By
TAMARA HARTMANRiding back to Queens from the State of the State
address in Albany on Jan. 9, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall’s thoughts were
full of concepts and visions, but there hadn’t been time yet to set down the
realities.
Queens Borough President
Helen Marshall discusses the
future with the PRESS.
PRESS Photo by Dee Richard
|
In a car phone interview with the PRESS
just a week after official ceremonies greeted her as the borough’s first African
American Borough President, Marshall discussed her decades of Queens civic activism and
the concepts that came "out of her head" that were presented in her first
official speech.
That speech had included praise for Claire
Shulman and her dedication to the borough as well as assurances that she would continue
Shulman’s monthly War Room meetings to update and monitor the creation of badly
needed school space.
But beyond those War Rooms, Marshall wants
to develop a "Task Force on Quality Education." On the ride from Albany, she
explained that a "Parent Institute" will be part of that task force, but as of
yet there are no details about how or where it would operate. The concept is to have staff
members and parents on the task force and have the institute help them with parenting
issues and challenges to parents from the city educational system.
She noted that although her old district
office had at first been planned to be the site of her parent institute, as the PRESS
reported last week, that plan has changed. "We were trying to keep my old district
office, but we can’t afford to do that," Marshall said, noting that she is now
looking to either use space at Borough Hall or to rotate the space where the institute
will meet, perhaps including Queens colleges.
Her speech also outlined a concept for
intergenerational housing, which she explained to the PRESS, was an idea she
first played with when looking at a hotel in her former council district "about three
years ago." The plan would be to develop a housing unit that offers time apart for
quiet living and time to share resources and the energies of life between generations. She
has not yet reviewed the concept with her advisor or looked at possible neighborhoods
where such a development could be built.
From the road she also stressed the
importance of improving Queens transportation. During the speech, she included an idea for
regular ferry service to ease commutes from the Rockaways and encourage travel into and
the development of the pennisula’s waterfront land. Though she told the PRESS
that she has not yet looked into the hard and fast possibilities, she is looking forward
to speaking with Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer and Senator Malcolm Smith to evaluate the
needs of that part of the borough.
Appointments On the Way
Starting with the issue of education and
spreading throughout her Borough Hall, Marshall said she is re-organizing some of the
staff positions and expected to be holding a press conference to announce her appointments
during the week of Jan. 14. She noted that, in particular when it comes to education, she
is still interviewing for the "super-person" she wants on her staff to tackle
the subject. She said she has many resumes and possibilities, but stressed she needs
someone outstanding and is still making that choice.
Marshall had no comment on any other
appointment or changes in job roles at Borough Hall at presstime.
The First Day Of Marshall Rules
But the day before all the official
ceremonies, Marshall was in her new office on Jan. 2 working on the kinks and changes of
the change of command. She told the PRESS that she spent most of her first
day either "re-arranging the office and staff patterns," or making phone calls
to supporters and contacts.
"I’m just getting settled,"
Marshall said. "I’ve already been coming here for weeks to transition with
Claire. These are just last minute details."
Marshall also participated in several
meetings at Queens Borough Hall on Jan. 2, including one on the city budget. She said,
"We’re concerned about the mayor’s talk of 20 percent. We’ll have to
keep working on that."
The Beginnings
During her inaugural speech, Marshall spoke
of her mother, who entered New York through Ellis Island "with little more than a
dream." Her father was a merchant seaman who left British Guyana at a young age and
learned to speak seven languages during his days at sea. In the New York City of the Great
Depression, he supported his family as a house painter.
Marshall grew up in the Bronx. Her mother
died when she was young and her father when she was in high school, leaving her and her
younger sister to fend for themselves. She recalled fighting back when she was told that
she had to leave school to receive benefits from the city and she praised Dean Dunkin
– Dean of Girls at Morris High School – for standing on her side and helping her
beat the system.
The new borough president holds a degree
from Queens College and, as the event’s master of ceremonies Assemblyman Jeff Aubry
pointed, a "Doctorate from Northern Boulevard" earned in Corona civic activism.
She also introduced her children and her
family at the Hall of Science event, inviting them to stand up and share her moment.
All In The Ceremony
The dais for Marshall’s swearing-in
event at the New York Hall of Science was a cross section of city power from former City
Council leaders to the new Queens Council delegation and from Reverend Floyd Flake and
Comptroller H. Carl McCall to Mayor Mike Bloomberg who swore in the new borough president.
Bloomberg praised Marshall as having the
drive, intellect and instinct to perform the duties of borough president well. He also
offered tender words for Shulman, noting, "Today we celebrate the future, but we
would be remiss not to look for one minute at the past. On behalf of all eight million New
Yorkers, I would like to say thank you Claire for everything you’ve done."
— Angela Montefinise contributed to
this story.
