Bayside, Douglaston Community Board Welcomes 8 New Members

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — The group of residents that represent and assess the needs of New Yorkers in Bayside, Douglaston, and other neighborhoods welcomed eight new members to serve a two-year term, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced Wednesday.

The freshman class will be part of Community Board 11, joining 19 reappointed members who are currently serving in the group that represents seven Queens neighborhoods.

“We’re happy to have a rather large class of incoming first-time board members,” Joseph Marziliano, District Manager at Community Board 11, told Patch. “We’re looking forward to doing great work with them as they volunteer time as public servants.”

More than 360 people were appointed to serve under the Richards administration on 14 community boards across Queens. None of the members will be salaried.

Boroughwide, 116 of those members are newly-appointed and do not currently serve on a board. Of the freshmen members, 50 percent are under the age of 45, and nearly 25 percent are between the ages of 16 and 35.

About 20 percent of the new cohort identified as Latinx/Hispanic, an increase of 4 percent from the previous group of new members. African American members make up 21.6 percent of the new appointees, while 13.8 percent and 7.8 percent identify as East Asian/Pacific Islander and South Asian, respectively.

“The historic 2023 class of community board appointees represent the best of Queens,” Richards said. “I’m immensely confident in this diverse, dedicated and determined group of public servants and I look forward to the great work they will do on behalf of their neighborhoods over the course of their term.”

Richards's office received 938 applicants, which is just slightly lower than the borough’s record of 941 applications in a single year set in 2021.

Community Board 11 represents Bayside, Auburndale, Oakland Gardens, Little Neck, Douglaston, East Flushing, and Hollis Hills.

The appointments for the 2023-2025 term to the Queens Community 11 are:

1. Michael Budabin McQuown
2. Jessica Burke
3. Susan Cerezo
4. Carmen Collado
5. Paul DiBenedetto
6. Henry Euler
7. Mario Ferazzoli
8. Elias Fillas
9. Jack Fried
10. Michael Golia
11. Tim Hao (NEW)
12. Travis Kessel (NEW)
13. Jena Lanzetta
14. Robert Liatto
15. Mathew Mamak (NEW)
16. Fluer Martino
17. George Mihaltses
18. Eileen Miller
19. Akshar Patel
20. Ann Puckett (NEW)
21. Megan Rua (NEW)
22. Ralph Ruiz
23. Seihee Ryu (NEW)
24. Christina Scherer
25. Benjamin Turner
26. David White (NEW)
27. Fern Zimbalist (NEW)