Mayor Swears Marshall In As Boro President To Huge Audience
by john toscano

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall

A huge crowd of family, friends and past political associates joined with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Borough President Claire Shulman last week at the swearing in of Borough President Helen Marshall, who emphasized her roots and humble beginnings in a career capped by her becoming the first black and second woman to hold the reins of government in Queens.

After her swearing-in by Bloomberg, during which her husband, Donald, held the Bible she rested her left hand on, Marshall declared, "I am thrilled to represent this exciting borough where we are home to immigrants from every corner of the globe. I am proud to be the first African American elected to this post."

She then quoted the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as her goal.

"In the end I want, ‘not to be judged by the color of my skin, but by the content of my character,’" she stated.

Marshall also praised Shulman profusely, saying, "Claire has left us a tremendous foundation on which I intend to build, to continue so much of what is being termed the Shulman legacy."

The mayor paid tribute to Marshall for "her instincts for the job—she really cares about people," and said Queens would be well served by her as borough president. He said he would do all he can to help because "the borough means a lot to me. I carried it and everybody here tells me they voted for me," he said with a quiet smile.

Shulman, in brief remarks, noted she had also been sworn in for the first time at the Hall of Science, and said she was proud to hand over the reins of government to Marshall.

The outgoing borough president also noted the mayor "faces an incredible task, but with his abilities and talents, I’m sure he will (succeed)."

At Marshall’s swearing in by the new mayor last Thursday, witnessed by about 1,000 guests at the Hall of Science, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, the new borough president made frequent references to the borough’s wide ethnic diversity and ethnicity, calling it the borough’s most valuable resource.

To celebrate the installation of the borough’s first black borough president, many city and borough black public officials and leaders were in attendance and the large audience was predominantly black.

Among the initiatives Marshall plans to institute in her first term, she said, will be a "General Assembly of Queens to merge cultures together and tackle existing problems and formalize the process to bring all our ethnic groups together."

The 72-year-old former member of the City Council and state Assembly also outlined her plans to reduce school over crowding, involve parents more closely in education, get more housing built, and improve transportation facilities for the borough’s 2.2 million residents.

Marshall, Bloomberg and others also took the occasion to shower accolades on Shulman for her accomplishments during her 15-year tenure as borough president.

Among the other speakers were ex-Council Speaker Peter Vallone and his deputy, Councilmember Archie Spigner, Shulman, state Comptroller H. Carl McCall, Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry, Marshall’s strong political ally in East Elmhurst and her Assembly successor, who served as master of ceremonies, and state Secretary of State Randy Daniels, who represented Governor George Pataki at the ceremony.

Among the dignitaries present were Queens Democratic Leader Thomas Manton, whose strong backing of Marshall helped to bring about her election victory, Congressmember Charles Rangel, the most powerful black lawmaker in Washington, and Harlem leaders Borough President Virginia Fields and ex-Borough President Percy Sutton, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Queens County Clerk Gloria D’Amico and her deputy, Dora Young, and Michael Reich, the executive secretary of the Queens Democratic organization and Manton’s right-hand man.

Other lawmakers present included Congressmembers Gregory Meeks and Nita Lowey, state Senators Vivian Cook, Ada L. Smith and Daniel Hevesi and Assemblymembers Michael Gianaris, Margaret Markey, Ivan Lafayette, Mark Weprin, Nettie Mayersohn, Audrey Pfeffer, Michael Cohen, Catherine Nolan and William Scarborough.

Marshall’s former City Council colleagues who turned out to wish her well included Karen Koslowitz, John Sabini and Juanita Watkins, of Queens, Stanley Michels of Manhattan and Annette Robinson of Brooklyn.

Every new Queens Councilmember was present. They are Tony Avella, John Liu, Hiram Monserratte, Peter Vallone Jr., David Weprin, James Gennaro, Helen Sears, Eric Gioia, Leroy G. Comrie, Allen W. Jennings, Melinda Katz, Dennis Gallagher, James Sanders and Joseph Addabbo Jr.

Two of the leading contenders for Council Speaker, A. Gifford Miller, of Manhattan and Angel Rodriquez of Brooklyn, were also on hand.

Among local community leaders present were United Community Civic Association President Rose Marie Poveroma, Lucy Nunziato of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, Luis Rodriquez of the New York Power Authority, the Rev. Coleman Costello and Gus Kobleck, executive director of the Central Astoria Local Development Coalition.

Marshall began her speech by saying she was humbled about becoming borough president, adding that if, at the beginning of her 40-year public career, "someone told me I would one day stand before you and be sworn in as the Borough President of Queens County, I would have found it hard to believe. But that day is here."

Addressing friends, colleagues and family, she said, "We became keenly aware after September 11 of what we already knew—we work best when we work as one."

This was exemplified each day at Ground Zero and again after the Flight 587 crash in Belle Harbor, Marshall said.

"I will always remember how the people of Belle Harbor lined the streets and opened their hearts to their fellow citizens from Washington Heights," where many of the Hispanic American victims on the ill fated airplane came from, she said.

"It truly represented the spirit of America."

On the same theme, she declared, "Being elected Borough President is an affirmation of my faith and love for this country. I am so proud of being elected the first African American woman president of this great borough."

She continued, "Today, in a world full of strife and harsh conditions for so many, Queens County can be a shining example, for we are indeed a microcosm of the world. As the most diverse county in the world, we preside over an experiment in global communications and tolerance. If we can make it work in Queens, we can prove it can work anywhere."

However, Marshall did not cite any examples of the harsh conditions to which she alluded but she declared:

"The fact is this diversity is our most valuable resource; our wealth is measured not in gold or money, but in our people and our neighborhoods—in the Korean grocer, the Indian restaurateur, the Russian shoe repair man, the African artist, the Iranian computer technician and many more just like them from all over the world."

Toward the end of her talk, Marshall expanded on her plan to establish a General Assembly that would bring together people from every culture and background. She said that under the auspices of her office, she wanted the body to reflect every ethnic group in Queens.

"We can share cultural experiences, resolve differences and, most importantly, work together to make this borough and this world a smaller and more liberal place. Remember, only when we have a world in which our capacity for love, solidarity and creativity are allowed to flourish can we begin to live in harmony with nature and each other."

She acknowledged, "My plans for the future are ambitious. I can only accomplish them by enlisting your support."

In a reference to September 11, she said it left the city and the borough in uncharted terrain which brought her in as borough president in an era of deep uncertainty and economic difficulty. Other than ad libbing that she had no problem with the 20 percent reduction in staff called for by the mayor, she did not propose any solutions to the economic situation.

Getting into her plans to run the borough, Marshall, a former school teacher, declared, "Education is so crucial for our children."

She said she will continue the War Room on school construction established by Shulman to keep a weekly check on school construction projects throughout the borough. She served notice on the School Construction Authority (SCA) as she said, "I intend to follow through and make sure that every student has a seat—a real seat not a chair with a clipboard in the hallway. Every child deserves a place where they can learn in a safe and instructive environment. It is as much a right as fresh air and sunshine."

Marshall said she also plans to establish a Task Force on Quality Education, one of which its functions will be to establish a partnership with major corporations to provide computers for students.

She also wants to create a "buddy system" whereby non-English-speaking students in the early grades are partnered with an English-speaking friend to learn each other’s language, become friends and learn about each other’s cultures.

As part of her program for seniors, she proposed more affordable assisted housing, but in an intergenerational setting.

"We need to think out-of-the-box and come up with new, affordable situations that will appeal to both those starting out in the housing market and those wishing to scale back as they get older," she said, noting that her sister Joan, a Californian who works in the social services field, had developed such a program and won an award for it.

Along with new housing, there must be neighborhood revitalization throughout the boroughs to improve commercial main streets such as Jamaica Avenue, Austin Street in Forest Hills, Queens Boulevard, Northern Boulevard and Steinway Street in Astoria.

She cited Queens West and other developments in Long Island City as an attractive alternative to residents and businesses seeking to move out of New York City. She called for direct mass transit access to LaGuardia Airport, similar to the nearly completed AirTrain system to Kennedy Airport, and proposed ferry service to the Rockaways.

During the program, Vallone praised Marshall’s efforts to improve the City University (CUNY) system and suggested to Bloomberg that he continue the scholarship program for students who achieve a B average in high school.

Vallone described Marshall, with whom he served for a decade in the Council, as "the opposite of selfish, one who brings out the good in all human beings."

Spigner, who said he had known Marshall and her husband of 51 years for virtually all that time, singled out her leadership qualities and her efforts to raise awareness of ethnic diversity.

Citing her humble background and strong work ethnic, Spigner said, "She was not born in the lap of luxury. What she achieved, she earned."

McCall, the first black ever elected to statewide office and now a candidate for governor, noted that Shulman had made Queens an outstanding place to live and raise a family, "so why not another woman" to succeed her?

Daniels, Pataki’s emissary, declared, "Queens, you did good—you made history," referring to the election of the first black borough president.

"I believe you chose wisely also on a citywide level," Daniels said, complimenting the choice of Bloomberg.

Aubrey noted he had worked in Shulman’s administration before succeeding Marshall as Assemblymember. He recalled seeing Marshall "sweep Northern Boulevard in the cold to keep her community clean and reach out to welfare recipients on the streets to help them."

Three clergymen took part in the program: the Rev. Floyd Flake, former congressmember from southeast Queens; the Rev. Pierre Andre Duvert, pastor of the Church of the Resurrection in East Elmhurst, where Marshall worships, and Rabbi Michael Miller of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

Flake took note of the city’s reaction to the September 11 attack; Duvert observed "In times of trouble, the Lord always provides good leaders", and Miller called Marshall "the Queen of Queens who’s following a regal predeccessor," and added, "On the field of dreams that is Queens, we are to be marshalled by Helen."