18 THE COURIER SUN • FEBRUARY 23, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Best of the Boro Queens businesses crowned ‘Best of the Boro’ gather to celebrate their victory BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI smonteverdi@qns.com @smont76 The best in Queens businesses gathered to meet, mingle and celebrate their newly acquired title of “Best of the Boro.” On Feb. 16, hundreds of the leaders in Queens business attended the Bethpage Federal Credit Union Best of the Boro Winners’ Party at Terrace on the Park for an exclusive networking opportunity and celebration. Now in its fifth year, the Best of the Boro program is a coveted award reserved for Queens’ best businesses as determined by the public. The program is now sponsored by Bethpage Federal Credit Union — the largest credit union in the northeast — which offers the community a full range of banking products including checking, savings, credit cards, mortgages and loans. Joshua Schneps, CEO and co-publisher of Schneps Communications, welcomed the winners and their friends and family to the event. “Thousands of residents from the borough of Queens went online to nominate your businesses … and thousands more people came online to vote,” Schneps said. “This is a great opportunity to tell people that you are the best — not by waving your own hands in the air, but by letting people know that thousands of your own residents and people that do business with you believe in you.” “You are the stars,” said Victoria Schneps, co-publisher of Schneps Communications. “The energy in this room tells it all.” Winners spoke with QNS about the impact of being crowned the Best of the Boro. “This is a great way to promote ourselves to the Queens community,” said Sheeba Madhu of the Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel in Flushing, which won for Best Hotel Services and Best Wedding Venue. “Being able to say that we are the Best of the Boro … With this, people will notice us much more.” “Winning this award, we’re hoping to get a lot of new students,” said Christina Vandian of Renaissance Fine Art School, which won for Best Art School. “We’ve recently relocated to Bayside, so we’re hoping to get some new people and start a new class.” “We want to be known as the Queens chocolatier,” said Mark Libertini of Aigner Chocolates in Forest Hills, which won for Best Chocolatier. “There are very few chocolatiers in the city that make their chocolates in-house, and we’re one of the few in Queens who do that. So we feel very fortunate.” The evening also brought performances from the Performing Arts Conservatory based in Jackson Heights, which won for Best Music School. “We’ve been working for the community for 16 years … and I hope to continue to keep working for the community, as we are creating a new world full of kids and adults who love art,” said Teresa Rishik, director of the school. “It is a pleasure today to be here receiving this award.” For a full list of this year’s winners, visit http://bestof.qns.com/. Photos by Allen Ngai The team at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Gemelli Jewelers: Joe Gemelli and John with Mr. Met. Hosts Joshua Schneps and Victoria Schneps-Yunis, Schneps Communications; Sponsor Jerry Schmitt, Bethpage Federal Credit Union. Aigner Chocolates
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