Gioia, ERDA Give Turkeys To Public Housing Residents
As they have for the fifth consecutive year, City Councilmember Eric Gioia and Queensbridge Tenants Association President Nina Adams gave away turkeys donated by Fresh Direct to residents of Queensbridge Houses, the largest public

housing development in the country.

For the fifth year in a row, City Councilmember Eric Gioia, Bishop Mitchell G. Taylor, president of the East River Development Alliance (ERDA), and Fresh Direct gave away hundreds of turkeys to public housing residents in the Woodside, Ravenswood, Astoria and Queensbridge Houses. The project marks another success for the dynamic public/private partnership that has emerged to spur revitalization and improve lives in Western Queens.

"Thanksgiving is America's oldest tradition," Gioia, who represents Woodside, Sunnyside, Long Island City, Astoria and Maspeth in the New York City Council, said. "As we celebrate and give thanks this week, we also reflect on what we can do to make a difference. Today, we come together as a city and a family to provide public housing residents with a little something that could mean a whole lot."

The turkey giveaway was coordinated by ERDA, a community based organization in Long Island City working to connect public housing residents to economic opportunities and basic resources. "This is a model partnership that shows what can happen when government, business, and community come together to lift the spirit of a neighborhood," Taylor said. The turkeys were donated by Fresh Direct, an online grocer with headquarters blocks away from Queensbridge in Long Island City.

Joining Gioia and Taylor was Nina Adams, president of the Queensbridge Tenants Association. "It's just great to have partners like Councilman Eric Gioia and ERDA," Adams said. "Our neighborhood continues to get better and better, and it goes to show that when people come together, great things can happen."