Queens Community Board applications open

Applications are open for community board appointments. Eagle file photo by Jonathan Sperling

By Rachel Vick

Applications are once again open for Queens’ 14 Community Boards, Borough President Donovan Richards announced Thursday.

Civically minded individuals interested in participating in voluntary local representation can apply through Feb. 16.

“Government is more accountable when it works in close collaboration with the communities it is sworn to serve, and it is most effective when the full demographic spectrum of each and every neighborhood is justly represented,” Richards said. “I look forward to continuing the great strides we made last year in ensuring our 14 Queens community boards truly look and feel like the neighborhoods they represent, and I encourage anyone with an interest in community service to apply.”

The two-year term of service for the upcoming round of appointments will begin on Friday, April 1.

An online application is intended to level the playing field for applicants from different backgrounds, requiring neither notarization nor in-person delivery to the Queens Borough President’s Office.

A study from Measure of America found that diversity on the World’s Borough’s community boards paled in comparison to the recorded makeup of Queens’ Latino, Asian Black and immigrant populations.

The process, first implemented in 2021 was intended to mitigate the historic underrepresentation in the boards. Of Richards’ 110 first-time appointees, 62.4 percent were women — a 19-point increase from the prior rate. Nearly 75 percent of first-time appointees were 45 years old or younger and 43 percent were not older than 35.

Higher percentages of Latinx, African American/Black, AAPI and LGBTQ+ members were appointed than had been in the past.

The application deadline applies to hopeful and reapplying members. The application is available online at queensbp.org/community-boards.