2 JANUARY 13, 2022 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Applications for Queens community boards now open
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMED@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards is currently accepting
online applications from
qualifi ed and civic-minded individuals
who are interested in serving on their
local community board.
The community board plays an important
advisory role in considering
land use and zoning matters in their
respective districts under the city’s
Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
The 2022 community board application,
like the previous year’s groundbreaking
iteration, can be fi lled out
online, ensuring prospective applicants
can complete the process quickly and
easily, and again allowing for a more
diverse applicant pool and safer application
process in light of the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s online application again
requires neither notarization nor inperson
delivery to the Queens borough
president’s offi ce.
“Government is more accountable
when it works in close collaboration
with the communities it is sworn to
serve, and it is most eff ective when the
full demographic spectrum of each and
every neighborhood is justly represented,”
Richards said. “I look forward
to continuing the great strides we made
last year in ensuring our 14 Queens
community boards truly look and feel
like the neighborhoods they represent,
and I encourage anyone with an interest
in community service to apply.”
The community board application
is available online at queensbp.org/
community-boards. The deadline to
submit the electronic application is
Wednesday, Feb. 16.
This deadline applies to both new applicants
and existing community board
members seeking an additional term.
For the upcoming round of appointments,
the two-year term of service will
begin on Friday, April 1, 2022.
Prior to Richards assuming offi ce in
December 2020, signifi cant demographic
inequalities existed within each of the
14 community boards in Queens. The
borough president worked to correct
that underrepresentation, beginning
with the 2021 application process.
Of his 110 fi rst-time appointees, 62.4%
were women — a 19.1-point increase
from the prior rate of female community
board membership — while 74.3%
of fi rst-time appointees were 45 years
old or younger and 43.1% were no older
than 35. Compared to 2020 board membership,
the 2021 appointee class also
had greater percentages of those who
self-identify as Latinx/Hispanic (24.8%),
African American/Black (24.8%), immigrant
(17.4%), South Asian (14.7%),
East Asian/Pacifi c Islander (11%) and
LGBTQIA+ (8.3%).
In total, the revamped application
process led to a diverse pool of over
900 applicants, including more than 700
people who were not existing members
of a community board, a near-threefold
increase from 2020.
There are 59 community boards citywide,
including 14 in Queens, and each
hold monthly full membership meetings.
The boards also hold hearings and
issue recommendations about the city
budget, municipal service delivery and
numerous other matters that impact
their communities.
Applications for Queens community boards are now open, Queens
Borough President Donovan Richards announced on Jan. 6, 2022.
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