Digging Queens one day at a time

As a long time resident of Queens, former Borough President Claire Shulman has dedicated much of her time to improving the lives of her fellow residents and continues to do so today, long after her official retirement.
Although Shulman left the office of Borough President in 2001, she is still very active in the borough. She is a board member of the Queens County Savings Bank, Flushing Cemetery, St. Mary’s Hospital for Children, New York Hospital Queens, Primary Care Development Corporation, Flushing Town Hall, and the York College Foundation.
Frequently, Shulman, 80, attends meetings and events with the focus of improving the borough of Queens, which she has called home since 1943. Even in retirement, Shulman said that she has no extra time.
Shulman, who was born in Brooklyn, initially worked as a registered nurse. From 1946 to 1950, she was a member of the staff at Queens General Hospital. While working at the hospital, she met her husband, Dr. Melvin Shulman.
The mother of three and grandmother of five was highly involved in the schools and surrounding Bayside community, which is where she once resided. In the past, she held positions such as president of the Mother’s Club at P.S. 41 and executive board member of the Bayside High School PTA. She also served as the chair of the Bayside Beautification Council and as a charter member of the Bayside Historical Society.
“My children were growing up and I wanted them to have the best possible environment and mostly because I could do it,” Shulman said of her decision to become so active in her community.
In 1968, Shulman became further involved when she started a four-year tenure as the chair of Community Board 11. When she left the position in 1972, Shulman took on the role of director of the Queens Community Board, staying there for eight years until 1980.
The next challenge that Shulman took on was as the Deputy Queens Borough President. She started in 1980 and remained in that position until 1986, at which time the then Borough President, Donald Manes, resigned.
Shulman first served as Acting Borough President but was then officially appointed to the position by the City Council. She ran for election in 1989 and stayed as the borough president until 2001.
“When it came time to run again, I decided to run for office since I knew it so well,” Shulman said.
During her time as borough president, Shulman was a part of many important changes in Queens. Although she said they are far too numerous to print, some of them include the creation of a new hospital, the New York Hall of Science, Roy Wilkins Park, the Queens Museum of Art and the Museum of Moving Image, as well as the addition of many more school seats.
“I put a lot of shovels in the ground and many of those institutions are important to the future of Queens,” said Shulman, who currently lives in Beechhurst.