Queens Gazette: QCH To Honor Former Secretary of Treasury & New York Mets All-Star

Queens Community House (QCH) will honor Jacob J. Lew, the 76th secretary of the treasury and former White House chief of staff, and Edgardo Alfonzo, former New York Mets All-Star and current manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones, at their annual Strengthening Neighborhoods, Inspiring Change Gala on October 23. Both individuals are being recognized for their deep and longstanding commitment to the people and communities of Queens.

Jacob Lew served as White House chief of staff for President Barack Obama from 2012 to 2013 and was chosen by Obama to serve as secretary of the treasury in 2013, a position he held until 2017.

Lew grew up just blocks from QCH’s main site in Forest Hills, and remembers the organization’s origins. “The housing project that became the original home of the Queens Community House was a major topic of controversy,” he said. “While many opposed it, I grew up in a home where responsibly opening the doors to the community was seen as a good thing, and even advocated on behalf of the project at a local forum at Forest Hills High School. A local lawyer named Mario Cuomo earned his reputation as the mediator to resolve the siting issues—producing the low-rise scattered-site development that now stands.”

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