By Rich Bockmann
The city Board of Elections is planning to move its front offices up Queens Boulevard from its current location at 83rd Avenue in Kew Gardens to Muss Development’s 17-story office tower at the corner of Union Turnpike.
The city plans to lease more than 28,000 square feet in the Forest Hills Tower, at 118-35 Queens Blvd.
“We’re taking two floors: 10, part of 11 and space in the lobby,” Board of Elections Facilities Manager Nick Squicciarini told the city Planning Commission last week. “Basically we’re at 126-06 Queens Blvd. The landlord wanted to reposition the building, so now we came across this great space and we hope to, you know, occupy this space in the future,”
The board currently occupies about 34,000 square feet at 126-06 Queens Blvd., paying a base rent of $996,600 a year with an additional $8,704.32 for four parking spaces, according to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. The current lease expires in August and the department said the city plans to renew for another year.
Squicciarini said the BOE will continue to use the space for warehousing purposes and the offices in the Forest Hills Tower will be used for voter registration, poll-worker training and other front-office uses.
“The new address will be posted on the website so everybody will have a fair warning where we’re moving to,” he said. “And again, it’s only a few blocks down from where we currently are.”
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
