Premiere Queens Power List event showcases the most influential people in the ‘World’s Borough’

Hundreds gathered at Terrace on the Park for the inaugural Queens Power List, an event which recognizes the borough’s most influential people across several industries.

On Wednesday, Oct. 3, The Queens Courier and Power List Committee honored the top movers and shakers in business, the arts, education and politics for their accomplishments in their respective fields. Honorees at the first-ever Queens Power List were determined after months of deliberations and included CEOs, politicians, company presidents and nonprofit leaders.

The Queens Power List event is an offshoot of the Long Island Power List, which has been honoring individuals from Long Island for the past 15 years. Back in April, the annual award’s gala was held at The Mansion at Oyster Bay for its “crystal” anniversary.

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz was invited to provide opening remarks, during which she congratulated the VIPs and honorees of the night.

SCNG Publisher Victoria Schneps expressed her excitement to honor “the best and the brightest from Queens” for the first time ever and invited each of the Power Listers to introduce themselves. The general consensus among the crowd was that they were honored and humbled to be recognized.

Kevin Alexander, CEO of the Rockaway Development and Revitalization Corporation Inc., was one of the honorees from the inaugural batch of Queens’ most influential people. For the past 13 years, Alexander has worked to improve the lives of people from the Rockaways, providing them with the resources to find jobs, become homeowners and manage their money.

“I’m flattered to receive the honor on behalf of the organization, but there’s more work to be done,” said Alexander.

President of Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology Dr. Sharon B. DeVivo was also among the honorees of the inaugural event. DeVivo began her career at Vaughn in 1996 and became president in 2014. She credits her staying power to the “incredible students” at the school.

“I’m 1,000 percent committed to giving students the best possible education,” DeVivo said. She added that students telling her that they got a job or internship is part of “what makes the job meaningful.”

The 2018 Queens Power List honorees were as follows:

KEVIN ALEXANDER
President & CEO
Rockaway Development and
Revitalization Corporation, Inc.

ANA MARIA ARCHILA
Co-Executive Director
Center for Popular Democracy

GINA ARGENTO
President & CEO
Broadway Stages

JOANN ARIOLA SHANKS
Director of Intergovernmental Affairs
MediSys Health Network
Chairwoman, Republican Party of Queens County

ERIC BENAIM
CEO
Modern Spaces

SETH BORNSTEIN
Executive Director
Queens Economic Development Corporation

JOHN BRUCKNER
NY President
National Grid

JOHN BURAN
CEO
Flushing Bank

CAROL CONSLATO
Director of Public Affairs
Con Edison

RICK COTTON
Executive Director
The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey

JOHN “SEAN” CROWLEY
Partner
Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP

SHARON DEVIVO
President
Vaughn College

RICHARD K. DZWLEWICZ
Regional Vice President/SVP
TD Bank

FRED ELGHANAYAN
President
TF Cornerstone, Inc.

THOMAS ELGHANAYAN
Chairman
TF Cornerstone, Inc.

PHILLIP ENG
President
Long Island Rail Road

JOSEPH FICALORA
President & CEO
New York Community Bancorp

HECTOR FIGUEROA
President
32BJ Service Employees International Union

FLOYD FLAKE
Senior Pastor
Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral

CONRADO “BOBBY” GEMPESAW
President
St. John’s University

MICHAEL GOLDBERG
Executive Director
LIJ Medical Center

CARL GOODMAN
Executive Director
Museum of the Moving Image

AHMED HEGAZY
Executive Director
EIHAB Human Services

Dr. MARGARET HONEY
President and CEO
New York Hall of Science

DENNIS IFILL
President
DC37 Local 1359

PATRICK B. JENKINS
Founder
Patrick B. Jenkins and Associates

HOPE KNIGHT
President
Greater Jamaica Development Corporation

JACK KOPNISKY
President & CEO
Sterling National Bank

GARY LABARBERA
President
Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York

JEFFREY E. LEVINE
Founder & Chairman
Douglaston Development

DOROTHY LEWANDOWSKI
Queens Borough Commissioner
NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation

ELIZABETH LUSSKIN
President
Long Island City Partnership

JOSEPH MATTONE
Founder, Chairman & CEO
The Mattone Group

STEVEN MENDELSON
President & CEO
Zwagner-Pesiri Radiology
SCOTT MOLINA
President
Resorts World Casino NYC

FRANK MONTERISI
Senior Vice President
Related Management Company

TYLER MORSE
CEO, Managing Partner
MCR Development

SATEESH NORI
Attorney-in-Charge
Queens Neighborhood Office
of the Legal Aid Society

DEIRDRE O’CONNELL
CEO
Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty

ELLIOT PARK
CEO
Shine Electronics

LESTER PETRACCA
President & CEO
Triangle Equities

AUDREY PHEFFER
Queens County Clerk & Commissioner of Jurors

ISRAEL ROCHA
CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst
CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals/OneCity Health
Vice President, NYC Health + Hospitals

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Schneps Connects

MICHAEL ROSENBLUT
President and CEO
Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation

THOMAS RUDZEWICK
President and CEO
Maspeth Federal Savings and Loan Association

CARYN A. SCHWAB
Executive Director
Mount Sinai Queens

CLAIRE SHULMAN
President and CEO
Flushing Willets Point Corona LDC

LEONARD STEKOL
Chairman, President and CEO
Ridgewood Savings Bank

ALAN SUNA
CEO
Silvercup Studios

STUART SUNA
President
Silvercup Studios

TRAVIS TERRY
Chief Operating Officer
Capalino+Company

TONY UTANO
President
Transport Workers Union Local 100

DENNIS M. WALCOTT
President and CEO
Queens Library

MARK S. WEPRIN
Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig

FRED WILPON
NY Mets Chairman of the Board

JEFF WILPON
COO
NY Mets

MICHAEL WOLOZ
Partner
Connelly McLaughlin & Woloz

ELECTED OFFICIALS

MELINDA KATZ
Queens Borough President

HAKEEM JEFFRIES
Congressman, 8th District

CAROLYN MALONEY
Congresswoman, 12th District

GREGORY MEEKS
Congressman, 5th District

GRACE MENG
Congresswoman, 6th District

TOM SUOZZI
Congressman, 3rd District

NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ
Congresswoman, 7th District

2018 Queens Power List Cocktail Sponsors:

National Grid