BP says state of Queens is ‘precarious’ in age of Trump

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said the state of Queens is “precarious” during his State of the Borough address on Friday, but also highlighted successes in the World’s Borough. Photo by Kristen Blush Photography

By Ryan Schwach

The most diverse county in the nation is in a difficult spot in the age of a second Trump administration, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said during his annual State of the Borough address on Friday.

Speaking at the Queens Theater, Richards called President Donald Trump – who was born in Queens – a “fascist” and a “dictator,” and strongly condemned the president’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, immigrant communities and the environment.

“The state of our borough is precarious,” Richards said, “Queens is under attack – our wallets, our families, our futures, our values, our very way of life – all of it is on the line in this fight.”

In a speech typically painted by a rosy vision of the future, Richards painted the years to come with a darker brush. But the speech wasn’t without optimism.

Richards decried the Trump administration's cuts to medical services and access, education, immigration freedoms and environmental programs and how they could affect Queens, but maintained a hopeful tone.

“They are the problem,” he said. “We are the answer.”

“The answer is each one of us who gets up early in the morning, sends their kids to school, jumps on mass transit, works a full day, still finds time to get involved in the community, because in these streets, we don't make excuses,” Richards added. “We embrace solutions and uplift others, the answers are all right here in our borough of diversity, equity and inclusion, we have the blueprint to build a safer, stronger, more prosperous city.”

Richards called Trump’s deportation measures “callous” and held up organizations like Make the Road, a Queens-based immigration advocacy group.

The BP put close to $2 million into the construction of Make the Road’s new Corona community center, which opened last year.

“We need the city to step up, because our community-based organizations have been doing the leg work all by themselves for far too long,” Richards said with Mayor Eric Adams – who has mostly defended Trump’s immigration policies – sitting in the front row.

Richards touted investments in swim programs in Queens, namely the long-planned aquatic center in Far Rockaway, which he announced on Friday he would be allocating an additional $26 million for.

“I believe the Rockaway families have long deserved a space like this,” he said.

Throughout his tenure as BP, Richards has made funding Queens’ schools a priority, allocating $78 million since 2021. He said he intends to continue to send funds to the borough’s schools, despite cuts to education at the federal level.

In healthcare, Richards lauded the new cancer center at Jamaica Hospital, and other projects in Elmhurst and Far Rockaway.

“Healthcare is a human right…and whether you live in Springfield Gardens or Forest Hills Gardens, you deserve the same quality of care and level of investment,” he said. “You deserve a long, healthy life alongside your children. Finally, the days of disinvestment, disparities and denial are done.”

Earlier this month, the federal government slashed around $150 million in funding that was intended for flood mitigation projects in Corona, Flushing and East Elmhurst, which Richards condemned.

“That's on top of every single terrible policy that comes with the claim that climate change is a hoax,” he said. “To the Trump administration, how many people have to die in a super storm before you see the light?”

“I can't promise we'll win every fight with the Trump administration on the environment, but I can promise that we won't go down without a fight,” he added.

The heart of Richards' speech centered around Trump’s attacks on DEI programs, which he said threaten to disadvantage the diversity Queens has.

“As a Black man raising a Black son, I'm hurt by the notion that those with my skin tone are nothing more than DEI hires,” he said.

While Richards said he was scared of what the nation is becoming and that it's “fight or flight,” he reiterated at the close of his address that power still resides in the hands of Queens.

“We can choose to bend the knee and accept this new America, or we can choose each other. I choose you Queens,” he said. “I choose the borough that builds bridges not burns them…The state of our borough is precarious, but its future is not predicated on anyone or anything beyond our borders, we decide what our future looks like.”