Op Ed Editorial

Queens Boro Hall to Open 2020 Census Resource Assistance Center

Acting Borough President Sharon Lee announced the 2020 Census Resource Assistance Center at Queens Borough Hall will open to the public beginning Thursday, March 5, offering Queens residents the ability to access Census outreach materials, ask questions of trained volunteers and apply for 2020 Census-related jobs. Borough President Lee also continues to accept applications from not-forprofits interested in receiving state funding for Census outreach efforts in Queens. “It’s all hands on deck for the 2020 Census,” said Borough President LEE. “We must ensure every single Queens resident – of every age and regardless of documentation status – is count ed. When we are not counted, we are rendered invisible and irrelevant for our fair share of federal representation and fund ing. An undercount is something the Borough of Families simply cannot afford. The future of our county, city and state depend on a full and accurate 2020 Census count.”

From March 5 through July 31, the 2020 Census Resource Assistance Center at Queens Borough Hall (2nd Floor) will be open on Tuesdays and Thurs days from 9 AM to 6 PM. On hand to assist visitors to the Center will be Queens Borough President’s Office staff and trained volunteers from Bor ough President Lee’s Queens Complete Count Committee (Queens CCC), a group of over 100 trusted community leaders and groups charged with devel oping outreach strategies and maximizing participation in the 2020 Census.

Electronic devices will be available at the Center for res idents to fill out the nine-question Census form online upon its launch on March 12, while U.S. Census Bureau resources in more than a dozen languages will be available for visitors to take home and distribute to fam ily, friends and neighbors. No appointments are necessary and walk-ins are welcome.

A controversial citizenship question will not be on the 2020 Census, following a decision by the United States Supreme Court last year to block such a question from being included. Documentation status will have no bearing on any resident’s ability to fully complete and submit a Census questionnaire.

The Office of the Queens Borough President’s efforts to ensure Queens is accurately counted also extends to support ing not-for-profit organizations seeking state funding to conduct Census outreach efforts across the borough. To complete the pre-qualifying application — a requirement prior to partnering with any county — followed by a Queens Get Out the Count ap plication, visit www.queensbp. org/2020Census.

The opening of the Center is the latest step in a year-long commitment by the Office of the Queens Borough President to ensure every borough resident is counted fairly and accurately in the 2020 Census.

To prevent a repeat of the substantial undercounts in var ious Queens neighborhoods during the 2010 Census — which dubiously reported the borough’s population rose by only 1,300 people over the prior decade — then-Borough Pres ident Melinda Katz first hosted a Census Town Hall at Borough Hall in November 2018 to pro pel public discourse and engagement for the 2020 Census.

In January 2019, then-Bor ough President Katz announced the formation of the Queens CCC, later hosting both a Queens Job Fair for the 2020 Census and a Public Hearing with the New York State Com plete Count Commission in May 2019.

Then-Borough President Katz also signed an amicus brief sent to the United States Su preme Court, along with nearly 200 other elected officials from around the country, opposing the federal government’s attempt to

Queens Upcoming Events

FREE Recurring events in Queens:

York College (94-20 Guy R Brewer Blvd): Every Tuesday, 6:00pm York College Jazz Workshop with Professor Mark Adams M.S. 216 (64-20 175th Street): Every Wednesday, 6:00pm American Sign Language Class for Adults

Now Until March 22 8:00- 4:00pm

Art in the Garden: Recollections: Highlights from our Permanent Collection

See select works from the first ten years of exhibitions in QBG’s art gallery. 4350 Main Street. FREE drop-ins.

Now Until December 2020 Jay Jaxon: 40 Years of Fashion Design Brilliance

The Jay Jaxon exhibition celebrates the life of Queens native, Jay Jaxon as an American Fashion Designer, Haute Couture Designer, and Costume Designer. Further, it restores the history of Jaxon by displaying artifacts and objects from his personal design archives as well as primary sources from the research of fashion scholar and guest curator Rachel Fenderson. QHS. 143-35 37th Avenue. FREE. March 6 10:00-12:00pm Workshop: Written in the Body

NNY invites you to the “Written in the Body” workshop guided by the poet Claudia Prado and the artist Sol Aramendi. In this workshop we will explore the characteristics of our moving body through creative writing and image making. As part of the workshop each participant will produce a writing and an image. Queens Library Langston Hughes located at 100-01 Northern Blvd. FREE.

March 5-15 12:00-5:00pm Creative Mosaic II Long Island City Artists present a group exhibition that draws a broad landscape of artistic voices emerging from Queens. Selected by Queens-based independent curator and art writer Osman Can Yerebakan and coordinated by Cristian Pietrapiana, the artists working in painting, photography, sculpture, collage, and performance respond to the borough’s multifaceted texture, infused with sounds, flavors, colors, and traditions of innumerable cultures across the globe. Flushing Town Hall. 137-35 Northern Blvd. Donation $3. March 5-May 5 6:30pm Make Something! Workshop Series

Create a baby quilt in time for Mother’s Day! Over ten weeks, learn the basics of quilting to sew a beautiful 36”x 36” quilt. Participants will learn to hand sew, edge, baste, bat, as well as some machine work. Quilt supplies included, sewing machine onsite. Flushing Town Hall. 137-35 Northern Blvd. All 10 week sessions for $125.

March 5 5:00-7:00pm Pop-Up Piano at Cardinal Cafe

The Music Program presents a special concert to inaugurate the new PopUp Piano at Cardinal Cafe. Featuring performances by Prof. Mark Adams(lecturer of music) and students. Enjoy a cup of coffee along with this special concert! York College. 94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. FREE.

March 5-7 7:30pm, 11:30am Hear Her Call 2020 Conch Shell production presents Hear Her Call 2020, a Caribbean-American Theater Festival watch the plays titled LUCKY by Nancy Mendez-Booth, LESSONS MY FATHER TAUGHT ME by Myra

M. McPhee, and WaDe n Da WaTeR written and performed by Monique A. Robinson. 94-45 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. $10-$20.

March 5 6:00-8:00pm Women’s Herstory Month Celebration

Join in a celebration honoring outstanding women in the Queens borough. Please bring new women’s professional clothing to donate at the event. Items collected will be donated to Dress for Success, a non-profit organization. Queens Borough Hall. 120-55 Queens Blvd. FREE. March 7-8 Zora Returns to Harlem In celebration of Women’s History Month, Black Spectrum Theatre presents an electrifying revival of the one-woman show detailing the life of literary giant and Harlem Renaissance she-ro, Zora Neale Hurston. Starring actress Antonia Badon, the play takes the audience on a journey through Hurston’s life from growing up in a small Florida town to losing her mother at the tender age of nine to her fated move to New York to becoming the first Black woman to attend Barnard College and Columbia University to her rise to fame as a writer alongside other Renaissance luminaries like Langston Hughes and Alain Locke. Black Spectrum Theatre. 177-01 Baisley Blvd. Tickets are $25.

March 7 1:00pm Paige in Full Hip Hop Body Rock calling all fly girls and b-boys! Learn about significant hip hop choreographers, different styles of hip hop dance and regional/cultural influences. Then it‘s time to stretch and flex before you learn a brand new hip hop routine. Paige in Full is a visual mix-tape that blends poetry, dance, visual arts, and music to tell the tale of a multicultural girl growing up in Baltimore, MD. The production explores how a young woman’s identity is shaped by her ethnicity and popular culture, telling a personal, yet universal, story through the lens of hip hop. Flushing Town Hall. 137-35 Northern Blvd. Workshop & performance $22.

March 7 1:00-4:00pm Map Out Historic Jamaica

What was Jamaica like 200 years ago? What shops were in town? How were the streets different? Come learn about Jamaica, Queens through maps from the 1800s and make your own map to take home. King Manor. 150- 03 Jamaica Ave. FREE.

March 7 11:00-12:30pm Women’s History Month: include a discriminatory citizen ship question on the 2020 Census — an effort to weaponize the Census to dilute resources, rep resentation and minority voting power that the Supreme Court ultimately blocked.

Under the leadership of Bor ough President Lee, the Office of the Queens Borough President has worked to connect Queens not-for-profits with New York State funding grants for Cen sus outreach, while the Queens CCC has remained steadfast in its community outreach efforts to ensure all Queens families are counted once the 2020 Census begins later this month.

The Census determines the borough’s representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as how much federal funding Queens receives for schools, roads and bridges,

Historic Women in Queens

Celebrate Women’s History Month with the Urban Park Rangers as we highlight Marie Curie, Gertrude Waldeyer, and other women significant to Queens. Athena Statue. 30th Street and 30th Avenue. FREE.

March 8 11:00-12:30pm Historic New York: Fort Totten Tunnel Tour

Urban Park Rangers specialize in the interpretation of historic turning points, both natural and man-made, in our city’s long history. Historic New York programs highlight the history and architecture of selected neighborhoods or parks. Fort Totten Visitor Center. FREE.

March 8 4:00pm Women’s History Month: Greek Film: PAUSE

Hellenic Film Society USA is proud to mark Women’s History Month with a screening of the award-winning Greek film, PAUSE on Sunday, March 8 at 4pm at the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) in Astoria. 36-01 35th Ave. $15.

March 8 5:00pm Lorna Cepeda Naturalmente Rubia

Come and celebrate Women’s Day with this fun comedy. York College PAC. 94-45 Guy R Brewer Blvd. $40-