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Letter from the Executive Director
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May 1 is our annual fundraiser,
Queens Taste
, at the New York Hall of Science. It's a great opportunity to sample foods from restaurants from all over Queens, which essentially means from all over the world. One need not be a foodie or gourmet to enjoy the evening - just open to expanding a culinary comfort zone. We'll have tables from 50+ local restaurants and food and manufacturers, and many beverages to wash it down. More than 600 people will attend, see friends and colleagues, and meet new folks. Queens Taste is the borough's best networking event.
This will be the ninth Queens Taste that I have organized. Well, in truth, QEDC staffers make the magic happen. My role is to play the host and remember everyone's name as they walk in. This reminds me of the great actress Ann Bancroft's "YMA Dream" sketch. (I'll do my best.)
Here's the thing: Queens Taste is about so much more than food. We eat for nourishment, kind of like QEDC. Through our programs, we nourish a world of entrepreneurs. On May 1, you will meet some of them: clients from our Entrepreneur Space kitchen incubator; participants from our StartUP! Business Competition; and members of the Queens Tourism Council. And that is just a sampling of the many programs we offer that help people - many of whom are women, minorities, and immigrants with low or moderate incomes -- grow and sustain small businesses. The funds we raise via Queens Taste help us to help more than 2,000 individuals a year.
Small business is the backbone of our local economy - and many economies throughout the world. Innovation doesn't trickle down; it starts with ideas and free-form discussions in basements, kitchens, sheds, and under trees and in fields. We're extremely fortunate to have the right to engage in open discussions. There are many authoritarian forces, here and abroad, that would like to curtail that right. If they prevail, a basic way that we nourish entrepreneurship will be squelched.
So come and enjoy Queens Taste. Feed yourself and nourish our local entrepreneurs.
Sincerely,
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News You Can Use
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A Great Day in Queens.
The Queens Tourism Council is about to make history! On May 19, borough residents from a wide array of backgrounds will gather in front of the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park and pose for a photo. History? The photographer is Jonathan Kane, whose father, Art Kane, took the above shot of 57 legendary jazz musicians in Harlem in 1958. It ran on the cover of Esquire magazine and was the main subject of a documentary entitled "A Great Day in Harlem." Jonathan lives in Jackson Heights and he wants recreate this famous image with a Queens twist.
Click here to read more about this project.
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