Office of Queens Borough President Melinda Katz

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz was elected to office in 2013 and sworn in as the 19th Queens Borough President in January of 2014. In her capacity as Queens Borough President, she is empowered by the New York City Charter to advocate for the needs of the 2.3 million residents in the Borough of Queens.

The Borough of Queens is the most diverse county in the nation, with 48% of its residents foreign born, representing more than 120 countries and speaking more than 135 languages. The Queens Borough President aims to address many of the long-standing issues faced in the borough through the creation of public policy, capital improvements, and community advocacy.

The City Charter mandates the Queens Borough President to perform such functions as: maintain a topographic bureau, coordinate capital construction within the borough, monitor and expedite capital projects, submit capital and expense allocations for inclusion in the Adopted Budget, plan the growth, improvement and development of the borough, review and make recommendations regarding land use proposals, provide technical assistance to community boards, monitor the performance of city contracts, have legislation introduced by the City Council, oversee the coordination of a borough-wide public service complaint system, prepare a borough strategic policy statement for the borough, chair the Borough Board, submit a comprehensive statement of the expense and capital budgets for the borough, and serve as a trustee on the New York City Employee Retirement System Pension Board.