Make the Road New York breaks ground
Community center on Roosevelt Avenue expected to be completed in Corona by 2020
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
A multitude of elected officials joined leaders of Make the Road New York at a ceremonial ground-breaking for their new community
center in Corona. Photos courtesy of Make the Road New York
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
(From l. to r.) KBE Building Corporation’s Bruno Guarini joins Make the Road New York leadership
Deborah Axt, Gladys Puglia, Ana Maria Archila and Javier H. Valdez at the groundbreaking for the
Corona community center.
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.”
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