Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Jr. used a social-media post to describe an investment announcement at P.S. 37 in St. Albans, referring to a $33 million investment.
“Because there is no better investment in our future than an investment in our children's education,” Richards wrote in a post on his official account, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
Richards posted the message under the handle qnsbprichards on November 2.
How Much Has Richards Actually Allocated?
Pinning down exactly how much Richards has steered toward Queens schools during his tenure turns out to be complicated, with his own office publishing different numbers in different places. The Borough President's official About page states that Richards “has allocated more than $155 million for upgrades to schools across Queens,” according to Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr., though it does not specify a date range or how that total was calculated.
A separate Education page on the same borough president's site, last reflecting figures as of August 20, 2026, puts the number differently, stating that “since taking office, he has allocated more than $144 million in capital funding across hundreds of Queens' public schools and universities.” Neither page reconciles its total with the other, and it remains unclear whether the two figures represent overlapping time periods or different accounting methods.
Adding to the confusion, QNS reported that “Richards has allocated over $122 million in capital funding since taking office in December 2020,” a figure lower than both numbers published by the borough president's own office. The three totals — $122 million, $144 million and $155 million — have not been reconciled by available evidence, and it is not clear whether they reflect different time windows, different project scopes, or simply updated counts over time.
A Record Single-Year Haul, Per QNS
QNS reported that Queens schools received more than $43 million in capital funding for fiscal 2026, which the outlet described as a record annual investment. Its report said the funding was intended for 59 schools and cited projects including STEM labs, cooling systems, technology improvements and sports facilities, according to QNS.
That fiscal-year figure is a more specific data point than the cumulative totals, but it does not resolve the differences among the figures reported for Richards' tenure.
Playground Dollars Show Up in City Budget Document
A separate city capital-planning document offers another small window into where education dollars are going in Queens, independent of Richards' own tallies. A February 2026 New York City Council budget document tied to the Fiscal 2025-2029 Five-Year Capital Plan noted that “the Plan includes $3.5 million in funding for playground upgrades at two schools, P.S. 48 and P.S. 35, both in Queens,” and added that “there are 50 playground projects funded and in progress in the current plan.”
That document does not tie its figures directly to Richards' office or confirm how they relate to the borough president's broader funding claims, but it does suggest ongoing, concrete capital activity at specific Queens schools even as the larger totals remain unsettled. For families at P.S. 48 and P.S. 35, playground upgrades represent a tangible, dated commitment amid the wider swirl of competing numbers.
How School Capital Funding Moves Through the City
A borough president’s funding total and a project in the city’s capital plan are separate measures. According to a New York City Council Finance Division report, the School Construction Authority develops and amends the Department of Education’s five-year capital plans. The report says the February 2026 amendment included 1,349 newly sited seats, including a new P.S. 191 project in Queens’ District 26 with 312 seats; it does not reconcile that project with Richards’ office funding totals. The Queens Borough President’s Office says its capital-budget calendar includes project vetting and determinations from March through June, with public school award letters mailed in September. Those milestones describe the award process, not when a project is completed.
Whatever the final tally turns out to be, Richards' message at P.S. 37 in St. Albans was straightforward: he wants Queens families and taxpayers to see school spending as a down payment on the borough's future. As his office continues to publish varying totals across its own platforms, residents may be left waiting for a single, reconciled figure that captures the full scope of his education investment record.
