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Barry Grodenchik Reflects on His Time in the City Council
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS REFLECTIONS ON MY YEARS IN OFFICE
When I was young, I never imagined that I would be an elected official, but I have had the privilege of serving in the Assembly and, for the last six years, in the City Council.
When I ran for office in 2015, I met residents who informed me of everyday quality-of-life issues facing the residents of eastern Queens, and during my time in office those same issues have constantly occupied my attention. I am proud of my record of nearly perfect attendance at committee and stated meetings, but I am even prouder of the improvements in the local community that my advocacy has brought over the past six years.
Eastern Queens has long been comprised of clean, safe, beautiful neighborhoods, and my team and I have strived to make them even better. For decades, new residents have flocked to eastern Queens for our outstanding public schools, but our schools became a victim of their own success, leading to overcrowding.
Working with the School Construction Authority (SCA), I proposed locations where existing school buildings could expand, unused facilities could be repurposed, and new schools could open. At Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, which was built for about 2,500 students but at times has 4,000 students enrolled, a new wing is under construction that will add 800 seats.
An extension to PS 46 will add 440 seats, and a planned addition to PS 26 will provide 460 seats.
And SCA converted two former Roman Catholic schools into public schools. Saint Robert Bellarmine in Bayside Hills became PS 390 and Our Lady of Lourdes in Queens Village is now a prekindergarten center.
The former site of the Merrick Academy became a prekindergarten center as well, allowing three- and four-year-old children to receive a high-quality early childhood education without traveling across the borough. PS 221 used to have a simple piece of asphalt for a schoolyard, but through a partnership with the Trust for Public Land, I helped bring the school a brandnew, state-of-the-art recreational space. During my time in the City Council, I visited every school in the district at least once every school year and provided capital funding. The school principals let me know what their needs were, and most requested funds for technology, including tablets,
laptops, desktops, and interactive whiteboards. Other schools spent their capital dollars on upgrades to the gym or auditorium or air conditioning for those spaces. The district that I represented includes Cunningham Park and part of Alley Pond Park, two of Queens’s premier parks. But even in the most beautiful parks, playgrounds need periodic refurbishment. In conjunction with former Borough President Melinda Katz and current Borough President Donovan Richards, Redwood Playground and Glen Oaks Oval have been updated, Challenge Playground is undergoing renovation, Bellerose Playground is nearly BARRY complete, and the first section of GRODENCHIK the resurfaced Vanderbilt Long CITY COUNCIL MEMBER Island Motor Parkway officially opens this month. The rest of the historic walking and bicycling path will be upgraded as well, as the mayor fully funded the project at my request. All told, a dozen parks and school
playgrounds are either completed or will be finished within the next few years. Eastern Queens is also home to one of the top cultural destinations in the borough: Queens County Farm Museum. Though it welcomes over 400,000 visitors a year, including school children from across the city, the farm does not have a place for students to go on a rainy or snowy day. I have secured $25 million for an education center so that the children and families who visit the farm – one of the longest continually farmed sites in the state, which produces fresh, organic food for hungry New Yorkers – will have a place to learn, no matter the weather. Over the past six years, my staff and I have handled 7,000 constituent cases, distributed thousands of bicycle helmets, successfully advocated for the resurfacing of Braddock Avenue (formerly known
CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 Councilman Barry Grodenchik joins other city and elected officials in celebrating the first phase of the
resurfacing of the Vanderbilt Long Island Motor Parkway. (Photo: Daniel Avila/NYC Parks)
QUEENS CHAMBER NEWS MOTHER & SON DELIVER BIG FOR TOY DRIVE
BY JESSICA MEDITZ
Despite his small stature, eightyear-old Cameron Liu has a heart bigger than the average adult. He and his mother, Cassandra Louie, spent the month of December collecting items for the Queens Chamber of Commerce’s annual Holiday Toy Drive.
Cameron said he started spreading holiday cheer through the help of his mom, donating his gently used toys to charities every year around his birthday.
“My mom is my Santa,” said Cameron.
“We’ve discussed that Santa’s not real,” said Louie. “And then we talked about how there are kids and families who don’t have as much as we do and how we can support them.”
Louie said when she and Cameron began looking into how they could support the local community, they sought out an organization that focuses on providing genuine support to the people of Queens. Since they’re in partnership with the Child Center of New York, Louie felt the Queens Chamber of Commerce was the perfect fit.
“They are thinking about local businesses, especially during this time in our lives when we want to think about how we can support our communities,” said Louie.
With Louie being a full-time employee at NYU and Cameron in school, it can be challenging for them to find free time to achieve their goals. But they’re extremely thankful for the support and encouragement from the Queens Chamber of Commerce and the small businesses that have served as donation sites for the toy drive.
Cameron and his mom have collected close to 300 toys via the dropoff boxes at Centre Pizza and Champions Martial Arts in Little Neck.
“We want to thank the extreme generosity of the families at Champions Martial Arts for 200-plus toys that we have been fortunate enough to collect,” said Louie. “Over 90 percent of those toys have come from that single place.”
In the spirit of the holiday season, Cameron and his mom want to share the overall message of generosity, and how sharing your good fortune can not only make you feel good, as the worst street in Queens), accommodated new bicycle lanes, significantly increased funding for emergency food, convinced the city to cancel plans for an ill-advised co-location at IS 109, and supported the rehabilitation of Martin Van Buren High School, whose graduation rate has gone from 45 to nearly 90 percent since 2015.
My incredible mentors – Nettie Mayersohn and Claire Shulman – taught me that government is about serving the public. From them, I learned to prioritize making headway over making headlines. The improvements on which I have been privileged to work are the legacy of my three decades in and around government, and I am grateful to the residents of Queens who gave me the high honor of serving.
Cameron next to his toy donation box at Centre Pizza in Little Neck.
but the person you’re sharing it with too.
“I’m happy that I get to share my toys with them,” added Cameron. “I think it makes them feel good.”
