Feature
Kaufman Astoria Studios VP
Tracy Capune is QEDC’s
new board president
38 DECEMBER 2018 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
Photo courtesy of the
BY BILL PARRY
Kaufman Astoria Studios vice president Tracy Capune, a veteran
urban planner and economic development consultant, was elected
president of the Queens Economic Development Corporation’s
(QEDC) board of directors.
Capune will help guide the nonprofit in its mission to cre-ate
and retain jobs in the borough through programming
that grows neighborhoods, assists small businesses and
promotes tourism and business development since 1977.
Capune oversaw Kaufman Astoria Studio’s (KAS)
expansion plans that have made it one of the largest and
most sophisticated film and television production facilities
on the East Coast while managing other initiatives that
generate economic growth in western Queens in the
neighborhoods that surround the studio in Astoria.
Capune played an integral role in creating KAS’s
backlot while managing the Stage K building’s expansion
and was a key team member in developing The Marx, a
33-unit condominium building across from the studio. In
2014, she spearheaded the successful effort for the City
Council to designate a 24-block area surrounding the studio
as the “Kaufman Arts District” as a way to promote emerging
artists and the area’s cultural institutions including the Museum
of the Moving Image, the Queens Council on the Arts and the
Frank Sinatra School of the Arts .
“Tracy has an extensive background in economic development and
local Queens issues,” QEDC Executive Director Seth Bornstein said. “I look
forward to working with her to create new programs that will help us assist
more people seeking to grow and expand their business.”
Currently, Capune, who has a Masters in Urban Planning from New York Uni-versity,
is overseeing a KAS expansion project to build Stage O and N. In addition
to her work with QEDC, where she has been a trustee for nine years, Capune is
a member of the board of directors of Queens Theatre, The Chocolate Factory
Theater and the Kaufman Arts District.
“I’ve served on QEDC’s board for several years and it is an honor to be
elected President,” Capune said. “Seth Bornstein and his staff do terrific
work helping small and startup businesses to grow and promoting
tourism here in the borough.”
Capune added she is looking forward to her new role at the
QEDC.
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