QUEENS ‘QUOTA’ QUARREL

Weighted boards

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards is pushing a controversial quota-like selection system to add more diversity to the borough’s 14 community boards, which weigh in on virtually all local projects, The Post has learned.

Richards appoints half the advisory boards’ members while local council members appoint the other half. The boards often wield influence on key land-use issues as well as on locating bars and restaurants in neighborhoods and sidewalk café permits.

Boards should reflect their neighborhoods, in terms of race, age, and sexual identity, reflected in census data, Richards wrote council members in a recent letter obtained by The Post.

For Community Board 9, covering Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and Woodhaven, for example, Richards said council members’ appointments should be “between the ages of 16-45, 56-65, of Asian, Black and Latino/x background and female/ gender non-conforming.”

The CB9 district has a large Hispanic population and growing South Asian and Central Asian populations. But Latinos, who make up 40% of the population, accounted for only 16% of the 47 community board members, he wrote.

Queens Councilman Robert Holden, who makes selections to CB5, blasted the quota proposal.

“We should appoint people who are most committed to their neighborhoods and who are the best candidates. You don’t look at race, ethnicity or age,” said Holden, who served on CB5 for 30 years before being elected to office.

Holden expressed concern that racial and ethnic preferences, while well-intended, could lead to accusations of discrimination.

For CB6, which takes in Forest Hills and Rego Park, Richards recommends selecting new board members who are ages 16 to 35, “of Asian ethnic background based on the latest census data” as well as women.

The neighborhoods’ growing population of Bukharian Jews from Central Asian countries, particularly Uzbekistan, plus Chinese immigrants, together make up about a third of the population — but just 13%, of the board.

Richards’ spokesman defended his push, saying it has led to a huge upsurge in board applicants. It also reflects Richards’ view that the boards “look, sound and feel like the communities they represent,” the spokesman said.