Queens Borough President Melinda Katz fielded questions on Tuesday during a reporters roundtable meeting at Borough Hall to preview this year’s State of the Borough address. Forum Photo by Michael V. Cusenza
It’s the end of January: Time for all of the “State of the…” government progress reports. Borough President Melinda Katz is set to deliver her first address detailing the achievements of her inaugural year in office, and her vision for “The World’s Borough” over the next 12 months, this Thursday, Jan. 22, at Queens College in Flushing.
In a roundtable question-and-answer media session on Tuesday at Borough Hall, Katz previewed her speech, discussing a wide range of issues affecting the borough that she plans on delving into on Thursday, including housing, jobs, the Queens economy, immigrant communities, and seniors.
Katz reported that housing “is the number one issue” for which constituents call her office, adding that the Queens might be a victim of its own success because of the magnetism of what she described as “the borough of families.”
“We can’t build fast enough,” she noted, after highlighting recent residential development projects such as Astoria Cove. “We are working hard to catch up.”
Healthcare and the two airports are still the biggest job generators in Queens, Katz said, but “tourism is a huge commodity in this borough.” Part of her job as president, she related, was to make sure the cultural centers get what they need.
But Katz, a borough native and resident who is raising her two children in the house in which she grew up, was clear: It’s not about making Queens the next stop for hipsters on the trendy train.
“We’re not Brooklyn,” she said. “We don’t strive to be.”
Katz later added that restoring the State Pavilion in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park “would be a dream” achievement for her administration.
“I think it would do a lot for tourism,” she said.
The common theme of Katz’s first State of the Borough is families, she said. Naturally, the immigrant communities of Queens play a huge role in shaping that identity.
“As borough president, I visit several parts of the world every day; it’s great, I love it,” Katz noted. “The best part of Queens is I can get a bagel and cream cheese on one corner, and mango chutney on the other. The greatest gift we have to offer the city of New York is our cultural diversity.”
In that vein, Katz said she is a big proponent of the new IDNYC municipal identification cards, and indicated that they are already hugely popular in the borough.
“We are just trying to give folks access to services and buildings,” she noted. “It’s good for the city. I got one, and I plan on using it everywhere I go.”
By Michael V. Cusenza
