Sunnyside wants small business saved

From Sunnyside Post:

Iconic mom and pops stores throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn have been disappearing at a rapid pace and the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce is backing a city council bill that it believes will stop the hemorrhaging before development and rent hikes set in here.

The bill called the Small Business Jobs Survival Act aims to provide commercial tenants with more clout at the bargaining table when their lease comes up for renewal. Furthermore, it also requires landlords to provide greater notification if they don’t intend to renew a lease due to development.

The Sunnyside Chamber board unanimously decided last month to advocate for the passage of the bill.

The bill has recently been pushed by a group called #SaveNYC that claims that New York’s small businesses continue to close at unprecedented levels and are being replaced by big-box stores such as banks and retail chains.

A better look for southeastern Queens?

From the Daily News:

Downtown Jamaica has received attention, money and resources over the last 30 years to help with revitalization programs, but much of south Queens has remained largely neglected.

The [South East Queens Chamber of Commerce] wants to help businesses learn the know-how to plan events, use social media and gain access to small business loans. But it plans to start small, with beautification efforts along parts of Guy Brewer Blvd., Sutphin Blvd. and South Road.

Members also want to add green spaces and flowers to some of the streetscapes, to make them more welcoming to shoppers.

Rockaway Beach a victim of its own success

From the Daily News:

About 7 million people visited the beaches in Rockaway this year, more than double the number of recent years, according to city figures.

They were lured by the waves, sand and a new batch of groumet foods available at the boardwalk concessions.

But while the crowds are good for businesss, local officials said, they are also stretching the already thin police and parks resources to the breaking point.

“We are finally getting what we want,” said John Lepore, president of the Rockaway Chamber of Commerce. “But the maintenance could not keep up. We need to clean up more often and have more security.”

Community Board 14 fired off a letter to Mayor Bloomberg last week, asking him to increase the number of police and parks workers assigned to monitor Rockaway beaches.

They pointed out the boardwalk is still battered from years of use and storms and there are not enough ramps to make the beach accessible to everyone.

“Our beaches are dirty at times due to the shortage of an adequate amount of garbage baskets,” Community Board 14 District Manager Jonathan Gaska wrote in the letter on behalf of the board. “We are also deeply concerned with the lack of adequate police staffing during the summer season.”

The board does give the Parks Department credit for working “miracles” with limited resources but said the administrative “sleight of hand” no longer works.

“Rockaway is treated like a stepchild,” fumed City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park). “You would never see this in Central Park.”

From the Daily News:

Some Rockaway residents are worried that long-awaited beach replenishment plans are washing away.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already started dredging the East Rockaway Inlet, a move that will provide sand for eroded beaches along the western sections of the peninsula.

But unlike previous years, the sand will not be piped up to the beaches. Instead it will be dumped around Beach 30th St. and then moved separately by Parks Department contractors.

“I’m concerned that if they stockpile it, it will erode away,” said John Cori of Friends of Rockaway Beach, which launched a “Demand the Sand” campaign.

This summer the city announced it dedicated $3 million for a project to move dredged
sand to fill in the battered shoreline between Beach 85th St. and Beach 105th St., centered around Beach 92nd St.

Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder said he was concerned that the dredging project moved so quickly that the Army Corps was unable to work in conjunction with the Parks Department.

In previous years the two agencies worked together on a plan to dredge and then pipe the sand to specific beaches.

Flushing Chamber calls it a day

From the Times Ledger:

The Flushing Chamber of Commerce and Business Association announced last week it will dissolve after decades of operating in the community.

Myra Baird Herce, co-president of the association, made the announcement Friday, citing the changing demographics of the Flushing area and the emergence of a host of new business organizations that cater to the community.

The chamber was first established in 1928, and advocated on behalf of the business community to promote economic development in the neighborhood, according to Herce.

The chamber has pushed for the restoration of the RKO Keith’s Theatre on Main Street in downtown as well as the transformation of Municipal Parking Lot No. 1 into some sort of commercial center.

While issues with the projects have been ongoing, in recent years the chamber has been sapped of its core strength.

The other two co-presidents had left the chamber: Jack Hogan died about two years ago and Richard Gelman moved out of the state.

That left Herce to hold meetings and attending various hearings to speak on behalf of the community.

In its heyday its meetings would be packed with people from all over northeast Queens, according to Frank Macchio, a developer who also sits on Community Board 7.

Waiting in vain on Queens Blvd fix

From the Queens Chronicle:

Forest Hills resident Stephen Melnick looks along the business corridor of Queens Boulevard and sees dead trees and overgrown brush, broken curbs and sidewalks, and litter accumulating along traffic lanes and islands that need repaving.

But Melnick said the boulevard won’t shine without the the city’s commitment and the support of local businesses. He toured some of the more unsightly areas last Thursday morning with Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills), Community Board 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio and Michael Persaud, deputy chief of staff to Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills).

“This corridor can be an engine for economic development,” Melnick said. “It should be warm and welcoming to people who come out here. But it’s not. Ever since they put in parking meters along the islands seven years ago drivers have been using them as a garbage dump...”

“But there’s no money right now, and that’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Gulluscio said. “And you’re talking about a mile and a half.”

Aren't you sick of hearing the City reps and their apologists say there is no money? There always seems to be money for stupid Bloomberg legacy shit. How about calling him out on that once in awhile?

Where were they 4 months ago?

From Sunnyside Post:

Several members of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce are calling on the New York City Council to repeal the law that recently renamed the Queensboro Bridge the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge.

Rebecca Barker, the new president of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce, asked Van Bramer at the United 40s Civic Association recently, whether he would act on the community’s behalf to change it.

“If there is a way to reverse it I will look into it,” Van Bramer said. Van Bramer said the renaming of the bridge was “one of the dumbest things we [the council] have ever done,” adding that “Koch never lived in Queens and spent most of his life in the Village.”

Barker said the chamber will soon be selling buttons on its website that will read: “Save the Queensboro Bridge.”

Claire's getting more and more confused

This is Claire Shulman's website for her phony Local Development Corporation.

"Flushing Chamber of Commerce" is listed under "Organizations > Queens Resources"

Unfortunately, Claire links the Chamber of Commerce of Flushing, Michigan.

$250,000 in mayoral slush fund money apparently doesn't go very far these days...