Moreno:
Just a Girl Who Decided to
Go For It.”
“Taken together these
films show the amazing
range of an actor who refused
to be stereotyped and whose
wit, taste and versatility is
apparent in every frame,
from scene-stealing supporting
performances to stellar
leading roles,” MoMI Curator
of Film Eric Hynes said.
The Moving Images
Awards featured Moreno
in an on-stage conversation
moderated by Hynes followed
by an award presentation.
“Interviewing Rita Moreno
on stage was the thrill of
a lifetime. As I was able to
tell her that night, I’ve been
in awe of her since I was a
toddler watching her on ‘The
Electric Company,’ and we
are still in awe of her continued
excellence,” Hynes said.
“She was a true trailblazer, a
Puerto Rican girl, who as she
likes to say, ‘just decided to
go for it,’ and inspired people
around the world, especially
Latino and Latinx audiences
who saw themselves represented
on screen. At the Moving
Image Awards, we were
moved by her generosity and
humanity.”
Moreno is also the recipient
of the Peabody Career
Achievement Award and the
Kennedy Center Honor for
her lifetime contributions to
American culture. She was
also honored by her peers
as the 50th recipient of the
Screen Actors Guild Life
Achievement Award.
Funds raised at the benefit
event help support MoMI’s
exhibitions, screenings and
education and community
engagement programs, which
serve youth and adults.
BY BILL PARRY
As real estate development
exploded across western
Queens for more than a
decade, essential infrastructure
improvements have
lagged far behind the needs of
its growing population.
On Wednesday, Dec. 8, the
School Construction Authority
broke ground on the massive
state-of-the-art, 3,066-seat
Northern Boulevard High
School in Woodside, which
will be the largest facility ever
constructed by the SCA.
“This school represents
our mission to invest in New
York City’s future, continuing
to create the school buildings
that our students need
and deserve,” SCA President
and CEO Nina Kubota said.
“Today’s groundbreaking
marks the next step in bringing
thousands of new seats to
Queens working with all of
our partners to provide the
infrastructure critical to the
success of our students.”
Construction is underway
on the huge lot at Northern
Boulevard and 54th Street,
which was the location of an
old Sports Authority store
and most recently hosted one
of the city’s COVID-19 testing
hubs.
The new, six-story school
building will be a fully airconditioned,
accessible facility
and will contain 94 regular
classrooms, six resource
rooms, a 55-seat auditorium,
a library, a full kitchen complex
with two student dining
areas, as well as a competition
sized gymnasium with
bleachers and locker rooms.
“I am thrilled to break
ground on the new Northern
Boulevard High School,
which will make a significant
dent in the school overcrowding
situation here in
Queens,” Queens Borough
President Donovan Richards
said. “Every child in our
borough deserves a quality
education, and more quality
schools should be something
we all strive for.”
The new building will
house three high schools, including
a District 75 program
providing instructional support
for students with special
needs.
When he was first elected
in 2009, Councilman Jimmy
Van Bramer used to drive
around his district looking
for potential sites for new
schools. As he finishes his
last term as councilman, his
list of accomplishments includes
15 new schools that
have been funded, built or
started bringing more than
10,000 new seats to District 26.
“The groundbreaking for
the Northern Boulevard H.S.
is a momentous occasion,”
Van Bramer said. “At a time
when many of New York
City’s schools are over capacity,
the inclusion of three high
schools and seats for more
than 3,000 students, including
a program for students
with specialized needs, is a
welcome addition, not only
for Woodside but New York
City as a whole.”
The school is expected to
open at the start of the 2025-
2026 school year.
“One of the biggest issues
we are facing in education is
rising class sizes,” Assemblyman
Brian Barnwell said.
“We have been advocating for
new school construction that
will help lower the studentto
teacher ratio for classes.
Today, we make a big stride
in lowering class sizes for our
students by the beginning
of construction on this new
high school.”
Outgoing Schools Chancellor
Meisha Porter took part
in the groundbreaking ceremony
and said the new facility
will help the DOE and SCA
bring more than 6,200 seats to
borough schools by 2026.
“This historic project will
bring thousands of new seats
to Queens and provide students
with state-of-the-art facilities
where they can learn,
grow and thrive,” Porter said.
“Thank you to our partners
at the School Construction
Authority, community leaders
and local Queens families
for helping us bring Northern
Boulevard High School to life.”
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
Rita Moreno with “West Side Story” playwright and
screenwriter Tony Kushner Photo by Marion Curtis/StarPix for MoMI
City offi cials break ground on
new high school in Woodside
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