20 THE QUEENS COURIER • FEBRUARY 1, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Photo courtesy of Offi ce of the Queens Borough President
State of the Borough 2018
Katz outlines vision for the future of
Queens in State of the Borough address
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz gave the State of the Borough
Address on Jan. 26 in Astoria, where she
outlined achievements during her fi rst
term and a wish list of items she’d like to
see accomplished by 2030.
Katz, who was elected to a second term
as borough president in 2017, gave her
speech at the Frank Sinatra School of
the Arts. She was introduced by Senator
Chuck Schumer, who praised her “amazing
record” as assemblywoman and
Councilwoman during the ’90s and early
2000s.
Schumer also spoke about the borough’s
diversity and alluded to the battle occurring
in Washington over the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
program and nationwide immigration
policy.
“It is so diverse,” he said. “It represents
the best of America. It represents immigrants
and we are telling President Trump
and all of them, ‘Don’t pick on them. Th ey
are the greatest part of America. Th ey are
our future.’”
Katz, who was dressed in all black to
support the #MeToo movement, began by
addressing the political climate and how
it has aff ected Queens residents. She said
the past year has “challenged” every person
to think about what it means to be an
American.
“Th e 21,000 DACA-eligible individuals
in Queens grew up as American as my
own kids, and they ask for nothing more
than to be law-abiding citizens in the only
country they know to be their home,” she
added.
She outlined the achievements accomplished
during her fi rst term such as the
revitalization of Downtown Jamaica, the
continued recovery from Superstorm
Sandy, an 8.8 percent increase in jobs since
2013, universal pre-K, a satellite offi ce for
the Department of Veterans Aff airs, an
increase in tourism, the removal of 77
classroom trailers and more.
Th e Queens Borough President’s offi ce
also allocated nearly $300 million for capital
projects throughout the borough.
According to Katz, $41 million was allocated
to 354 public schools (kindergarten
through 12th grade), and CUNY schools
received $23 million for new construction
and upgrades.
In total, 57 borough parks received
almost $100 million and hospitals and
health centers also received $22 million.
NYCHA and Housing Preservation and
Development projects received $17 million
from the borough president’s offi ce.
Katz said these investments will set a
“roadmap” and build “the infrastructure
for the future.”
Th e borough president has set ambitious
goals starting with more funding
and additional school seats for the borough
with the most overcrowded schools.
According to Katz, Queens also receives
the lowest amount of funding per pupil.
“So we have the most kids, but get the
least amount to educate per kid,” she said.
Th e School Construction Authority
dedicated more than $1.9 billion dollars
to create 18,632 new school seats by
2020. But Katz said she would continue to
work with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration
to add more seats. District 24,
the most overcrowded school district in
Queens, needs 9,400 additional seats to
meet demand but only about half of those
seats are funded in the February 2017 capital
plan, according to a report.
She again mentioned her support for
Amazon, which has included Long Island
City on its shortlist for a second headquarters,
and her eff orts to attract more
tech jobs to the borough with her Western
Queens Strategic Tech Plan.
Katz’s vision for the borough by 2030
includes becoming the fi rst borough to end
homelessness among veterans; a branded
tourism campaign for Queens; no more
Temporary Classroom Units; free 3-K;
thousands of aff ordable housing units for
seniors; a new 116th Precinct; protected
bike lanes throughout the entire borough;
the completed Queens light rail; fully
operational LIRR stations in Elmhurst,
Long Island City and Willets Point; completed
overhauls of JFK and LaGuardia
Airports; and tens of thousands of aff ordable
housing units at Willets Point paid for
by a professional soccer stadium.
In the immediate future, Katz will create
the Queens Complete Count Committee,
which will be tasked with “strategizing and
maximizing participation in the Census
count in 2020.”
“Another Census undercount in New
York is not an impossibility,” she said.
“But we have so much at stake here
in Queens: federal resources for infrastructure,
for health services and for our
schools, representation by our local elected
offi cials, and more.”
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg formally
challenged the 2010 Census count
in a press conference in Jackson Heights,
arguing that the population numbers in
Queens and Brooklyn were incorrect,
altering the amount of federal dollars the
borough could receive.
“Together, we’ve all brought Queens so
far,” she said. “And so much more remains
to be done. But with a shared vision,
our vision, New York’s greatest potential,
opportunities and future are all here.”
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz gave her State of the Borough address in Astoria.