Despite the meeting’s stacked agenda, Community Board 6 last Wednesday made time to give former Chair Heather Beers-Dimitriadis her flowers as she passed the torch.

Salua Baida, the board’s former secretary of administration, took the reins after the election at that meeting, held at Borough Hall. Baida had been the only nominee for the job.

“Whatever project, problem or preoccupation brought you here, let us enter this new cycle and this new year, 2026, reigniting our individual passions and lighting the flame of community like never before together,” she said, addressing the full board for the first time as chair.

Members gave Beers-Dimitriadis a standing ovation for her work as chair since 2022. City Councilmember Lynn Schulman (D-Forest Hills) and state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Woodhaven) also presented her with citations.

“It has been the greatest privilege to serve as chair, and I will always be cheering for the work we do together, because this strengthens the community that lies within all of us,” Beers-Dimitriadis said. She will stay on as a board member.

Peter Beadle and LT Ciaccio ran unopposed for their respective new roles as second vice chair and parliamentarian. Edgar Alfonseca was elected as first vice chair; Nile Johnson third vice chair; Marcelle Lashley-Kabore secretary of administration; and Kavish Batra secretary of finance.

But in between bites of cake, members still meant business. They voted 29-10 against a marijuana shop application by Organic Leaf Club LLC at 107-29 71 Ave. in Forest Hills.

The store would require a variance due to its proximity to Curaleaf on 70th Road. Beers-Dimitriadis said some members felt granting the variance was not warranted.

She said also that some were uneasy when the applicant could not, at a committee meeting, articulate the products that would be sold.

Ruben Lindo, a consultant representing the applicant, said the state has indicated that it would be “amenable” to granting the needed waiver. Lindo said also that products would all be licensed and are presently being sold in shops throughout the city and state.

The board did approve liquor license renewals for Mito, King David Restaurant, My Kitchen Forest Hills and La Boulangerie de François. Members also OK’d new license bids by Omakase Ramen and Millennium 99 in Rego Park, as well as MoCA Asian Bistro in Forest Hills.

The board also voted unanimously in favor of extending an expired term to allow transient parking spaces at Parker Towers, or spots that are rentable by non-tenants.