Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens (VBGCQ) held a closing ceremony earlier in December as the youth club prepares to break ground on a state-of-the-art clubhouse in Astoria early next year.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Council Member Shekar Krishnan joined Variety CEO Costa Constantinides at the existing VBGCQ headquarters at 21-12 30th Rd. for a closing ceremony on Dec. 16.
The existing clubhouse, which has served youths in Western Queens since 1955, currently serves around 4,000 children and teens each year but is slated to undergo a major $305 million redevelopment project that will transform it into a state-of-the-art, 125,000 square-foot facility.
The City Council has allocated $12 million in funding toward the project, prompting Adams and Krishnan to visit Variety for its closing ceremony earlier in December.
“Congratulations on this next chapter,” Adams said in a post on social media, adding that she was “honored” to join Constantinides at the closing ceremony.
VBGCQ is set to break ground on the new clubhouse in January.
The redeveloped clubhouse will include a regulation pool, a gymnasium, a teaching kitchen, a theater, and what will become the first planetarium in Queens, expanding the Club’s ability to deliver educational, recreational, and enrichment opportunities for generations to come.
Once complete, the new clubhouse will allow the organization to serve up to 16,000 children annually, Constantinides said, making it the largest Boys and Girls Club in the United States. The redevelopment will also effectively quadruple the reach of its after-school, athletic and swimming programs in Queens.
The project also includes a 236-unit, carbon-neutral affordable housing development, with 69 units reserved for youth aging out of foster care, as well as a dedicated children’s mental health center. Additional features include a 1,500-seat arena and a 400-seat school, further integrating community services with educational and recreational programming.
The new regulation swimming pool, meanwhile, will replace the club’s longtime pool facility, last upgraded in the early 2000s. The upgraded aquatic center will also include a wading pool for “Mommy and Me” and “Daddy and Me” classes, a wet locker room, and a parent viewing gallery.
On a previous visit to Variety in June, Adams described the youth club as a “beacon and a second home” to kids throughout Queens for the past 70 years. She added that the Council’s investment in the renovation will “plant the seeds of success” for future generations in Queens.
The project is expected to take approximately 30 months, with completion targeted for early 2028. VBGCQ activities will be temporarily relocated to a nearby senior center and four partner schools while the new clubhouse is under construction, while the only service the organization will not be able to provide during construction is its current swimming services.
