State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez presented the Chocolate Factory Theater with a $1 million grant last month. Photo: Office of State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez
Feb. 12, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez has awarded the Chocolate Factory Theater, a Long Island City performance space, a $1 million grant to fund the complete redevelopment of its permanent LIC facility.
Gonzalez visited the Chocolate Factory Theater at 38-29 24th St. on Jan. 11 and presented it with a $1 million check to support its capital renovation project, which is part of the State Assembly’s Community Resiliency, Economic Sustainability, and Technology (CREST) funding.
In a post on Instagram, Chocolate Factory representatives said they were blown away by the grant.
“We are beyond ourselves, still, over the fact that our New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez showed up at our home just a few weeks ago with a $1 million dollar check to support our capital renovation project,” Chocolate Factory Theater representatives said in a post on Instagram last week.
Theater representatives said the funding would support the development of a world-class multipurpose performing arts theater and community center in Western Queens, providing a safe and resourceful space for artists, staff, and the local community.
Chocolate Factory Theater Artistic Director and Co-Founder Brian Rogers says the $1 million grant brings the venue a step closer to raising the $13 million required to completely overhaul the venue. Rogers said the vast majority of the funding has now been sourced and expects construction and administration work to take a “minimum” of three years.
Rogers added that the theater completed the design process for the renovations in 2022 and has been raising funds ever since, stating that the New York City Council and the Office of Queens Borough President Donovan Richards have both contributed funds to the project.
He said the renovation work will involve transforming the Chocolate Factory Theater “top-to-bottom,” requiring it to move off-site for the duration of the process. Rogers said no alternative site has yet been sourced.
Rogers added that the renovation will have an “enormous” impact on the theater’s services, allowing the venue to “at least double” attendance from its current limit of 74 people.
The Chocolate Factory Theatre in LIC at 38-29 24th St. Via Google Maps
“The building we have now has great bones, but it’s literally a drafty old factory. It doesn’t have heat or air conditioning, so parts of the building are only accessible seasonally,” Rogers said.
“The stage is kind of a DIY stage. There are no comfortable dressing rooms for artists., All of these things will be fixed in the renovation.”
Rogers said the renovation will “most importantly” include adding a multi-use community space for local groups to hold meetings, gatherings, and dinners.
Investment in the Chocolate Factory Theater comes at a time when New York City’s cultural assets are “diminishing, not growing”, Rogers said, stating that it is critically important to invest in cultural institutions, particularly those in the outer boroughs.
“It’s really important to have these things in outer boroughs,” Rogers said. “Obviously there are some great cultural organizations in Queens, but there aren’t enough.”
Gonzalez, meanwhile, stated that the Chocolate Factory Theater represents an important cultural institution in Western Queens, adding that it is important that the theater is open to the local community throughout the year.
“The Chocolate Factory Theater is an important cornerstone of the arts in Western Queens, and I am so proud to support them with $1 million in Community Resiliency, Economic Sustainability, and Technology (CREST) funding to complete renovations that will allow this theater to be open to the community year-round,” Gonzalez said in a statement.
Gonzalez presented the theater with the check moments before the theater presented its new show “Temporary Boyfriend”, by Malcolm-x Betts and Nile Harris.
The show, which ran from Jan. 11 until Jan. 16, explored various touch points of relationality between Black gay men, from the kinship of ancestors lost to the AIDS epidemic, to contemporary manifestations of ephemeral gay brotherhood.
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