About QCB11

What is a Community Board?

Community Boards are local representative bodies. There are 59 Community Boards in the City of New York created by a City Charter amendment in 1975. Each borough is divided geographically. Queens has 14 Community Boards.

Community Board 11 is your Community Board if you live within the area bounded by 26th Avenue in the North, Grand Central Parkway in the South, Utopia Parkway, the Long Island Expressway or the Clearview Expressway in the West and the City line to the East.

The Community Board meets monthly, except in the summer, to discuss community issues, monitor government service, and advise city agencies on matters concerning our neighborhoods. CB 11 meets the first Monday of the month at Middle School 158.

Board meetings are open to the public and the public must be allowed to speak during a portion of the meetings. Only Board members can vote.  Non-Board members can apply to join a Board Committee. Committees do most of the planning and work for the items which are acted on at a Board meeting.

Who Serves on Community Boards?

A Board is a group of up to 50 volunteers who live, work or have other interests in the area. Each member represents the interests and needs of his or her neighborhood. Each member is appointed for two years by the Borough President; half on nomination by the City Council members who represent the area. Officers are elected annually from this group. Each Board has by-laws by which it governs itself.

A District Manager (a professional City employee) is hired by the Board members to oversee the delivery of City services and operate the daily business functions of the Board. The Board also hires a small staff to take care of the daily operations and help members of the community with City service delivery.

What are the Community Board's Responsibilities?

• Zoning matters - Any change in or variance from the zoning resolution must come before the Board for its opinion through a public hearing process. These are mostly applications made to the Board of Standards and Appeals.


• Land Use - Community Boards must be consulted on placement of most municipal facilities in the community, City land acquisition and other land use issues. These include applications made to the Department of City Planning for Uniform Land Use Review Procedures (ULURP) Zoning Map and Text amendment changes.


• City Budget - Community Boards assess the needs of their own neighborhoods and make recommendations in the City's budget process to address them.


• Other Community Matters - Any problem which affects part or all of the community: traffic, transportation, education, environment, housing and buildings is a concern of a Board. These include recommendations for State Liquor licensing and franchises.

What Else Should I Know?

Community Board Districts share the same boundaries with local City services including the Police Precinct, the Sanitation District, the Parks Department District for maintenance, the Department of Environmental Protection sewer maintenance division, and the Department of Transportation Highway Operations and social service agencies, such as the Dept. of Youth and Community Development and the Department of Social Services.

The District Manager meets monthly with these representatives and other City agency representatives at the CB office to discuss and evaluate service delivery. Once a month the Borough President holds a Borough Service Cabinet with all 14 Queens District Managers and all City Agency representatives to discuss matters of mutual concern. The Chair of the Community Board meets monthly with the Borough President at Queens Borough Hall with the other Board Chairs and the local elected officials for a Borough Board meeting to discuss borough-wide concerns.

The Community Board District staff is available to assist with processing complaints, requests, and inquires made by residents. The office maintains lists of Civic Associations and other community agencies. We have on hand forms, applications and informational brochures published by the various City agencies.   We process Street Activity Permits and review Liquor License Applications. CB 11 publishes a monthly newsletter with information about upcoming public hearings, building demolitions and State liquor authority applications as well other community news. We also maintain a website where this information is available.