36transition QU EENS HELPS WITH TRANSITION BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA Queens is taking part in Transition NYC. Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio announced the appointment of 60 leaders and experts to his transition committee on Wednesday, November 20. “My charge to the transition team is to identify women and men from every part of our city and walk of life that share a commitment to progressive and competent city government,” said de Blasio. “They will be advising me based on their wealth of experience and knowledge of specifi c issue areas and government agencies.” The Transition NYC team members, who will be volunteering their time during the transition, include several leaders from Queens organizations and institutions. They are Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer, executive director, Queens Council on the Arts; Udai Tambar, executive director, South Asian Youth Action; Elsie Saint Louis, executive director, Haitian- Americans United for Progress, Inc.; Dr. Marcia Keizs, president, York College, The City University of New York; and Jukay Hsu, founder, Coalition for Queens. “I am honored to be contributing to the creation of a new administration, a team New Yorkers can be proud of,” said Krakauer in a post on the Queens Council on the Arts website. “And to do that I will look to you, the creative citizens of this amazing borough, for your ideas and thoughts to bring back to the big table.” Queens also took part in the new DECEMBER 2013 I LIC COURIER I www.queenscourier.com administration’s transition through two panel discussions that were held at the de Blasio Talking Transition Tent in downtown Manhattan on Friday, November 22. “Thrive in Queens,” hosted by The Noguchi Museum, the Queens Economic Development Corporation and Long Island City Partnership, focused on the creative sector of the borough. According to The Noguchi Museum Director Jenny Dixon, who moderated the fi rst panel, they also spoke about “the need for greater marketing dollars and better public transportation,” and requested that the de Blasio administration “affi rm the borough of Queens through an inclusive agenda weighted equally for all of the fi ve boroughs.” “A great gathering of Queens folks were in the audience and similarly a great group of Queens’ economic drivers were represented on the panel,” said Dixon. “We hope what we have to say will be heard.” Photo Courtesy York College Dr. Marcia Keizs, president, York College Photo Courtesy Coalition for Queens Jukay Hsu, founder, Coalition for Queens Photo Courtesy Queens Council on the Arts Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer, executive director, Queens Council on the Arts Photo Courtesy Long Island City Partnership
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