Everything that went down at the Queens Community Board 3 meeting on March 19, 2026, from ICE on Roosevelt Avenue to a hospital bathroom joke that actually landed.
Last Thursday night, about 60 people packed into the I.S. 227Q Louis Armstrong School auditorium in East Elmhurst for the monthly Queens Community Board 3 meeting. It ran past 10pm. There were tears, standing ovations, a heated debate about how to raise your hand, and a hospital executive who made a toilet joke.
Here’s what you need to know.
ICE Activity Confirmed Around Roosevelt Avenue
Let’s start with the big one.
Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry confirmed what many residents have been whispering about: ICE agents have been spotted in the district, predominantly around Roosevelt Avenue in the Jackson Heights area.
There have also been rumors about agents staking out the TD Bank near the meeting location. Thomas-Henry said her office has been in direct contact with the bank manager, who hasn’t observed the activity. But the community chatter is real.
Her advice? Get educated. Her office is rolling out more “Know Your Rights” seminars, and if you or someone you know is encountered by ICE, the go-to resource is Make the Road New York, which can provide immediate legal representation.
The council member’s office is also part of a real-time group chat with assembly members and congressional leaders across the city. When a sighting is reported, someone from a local team responds immediately to assess the situation.
“It’s not like one particular area where they’re just snatching people,” Thomas-Henry said. “It’s usually sporadic and random.”
If you see something, contact her office directly.
Green Card Holders Just Lost Access to SBA Loans
Here’s one that should make every small business owner on 37th Avenue sit up straight.
The federal government has decided that green card holders are no longer eligible for SBA loans. That means legal permanent residents, many of whom have been running businesses in Jackson Heights for years, just lost a critical financial lifeline.
“It’s not a perk,” Thomas-Henry told the room. “It’s a necessity for a lot of our businesses to thrive.”
The city is scrambling to find alternatives. The Mayor has introduced a new small business loan program, and Thomas-Henry’s office will be distributing details. If you run a business or know someone who does, reach out to the Council Member’s office for info.
Also worth noting: on Monday, April 28, the City Council’s Small Business Committee (which Thomas-Henry chairs) will hold a hearing specifically on how federal ICE raids are impacting small businesses.
Flushing Hospital Got a Massive Glow-Up
Robert V. Levine, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Flushing Hospital Medical Center, came through with what might be the most genuinely exciting healthcare update this community has gotten in years.
The highlights:
A brand-new Emergency Department. Two years and $9 million later (including a $3 million grant from Albany), the ER has doubled from 8,000 to 16,000 square feet. Gone are the old curtain-divided beds where you could hear your neighbor’s entire medical history. Now it’s private, glass-enclosed treatment rooms. There’s a separate GYN suite, an ultrasound suite, a pediatric ED, and a fast-track area. It’s also a certified stroke center.
Hotel-style maternity rooms. The entire fifth floor has been redone with 28 private rooms (up from 30 semi-private). Each room is 270 square feet with a private bathroom, shower, and sofa bed for partners. “We wanted to give mothers a hotel-like environment,” Levine said.
Oh, and about the bathroom reveal: “Why am I showing you a picture of the toilet? Well, we are Flushing Hospital.” Reader, the joke landed.
Memorial Sloan Kettering is coming to Queens. This is huge. Through a collaboration with Jamaica Hospital (Flushing’s sister hospital), doctors from Memorial Sloan Kettering are now seeing patients in Queens. Residents no longer need to schlep to Manhattan for advanced cancer services. Governor Hochul has given Jamaica Hospital a $188 million grant to build a comprehensive cancer center on the Van Wyck Expressway. Radiation oncology, advanced surgeries, the works.
A new psych unit before year’s end. A $25 million grant from Albany is funding a 30-bed inpatient psychiatric unit. Right now, psychiatric patients can wait one to three days in the ER for a bed. Next year, a standalone psychiatric emergency program (CPEP) will be built adjacent to the ER.
A new ICU is coming too. A $12 million grant will fund a full renovation. The current ICU sits in a building from 1926.
For a community that was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, these investments are deeply personal. Levine recalled getting a call at 2:30am on Super Bowl Sunday 2020 about their first suspected case. By month’s end, 90% of patients were COVID-positive.
“Over the past five years, your elected officials have given us almost $40 million in capital grants,” Levine said. “It’s to expand services for our growing community.”
A few community members pushed for more preventive health outreach, especially for immigrant workers who tend to skip the doctor until they literally can’t function anymore. Levine pointed to the hospital’s expanded outpatient mental health and addiction services.
120,000 People Applied for 880 Apartments at Willets Point
Read that number again. 120,000 applicants for 880 units of affordable housing at Willets Point. The first residents move in next month.
Housing is the number one issue coming through the council member’s office right now. Number two is financial help (mostly people signing up for free tax prep). Number three is quality of life.
Next up at Willets Point: 220 senior housing units will start construction. Thomas-Henry’s office pushed hard to get local residents to apply, even helping people fill out applications at her office.
One concern that came up late in the meeting: board member Marta Lebreton flagged that residents are about to move in, but MTA and DOT still have no lighting or transportation plan for the area. She’s working across CB3 and CB7 with multiple elected officials to fix that.
The World Cup Is 80 Days Away
The FIFA World Cup is coming, and our backyard is going to feel it. While the main games are in New Jersey, major “FanFest” activations are planned throughout NYC, including at the USTA campus near us.
Details on activities and pricing are still being finalized, but the council member raised the questions everyone’s thinking: What’s the traffic mitigation plan? What’s the transportation plan? The 7 train on a good day isn’t great, and during two weeks of the event, the Mets will also be playing home games.
“There’s a lot happening in our backyard,” Thomas-Henry said. Her office is pushing for a ferry service to help with the load.
Also: that new soccer stadium at Willets Point? Slated to open next year. Plus five more years of construction in the area. Buckle up.
New Bars and Restaurants Coming to Jackson Heights
The Business & Economic Development committee, co-chaired by Edmund Rosenbaum and Edwin Westley, brought nine liquor license applications to the board. Here’s what passed for Jackson Heights locations:
Bora Bora (86-09 Roosevelt Ave) – Upgraded from wine/beer to a full liquor license. Hours: 9am to 2am daily. Live music, karaoke, and DJ permitted. Security from 4pm to close. Approved 24-4.
Cora Bar Restaurant (84-10 37th Ave) – Brand new full liquor license. This is the new spot from the folks behind Kiwi Lime Fusion. Think brunch, acai bowls, waffles, smoothies, plus a full dinner menu with cocktails. Sunday through Thursday 8am to 11pm, Friday and Saturday 8am to 1am. Karaoke, DJ, and acoustic music permitted. Approved 24-4.
El Encebollado de Victor 5 (79-09 Roosevelt Ave) – New wine/beer/cider license for this Ecuadorian seafood spot. Casual family restaurant vibes, karaoke on weekends. Second location for the owners. Approved 26-2.
Aama’s Kitchen (72-19 Roosevelt Ave) – Postponed to next month.
The spicy one: Ponti Sports Bar (97-15 37th Ave, Corona) – This application for a wine/beer/cider license with 4am closing hours every day of the week sparked the meeting’s biggest debate. Some board members argued it’s too late for a residential area. Others pointed out that restaurant workers need somewhere to eat after their shifts end at 1 or 2am. The owner, who’s been in the neighborhood 50 years and owns the building, noted there were no prior police issues. It passed 22-6.
Also approved: Sabor Peruano (95-13 Roosevelt Ave, Corona) upgraded to full liquor after 8 years in the neighborhood. Passed 25-1.
No-shows: El Jefe Burger (East Elmhurst), El Manantial Restaurant (Corona), and Evelia’s Tamales (Corona) all failed to appear. El Jefe and El Manantial have now missed two straight months.
Roosevelt Avenue: “We’re Working On It”
Brief but notable: Thomas-Henry publicly stated that she and Council Member Shekar Krishnan meet every two weeks specifically about Roosevelt Avenue.
“We know it’s an issue. We’re figuring it out. More to come.”
No specifics yet, but the fact that it’s a standing biweekly conversation at the council level is worth knowing.
New Lighting Bill for Roosevelt Avenue
Assemblywoman Larinda Hooks has introduced a bill in Albany to fund new lighting on Roosevelt Avenue, a safety issue that board member Marta Lebreton has championed for over 15 years.
This feels like a small item, but if you’ve ever walked down Roosevelt Avenue after dark, you know it’s not small at all.
82nd Street’s Busted Pavers Are Getting Attention
Those decorative pavers on 82nd Street? They’re coming up and creating a tripping hazard. The board’s Traffic & Transportation committee discussed it, but the path forward is messy. Should each business owner fix their own stretch? Should the city fund a uniform replacement? Could they use permeable pavers to help with flooding?
No vote yet. A letter outlining the board’s position will be drafted for next month. But the safety issue was flagged as urgent.
Community Board Facing a 6% Budget Cut (With 3 Staff Members)
District Manager Giovanna Reed made an impassioned case: CB3 is staring down a proposed 6% budget cut, and the office runs on just three people.
“We are squeezed. We have no wiggle room whatsoever,” she said. “We are required to comply with all the rules and regulations that other agencies are. We operate like we are a staff of 20 when it’s actually just the three of us.”
She asked not just for the cut to be removed, but for an increase. Thomas-Henry, who grew up attending these meetings, seemed to hear the message loud and clear.
The Community Captains Program
Thomas-Henry announced a new initiative rolling out in the coming months. The idea is to rebuild block-level community organizing, modeled on old block associations. The goal: eyes and ears on every block so neighbors don’t suffer in silence.
She gave the example of a post-snowstorm situation where sanitation stopped picking up trash from alleyways for three weeks and nobody reported it. The Community Captains program is designed so that doesn’t happen again.
The Car Share Program Is Now Permanent
Quick win: the DOT car share program at two locations in the district, 37th Avenue & 86th Street and 77th Street & 31st Avenue, has been made permanent. If you’ve been meaning to try it, now’s the time.
The Voting Drama Was Real
The chair proposed a new voting method to speed things up: instead of calling each of the 29 board members by name for every single vote, they’d ask for “no” votes by hand-raise first, then “yes” votes.
Sounds simple, right? Wrong. A 13-minute debate erupted about transparency, peer pressure, Robert’s Rules of Order, and whether this was even legal without prior discussion at the executive board. One member argued that seeing how others vote could influence your own decision. Another pleaded: “Please don’t hurt the applicants because of this process.”
It passed 19-8 with 2 abstentions, and the new method was used for the rest of the night, with ongoing confusion, missed hand-raises, and at least one person who wasn’t sure what they were voting on.
Democracy is beautiful and messy, friends.
Standing Ovations for Shanel Thomas-Henry and Kevin
Two moments hit different.
Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry received an excellence award for 14 years of service on the board (2012 to 2026) before becoming a council member. The tribute called her “a true superstar” and listed her committee work across airport, business development, housing, land use, and more.
“Did we inspire you, or did you inspire us?” the presenter asked. “Perhaps the answer is both.”
Kevin Hughes-Noboa, who served 10 years on the board including roles as secretary, second vice chair, and first vice chair, attended his final meeting. Chair Richard Mullings delivered a deeply personal tribute, sharing how Kevin, while on vacation, created a photo montage for Mullings’ father’s funeral in 2022 when a family member tried to charge him for the service.
“Kevin showed me that he was more than a colleague. He was more than a friend. He was family. He was a brother.”
There weren’t many dry eyes in the room.
Three other departing members were also honored: Dorothy Phelan (16 years, Housing Committee Chair), Fausto Rodriguez (12 years, Health & Social Services Co-Chair), and Tammy Rose (7 years), who couldn’t attend due to illness.
Shakira Smalls Brought the House Down for Women’s History Month
Shakira Smalls, Executive Director of the Langston Hughes Community Library & Cultural Center, delivered a personal, powerful speech connecting her grandmother Ruth, her mother (a breast cancer survivor who lost five family members in five years), and the often-unsung women who build communities from behind desks and library counters.
She highlighted Dorothy Porter Wesley, who spent 40 years at Howard University reclassifying how libraries categorize African-American history. She honored the late Helen Marshall, the first African-American and second woman to serve as Queens Borough President, who was instrumental in creating the Langston Hughes Library. And she shouted out local legends like Ella Fitzgerald, who grew up right here in East Elmhurst.
She also honored the everyday women who keep things running: the librarian with 40 years of service, the deaf staff member who uses her experience “not as a limitation but as a superpower,” and the women who serve 50 kids daily in the after-school program.
“Think about her,” Smalls told the room. “The woman who showed up for you who didn’t have a title, who didn’t get a street named after them, who helped build it all together so you could be here tonight.”
The whole room raised their hands.
Justice for Zoraida Leo Vidal
The Queens DA’s office reported that Davi Vidal, 21, was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for the strangulation death of his landlady, 55-year-old Zoraida Leo Vidal, in her East Elmhurst home in December 2023. The killing stemmed from a dispute over back rent.
From the Borough President’s Office
Four upcoming events:
- March 23: Bangladesh Independence celebration (6 PM)
- March 28: A borough celebration event
- Spring Egg Hunt and Family Resource Fair (1 PM, date TBD)
- First Annual Youth Empowerment Awards: April 6 at 2:30 PM
The next Community Board 3 meeting will be held in April. Meeting agendas and minutes are posted at queenscb3.cityofnewyork.us. You can also stream meetings live on the CB3 YouTube channel.
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