Giedra Kregzdys, left, Martin Colberg, and Stephen Forte are the new officers in the Woodahven Residents’ Block Association. Kregzdys will serve as vice president, Colberg as president, and Forte will continue as treasurer. Photo Courtesy Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association
The Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association announced this week there will be a changing of the guard at the more than 40-year-old neighborhood organization that does everything from advocate for cleaner and safer streets to working with residents on individual problems navigating city bureaucracy.
Come 2014, Martin Colberg will take over as president, replacing Ed Wendell, while Giedra Kregzdys will serve as the new vice president, and Stephen Forte will continue as treasurer. As a sign of the block association’s recent growth, each of the three officers joined the Board of Directors within the past three years. Colberg will become the first Latino to preside over the organization as president in the group’s 42-year history.
The three officers were elected to their posts by their fellow members of the association’s Board of Directors.
“The WRBA has worked extremely hard to expand our presence in the community, and the fact that we will now be steered by relatively new members shows that we’ve succeeded in that mission,” said WRBA President Edward Wendell, who has led the organization since 2010. “Our new officers reflect our community and the continued progress we will make in 2014 and beyond.”
The past four years have been productive ones for the WRBA, and Wendell significantly expanded the organization’s online presence. Additionally, association members successfully fought two street direction changes to which community members would vehemently against, provided testimony to government bodies on issues ranging from noise to redistricting, engaged in multiple graffiti clean-ups, fought to get a house sealed after it had been taken over by squatters, provided urgently needed relief to neighbors in South Queens, the Rockaways and others affected by Hurricane Sandy, and gave Woodhaven residents a voice on the future of the defunct Rockaway Beach Rail Line.
“Ed and the rest of the board have done a tremendous job over the past several years, so I know I have big shoes to fill,” Colberg said. “But I also have a solid foundation to build on, and I’m grateful for this opportunity. I’m looking forward to continuing the WRBA’s good work and its outreach to everyone in Woodhaven.”
The WRBA’s next Town Hall meeting will be held Jan. 18 at 1 p.m. at the Emanuel United Church of Christ at 91st Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard.
By Anna Gustafson
