Queens Borough President Donovan Richards unveils the new vanity address of Queens Borough Hall in honor of the late Claire Shulman (Queens Borough President Donovan Richards via Twitter)
April 26, 2021 By Allie Griffin
The entrance to Borough Hall has been adorned with a new address to greet visitors for years to come.
Queens Borough Hall has been given a new vanity address in honor of late Queens Borough President Claire Shulman.
The address of the Kew Gardens building, where Shulman served as the borough’s first female borough president for 16 years, was designated “One Claire Shulman Way.”
A sign above the door displaying the new address was unveiled in a ceremony led by current Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Monday.
Shulman, an early supporter of Richards’ borough president campaign last year, died on Aug. 16, 2020. She was 94 years old.
“Claire Shulman was a larger-than-life figure who consistently defied expectations with her uncanny ability to get things done for the people of Queens,” Richards said. “Her death last year was a huge loss to all of us who relied on her friendship and counsel, but we keep her legacy and memory alive by permanently and prominently affixing her name to Queens Borough Hall.”
Shulman held the borough president seat from 1986 to 2002. As the first woman elected to the position, she paved the way for other women to follow her, including her successors Helen Marshall, Melinda Katz and Sharon Lee.
Richards, who took office in December, said Shulman was the first person he called when he learned he had won the Democratic primary for the seat last year.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Claire Shulman at an endorsement announcement in October 2019 (Queens Borough President Donovan Richards via Twitter)
The unveiling Monday was attended by Shulman’s children, family and former staffers.
“From now on, everyone who visits the people’s house will see the name of Claire Shulman and reflect on the great work she did to build a better Queens,” Richards said. “I can’t think of a tribute more fitting than to have Claire’s name attached to the building where she worked so tirelessly on behalf of the borough she loved so much.”
The official address of Queens Borough Hall, 120-55 Queens Blvd., remains unchanged.
Claire Shulman was a fierce, visionary leader — a barrier-breaking champion of #Queens who woke up every day with our families on her mind.
We lost her in 2020, but it is an absolute honor to stand with her family today to dedicate Queens Borough Hall as One Claire Shulman Way. pic.twitter.com/21LhEoT9h3
— Queens Borough President Donovan Richards (@QnsBPRichards) April 26, 2021
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Queens Boro President Claire Schulman continues to be missed by all. She could work across the political isle with Republican Mayor Rudy Guiliani and several local Republican NYC Council members on a regular bipartisan basis harkening back to an age of collegiality no longer seen today. Schulman like New York’s late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan stood head and shoulders above today’s generation of ultra partisan Democrats. She was from an era that included more moderate independent Democrats as opposed to today’s politically correct “my way or the highway” extreme liberal Democrats who have no tolerance for views other than their own.
In our era of highly partisan politics, how disappointing that members from different parties and ideological commitments seldom can come together on behalf of all citizens. Schulman was a role model others should be emulating.
Larry Penner