Flushing Town Hall Gala Celebrates Queens Heroes

Flushing Town Hall held its annual benefit gala, “HEROES,” on Thursday, October 16, celebrating its mission to present multidisciplinary global arts that engage and educate the global communities of Queens and New York City to foster mutual appreciation.

True to the “HEROES” theme, this year’s event featured Flushing Town Hall’s highly anticipated exhibition on sequential art storytelling, Comics in the City, which celebrates the creativity and diversity of comic book and cartoon artists and writers and the heroic characters they have gifted their fans. The gala also honored two of Queens’ real-life superheroes, Jeff Rosenstock of Queens College and Michelle Stoddart of Resorts World New York City, for their generous support of Flushing Town Hall.

“It really is an honor to be honored by Flushing Town Hall. We’re a cultural community. And tonight, Kupferberg Center for the Arts is supporting a fellow arts organization: Flushing Town Hall,” said honoree Jeff Rosenstock of Queens College. “We’re navigating through troubled waters, and tides are changing faster than we can imagine, but I fiercely believe that we must sail on and sail together to weather the storms. I trust that we will forge ahead and discover new ways to be there for each other, always in service to the communities of Queens, who count on us to make their lives more colorful, more joyful, and more resilient in these challenging times.”

As the organization’s main fundraiser, the evening featured delicious food and live entertainment at the historic venue to raise critical funds for Flushing Town Hall’s programming. Veronica Y. Tsang, American Institute of Architects (AIA) Queens Chapter, and Resorts World New York City were this year’s presenting sponsors.

“Our annual gala was a phenomenal success—a vibrant night that powerfully celebrated our mission to unite the community through arts and our borough’s rich, global culture,” said Ellen Kodadek, Executive & Artistic Director. “We were thrilled to shine a spotlight on our heroes, Jeff Rosenstock and Michelle Stoddart. Their generous leadership has been instrumental in helping the borough thrive, and they are true heroes of Queens!”

The rich cultural programming included performances by several FTH Teaching Artists and delivered a preview of the upcoming fall programming:

FTH Teaching Artists of Calpulli Mexican Dance Company (Calpulli Danza Mexicana) brought Mexican folk art sculptures, alebrijes, to life to celebrate the rich diversity of Mexican and Mexican-American heritage through dance and live music.

Sally Chen, an illustrator and poet born and raised in NYC, created live portraits of attendees in the Gallery.

Australian artist, animator, and educator Elliot Cowan demonstrated his creative process by painting on site in the Gallery.

FTH Teaching Artists from Srijan Dance Center, Debanjali Dey and Joshua Roychowdury, performed Indian classical Kathak, Indian folk dance and their interpretation Rama and Sita in honor of the Diwali holiday.

In the theater, Guanglei Hui, a professional contemporary dancer and choreographer, and Zhou Yi, the Artistic Director of the Ba Ban Chinese Music Society of New York and a soloist specializing in the pipa and guqin, performed a legendary battle from 2,000 years ago in ancient China.

Attendees also enjoyed Caribbean music from Pan Lime Crew, led by bandleader Ricardo Greenaway.

The QC Superheroes, comprised of students from the Queens College Jazz Department, brought jazz sounds to the Gallery to close out the evening.

This fall and winter, Flushing Town Hall will present a range of cultural performances, including Toshi Reagon Meets the New York Arabic Chorus: A Sonic Coming Together, and the first-ever MexFest, which includes a Mexican Mashup, as well as Global Mashup with Seffarine (Morrocco) and the Garifuna Jazz Ensemble, and its highly anticipated Mini Global Mashup Festival: Flying Horses/Sonic Threads. Families and schools can enjoy lively and engaging performances, including Magic Shadows by Americas Got Talent finalists Catapult and Navidad by Calpulli Mexican Dance Company.

About the Honorees

Jeffrey Rosenstock

Jeffrey Rosenstock has served as AVP of External and Governmental Relations at Queens College, which is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) since 2011. His portfolio includes the college’s professional arts organizations. These include the college museums (Godwin- Ternbach Museum, Art Center, and the Louis Armstrong House Museum and Archives), and the performing arts centers (2,100-seat Colden Auditorium, 475-seat Lefrak Concert Hall, and 480-seat Goldstein Theatre). Jeff developed the CUNY Dance Initiative, a project which brings 24 New York City-based dance companies to 14 City University of New York campuses throughout all five boroughs each year. He also founded the Louis Armstrong International Music Festival which had a five-year run and took place in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the site of the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs, and featured local, national and international talent celebrating the legacy of the late Louis Armstrong. More recently, he was a founding member of Queens Rising, and with his colleagues at Kupferberg Center for the Arts and the Queens College School of Arts initiated a major summer parks initiative in collaboration with the NYC Queens Parks Commissioner.

Michelle Stoddart

Michelle Stoddart is the Senior Vice President of Community Development and Public Affairs for Resorts World New York City (RWNY). She was a member of the executive opening team that handled record-breaking attendance during the casino's debut weekend in October 2011.

In her role, Ms. Stoddart manages community affairs, public relations, local business partnerships, and corporate philanthropy. Under her guidance, Resorts World has supported over 200 nonprofit organizations in the New York metropolitan area. She currently serves as Vice Chair for the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, and on the Queens Chamber of Commerce’s Arts & Culture board. Additionally, she sits on the boards of the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, the Queens Botanical Gardens, the Jamaica YMCA, the Queens Public Library and York College.