Variety Boys and Girls Club CEO Costa Constantinides, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (right), Council Member Tiffany Cabán (center left) and Astoria Houses Resident Association President Vanessa Jones-Hall (left) celebrate NYC Council’s long-standing partnership with VBGCQ. Photo: Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit.
June 18, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Adrienne Adams joined community leaders in Astoria this week to reaffirm the City Council’s support for the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens (VBGCQ), as the organization prepares to break ground on a new state-of-the-art clubhouse this December.
Adams stood alongside VBGCQ CEO Costa Constantinides and Council Members Julie Won and Tiffany Cabán to celebrate the Council’s $7.5 million capital funding allocation toward the redevelopment of the youth organization’s longtime headquarters.
VBGCQ, which has served Western Queens youth since 1955, currently provides programming for more than 4,000 children and teens each year at its clubhouse at 21-12 30th Rd. The site is slated for a major transformation into a 125,000-square-foot facility as part of a $305 million redevelopment project.
The new clubhouse will include a regulation pool, a gymnasium, a teaching kitchen, a theater, and what will become the first planetarium in Queens, expanding the Club’s ability to deliver cutting-edge educational, recreational, and enrichment opportunities for generations to come.
Construction is expected to begin by the end of the year.
According to Constantinides, the organization has now secured the vast majority of the funding necessary for the redevelopment, clearing the way for construction to begin. The project is expected to take approximately 30 months, with completion targeted for early 2028.
Once complete, the new clubhouse will allow the organization to serve up to 16,000 children annually, Constantinides said, making it the largest Boys and Girls Club in the United States. The redevelopment will also effectively quadruple the reach of its after-school, athletic, and swimming programs in Queens.
The project also includes a 236-unit, carbon-neutral affordable housing development, with 69 units reserved for youth aging out of foster care, as well as a dedicated children’s mental health center. Additional features include a 1,500-seat arena and a 400-seat school, further integrating community services with educational and recreational programming.
Over the past eight years, the City Council has allocated $7.5 million in capital funding for the expansive redevelopment, prompting Adams’ visit to the clubhouse on Tuesday to celebrate the long-standing partnership.
The Council Speaker stated that VBGCQ has been a “beacon and a second home” for youth throughout Queens over the past 70 years, adding that she is proud that the Council has allocated so much in capital funding to the organization’s redevelopment.
“This investment will plant the seeds of success for generations of families in Queens and beyond,” Adams said in a statement.
Constantinides, meanwhile, said the Council’s funding has allowed Variety to stay on target for a scheduled groundbreaking later this year.
“Speaker Adams and the Council’s support has helped us stay on target to break ground at the end of this year and expand this crucial programming, especially for young people who live in public housing,” Constantinides said in a statement.
Won hailed VBGCQ for supporting the arts and after-school programming in Council District 26, pointing to Variety’s urban agriculture programming at Sky Farm LIC at 37-18 Northern Blvd.
“In my district, Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens has supported the arts, enriching after-school programming, STEM, and urban agriculture for students,” Won said.
Council Member Julie Won and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. Photo: Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit.
Cabán described the youth organization as a “cornerstone” of support and joy for young people in Queens, stating that Variety is a place where kids “discover who they are.”
“This is an investment in our children, our families, and the strength of our community,” Cabán said. “The new facility will be a testament to what happens when we dream big and center equity. We’re talking about a climate-resilient building. We’re talking about a planetarium. A regulation-size pool. STEM labs. Art studios. Space for community organizing. And space for the young people who need it most.”
