FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 14, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 51
Victoria’s
SECRETS
Victoria
SCHNEPSYUNIS
vschneps@schnepsmedia.com
It was a gloriously sunny aft ernoon
as I drove into Crystal
Windows’ busy parking lot
off the Whitestone Expressway.
Knowing it was being created,
I had trepidation coming to
the unveiling of the 6-foot-high
sculpture of Claire Shulman
that Th omas and Steven Chen
had commissioned.
Claire was an extraordinary
person who served as Borough
President of Queens for 16 years.
Even aft er her term was over, she
continued to serve the borough
until her death at 94 as the leader
of the Flushing Willets Point
Corona Local Development
Corporation, overseeing the
changing waterfront of that
bursting community.
But most importantly, she was
my best friend on earth.
We met when I was fi ghting
to open what was to become the
fi rst group home in New York
State for children with developmental
disabilities from the
infamous Willowbrook State
School. Under the Willowbrook
consent decree, these children
were to live in communities
near their homes, but in homelike
environments with day
programs to serve their needs.
Th e neighbors near the home
that Life’s WORC purchased
in Little Neck did not want
us there and sued to stop us
from being in their R1-2 zoned
neighborhood.
During that fractious
time, I visited Queens
Borough Hall and met
with Claire, who was
running the community
board offi ces, with
her boss being Borough
President Donald Manes.
Sitting at the far end
of her large and imposing
wood-paneled room, Claire
was a very intimidating fi gure,
but we took to each other very
quickly when she understood
what my mission was.
Life’s WORC won the lawsuit,
giving every group home that
followed the right to be in
residential neighborhoods
— and I won a
lifelong friend.
From those challenging
days in the
mid-1970s to the day
she died just over a
year ago, we were in
almost daily contact.
Claire, I need you near me
Steve (l.) and Thomas Chen unveiled the statue they commissioned to be made of Claire Shulman.
As the years passed, we not
only socialized locally, but also
traveled the world together from
Israel to China, to Alaska, where
we went for our last trip. Our
husbands — both doctors —
respected and appreciated each
other, and that added to our
friendship.
But I wasn’t the only one
Claire nurtured with her friendship.
She was, by profession, a
nurse, and she cared for and
worried about an endless number
of people throughout her
lifetime.
During her political career, she
met Th omas Chen, who was trying
to create a building for his
window manufacturing business
in Queens aft er starting in
his garage. He turned to Claire
for help in achieving his dream.
She mentored and guided him
through the bureaucracy of city
government, even making it possible
for him to get the permits
to open his latest manufacturing
building, just as everything was
closing and crashing down during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
A year before Claire died,
Th omas told her he wanted to have
an artist from Taiwan create a lifesize
sculpture of her, and together
we visited his 22-acre property
upstate, where it would be placed.
We had seen a sketch of the face,
but never the entire fi gure.
Thomas, an extraordinary
man, and his talented, brilliant
son Steven endlessly show
appreciation to the community
for their great accomplishments
in business. Th e family created
a sculpture garden featuring the
people who had helped the family
achieve its success.
Th e day of Claire’s sculpture
unveiling was one I was looking
forward to, but it took me by surprise
as the sheet dropped
and revealed
sculptor
Yutien Chang’s marvelous work,
a powerful and moving bronze,
6-foot-tall, lifelike portrayal of
my friend Claire.
He perfectly captured Claire’s
essence, with her looking ready
to step into her next project! We
all went “ooh” and “aah” as we
looked upon her.
Th omas and Steven told the
prestigious Queens leaders gathered
for the unveiling that it
would stay on exhibition in the
lobby of his Whitestone factory
until the end of October and then
would have a permanent home on
his upstate farm in Crystal Park.
As I reluctantly drove away,
not wanting to leave her there, I
thought, “Why not create a copy
of the sculpture and keep it in
Queens for everyone to see?”
I got on my car phone and
called to ask the Chens what
it would cost to make a replica.
Th ey told me, with shipping
from Taiwan, where the artist
works, it would cost $35,000!
I asked them to make sure the
artist saves the mold.
I want Claire here in Queens,
where she inspired and made
us all better people and
transformed the borough into a
better place.
Aft er all, during her 16 years in
leadership, she oversaw the construction
of the USTA Billie Jean
King National Tennis Center,
the expansion of the New York
Hall Of Science and the Queens
Museum, the creation of a swimming
pool in Flushing Meadows
Corona Park and the addition
of $100 million worth of sewers
in southeast Queens, to name
a few. She molded the face and
future of Queens!
We must keep her powerful
image in the borough she adored
and shaped.
In a call with Queens Borough
President Donovan Richards,
he told me that he will work to
allocate funds toward bringing
Claire’s statue home.
We will fi nd a way to continue
to see her strong, inspiring
fi gure!
Stay tuned!
Power Women Cathy Hung, Congresswoman
Grace Meng, State Senator Toby Stavisky,
Pauline Chu and Li Su joined in the celebration!
The statue
perfectly
captures the
spirit of Claire!
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