Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced that over $24.7 million in capital funding will go to Queens schools in fiscal year 2025 (FY25).
Richards announced the news during a press conference on Monday, Feb. 3, at the Queens Collegiate High School library, located at 167-01 Gothic Dr. in Jamaica. The high school is one of four high schools that collectively occupy the Jamaica Educational Campus, which also includes Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences, the High School for Community Leadership and Hillside Arts and Letters Academy.
Richards is allocating $4 million of the funding to construct a brand-new culinary arts kitchen on the campus. This will expand the current culinary program to serve students in all four schools on the campus. Currently, the program is only open to High School for Community Leadership students.
An underutilized former teachers’ cafeteria will be transformed into a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen. The kitchen will be outfitted with industry-standard ovens, a fire suppression system, high-end refrigerators, serving areas and other features.
The initial surveying process will begin within the month, with the duration of the project expected to be completed within the next three years. School officials are also working with the Institute of Culinary Education to pinpoint features of an industry-standard kitchen.
Richards, who is an alumnus of Jamaica High School, emphasized that by providing students with a robust culinary arts program, they can actualize their dreams of a future career in the field. “The second biggest employer in the United States is the food service industry, and what I take from that is that if we’re not training our kids in the culinary arts, we are not training them for success,” he said. “I believe the next Gordon Ramsay or Marcus Samuelsson is growing up right here in southeast Queens.”
Richards praised teachers and administrators for their dedication to uplifting students on the campus. “One of the fights that I’ve had and I continue to push and talk about in our community is that you don’t have to leave this community to get a quality education. Queens has some of the greatest educational initiatives that are happening in the city, and I’m so proud of the work that you do,” Richards said.
Carlos Borrero, principal of the High School for Community Leadership, said the culinary program has run on a tight budget since it began over ten years ago. With limited resources, students learn culinary skills using hot plates and other basic equipment.
Borrero explained that despite obstacles, the culinary program has taught students valuable life skills. “We started this program, and I can’t tell you how much it has meant for me to see students learn about good eating, health, to learn science through cooking, to really merge the core traditional academic subjects with something that is fun, all the while learning extremely valuable life skills,” Borrero said. “We are honored that now we’re able to extend these opportunities to all students on the campus.”
Samantha Lewin, a junior at the High School for Community Leadership, shared her experience with the culinary arts program.
Lewin, 16, said she gained hands-on kitchen experience during her time in the program last year despite the limited resources.
Due to a lack of a proper oven, students used hot plates and conduction ovens to cook and bake their food. Lewin felt that with limited resources, meals would feel rushed and not taken to their full potential. Despite this, Lewin said the culinary class allowed her to get over her fear of cooking.
“It made it clear to me the joy and fulfillment of cooking, and it even sparked ideas of pursing culinary arts in the future,” Lewin said. The youngster added that she hopes other students who use the new space will have similar dreams of pursuing the culinary arts. “I wish to grow their love and passion for culinary, all while being in a more professional setting,” she said.
Since taking office, Richards has allocated over $78 million in capital funding to Queens public schools. Richards’ FY25 allocation of $24.7 million is greater than the combined total of his allocations to schools in FY22 ($11.5 million) and FY23 ($10.7 million). It also represents his second-largest single-year allocation in any category, behind last year’s $33 million allocation to Queens schools in FY24.
Some of the significant projects included in the FY25 funding allocation include a combined $2.5 million for the construction of media centers at P.S. 52 in Springfield Gardens, P.S. 139 in Rego Park and P.S. 312 in Jamaica, a combined $2.25 million for the construction of a culinary arts teaching kitchen and the comprehensive renovation of the art classroom at Richmond Hill High School in Richmond Hill.
Additionally, $1.5 million will be used to construct a culinary arts teaching kitchen at Hillcrest High School in Jamaica Hills, $1 million to reconstruct the aviation engine maintenance test classroom at Aviation High School in Woodside and $1 million to construct a STEM lab at the Eagle Academy of Southeast Queens in Jamaica.
Other significant projects include $1 million for athletic field renovations at Bayside High School and $750,000 for gym and locker room upgrades at P.S. 234 in Astoria.
Richards is also using the FY25 funding to continue increasing the number of hydroponics labs in schools across Queens. His office has allocated a combined $2.9 million this fiscal year to construct new labs in 12 different schools: P.S. 7, P.S. 40, P.S. 45, P.S. 86, P.S. 135, P.S. 152, P.S. 175, M.S. 226, P.S. 277, M.S. 419, the Baccalaureate School for Global Education and Queens Metropolitan High School.
