Richards announces 110 new Queens community board members

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced institutional changes to community boards. Photo by Jeff Reed/City Council

By Rachel Vick and David Brand

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced the first community board appointments of his tenure Thursday, adding 110 new members as he attempts to make the civic bodies more representative of the districts they serve. 

Richards appointed 373 members to Queens’ 14 boards, which serve as key conduits between local communities and city government. Community boards make advisory recommendations on land use issues, weigh in on street design plans, educate residents about topics like ranked-choice voting and host forums on other key local concerns. 

Annual analysis by the Eagle and the organization Measure of America has revealed the racial, ethnic, gender and age disparities that pervade every board in the borough, however. Richards said he was committed to changing those disparities by appointing more young people, more women, more immigrants and more people of color, particularly Latino and Asian residents, to the boards. 

He cited the reporting in a press conference Tuesday.

“Community boards have always played an intricate role in moving our communities forward but coming out of this pandemic I would be remiss if I didn't say we can’t get back to normal,” Richards told reporters. “We need to make sure that we’re doing better as we move forward on behalf of the people of Queens.”

Richards touted the diversity of the new members, selected from a record 931 applications.

“We’re beginning and off to a great start, but the work is not done,” Richards said.

Over 15 percent of new appointees are between ages 16 and 25; 31 percent are between ages 26 and 35; and 31 percent are between ages 36 and 45, according to data shared by borough’s president. 

Last year, only about a third of members were younger than 55, the Eagle and MOA found.  

About two-thirds of appointees are women and no single racial or ethnic group accounts for more than a quarter of appointees, the new data shows.

Richards said Tuesday that nearly 25 percent of new appointees identify as Latino, while 17.4 percent identify as immigrants — two particularly underrepresented populations over the past two years that the Eagle has analyzed the demographics. Another 11 percent of appointees are East Asian/Pacific Islander, nearly 15 percent are South Asian and about a quarter are Black or African American. More than 8 percent identify as LGBTQIA+, the borough president’s office said.

Richards also outlined the reforms first reported by the Eagle, including a code of conduct and series of penalties for members found to have violated ethics rules. Richards said he will punish or remove members who threaten, harass or intimidate other members. 

“Community boards are a representation of our communities,” Richards said. “I have zero tolerance for this.”

Richards tasked community boards with reviewing their bylaws to increase transparency and accountability. His office will provide support with issues like making videos of meetings publicly available and improving websites.

In addition, board members will be required to participate in three bias training sessions from the New York City Commission on Human Rights — Human Rights Law Overview, Human Rights Law and Protections Against Discrimination Based on Race and Color and Working with Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Communities.

Members will have to meet attendance requirements to maintain good standings.

“We had a significant amount of individuals who applied for boards this year,” Richards said. “If you don't want to do your job we have someone else who can and will.”

Here are Queens’ 373 Community Board appointees:

 Community Board 1 (Astoria, Old Astoria, Long Island City, Queensbridge, Ditmars, Ravenswood, Steinway, Garden Bay, Woodside): Helene Abiola, George Alexiou, Avninder Aujla, Edward Babor, Ann Bruno, Soma Brahmanandam, Jean Marie D’Avella, Antonella Di Saverio, Kate Ellman, Elizabeth Erion, Dean Feratovic, Helen Ho, Amr Kotb, Cristina Lastres, Diana Limongi, Chelsea Lopes, Jeffrey Martin, Doreen Mohammed, Stella Nicolaou, Dino Panagoulias, Brian Romero, Dominic Stiller, Andre Stith, Mitchell Waxman, Rosemary Yelton.

Community Board 2 (Maspeth, Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City): Czarinna Andres, Anatole Ashraf, Kat Bloomfield, Danielle Brecker, Johanna Carmona, Gianna Cerbone, Jewel Chowdhury, Warren Davis, Camille Gray, Somnath Ghimire, Jacob de Groot, Sally Frank, Rosamond Gianutsos, Benjamin Guttman, Christine Hunter, Badrun Khan, Kristen McGowan, Elliot Park, Karla Perez, Selena Romero, Katherine Sabal, Laura Shepard, Mary Torres, Anthony Tudela, Adrienne Verrilli.

Community Board 3 (Jackson Heights, North Corona, East Elmhurst): Elba Buendia, Vicky Chan, Muquith Chowdhury, Haiko Cornelissen, Shiv Dass, Michael De Valera, Renetta English, Ulrick Gedeon, Peter Herron, Larinda Hooks, Abdur Rahim Howlader, Joyce Julian, Edward Kiernan, Lisa Mesulam, Marco Munoz, Veronica Ng, Laverne Nimmons, Nuala O’Doherty, Megan Rockwell, Fausto Rodriguez, Tammy Rose, Lobsang Salaka, Dawn Siff, Fahad Solaiman, Marlene Tapper, Frank Taylor, Arthur Teiler, Hamlett Wallace, Edwin Westley.

Community Board 4 (Elmhurst, Corona, Corona Heights): Lynda Coral, Michelle Dunston, Aridia Espinal, Marialena Giampino, Lara Gregory, Leeanne G-Bowley, Deependra Lama, Vincent Laucella, James Lisa, Salvatore Lomardo, Sylvia Martin, Rovenia McGowan, Jose Morillo, Edgar Moya, Ruby Muhammad, Sandra Munoz, Georgina Oliver, G. Oliver, Shrima Pandey, Purushottam Panthee, Lindsay Quartini, Brian Ramirez, Ashley Reed, Christian Romero, Clara Salas, A. Redd Sevilla,  Urgen Sherpa, Gregory Spock, Dechen Tsering, Yilin Wang, Minwen Yang, May Yu.

Community Board 5 (Ridgewood, Maspeth, Glendale, Middle Village, South Elmhurst):  Vincent Arcuri, Toby Sheppard Bloch, Jessica Boiardi, Alyssa Bonilla, Rachel Caracci, Walter Clayton, Maria de la Cruz, Brian Dooley, Derek Evers, Steven Fiedler, Paul Kerzner, Maryann Lattanzio, Diego Leclery, Edward Lettau, Patricia Maltezos, Katherine Masi, Martin Nadgorski, April Narsasian, Donald Passantino, Kenneth Rehberger, Theodore Renz, Lee Rottenberg, Walter Sanchez, Catherine Sumsky, Katarzyna Syta, Gyanal Thapa, Barbara Toscano, Patrick Trinchese, Michaeline Von Drathen, Maryanna Zero.

Community Board 6 (Forest Hills, Rego Park): Michael Acati,Kavish Batra,Peter Beadle, Miriam Berfas, Howard Birnbaum, Heidi Chain, Sheridan Chu, Alexander Cohen, Latrice Davis, Alexandra Diaz-Houston, Heather Dimitriadis, Keith Engel, Joyce Kevelson, Prameet Kumar, Jack Medina, Dr. Renee Mehrra, Steven Metz, Patricia Morgan, Rafael Nektalov, Elizabeth Newton, Gladys Sandoval, David Schneier, Teresa Simmons, Robert Tamayev, Irina Tamayeva, Martha Tucker, Susan Wanderman, Alexa Weitzman, Joan Weston, Edwin Wong, Daniel Yakubov.

Community Board 7 (Flushing, College Point, Whitestone, Bay Terrace, Malba, Beechhurst, Bayside, Queensboro Hill, Willets Point): Krishnaswamy Anandaram, James Cervino, Kaily Yat Kawi Cheng, John Choe, Kim Cody, Arlene Fleishman, Richard Forman, Vincent Gianelli, Cody Herrman, Phil Konigsberg, Wensong Li, Wendy Louie, Frank Macchio, Richard McEachern, Selma Moses, Sergio Nicolich, Kim O’Hanian, Terrence Park, Frank Quatela, Joshua Sussman, Joseph Sweeney, Peter Tu, Harpreet Wahan, Maggie Wong, Linna Yu, Lei Zhao.

Community Board 8 (Kew Gardens Hills, Utopia, Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest, Briarwood, Jamaica Hills Jamaica Estates, Holliswood, Flushing South): Edward Chung, Florence Fisher, John Gebhard, Ahsan Habib, Tamara Hirsch, Paul Lazauskas, Meshulam Lisker, Mary Maggio-Fischer, Simon Pelman, Wendy Phaff-Gennaro, Mohammad Rhaman, Deepti Sharma, Douglas Sherman, Penny Maureen Stern, Martha Taylor, Jacob Weinberg, Tamika Williams-Moore.

Community Board 9 (Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, Kew Gardens, Ozone Park): Marla Abaca, Faiuze Ali, Kirpal Billing, Zoila Bofill, John Carter, Nick Comaianni, Andrea Crawford, Joan DeCamp, Jan Fenster, Linda Fogal, Daniel Grieve, Sylvia Hack, Sherman Kane, Raez Khan, Kevin O’Leary, Katharine Maradiaga, Michael Pereira, Daniel Pollack, Diannedrea Ramoutar, Cristal Rivera, Mohamed Safie, Anjali Seegobin, Maharani Singh, Raghbir Singh, J. Richard Smith, Esta-Joy Sydell, Marie Turley, Seth Welins, Kenichi Wilson, Lilian Yagual.

Community Board 10 (Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Howard Beach, South Richmond Hill): Michele Adams, Angela Antonino, Joann Ariola, Pamela Baumann, Natalie Bissoon, Elizabeth Braton, John Calcagnile, Emily Cheng, Marie Cherenfant, Rosemary Ciulla-Frisone, Justin Coulverson, Amanda Deebrah, Anthony Garcia, Anthony Gellineau, Roger Gendron, Elaine Holland, Melanie Logan, Ashford Maharaj, Ruben Martinez, Stacy Mohammed, Angela Nocerino, Silvestro Pace, Bhola Ramsundar, George Russo, Mohammad Salim, Varinder Singh, Isabel Van Putten.

Community Board 11 (Bayside, Auburndale, Oakland Gardens, Little Neck, Douglaston, East Flushing, Hollis Hills): Jessica Burke, Michael Budabin-McQuown, Susan Cerezo, Jason Chen, Justin Chew, Carmen Collado, Paul DiBenedetto, Mary Donahue, Henry Euler, Mario Ferazzoli, Elias Fillas, Jack Fried, Michael Golia, Bernard Haber, Christine Haider, Stanley Jin, John Kelly IV, Jena Lanzatta, Linda Lee, Yosef Lee, Robert Liatto, Fleur Martino, George Mihaltses, Eileen Miller, Vidya Pappachan, Akshar Patel, Stephen Popa, Christina Schere, Benjamin Turner.

Community Board 12 (Jamaica, South Jamaica, Hollis, St. Albans, South Ozone Park, Addesleigh Park, Springfield Gardens): Alam Ahnaf, Angela Allen, Mohammed Ali, Natalie Blain, Rene Cheatham-Hill, Vishal Hardowar, Celeste James, Clementine James, Bilal Karriem, Dawn Kelly, Michelle Kirkland, Latoya LeGrand, Bernadette Logan, Wanda Manley, Abdus Salaam Musa, Mohammad Shah Nawaz, Carlene Thorbs, Sharon Sweeting-Linsdey.

Community Board 13 (Queens Village, Glen Oaks, New Hyde Park, Bellerose, Cambria Heights, Laurelton, Rosedale, Floral Park, Springfield Gardens, Bellaire): Bryan Block, Alexander Brathwaite, Kyle Bragg, Marcia O’Brien, Barbara Clements, Sylvia Cothia, Marissa Cronin, Tanya Cruz, Delroy Dawkins, Bess Debetham, James Delaney, Stephanie Delia, Derrick Delflorimonte, Lourdes Villanueva Hartrick, Richard Hellenbrecht, Fay Hill, Violet Huie, Mohamood Ishmael, Rhonda Kontner, Antony Kuncheria, John Logan, Curlene Nelson, Steven Taylor, Perminder Thiara, Pritpal Walia, Jackie Wilson, Gerald Wind.

Community Board 14 (The Rockaways, Rockaway Point, Breezy Point, Roxbury, Neponsit, Belle Harbor, Rockaway Park, Seaside, Broad Channel, Hammels, Sommerville, Edgemere, Arverne, Bayswater, Wavecrest, Far Rockaway, Rockaway Beach): Mark Anaya, Gabrielle Bennett, Yaakov Berger, Lailah Boyd, Giselle Carter, Natasha Carter, John Cori, Eric Diaz, Temima Feldman, Jaden Gabb, Gerald David, Eugenia Gibson, Yitzchok Goldstone, Rose Duggan Gulston, Randy Hall, Brian Kelly, Paul King, Maggie Larkins, Denise Lopresti. Nancy Maritinez, John McCambridge, Isa Mitchell, Aldean Moore, Daniel Mundy, Eugene Pasternak, Karen Sloane Payne, David Rood-Ojalvo, Wanda Warden, Lisa Williams.