Queens had a big night.
More than 400 united under one roof to celebrate those named to this year’s Queens Power List presented by Four Leaf Federal Credit Union and produced by Schneps Media. Those named came from a vast array of industries ranging from the Port Authority and airport leaders to business, healthcare and nonprofit at a pivotal time.
They celebrated and talked about ways to face challenges, at Russo’s on the Bay, amid a number of big projects in Queens, including huge airport revamps, Queens rail freight expansion, credit union expansion and a potential casino.
They united at an unusual time, talking about how to help as the region faced impending cuts to SNAP benefits, a federal government shutdown and elections.
A diverse group celebrated each other, diversity, community, their organizations, cooperation and the way leadership and organizations can work together to make a better borough.
The event raised money for Zone 126 through a raffle and a silent auction.
“You are the Power List,” said Schneps Media President Vicki Schneps, who has a long personal connection to Queens, where she has lived as she launched and grew her company. “You generate power. We’ve got the A-team here.”
She called Queens “the most diverse place on planet earth” with this evening as a chance for people of different backgrounds and businesses and causes to connect.
“This is the ultimate networking event, your chance to meet people you wanted to meet. This is our chance to get to know each other and see how we can help each other,” she said. “We’ve got to help each other.”
Some talked about their involvement in getting people to vote, such as Tanbir Chowdhury, president of They See Blue New York, a political action committee.
“To get South Asian voters, whether Democrat, independent or Republican, more actively involved,” Chowdhury said. “So they have a stronger voice in government.”
Dr. Anju J. Rupchandani is executive director of Zone 126, the beneficiary of a raffle at the event, focusing on supporting children in public housing and shelters, after-school programs, mental health, college and career readiness and more.
“We are going to be affected by the SNAP cuts,” she said. “We’re going to have to double our school pantry efforts.”
The event raised money for Zone 126 through a silent auction of things such as JetBlue flights, an autographed Karl-Anthony Towns jersey, Larry Byrd/Magic Johnson and Taylor Swift autographed photographs.
Role models and results
While winners focused on their organizations, many also talked about generations that went before.
Tunisia Morrison, co-founder of nonprofit Voyce Inc., a youth group that also does a large Juneteenth festival, cited her grandmother as a role model for creating an early private school in New York.
“I think it’s my grandfather,” Ira Goldstein, executive director of the Black Car Funds, added. “He put a lot of faith in me growing up. Unfortunately, he wasn’t around to see where I got to with my career.” The integrity he had, his loving nature and how important family was to him.”
Others talked about generations, with less education, working hard, but laying the groundwork and ethics for future success.
“Most people saw her as the fruit and vegetable lady,” Dr. Rupchandani said of her grandmother. “She was an entrepreneur.”
Connection and community were also themes for the event that was the backdrop as Schneps launched Schneps Connects Breakfasts, a series of morning networking events with a discussion with a successful business leader. “These are intimate networking breakfasts. Our first is on November 12 at the Garden City Hotel with Jim McCann, founder of 1-800 Flowers as our inaugural guest,” Elizabeth Schneps Aloni, SVP NYC Community Media and Events at Schneps Media, said. “McCann will talk about scaling a business and implementing AI strategically.”
Banking on Queens
As banks continued to expand to serve Queens, FourLeaf Federal Credit Union Central Islip Branch Manager Ellie Gomez, Latin Impact winner, talked about the importance of the borough’s Hispanic population.
“I love working with the Hispanic community, educating them in finance, especially coming from a Hispanic family,” Gomez said. “We’ve been opening more branches in Queens.”
FourLeaf just opened in Bayside, after opening in Sunnyside, as it grows its presence in the borough, including a big Hispanic population.
“Having a credit union branch means a lot of potential member base in the Hispanic community,” she said. “Residents and small business owners.”
Flights of fancy
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Deputy Chief of Intergovernmental and Community Affairs Hersh Parekh, said the PA has been particularly active in Queens.
“I think it’s a recognition of the fact of what we have been doing,” he said of his presence on the list. “We have been committed to giving back to the larger Queens community, making sure that work I do can elevate my neighbors and community.”
He said in addition to rebuilding JFK and LaGuardia, they are trying to “create opportunities and benefits for those who live, work and go to school around us.”
Director, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (right). Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
“We’ve been able to create incredible workforce development programs, business capacity programs, educational programs that really have helped a wide swathe of people,” Parekh said.
They completed the new LaGuardia airport, are in the midst of rebuilding JFK and are going to be doing more major projects in Manhattan.
“It’s spectacular,” Suzette Noble, CEO of LaGuardia Gateway Partners, redeveloper of LaGuardia Terminal B, said. “It’s pretty much done.”
Akshar Patel, JFK International Redevelopment Program’s co-manager of external affairs and community outreach, said the $20 billion revamp is meant to be done in conjunction with the community.
“We try to give back to the community through a community benefits agreement,” Patel said of two new terminals slated to open next year, with additional work slated to finish in 2028. “We want to not just redevelop, but redevelop as good neighbors.”
The Port Authority is continuing to revamp the city’s transportation infrastructure with the ort Authority bus terminal in Midtown Manhattan next.
“We just started construction a few months ago. That is our next big project,” Parekh said of the bus terminal. “We’re really ensuring these projects are done in a way that improves the customer experience, benefits the users of these facilities and brings opportunities to the local community.”
Betting on Queens
Resorts World New York City Senior Vice President of Community Development and Public Affairs Michelle Stoddart spoke after their casino won approval from its local community advisory council.
Resorts World New York City with Robert DeSalvio, President, Genting America’s East. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
Two other projects, including Hard Rock at Citifield and Bally’s at Whitestone Bridge, made it through that process. Up to three casinos can be selected as the siting panel recommends to the New York State Gaming Commission.
“We’re in the running,” Stoddard said. “We hope to be successful. . It would be an expansion of the property that we have.”
She said approval would allow them at the site of the former Aqueduct Racetrack to hire over 4,000 additional staff as they expand their gaming facilities and a Hyatt Regency hotel at JFK from 400 rooms to 2,000, while adding more than 30 restaurants and an arena holding 7,500 people.
“That was an advantage of the selection years ago,” she said of its ability to handle traffic. “The space is already earmarked for gaming.”
Health care
Queens has a wide range of healthcare providers. Honoree Dr. Cameron Hernandez, Mt. Sinai Queens President and Chief Operating Officer, grew up in Southern California. He gradually mixed medicine and management, providing access to nearly 500 physicians representing close to 40 medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties
And more care is coming to the borough. Bruce Planz, president and CEO of MediSys Health Network, talked about a huge healthcare project in the works.
“We’re working on bringing world-class cancer services to the people of Queens,” Planz said. “We’re partnering with Memorial Sloan Kettering with a $188 million grant from the governor. We’re going to be developing a comprehensive cancer center right here in Queens.”
“We’re a state formed not for profit,” Goldstein said. “We provide workers compensation and a whole other bunch of benefits for independent drivers who ordinarily wouldn’t have those benefits.”
Carlos Morena, founder and managing principal at PLUS Accounting Services, with offices in New York City and India, specializes in nonprofits. “Nonprofits for me are not just my business,” he said. “They’re my passion. It’s not just the mission. It’s the spirit.”
Freight is great
If airports are finding their future, rail is also amid a revolution, but not only for passengers. New York & Atlantic Railway President Marlon Taylor said his company is seeking to make more people aware of the growing presence and benefit of rail freight.
“The biggest issue is letting people know that a freight railroad does exist in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island,” Taylor said. “We’re bringing to market a lot of construction materials, food-grade products, and taking out a lot of scrap materials.”
They formed in 1997 when the Long Island Rail Road and MTA wanted to bifurcate freight and passenger service, focusing on passenger. New York & Atlantic Railway has since grown its freight business from 10,000 cars a year to about 30,000, carrying new products and taking some from trucks to trains that pollute less and don’t clog the roads.
You can learn more about those named to the Queens Power List presented by Four Leaf Federal Credit Union at QueensPowerList.com
2025 Queens Power List:
Elizabeth Bian, Manager, Community & Public Affairs, LiveOnNY
Stacy Bliagos, Esq., Executive Director, HANAC, Inc.
Tanbir Chowdhury, President, They See Blue New York ICON
Sylvia Cothia, President/Founder, Positive Women United ICON
Beth Covelli, LCSW-R, Executive Director, New York Counseling for Change, LLC; Queens Counseling for Change, LCSW, LLP
Robert J. DeSalvio, President, Genting America’s East ICON
Yvette Dennis, Executive Vice President of Program Management, Crescent Consulting ICON
Kevin Donohue, Environment, Health & Safety Manager, Alstom
Saeeda Dunston, Chief Executive Officer, Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities
Monique Edwards, Interim Director, Alstom ICON
Sylvia Fairclough-Leslie, Founding Member/Principal, Rochdale Early Advantage Charter School
Bruce Flanz, President and CEO, MediSys Health Network ICON
Vanessa Freeman, Mistress of Ceremonies, PIX11
Ellie Gomez, Branch Manager of the Central Islip Branch, FourLeaf Federal Credit Union LATIN IMPACT AWARD
Ira Goldstein, Executive Director, The Black Car Fund ICON
Mikal Haddad, Managing Director/Partner, Oxford Harriman & Co./Haddad & Co. ICON
Christopher Herman, Head of School, Garden School
Cameron R. Hernandez, MD, FACHE, President & Chief Operating Officer, Mount Sinai Queens
Jose Iglesias, Facilities Manager, Alstom LATIN IMPACT AWARD
Sasskia Jara, Manager of Procurement & Purchasing, MetroPlusHealth LATIN IMPACT AWARD
Leonard Jacobs, Executive Director, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning
Rosemary Lopez, Executive Director, AIDS Center of Queens County LATIN IMPACT AWARD
Christine Mangino, President, Queensborough Community College, CUNY ICON
Tunisia Morrison, Co-Founder, VOYCE, Inc. ICON
Tariqua J. Morrison-Mensah, Esq., Deputy General Counsel and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Office of the Queens Borough President
Akira Nesfield, Associate Project Director, R. F. Wilkins Consultants, Inc. ICON
Suzette Noble, Chief Executive Officer, LaGuardia Gateway Partners ICON
Carlos Norena, Founder and Managing Principal, PLUS Accounting Services
Tamar E. Ogburn, Community Relations Manager, Healthfirst ICON
Patricia Ornst, Managing Director, New York State and Local Government Affairs for Delta Air Lines
Angela Pennyfeather, Chief Operating Officer, Empire Security & Protection POWER COUPLE
JP Pennyfeather, Founder and CEO, Empire Security & Protection POWER COUPLE
Jean Woods Powell, Principal, Information Technology High School
Donovan Richards, Borough President of Queens ICON
Tyquana Rivers, President, Connective Strategies ICON
Justin K. Rodgers, President & CEO, Greater Jamaica Development Corporation ICON
Steven C. Rowland, Executive Director, Terminal One Group Association
Anju J. Rupchandani, Executive Director, Zone 126 ICON
Kelly Sexton, Political Director, IUOE Local 30 ICON
Michelle Stoddart, Senior Vice President of Community Development and Public Affairs, Resorts World New York City ICON
Marlon Taylor, President, New York & Atlantic Railway ICON
Vernon M. Taylor, Director of People Operations, JFK International Air Terminal ICON
David P. Tanis, Vice President, Patrick B. Jenkins & Associates
Josue Vicente, Operations Center Supervisor, Alstom LATIN IMPACT AWARD
Jamal Wilkerson, Manager of Communications & Public Affairs, New York Transco
Frank Wu, President, Queens College ICON
Jean Woods Powell, Principal, Information Technology High School
Jameela Yusuff, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Episcopal Health Services
