Fresh off her State of the Borough address delivered at the end of January, Borough President Helen Marshall updated district managers and representatives from all of Queens’ community boards, members of the Queens Chamber of Commerce and various guests from around the borough at the annual Breakfast with the Borough President held at the LaGuardia Marriott in East Elmhurst.
Each year, Marshall takes the opportunity to update those in attendance about a range of issues that will affect the borough in the coming year. She began with an optimistic economic outlook for 2011.
“Unemployment is Queens is declining and our faith in the economic recovery is rising,” said Marshall, who is serving her third term as Borough President. “New York City continues to lead the nation on getting people back to work.”
According to Marshall, the biggest challenges to the borough will be reducing crime –especially the murder rate in southeast Queens, which increased by 28 percent – and the allocation of funds to Queens’ libraries and cultural institutions.
“Last year, every Queens branch [library] received $77,000 less than Brooklyn branches . . . This is not a borough against borough war. It’s a matter of fairness. I will not rest until we obtain a level playing field. We all pay our taxes in Queens too,” said Marshall.
In her speech, which lasted just over 20 minutes, Marshall highlighted her copious funding for the arts, the expansions at JFK and LaGuardia airports and economic development projects such as the Willets Point Redevelopment and the RKO Keith Theater in Flushing, which has recently received approval to construct 350 rental units and 300 parking spots while maintaining its historic lobby. According to Frank Macchio of the Queens Chamber Board of Directors, they are expecting to break ground next fall.
“As you can see, we are not sitting back during this recession. Together, we are building for the future,” said Marshall.
