Queens Borough President Donovan Richards speaks on the official announcement of a Queens Holocaust Memorial at Borough Corridor on Tuesday, Nov. 25.
Picture by Shane O’Brien
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro joined state legislators and members of the Queens Jewish group exterior Borough Corridor Tuesday afternoon to formally announce the Queens Holocaust Memorial, a brand new public web site that can honor the 6 million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany through the Holocaust.
Richards and Mayor Eric Adams have allotted $3 million for the memorial, which shall be positioned on the south-east garden in entrance of Borough Corridor at 120-55 Queens Blvd.
The memorial may even pay tribute to people and households who survived the Holocaust and can moreover play a job in educating the group concerning the Holocaust and the implications of antisemitism, advocates stated at an announcement occasion Tuesday.
Elected officers current on the Nov. 25 occasion, which featured a ceremonial groundbreaking, included Meeting Members David Weprin, Sam Berger, Nily Rozic, Alicia Hyman and Ed Braunstein. State Sens. Toby Ann Stavisky and Leroy Comrie additionally attended the occasion alongside Queens District Legal professional Melinda Katz and representatives for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
The occasion featured a ceremonial groundbreaking. Phot by Shane O’Brien
The location is the brainchild of Michael Nussbaum and different distinguished members of the Queens Jewish group. Nussbaum, the co-publisher of the Queens Day by day Eagle and president of the Queens Jewish Group Council, first approached Richards and the Mayor’s workplace with a imaginative and prescient for a Holocaust memorial three years in the past.
In flip, Nussbaum credited Mastro for slicing via bureaucratic crimson tape and getting the mission off the bottom in June.
On Tuesday, Adams introduced that he was committing $2 million in funding for the location, with Richards committing $1 million for the memorial, with different funding nonetheless to be sourced for the mission.
Stavisky introduced at Tuesday’s occasion that she could be allocating $1 million to the mission, whereas Berger later introduced that the Queens delegation within the Meeting could be advocating for $1.5 million in funding for the location. Richards then dedicated an additional $1 million to the mission.
The town will now coordinate with group stakeholders and civic leaders to develop the location as a memorial backyard. The backyard will characteristic public art work, with an artist choice course of led by the Division of Cultural Affairs’ “Percent for Art” program in session with artists, group members and Holocaust survivors.
Richards described the announcement as an “emotional day” for Jewish households throughout the borough, including that the memorial is proof that Queens will “never forget” the horrors of the Holocaust.
“We will never forget what happened to 6 million Jewish families during World War II,” Richards stated. “We are going to always remember, as a result of we can’t overlook the numbers tattooed in our neighbor’s arms, the scars they nonetheless bear from the beatings and slave labor.
“Today, we commit, as a borough, to never forgetting what they went through. We commit to never again allowing that kind of evil and hatred to take hold in our society.”
He vowed that the memorial will “send a message” that Queens is not going to permit antisemitism to “rule the day.”
Mastro, in the meantime, stated the phrase “never again” are as related in the present day as they’ve ever been and stated it was “so important” to construct a Holocaust memorial in Queens, the place many Holocaust survivors made their house after coming to the U.S.
He stated there’ll now be a collaboration between elected officers and group members to create a “beautifully landscaped memorial” that honors the victims of the Holocaust.
Mastro stated antisemitism accounts for over 50% of the hate crimes within the metropolis and stated the memorial will play a job in combating that rising antisemitism.
“We have to remain ever vigilant,” Mastro stated. “It’s not acceptable against any community, whether you are from the Jewish community, whether you are from the Christian community, whether you are from Islamic community.”
Vladimir Epshteyn, a Holocaust survivor who moved to the U.S. after being jailed in a Soviet jail through the Chilly Conflict, stated the memorial will ship a message that “nothing is forgotten.”
Epshteyn, who was born in Bessarabia shortly after the outbreak of the Second World Conflict, escaped to modern-day Kazakhstan together with his mom and was later jailed in the us for criticizing Soviet actions towards Jews. He stated he has seen an increase in antisemitism across the globe however stated the memorial is an “important sign” that hate and antisemitism have “no place” in the US.
Epshteyn embraces Ali Najmi, representing Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. Picture by Shane O’Brien
Rabbi Mayer Waxman, CEO of the Queens Jewish Group Council, stated the memorial shall be an necessary reminder of the hazards of antisemitism whereas additionally reinforcing the message of “never again.”
“Many people have forgotten,” Waxman stated. “We say ‘never again’ and we also say ‘never forget,’ but people have forgotten…. But education is so important to help make sure people don’t forget and people understand.”
He additionally stated the memorial will assist fight an increase in Holocaust denial and praised elected officers for presenting a united entrance towards antisemitism.
