Area elected officials and community leaders last Tuesday announced a new Queens Holocaust Memorial at Borough Hall.
Initially proposed by the Queens Jewish Community Council, the site will honor the memory of the 6 million Jewish people who were killed, as well as the survivors who built new lives here in the city. Upon completion, it will be the borough’s first major Holocaust memorial, officials said.
“No matter how much time passes since the evils of the Holocaust, New York City’s commitment to the pledge of ‘Never Again’ must never waver,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said in a City Hall press release. “That is why, in the face of rising tides of heinous anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial across our society, I could not be prouder to lead this effort alongside the administration and the Queens’ Jewish community in creating this critically important memorial here at Queens Borough Hall.”
According to the release, the city and Richards’ office have allocated $3 million toward the project’s development. The Queens Jewish Community Council also will lead fundraising efforts to support the memorial’s design and construction.
The city will lead a formal design process to build a commemorative garden and install public artwork, with the artist selection process led by the city Department of Cultural Affairs’ Percent for Art program. The site will be formally designated as a Holocaust memorial through a DCAS letter.
The memorial also will host Holocaust remembrance ceremonies, community gatherings and educational programs for students.
“Trauma leaves its mark, but it does not have to define us,” state Assemblyman Sam Berger (D-Flushing) said in the release.