Since it’s first edition in 2008, It’s Queens – the Magazine, a quarterly 72-page, 8″ by 10″ glossy lifestyle magazine published by BQE Media, has been publishing features and lists of people and places that makes Queens the most vibrant and diverse county in the world.
It’s circulation is 15,000. It is mailed to 3500 of the top businesses in Queens plus 1500 subscribers. It’s also available at 250 locations – at some newsstands it’s available for $2.95 and select locations such as advertisers, hotels & free publication hot-spots, including doctor’s waiting rooms, it’s available free.
The website is itsqueens.com. Each issue we feature our “It’s List.” Our editors
have profiled our top picks for Queens musicians, comedians, stealth operators, doctors and even top entrepreneurs. In this, our Fall 2016 issue, we reveal the top 15 Movers & Shakers in Queens for 2016. We also profile the top 5 food trucks, top 5 barber shops and profile aspiring Rego Park actor Vic Bagratuni. We also have a chat with the renown Jackson Heights body painter Michael Mejia.
“It is time that we start to recognize the accomplishments of these ‘It’s List’ individuals at an event. For those who are familiar with our century-old company,
understand we think Queens leaders have more events to attend than some heads of state around the world,” said Walter Sanchez, publisher of It’s Queens – the magazine. “So in our attempt to keep it simple, yet give some much deserved recognition to some great people we have decided to have an intimate event at the famous IlBacco Restaurant on Northern Blvd. in Little Neck from 6:30 till 8:30PM on Thursday, November 17th.”
The room will hold 100 people in a cocktail hour style setting with a few drinks and some food at a reasonable cost for attendees. There will be a real focus on our Movers & Shakers – giving them the stage to speak to all of us. We will have a select number of sponsors who might be looking to help their brand. We have two sponsorship packages that we are limiting to a total of seven sponsors and are including branding, advertising, speaking time at the event and a VIP meet and greet. Queensborough President Melinda Katz will attend and it will be a great networking experience.
“The Movers and Shakers of Queens deserve some recognition for truly shaping our lives here in recent times and for the future. From John Choe, the man behind the formation of a new vibrant Chamber of Commerce in Flushing to Ya-Ting Liu, the executive director of Friends of the BQX, who is changing the way we are looking at light rail, our Movers & Shakers each have distinct paths and stories that have to be told,” said Sanchez. (It’s Queens – the Magazine is part of the Queens Ledger/Brooklyn Star family of community newspapers).
Info about our Top 15 Movers & Shakers:
The top 15 Movers & Shakers include Michael LoCascio, who is the mastermind behind the effort in Maspeth which has brought the mayor to his knees
about the NYC homeless issue recently. LaCascio has been able to get attention to how administration is mistreating the homeless by using hotels which are not up to the standards the administration itself made.
Rachel Thieme, director of Sunnyside Shines BID. She has brought a new kind of life to Sunnyside with community oriented public spaces and uses that space for entertainment, food and programing.
John Choe, the man behind the formation of a new vibrant Chamber of Commerce in Flushing.
Anthony Lopez, director of Zone 126, an educational non-profit in Astoria and LIC is bringing together compelling resources to make a real change in the way we should be helping kids.
Hope Knight has been president of the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation for 18 months now. She is doing a fine job weaving her way through the complex maze in South Queens that might just lead to the growth path Jamaica has been waiting for since the Lindsay administration.
Tyler Morse, CEO of the company which is one of the top hotel operators in the country – MCR Development, is running the $260 Million dollar project to build a luxury hotel at JFK Airport.
Anyone who has seen Tom Grech relax is not telling the truth. As the executive director of the Queens Chamber of Commerce this tireless ‘master of business’ in Queens makes it his business to be inclusive to businesses of
all sizes of here. His leadership in this century-old organization has turned some heads, and for good reason.
Michael Mattone is a key figure in Queens, managing the financial strategy of the most respected legacy real estate company in the borough – The Mattone Group.
When we met Greg Brown, attorney, and new president of The Queens County Bar Association we thought, “…. maybe you have seen one, you have seen the all.” Were we wrong! Greg has laid out a plan to engage young lawyers to become involved with this one-hundred-and-forty year-old organization that we think is going to be a game changer for this highly respected organization.
Chris Mullin lit up the sky above St. Johns in the 1980s. He is about to do it again. He has landed one of the top basketball recruits in the nation as he embarks on his second year as head coach of the St. Johns mens basketball team.
Mike Luba has changed the game in Forest Hills since taking a risk by renovating the historic Forest Hills Tennis Stadium and then bringing epic musical concerts back to Queens. His is a subtle guy, but the impact of his work can not be ignored.
Michael Meyer, president of M&T Group, developer of Flushing Commons. This project will change Flushing like no other in the past century.
Dennis Walcott is the true story of a ‘Queens kid made good.’ The boy from St. Albans remembers where he came from and now, as the leader of the Queensborough Public Library system, he is that breath of fresh air the system needs.
Judge Joseph Zayas is a true magical genius of a judge. He is the administrative judge in the supreme court who presides over felony cases in youth court. We followed him for a day. We see Zayas as being responsible for turning around hundreds of older youth who were on a path to be career criminals. Zayas is saving us by saving them.
Ya-Ting Liu is not only connecting Brooklyn and Queens, she is bringing a new kind of transportation to Queens that we have not seen since the trolley car. This director of the Friends of the BQX will be successful at changing our lives in Queens for good.
For more information or to purchase tickets visit
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/top-15-movers-shakers-of-queens-2016-tickets-28740566809
