Donovan Richards, Jr. (born April 9, 1983) is an American politician serving as the Borough President of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. He is also a former

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

member, having represented the 31st district. He is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. His former district includes portions of

Arverne Arverne is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, on the Rockaway Peninsula. It was initially developed by Remington Vernam, whose signature "R. Vernam" inspired the name of the neighborhood. Arverne extends from Beach 54th Street ...

, Bayswater,

Broad Channel Broad Channel is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It occupies the southern portion of Rulers Bar Hassock (known colloquially as "Broad Channel Island"), the only inhabited island in Jamaica Bay. Th ...

Cambria Heights Cambria Heights is a residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Springfield Boulevard and Francis Lewis Boulevard to the west, the Elmont, Nassau County border on the east, Qu ...

, Edgemere,

Far Rockaway Far Rockaway is a neighborhood on the eastern part of the Rockaway peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It is the easternmost section of the Rockaways. The neighborhood extends from Beach 32nd Street east to the Nassau County line ...

Howard Beach Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by 1 ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...

, Laurelton, Rockaway Beach, Rosedale,

South Ozone Park South Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is just north of John F. Kennedy International Airport, between Aqueduct Racetrack to the west and the Van Wyck Expressway to the east. Adja ...

and

Springfield Gardens Springfield Gardens is a neighborhood in the southeastern area of the New York City borough of Queens, bounded to the north by St. Albans, to the east by Laurelton and Rosedale, to the south by John F. Kennedy International Airport, and to the w ...

. Richards was the Democratic nominee for Queens Borough President in the November 3, 2020 general election. He defeated the Republican nominee

Joann Ariola Joann Ariola (born June 14, 1958) is a councilwoman of the New York City Council, representing District 32 which includes Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Broad Channel, and the western half of the Rockaway Peninsula. She p ...

and independent candidate Dao Yin. Richards was sworn in as Queens Borough President on December 2, 2020.

Life and career

Richards was born and raised in southeast Queens. When he was young, he served with a mission in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, Haiti on behalf of St. Albans Congregational Church. He attended

Jamaica High School Jamaica High School was a four-year public high school in Jamaica, Queens, New York. It was operated by the New York City Department of Education. Jamaica High School was founded as the Union Free School in 1854, and located within a three-stor ...

in Queens, and then Redemption Christian Academy in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...

. He subsequently attended

Nyack College Alliance University (formerly Nyack College ()) is a private Christian college affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and located in New York, New York. Enrolling just over 1,000 students, the school is organized in three academ ...

, then

Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology (commonly called Vaughn College) is a private college in East Elmhurst, New York, specialized in aviation and engineering education. It is adjacent to LaGuardia Airport but was founded in Newark, New ...

in Queens.

New York City Council

In June 2011, Richards became the chief of staff for New York City Councilman James Sanders, Jr., and when Sanders was elected to the New York State Senate, Richards won a 2013 special election to succeed him. Richards was appointed chair of the Committee on Environmental Protection. Richards was appointed to be the chair of the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises.

Queens Borough President bid

In June 2020, Richards secured the Democratic nomination for Borough President of Queens. On November 3, 2020, Richards won the election for Borough President of Queens.

References

External links

Councilman Donovan Richards
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Donovan 1983 births 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American politicians African-American New York City Council members African-American people in New York (state) politics Living people New York (state) Democrats New York City Council members People from Queens, New York Place of birth missing (living people)