{"id":23,"date":"2026-03-16T17:07:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T21:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/shanel-thomas-henry\/?p=23"},"modified":"2026-03-16T17:07:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T21:07:16","slug":"hundreds-attend-cm-shanel-thomas-henrys-inauguration-at-packed-elmcor-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/shanel-thomas-henry\/2026\/03\/16\/hundreds-attend-cm-shanel-thomas-henrys-inauguration-at-packed-elmcor-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds attend CM Shanel Thomas-Henry\u2019s inauguration at packed Elmcor center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of local residents, community organizers and elected officials packed into Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities, Inc.<\/a> on Northern Boulevard on Jan. 16 to celebrate the inauguration of Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry.<\/p>\n

Thomas-Henry, who took office earlier in January after winning a hotly contested race to succeed former Council Member Francisco Moya in 21st District last year, spoke of her deep ties to the community during Friday night\u2019s inauguration and vowed to fight for immigrant communities, protect small businesses and advocate for stable housing during her term in office.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Attorney-General Letitia James, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Comptroller Mark Levine, and dozens of City Council Members, State Assembly Members and State Senators joined the inauguration Friday as Thomas-Henry transformed Elmcor\u2019s \u201cbasketball court into a ballroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inauguration also featured cultural performances from a number of local organizations, including the Mount Horeb Baptist Church Eternal Praise Dance Ministry, the Antioch Church of Corona Mass Choir and youth trumpeters of the Louis Armstrong House Museum Trumpet Players. Thomas-Henry, a former Elmcor board member, won a hotly contested open primary last June to replace Moya in the 21st District, which includes parts of East Elmhurst,\u00a0Corona<\/a>, Jackson Heights and LeFrak City.<\/p>\n

Elmcor CEO Saeeda Dunston, former Assembly Member and local icon Jeff Aubry and former Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, who presented Friday\u2019s program, also spoke at the packed inauguration.<\/p>\n

Dunston pointed to Thomas-Henry\u2019s roots as a board member at Elmcor and her love for the local community during a rousing speech to kick off the inauguration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we have with this Council Member is someone who will fight for everybody in the district, and she\u2019s going to make sure that this neighborhood, which sometimes gets overlooked, doesn\u2019t get missed,\u201d Dunston said.<\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, said Thomas-Henry knows here neighbors \u201clike the back of her hand\u201d from her roots growing up in the local community.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has taken that experience and transformed it into advocacy. From serving on boards of organizations like Elmcor\u2026 to launching youth scholarship and job programs, Shanel has dedicated herself to improving and bettering the lives of working families that call Queens home,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said.<\/p>\n

James, on the other hand, called on Thomas-Henry and other City Council Members to stand alongside her and show \u201cbackbone\u201d to help protect all New Yorkers. James called on the City Council to \u201cspeak truth to power\u201d and stand up to federal immigration authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time when people are scared to go to church and their houses of faith, to go to school, to go to work and to go to court, I\u2019m going to need this City Council and this City Council Member that I\u2019m about to inaugurate,\u201d James said. \u201cI\u2019m going to need their activism, their commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that Thomas-Henry has always understood that \u201creal change\u201d always starts by showing up for her neighbors.<\/p>\n

Speaking shortly after her inauguration, Thomas-Henry said her \u201cNorth Star\u201d is to keep families rooted in the community, protect immigrant neighbors and ensure that \u201copportunity reaches every block of the district.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy role is to meet our community where it is, to speak the language of our neighbors,\u201d Thomas-Henry said at Friday\u2019s inauguration. \u201cTo listen, build coalitions and make District 21 the first in line for resources, investments and opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stated that her job is not to simply hold a council seat but to bring City Hall to every road inside District 21 to ensure that families can afford to stay in the neighborhood amid rising gentrification, as well as ensuring that small businesses have the support they need to thrive.<\/p>\n

Thomas-Henry, who served on Community Board 3 and the $8 billion LaGuardia Redevelopment Program as well as her role in Elmcor, said the 21st Council District has always been a \u201csafe haven for dreamers\u201d and a \u201cland of opportunity\u201d for neighbors who dream of moving communities forward together.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur district is the heart of the world,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have always shown that if we want to go fast, we can go alone. But if we want to go far, we must go together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we build neighborhoods that nurture our children and keep them safe, when we develop real opportunities for entrepreneurs to grow and when we ensure that public safety is a priority, we can go far together.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that the district is home to over 130 languages and people who come from \u201cevery corner of the world\u201d with different origin stories, faith and traditions. But she also asserted that residents in the district share the same goals and values.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe share the same schools and the same hopes for our families,\u201d Thomas-Henry said. \u201cOur past is different, but our purpose is the same\u2026 District 21 has always been a place where people don\u2019t just arrive. We build.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full article here: https:\/\/qns.com\/2026\/01\/shanel-thomas-henry-inauguration-elmcor\/<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of local residents, community organizers and elected officials packed into Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities, Inc.<\/a> on Northern Boulevard on Jan. 16 to celebrate the inauguration of Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry.<\/p>\n

Thomas-Henry, who took office earlier in January after winning a hotly contested race to succeed former Council Member Francisco Moya in 21st District last year, spoke of her deep ties to the community during Friday night\u2019s inauguration and vowed to fight for immigrant communities, protect small businesses and advocate for stable housing during her term in office.<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/a><\/small><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":360,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/shanel-thomas-henry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/shanel-thomas-henry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/shanel-thomas-henry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/shanel-thomas-henry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/360"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/shanel-thomas-henry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/shanel-thomas-henry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/shanel-thomas-henry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/shanel-thomas-henry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/shanel-thomas-henry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}