We want Walmart

From AM-NY:

A Quinnipiac poll released Monday, August 10 stated that 55 percent of New York City voters believed that Walmart should be allowed to open stores in NYC. 54% of NYC voters in union households also polled in support of Walmart.

While 39 percent don't believe Walmart should be allowed to open, if Walmart did come to NYC, 64 percent of voters say they would shop there.

Voters however showed some inconsistent opinions on how Walmart's presence would effect NYC. Seventy-one percent believed that that Walmart's lower prices would benefit shoppers while a similar 70 percent also said that Walmart's lower prices hurt smaller businesses.

Fifty-five percent agreed that Walmart doesn't pay enough in wages and medical benefits.

Parking on Bell Blvd is just impossible

From the Queens Courier:

Confirming what many Baysiders already believed to be true, a study concluded that Bell Boulevard needs nearly one thousand more parking spaces to meet the needs of shoppers, commuters and residents alike.

The study commissioned by the Bayside Village Business Improvement District (BID) and funded by City Councilman Paul Vallone continues the process of finding a solution to overcrowded parking conditions on the boulevard.

According to the report released this week, approximately 3,400 spaces are needed in total to accommodate all of the parking needs, but only 2,500 of those spots are currently available. Issues of short parking supply on Bell Boulevard arise from the multiple different functions which the strip serves in the community, attracting thousands of people and their vehicles to the area every day.

Of the total 3,400 needed spots, an estimated 1,400 are generated from commercial and office uses on the boulevard. Another 1,033 spots are needed for commuters, with 23 percent of Long Island Rail Road users connecting to the Bayside station by driving themselves alone and parking their cars in the neighborhood.

Proposed Atlas Park development site sold to Gina Argento-Ciafone

From the Queens Courier:

Glendale is ready for its close-up.

Brooklyn-based television and film production company Broadway Stages plans to build a massive film studio and retail complex in the neighborhood with existing warehouses.

The firm purchased Atlas Terminals, a huge industrial park with buildings adjacent to The Shops at Atlas Park mall, for $19.5 million, as first reported by The Courier on Monday.

“We’re excited to turn the existing warehouses at Atlas Terminals into some TV and film studios and create rental space for local mom and pop retail businesses,” said Jackie Kessel, Broadway Stages spokeswoman. “We look forward to working with local officials as we develop our plans to draw on all of the energy around Atlas Park, bringing new jobs, business growth and economic development to Queens.”

you may recall that this site was promoted as a future shopping center, and in recent months, Fairway was rumored to be the anchor tenant. I guess that's not happening.

Hey, maybe Gina will donate to the anti-homeless shelter fund!

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.

Goldfeder wants online food stamp purchases authorized

From The Forum:

Grocery shopping is very different for shoppers using food stamps in the Bronx.

There, a select number of zip codes have the option of ordering groceries online, which has served as a lifeline especially for senior citizens. State Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Park) called out the United States Department of Agriculture this week, asking why the same did not apply to southern Queens.

“Buying groceries should not be a nightmare for seniors with limited mobility,” Goldfeder said. “No senior should have to rely on friends and family when technology allows for an easier option.”

The assemblyman fired off a letter to USDA head and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, calling on the agency to use its power administering food stamp benefits at the national level to provide online grocery delivery services to zip codes in southern Queens and Rockaway. The service has been part of a pilot program the USDA launched this year to allow for online purchases of groceries using Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, which shoppers use to make purchases with their SNAP benefits – or food stamps. Goldfeder’s letter said southern Queens and Rockaway were home to a large senior population, and allowing residents to use their EBT cards to order groceries online would be a great relief to seniors unable to make it to the supermarket.

If at first you don't succeed...

Glendale Shopping Center 8200 Cooper Av by queenscrapper

Apparently, the Hemmerdingers have plans for another outdoor mall right next to the one of theirs that failed. Except this time the parking's free and it will actually have something useful - a supermarket - as an anchor tenant.

Atlas Park still hanging on

From the Daily News:

A struggling shopping mall in Glendale is getting a facelift — but neighbors aren’t too happy about how they found out about it.

Macerich, which owns The Shops at Atlas Park, unveiled plans Tuesday for new stores and an outdoor performance space after inquires from the Daily News prompted by concerned calls from neighbors.

The company recently erected a fence around the parking lot and workers began chopping down trees there — the first sign of an overhaul since Macerich acquired the moribund mall in a foreclosure sale in January 2011.

After staying mum about its plans for months, Macerich officials said Tuesday the mall will get a Forever 21 and a Charlotte Russe retail store by this summer, in addition to a 10,000-square-foot area to host performances.

Macerich will also start construction in the coming weeks to create 100 additional parking spots, mall officials said.

Don't get hooked!

From CBS 2:

In Queens, convenient free parking in a busy shopping district is costing unsuspecting drivers more than $100.

At the Plaza 48 parking lot in Astoria, it is a very quick hook for the unsuspecting.

Signs posted at the shopping plaza just off Northern Boulevard offer a warning, but many who park there figure they can safely pop across the street for a few minutes to a competing shopping center.

That’s a mistake that will cost you $136.

The cars end up at ASAP Towing in Maspeth.

CBS 2 spoke with one driver who was towed on Sunday. That person was allegedly told to pay with cash and her request for a receipt was refused.

Both of those would be violations of city regulations.

The quick tow is an issue at several other shopping plazas in Queens, so read the fine print on the way in.

The towing company on 48th street is so infamous, livery cab drivers hang out there to give drivers who’ve been towed a ride to the lot.

What's Cooking?

From the NY Post:

New York state Assemblywoman Vivian Cook allegedly funneled thousands of dollars in public money to a corrupt fellow legislator — and was then rewarded with lavish shopping trips underwritten by taxpayer funds, The Post has learned.

Cook — a 75-year-old Queens Democrat first elected to the Assembly more than two decades ago — helped procure the government money for an organization run by former state Sen. Shirley Huntley, according to several sources.

Huntley, a fellow Queens Democrat, pleaded guilty earlier this week to charges linked to her embezzlement of nearly $90,000 in public money from that organization, known as the Parents Information Network (PIN).

When Huntley appeared in court, she spoke about how her murky arrangement with Cook guaranteed that a pipeline of tax dollars flowed to the nonprofit education charity, with the money later siphoned off to pay personal expenses.

“I have an agreement with a member of the New York state Assembly,” Huntley told a judge.

“This person ensured that state funds would be directed to PIN for what is known as ‘member items,’ ” Huntley explained. “Once PIN received the state funds, I alerted this person, and together we used PIN’s funds for personal shopping.”

Although her name was not mentioned in court, Cook has been identified as the state Assembly member who earmarked the tax dollars for Huntley’s private organization, according to several sources.

And it was Cook who joined Huntley on many of these private shopping excursions, which were financed with the embezzled government funds, according to several sources.

Downtown Flushing free-for-all

Flushing is such a booming success that people have to be told to do their holiday gift buying out of town.


They've even got hawkers out on Main St. Pushing the bus service.


All encouraging you to shop elsewhere.


Then theres the obstacle course of junk stands and signs to bump into.


Is that good business... Encouraging people to shop elsewhere?


I guess nobody wants to shop in Flushing...I wonder if the BID knows about these jitneys going to Long Island and upstate.


Blocking sidewalks again on a busy street.


You can barely pass through.


39 Av off Main St. The sign reads...no standing except trucks unloading and in the other direction is metered parking. It doesn't say anything about a shuttle bus stop.





Where's the improvement that the BID promised and do they know about all this crap going on? - The Flushing Phantom

Jackson Heights merchants to rally against plaza

From the Daily News:

South Asian merchants in Jackson Heights are riled up over an award-winning pedestrian plaza that they claim is undermining their struggling businesses.

They plan to rally on Sunday for the removal of the square on 37th Rd., between 73rd and 74th Sts., in the heart of Queens’ once-bustling Little India. The area is famous for its South Asian grocery, jewelry and clothing shops.

“Customers come from tri-state [area]... to Jackson Heights to shop,” said rally organizer Rashid Mohammad. But “the traffic has been made so complicated and so many traffic tickets have been issued that people do not like to come [anymore].”

The plaza was created last fall following a three-year Jackson Heights transportation study conducted by the city. The project received strong support from the community, prominent local organizations and was backed by City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights).

But Razi Ahmed, who plans to open a South Asian supermarket and food court in the former Eagle Theater, said local merchants were unaware of the plan.

“I’m really scared now,” said Ahmed, who plans to open the grocery within two months. “All the businesses are dying.”

“It used to be hustle and bustle,” he said. “Now it’s nothing.”

Shiv Dass, president of the Jackson Heights Indian Merchants Association, said the pedestrian zone led to the loss of about 20 parking spaces — another headache for out-of-state drivers coming into a neighborhood known for its lack of spots.

Dass voted in favor of creating the plaza at a Community Board 3 meeting last year but has since changed his mind.

“The place looks like a graveyard. There’s nobody sitting there,” he said. “Garbage is piling up. ... The homeless people are there.”

Gridlock gold

"Walking south along the east side of Main Street, I had to wait, wait and then wait some more....until the pathway was finally clear enough for me proceed along without risking bodily harm. Notice the two cars trying to simultaneously exit the underground garages (on the left) at "New World Mall" onto Main Street. At the same time a northbound bus was attempting to negotiate (in heavy traffic) so it might reach its assigned stop near Duane Reade.

Of course....we always have Flushing's bustling humanity overcrowding its far too narrow sidewalks to up our game as you can see. Now I ask: can this be a pleasant shopping experience?

Downtown "Flush" is not my destination of choice for anything anymore if I can help it! Where is all of that BID money going to? Apparently not to improving the business district from the looks of things!

And where is DOT, NYPD and the FDNY? You can't rush to a fire in this tangled mess!

And it isn't any better looking in the direction of the #7 subway entrance either."

THE FLUSHING PHANTOM

New hope for Rockaway mall?

From the Daily News:

A new lease for a supermarket and a renovation project are renewing hope that the deteriorated Far Rockaway Shopping Center can make a comeback.

The operators of the Associated supermarket have worked out a deal with property owner Rita Stark to stay at the location for another 15 years and give the store a much-needed facelift.

George Arzt, a spokesman for Stark, said he expects the revamped food market to serve as an anchor that will attract other retailers to the shopping center, which has sat mostly vacant for years.

"We're in discussions with about half-a-dozen other potential tenants," Arzt said. "We're talking to drug stores, fitness centers and local restaurants. What we are doing now is trying to get an appropriate mix for this particular center."

Stark and her consultants spent years unsuccessfully trying to lure a big box store to the site, Arzt said.

Local officials are cautiously optimistic. Stark has a vast portfolio of property in Queens and is known for her mercurial temperament. She has often resisted development, allowing decades-old buildings to sit vacant even in resurgent areas such as Jamaica.

It's Small Business Saturday!

And if anyone out there truly cares about small business, it's Mike Bloomberg.

Time to bend over again

NEW YORK (CBS 2) — Get ready for your clothing budget to take a hit. Starting this Friday, afforable clothes in New York will become more expensive.

The state’s sales tax exemption for clothing and footwear costing less than $110 will expire. That means a 4-percent price increase starting on October 1.

The tax was reinstated to help close the state’s budget deficit.

The exemption returns next April, but only for purchases less than $55.

Weiner issued a really crappy, incorrect report and no one noticed

From NBC:

Twelve percent of stores are vacant on the busiest shopping streets in Queens, according to a report released today by Rep. Anthony Weiner.

The report studied shopping strips in ten Queens neighborhoods, most of which are small and locally-owned businesses. And its findings are not good.

One in 5 stores are closed or closing in Woodhaven and Rego Park's busiest shopping strips, Jamaica Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard respectively. On Jamaica Avenue the total number of vacant storefronts is 73.

“Small businesses are the backbone of New York City’s economy, and they have borne the brunt of our nation’s recent downturn,” Weiner said. “Helping small business owners get back on their feet should be our number one priority.”

A total of 1716 stores were surveyed in ten Queens neighborhoods--Rockaway, Rego Park, Flushing, Woodhaven, Forest Hills, Jamaica, Sunnyside, Astoria, Glendale and Bayside--and of these, 206--12 percent--were closed or closing, according to Weiner's report.

Uh, wait a minute...

"Greetings -- longtime fan of QC --

Anthony Weiner's office issued a report showing Woodhaven with an alarming 20% vacancies along Jamaica Avenue. Some of this stemmed from some confusion over where the boundaries are between Woodhaven and Richmond Hill -- the rest is just a really crappy report. Woodhaven has under 10% vacancies which puts them in comparatively decent shape.

Here are some details -- along with an explanation how they did the same thing last year - except last year they were off by 15% -- so there's been progress!

http://www.projectwoodhaven.com/2010/July/the-weiner-report.html

Last night at our Woodhaven Town Hall meeting, a representative from Weiner's office admitted the report was incorrect and promised that a correction would be issued shortly. The problem is that his original press release is being used in a bunch of stories and causing some heartburn. Would you consider posting something to help beat back this crappy report?

I hope this message finds you well."

Edward K. Wendell
President - Woodhaven Residents' Block Association
http://woodhaven-nyc.org/
www.projectwoodhaven.com

One more time...

"Anthony Weiner has quietly corrected his report online -- now it's Richmond Hill (instead of Woodhaven) that gets the bad news....

http://www.weiner.house.gov/news_display.aspx?id=1455

Thus far, no correction has been noted as far as we can tell.

We have requested a very public correction --"

Be well, Ed