Mission Statement |
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“To promote the general welfare of the Borough of Queens and to foster its commerce”
At the Queens Chamber of Commerce, A better Queens is our business.
Chamber History
January 1911
Fifteen Queens businessmen sign an agreement to form Queens Chamber of Commerce.
April 1911
Chamber holds first meeting on April 20 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan; 55 charter members in attendance. Offices established at 4 Herriman Avenue (now 90-25 161st Street), Jamaica.
May 1911
Chamber incorporated by State of New York.
January 1912
Chamber holds its first annual dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, January 11. Addresses by Queens Borough President Maurice Connelly, Court of Special Sessions Chief Justice Isaac Franklin Russell and Tenement House Commissioner John Murphy.
September 1912
Chamber moves to offices in the Electric Building (formerly the Queens Plaza Court Building), 28-11 Queens Plaza North in Long Island City. A separate dining room is established as the Plaza Lunch Club, but is absorbed by the Chamber by the 1920s.
Spring 1913
Chamber publishes 144-page book, Queensborough, featuring information on industry and residences in the borough. The Chamber issued new versions of this book in 1914, 1920
June 1913
At the request of Borough President Maurice Connolly, Queens Chamber of Commerce approves the design of a flag for the Borough of Queens.
December 1913
Chamber publishes its first Bulletin, which by September 1915 evolves into QueensBorough magazine.
June 1915
Members of the Chamber's transit committee officiate at the opening of the Queensboro elevated line, June 22; Chamber Secretary Walter Willis purchases first ticket.
September 1915
Chamber joins the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Chamber begins placing advertisements promoting Queens in trolley cars of New York & Queens County Railway.
August 1916
Chamber establishes traffic and industrial bureaus.
January 1917
Former president William Taft addresses Chamber's sixth annual dinner at Biltmore Hotel, January 20.
November 1917
Chamber cancels 7th annual dinner and instead creates a fund for the Red Cross war effort.
January 1919
Chamber launches drive to decorate the Long Island Rail Road ferry terminal at Hunters Point to welcome back troops from World War I.
July 1919
Chamber luncheon honors crew members of the first trans-Atlantic flight, which left the Rockaways on May 8, 1919 and landed in Lisbon, Portugal on May 27.
November 1920
Chamber members gather in the Club Room to hear the presidential election returns. This becomes a quadrennial tradition for a number of years.
September 1921
Chamber accepts its first female member, Mrs. V. Koelbel of the Model Brassiere Company, Elmhurst.
1922
Chamber places advertisements in The New York Globe promoting Queens.
March 1924
Chamber announces results of its first survey of business hours, holidays and vacation policies.
June 1925
Chamber moves to new offices on the top floor of the Crescent Plaza Building, 24-16 Queens Plaza South, Long Island City. Facilities include a conference room, dining room with daily luncheon service, and club room. Later the building is renamed the Chamber of Commerce building; this name remains today.
September 1925
Chamber's transit committee suggests construction of a transit station in the Sunnyside Yard to allow connections between the Interboro and B.M.T. "els," the Long Island, New York, New Haven & Hartford, and New York, Westchester & Boston railroads. Chambers formally endorses the recommendation in December.
1926
Chamber inaugurates Annual Building Awards contest to honor outstanding buildings in the borough.
1930
Chamber's Aviation Committee recommends construction of airports along Flushing and Jamaica bays.
1933
Chamber designated to represent National Recovery Administration in Queens.
October 1936
At Chamber fete, President Roosevelt breaks ground for the Queens-Midtown Tunnel.
February 1938
Chamber announces plans for a pavilion at the New York World's Fair.
1943
Chamber forms Industrial Council to pool the borough's manufacturing resources for defense.
January 1946
Chamber announces plans, never realized, for its own building. A site selection committee is formed.
1949
In series of meetings with civic groups, Chamber proposes broad transit expansion program in Queens.
January 1952
Former Chamber president James A. Lundy sworn in as Queens Borough President.
1954
Chamber sponsors a series of television programs, principally on business and community life in Queens, in conjunction with New York City's Summer Festival
January 1959
John T. Clancy, who served six terms as Chamber president, becomes Borough President.
1960
Chamber President Ira H. Genet appointed to Temporary State Commission on the 1964-5 World's Fair
1964
To welcome the arrival of the New York Mets to Shea Stadium, Chamber hosts organizational meeting of the Queens Mets Booster Club
1976
Sister Thomas Francis, executive director of St. John's Queens Hospital, becomes the first woman to address a Chamber luncheon
1977
Sister Thomas Francis of St. John's Queens Hospital and Margaret Swezey of Citibank become the first female members of Chamber's board of directors
April 1982
Chamber moves to new offices at 29-15 Queens Plaza North, where it remains for 13 years.
April 1983
Margaret "Peg" Swezey of Citibank is elected the Chamber's 27th President, the first woman to hold this position
1983
Chamber hosts its first annual business expo.
1992
Chamber announces plans to issue "scorecards" on elected officials' positions on business issues.
March 1993
Lucy C. Nunziato is appointed the first woman Executive Director of the Chamber
1994
Chamber begins "Queens Chamber Today," a program on Queens Public Television (QPTV)
April 1995
Chamber moves to Bulova Corporate Center, 75-20 Astoria Boulevard, Jackson Heights.
June 1997
Chamber celebrates 85th anniversary by honoring past presidents.
1998
The Port Authority contracts for construction of the first phase of the Airport Access system at JFK International Airport
October 1999
Chamber Executives meet with City representatives seeking support for a study on building a mid-sized convention center in Queens
April 2000
Chamber establishes new Sub-Committees to keep in step with the change in the County: Telecommunications Sub-Committee, Export Sub-Committee, Education Sub-Committee and the Minority and Women Owned Business Sub-Committee
September 2001
After a terrorist attack destroys the World Trade Center, Chamber coordinates donations and volunteer recovery and relief activities.
