Staying strong in 2011

“From the shores of the East River to the Atlantic Ocean coastline, Queens is building, growing and getting greener,” said Borough President Helen Marshall during the annual State of the Borough Address in which she highlighted the achievements of 2010 and laid out her vision for the future.
Marshall, who is beginning the second year of her third term as borough president, said that faith in the economic recovery is rising as hundreds of millions of dollars will be invested in libraries, parks, cultural institutions, historic houses and job growth provided by major building projects like the Willets Point Redevelopment in Flushing.
“It’s hard to pay the bills when you don’t have a job. With that in mind we’re pushing major projects and local streetscape improvements to create more attractive settings for businesses to grow and hire more employees,” said Marshall to hundreds of elected officials, community leaders and civic associations on-hand at Queens College’s Colden Center. She added that large developments like the Racino at Aqueduct Racetrack will generate more than 2,000 jobs and reported that a major contract has already been granted to an electrical firm in Ozone Park.
Funding for Queens libraries and cultural institutions were a hot button topic for Marshall who said she would “not rest until we obtain a level playing field” with other boroughs. Citing figures provided by the Mayor’s Management Report, Marshall revealed that although Queens has the busiest libraries in the city, they receive 18 percent less city funding per visitor than Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Staten Island.
“Using a fair funding formula, Queens was shortchanged by more than $11 million last fiscal year,” said Marshall who is seeking legislation that mandates fair funding. “This is not a borough against borough war. It’s a matter of fairness.”
The issue of fair funding carried over to Queens cultural institutions that Marshall said received less per capita support than any other borough. She added that she ran for a third term to finish major projects such as the expansion that doubled the size of the Museum of the Moving Image, the expansion at the Queens Museum of Art, the reconstruction at the Queens Botanical Garden and many other projects.
Two additional talking points in her speech, which lasted over an hour, focused on the closing of 10 senior centers over the past 18 months with more cuts on the horizon.
“Believe me, we will continue to fight these cuts,” she said.
She also noted a 28 percent spike in murders in southeast Queens, a situation Marshall, District Attorney Richard A. Brown and Councilmember Peter Vallone, Jr., chair of the Public Safety Committee, will be watching closely.
Marshall also mentioned that 2010 marked an all-time low in fire fatalities thanks to the efforts of the FDNY. Queens firefighter Antonio Velez, the hero that pulled a 12-year-old boy from a smoke-filled kitchen in a burning Auburndale home recently, was recognized and received a standing ovation for his bravery.
Also honored with lifetime achievement awards were Carol Hunt, executive director of the Jamaica Service Program for Older Adults, a multi-service organization that serves 5,000 elderly residents of Southeast Queens, and Tony Caminiti, a 99-year-old community leader in Corona and Elmhurst since he was appointed chair of the Corona Task Force in 1970. He still serves as chair of the parks and recreation committee for Community Board 4.
Other issues on Marshall’s agenda for the New Year include addressing the overcrowding in Queens schools, increased funding for new hospital equipment, programs designed to encourage arrest policies and enforcement of orders of protection in domestic violence cases and the largest rezoning in the city’s history for South Jamaica, which covers more than 500 blocks.
“We’ve spoken today about so many things that give us faith and belief in the future of Queens. I have great faith in the human spirit,” said Marshall.