New Community Board 14 Members Announced

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. has announced his 2024 class of community board appointees — a markedly diverse group of public servants who will serve on their respective Queens community board for the next two years.

Of the Borough President’s 355 appointees across Queens’ 14 community boards, 117 are new members who are not currently serving on a board already — the largest number of new members appointed in a single year under the Richards Administration.

The 355 appointees were chosen out of this year’s pool of 848 applicants, representing a continuation of Borough President Richards’ historic run of successful community board application processes.

“It takes dedication and a true love of one’s neighborhood to apply to serve on a community board. That’s what each member of this historic 2024 class signed up to do, and I am deeply grateful to all 355 of our appointees for answering the call of public service,” said Borough President Richards. “We made tremendous strides this year toward correcting historic inequities on our boards, and I cannot wait to see the great work our new and reappointed members do over the next two years to make our neighborhoods better places to live, work and play.”

Prior to the Richards Administration, just 43 percent of board members identified as female. But of the 117 new community board members this year, nearly 55 percent identify as female. When combining all four of Borough President Richards’ community board application cycles, more than 52 percent of his new appointees have identified as female.

People of color were also strongly represented amongst the 117 new members. People who identify as Hispanic/Latinx — a demographic that has historically been severely underrepresented across the city’s community boards — made up 27.4 percent of that group. Meanwhile, African Americans made up 26.5 percent of new members, and those who identify as East Asian/Pacific Islander or South Asian made up 23.9 percent of new members.

Broken down by age, over half — 54.7 percent — of new members appointed this year are under the age of 45, with the youngest new appointee being just 19 years old, reflecting persistent growth in interest among young people in community board membership. Prior to the Richards Administration, less than 25 percent of community board members were younger than 45.

There are 59 community boards citywide, and each hold monthly full membership meetings. The boards also hold hearings and issue recommendations about the City budget, municipal service delivery and numerous other matters that impact their communities.

All Queens community board members are appointed by the Queens Borough President, pursuant to the City Charter, with at least half of the appointments nominated by the City Council Members representing their respective community districts. Each board has up to 50 unsalaried members, with each member serving a two-year term. All community board members who wish to continue serving on a board are required to reapply at the conclusion of their two-year term and are subject to review and reconsideration.

Borough President Richards’ appointments for the 2024-2026 term to the Queens Community Board 14, representing Rockaway Point, Breezy Point, Roxbury, Neponsit, Belle Harbor, Rockaway Park, Seaside, Broad Channel, Hammels, Sommerville, Edgemere, Arverne, Bayswater, Wavecrest, Far Rockaway and Rockaway Beach are: Brittny Chong, Amber Clinkscales, Jack Epter, Maria Foreman, Wayne-Neisha Fowles, Menashe Friedman, Josephine Gonzalez, Avionne Gumbs-Cummings, Dave B. Heffernan, Betty Leon, Annette Lord Cohen, Sonia Moise, Helen Montero, Zina Moratti, Josmary Ochoa-Cruz, Dolores Orr, Harold Paez, Shannel Parker, Eric Rasmussen, Vernell Robinson, David Shelborne, Nichole Smith, Christopher Tedesco and Jose Velez.