Senator Avella Announces $2 Million Funding Allocation for Queens College

(BAYSIDE, Queens) On Thursday, Senator Avella joined Queens College Interim President Evangelos Gizis at a press conference to announce a $2 million dollar funding allocation to the University for much needed upgrades to their science research and teaching laboratories.

The funding was allocated by Senator Avella as part of a capital funding resolution which was obtained towards the end of the legislative session.

During the press conference, Interim Dean of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Dr. Robert Engel, guided the attendees through a newly built teaching laboratory, used for introduction to chemistry classes as well as a recently renovated research laboratory which is used by undergraduates, graduates, and faculty on a regular basis.

Attendees were then shown a much older research laboratory in need of renovations. The laboratory was originally built as a teaching lab for physical chemistry in 1949 and was converted into a research lab four years ago. However, the conversion only included new floors so the wooden benches, table tops, supply lines for gas/vacuum/water are all original material and are in dire need of an upgrade.

Senator Tony Avella stated, “Education is key to the future of our children and we, as legislators, need to ensure that every college, especially within the City University of New York, has the best resources to provide our children with the best possible education. It is, unfortunately, very clear that this research lab needs to be upgraded and I am very proud to announce the $2 million grant that I was able to get for this project in this year’s State Budget to upgrade the lab. I look forward to being able to come back to seeing the difference and I am so glad that I was able to do this for Queens College.”

Interim President Evangelos Gizis added, “This is a place where hundreds of thousands of students obtain education in chemistry and biology. There is a rule that every 25 years you should renovate each laboratory. And even though we try to renovate as often as we can and control the noise and dust caused by the construction, we cannot always control the resources needed to make the renovations. So, Senator Avella, I accept this grant of $ 2 million on behalf of all the faculty and students who will benefit greatly from your efforts to ensure Queens College has state of the art research and teaching labs. We thank you for your leadership role in securing state funding on our behalf.”