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QUEENS WEEKLY, FEB. 17, 2019
Make the Road breaks ground on Corona community center
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BY BILL PARRY
The immigrant advocacy
group Make the Road
New York proved it is
here to stay when it broke
ground Thursday on a permanent
home in Corona.
The organization will
build a three-story community
center at 104-19
Roosevelt Ave. across the
street from Corona Plaza
and when it is completed
in 2020, the new facility
will serve as a headquarters
and a “beacon of hope
signifying the dignity and
worth” of immigrant New
Yorkers and working-class
people of color.
“After years of dreaming
of having our own
home as an organization,
today we witnessed a historic
moment — we broke
ground to build a new and
gorgeous community center
in the heart of Queens,”
MRNY Co-Executive Director
Deborah Axt said.
“This new building will
enable us to do this ambitious
work, giving us the
space and resources we
need to serve more people
and run the many programs
that are so critical
to our mission. In a time
when many from our community
are living in fear,
this building is a sign of
hope and a place where we
all belong.”
The 24,000-square-foot
steel and masonry building
will include multiple
classrooms and flexible
education space, a community
gathering area, an expanded
number of private
office spaces, a commercial
kitchen and shared
dining area.
“We are enormously
proud that, in the face of
the continuing, egregious
anti-immigrant actions of
the current administration,
we are standing firm
and stronger than ever,”
MRNY Co-Executive Director
Javier Valdes said.
“It will be a welcoming
space signifying the value
of every person who enters
our doors, a beacon of
hope, safety, and dignity
for all immigrants and
working-class people of
color. On this day we make
good on our promise to our
community and the world:
We are here to stay.”
The organization will
move out of its current location
in Jackson Heights
upon the center’s completion
doubling the space
for immigrant rights programs
and enable large
and diverse groups to
gather in one space and
build collective action to
advocate for fair services
and policies in New York
and beyond.
“Make the Road New
York is a driving force for
immigrant rights, education,
equal opportunities
and justice,” Queens Borough
President Melinda
Katz said at the ceremony.
“This new community center
here to stay in Queens
will help expand the organization’s
capacity and
presence to build power
and further serve New
York’s growing families.
As the most diverse county
in the nation, Queens is
proud to be home to Make
the Road New York.”
The center is funded
with the generous support
of the City Council and individual
donors to the group’s
Here to Stay Campaign.
“Make the Road has
faithfully served our immigrant
friends and neighbors
for many years,”
City Councilman Daniel
Dromm, the Chairman
of the Council’s Finance
Committee, said. “I have
seen the impact of their
transformative work firsthand
and am pleased to
have helped make this capital
project a reality.”
The organization
says its values will “ring
through every aspect of
the space,” with all voices
heard, making clear what
transparency and democracy
in action look like.
“Every activist, organizer
and elected official
hopes their actions ripple
through the community,
but few make waves like
Make the Road New York,”
City Councilman Francisco
Moya said. “It will no
doubt extend their reach
and strengthen their foothold
in New York City as
they continue to fight for
justice and human rights.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
A multitude of elected officials joined leaders of
Make the Road New York at a ceremonial groundbreaking
for their new community center in Corona.
Courtesy of Make the Road New York
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