Long-Time Volunteers Honored By Beep
Sixty-five new community board members will be sworn in by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall at a ceremony next Thursday, June 14, at 6 p.m. at the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Another 272 members among the borough’s 337 individuals on 14 boards will also be reappointed and 37 recognized for serving 20 to 40 years on their respective boards.
Four individuals will be honored for 40 years of service. They are Vinicio Donato of Community Board 1, Thomas McKenzie and the late Anthony Caminiti of Community Board 4, and Paul Kerzner of Community Board 5.
Gerald Caliendo and Elizabeth Erion of Board 1, Patrick Beckles of Community Board 3, Jack Fried, Community Board 11 and James Heyliger II and Gerald David of Community Board 12 will be recognized for 35 years of service.
Thirty-year honorees include: George Stamatiades of Board 1, Gail Gordon of Community Board 6, Anthony Cosentino of Community Board 10 and Mohan Jethwani of Board 11.
Individuals honored for a quarter- century of service include: Norma Nieves-Blas, Linda Perno and Mannie Wilson of Board 1; Ann Pfoser Darby and Audrey Galligen of Board 4; Walter Sanchez and Connie Santos of Board 5; Susan Wanderman of Board 6; Florence Fisher, Tamar Hirsch, Stanley Weinblatt and Albert Willingham of Community Board 8; Margaret Finnerty of Board 10 and James Gulston Sr. and Richard Hellenbrecht of Community Board 13.
Eight individuals will be honored for 20 years of service. They are: Grace Lawrence of Board 3; Priscilla Carrow of Board 4; Margaret O’Kane of Board 5; Maurice Braithwaite of Board 8; Evelyn Baron and Priscilla Levine of Community Board 9; Michelle Keller of Board 12 and Zandra Myers of Community Board 14.
Community board members serve without compensation as they tackle issues related to the capital and expense budgets, land use and service delivery at monthly meetings.
“These dedicated board members put government into local communities and provide an invaluable service to their neighbors,” said Marshall, herself a former, longtime member of Board 3, which covers Jackson Heights, North Corona and East Elmhurst.
The borough president appoints all board members with at least onehalf of them selected from nominees of City Council members.
Marshall advised that anyone who wishes to become a community board member must be a New York City resident, who lives in or has a business, professional or significant interest within the confines of their respective board. Each board has up to 50 voting members who serve for staggered terms of two years.
The new community board members are:
– Board 2: Denise Keehan-Smith, Elliot Park, Michael Son and Santiago Vargas.
– Board 3: Sonya Davis-Roberts, Alfredo Gomez, Jairo Rodriquez, Shanel Thomas and Alice Pat Thorpe.
– Board 4: Stephen Castro, Rita Lumia, Patricia Martin, Lanfranco Mattei, Theresa Ann Rella, Francisco Rodriguez, Alton Derrick Smith, Marcello Testa, Damian Vargas and Lester Youngblood.
– Board 5: Caroline Fuchs and Luis Rodriguez.
– Board 6: Michael Cohen, Brian Lee, Jayro Pena, Jean Silva and Lilianna Zulunova.
– Board 7: Dilip Chauhan, Nicholas Corrado, Jeff Huang, Kevin Min Kang, Francis Keppel, Myungsuk Lee, Andrew Rocco and Kevin Shields Sr.
– Board 8: Robert Hoyt Block, Elke Maerz and Virginia Rallis.
– Board 9: Etienne David Adorno, Inderpaul Ahluwalia, Jucio Batista, Alexander Blenkinsopp and Patrick Khan.
Board 10: Nicholas Beneduce, Herbert Duarta, Leonora Gerardi and Jose Quijano.
– Board 11: Anthony Koutsouradis, Douglas Montgomery, Elizabeth Renner and Jyothi Sriram.
– Board 12: David Bucknor, Patrick Evans, Glenn Greenidge, Richard Hogan, Aiysha Jaggassar, Mae Machicote, Greg Mays, Simone Price, Denise Roberts, Florence Simmons, Taniesha Sledge and Yvette Sledge.
– Board 13: Robert Glover.
– Board 14: Matthew Kessler and Noreen Ellis.
