ASTORIA, NY – New York State Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, acting Borough President Sharon Lee, Assembly Member Aravella Simotas, and New York City Council Member Costa Constantinides announced on March 11 that the annual Queens Greek Independence Celebration, scheduled for Friday, March 13th has been cancelled to prevent further spread of the Coronavirus.

“Protecting public health must be our top priority and while we do not believe there is any direct threat to the community from hosting this event, the prudent choice is to avoid large public gatherings at this time,” said Senate Deputy Leader Gianaris.

“I have agreed to cancel this Friday’s event in Astoria at the request of the three distinguished co-hosts. We encourage all Queens residents to practice healthy habits of frequent hand-washing and additional guidelines from the City. We look forward to rescheduling this long-standing, annual tradition of celebrating Greek Independence in the Borough of Families,” said acting Queens Borough President Sharon Lee.

“While we haven’t received word of a direct impact to our community, we want to minimize any risk of spreading the coronavirus and take precautionary measures. As elected officials, we can’t take any chances with the health of our residents. Out of an abundance of caution, we are postponing Friday’s event,” said Assembly Member Aravella Simotas.

“We must ensure our neighbors our safe at this time, which means remaining calm yet vigilant. Though we must cancel this Friday’s festivities, we must still celebrate the Greek values of civic virtue by watching out for our neighbors,” said Council Member Costa Constantinides.

A date to reschedule has not yet been chosen.