Council has delivered $7.5 million in capital funding for new, state-of-the-art headquarters to serve 16,000 young people
Astoria, NY – Today, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams joined Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens CEO Costa Constantinides, Queens Council Members, and community and civic leaders to celebrate the Council’s longstanding support and capital funding investments to help build a new, state-of-the-art facility that will serve as the largest Boys and Girls Club of its kind in the nation.
The Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens, which has served Western Queens since 1955, currently supports 4,000 local youth annually through a diverse array of youth development programs. Over the last eight years, the Council has allocated $7.5 million in capital funds towards the construction of the new clubhouse, of which $2.5 million came directly from Speaker Adams.
This financial support will help the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens build a $305 million club with the capacity to serve 16,000 young people, effectively quadrupling the reach of its after-school, athletic, and swimming programs. When completed, one in four children in New York City will be able to benefit from the club’s expanded services. The project is slated to break ground at the end of the year.
Photos from the press conference can be found here, and a livestream of the event can be found here.
“For 70 years, the Variety Boys and Girls Club has been a beacon and a second home for young people in Queens,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams. “I’m proud that over the last several years, the New York City Council has delivered $7.5 million in capital funding to help transform its current building into a state-of-the-art facility. When it opens, it will be the largest Boys and Girls Club in the nation, featuring the borough’s first planetarium, a school, a theater, and the capacity to serve 16,000 young people. This investment will plant the seeds of success for generations of families in Queens and beyond. I thank Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens President and CEO Costa Constantinides, Board Chair Walter Sanchez, and all of the community partners who helped make this vision a reality.”
“Speaker Adams has been a strong partner of Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens, which reflects how much she values community programs like ours,” said Costa Constantinides, CEO of Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens. “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. Everyone at Variety is incredibly grateful for her support.”
“Variety has been a cornerstone of support, joy, and opportunity for young people in Queens. This is a place where kids discover who they are, where they’re nurtured, encouraged, and inspired,” said Council Member Tiffany Cabán. “That’s why I’ve been proud to invest in this new facility—not just once, but consistently. Because this is an investment in our children, our families, and the strength of our community. 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, right here. Thank you to President Costa Constantinides, thank you to Board Chair Walter Sanchez and the entire Variety team, and every single person fighting to make this vision a reality.”
“In my district, Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens has supported the arts, enriching after-school programming, STEM, and urban agriculture for students,” said Council Member Julie Won. “I’m proud that the City Council has provided $7.5 million in capital funding for the organization’s new facility so they can expand their reach to more children across our city,” said Council Member Julie Won. “Thank you to Speaker Adrienne Adams, Costa Constantinides, and the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens for partnering to foster our children’s growth and learning.”
The new club will bring the first planetarium to Queens, a 400-seat school, a 1,500-seat arena, and a 250-seat theater, among other amenities. The new Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens will have the capacity to serve an estimated 16,000 young people, a 34% increase in the number of children Boys & Girls Clubs in New York City currently serve. The carbon-neutral building will also include more than 230 units of new affordable housing, of which about 70 will be earmarked for young people aging out of foster care.
Variety will also build a new aquatic center to advance its historic work to enable young New Yorkers to learn to swim. Both Speaker Adams and Constantinides have prioritized water safety for the city’s children, as one in four don’t know how to swim.
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