The United Communities Alliance, under the chairmanship of community advocate and attorney Albert Baldeo, held its annual awards gala on Friday, May 29 at the Majestic Marquise in Ozone Park. The occasion brought together many diverse supporters and friends from throughout the Queens area to celebrate the accomplishments and significant contributions of elected, professional, community and business leaders for their tireless commitment to serving the community.
Tribute was paid by Baldeo to Borough President Helen Marshall, whose parents were born in Guyana. Other public officials who attended the event, or were represented, included Governor David Paterson, Congressmember Gregory Meeks, State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, State Senators John Sampson, Shirley Huntley, and Joseph Addabbo, Assemblymember Audrey Pheffer, Councilmembers Elizabeth Crowley, Eric Gioia, and John Liu. They also received commendations for their public service.
Also honored were civic leaders Maria A. Thomson, Frank Kotnik, Brian Dooley, Vance Barbour, Andrea Crawford, Howard Kamph, Kathy Masi, Arlene LoMastro, Margaret Finnerty, Balbir Multani, Tom and Cathy Murawski, Eleanor Errante; business leaders Patrick Ramlall of Ram’s Bottled Water, Rajindra and Sandra Datnarain of Majestic Marquee’s Catering Hall, Mendra Singh of Metrocity, Dr. Wendy Keiser-O’Neill and Fred Baldeo, Raghbir Singh Subhanpur, Rajender Singh Bawa, Asghar Ali and Jarnail Singh.
The United Communities Alliance seeks to empower and improve the quality of life of residents living in Queens. Its goals are to galvanize residents of the district into active participation for the betterment of the district, to develop coalitions of neighborhood organizations and groups, to foster a greater civic voice for the community, to solve issues and problems confronting neighborhoods, and to translate civic activity into positive activity.
