Jackson Heights / Elmhurst News Briefs
... done by and / or with the help of community volunteers
Jackson Heights & Elmhurst News Briefs 2012
Jackson Heights Pedestrian Mall
37th Road Traffic Flow & Pedestrian Mall Enhancements
March 3, 2012 / Jackson Heights / Queens Buzz. The Queens Department of Transportation reconfigured some of the roadway, public transit and pedestrian traffic flows in the second half of 2011.
Most of the transitions went well, but a group of shopkeepers along 37th Road off 74th Street, weren't happy with the changes as it reduced the street traffic in front of their stores and hence affected their businesses. Click here to read our report on the Jackson Heights traffic changes by the Queens Department of Transportation in 2011.
A pedestrian mall replaced a motorist roadway and the bus stop was moved several blocks further east in order to reduce continual congestion at the 73rd Street / Broadway / Roosevelt Avenue intersection. Following the changes, it was suggested that the 37th Road traffic be re-routed toward the mall, instead of away from it. A decision on this request is expected soon on the traffic flow on 37th Road near 74th Street in Jackson Heights.
Once the changes are finalized, residents and merchants of Jackson Heights can look to see some enhancements made to the pedestrian mall which should make it a more inviting habitat, which will also likely help those merchants by making the location a destination.
The information for this report was gathered via the Queens Department of Transportation [QDOT] and the office of City Councilmember Danny Dromm.
Jackson Heights & Elmhurst News Briefs 2011
Costa Rican Exporters Visit Queens
Queens Chamber Of Commerce Sponsors Event
July 7, 2011 / Jackson Heights Neighborhood / Queens Business / Queens Buzz. I attended a reception for a number of Costa Rican exporters given by the Queens Chamber of Commerce at the Bulova Corporate Center in Jackson Heights. I met with a number of them to find out what goods and services they were seeking to export to America and in the process learned a bit more than I expected about our prosperous Latin American neighbor which has become a mix of old and new over the past last half century.
Costa Rica is located in Central America and the nation has access to both the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Historically Costa Rica had been an agrarian based economy, growing coffee and tobacco for export. In the last few decades, Costa Rica has become a tech center for companies like Intel and some biotech companies.
Click here to read other newsbriefs for Jackson Heights Queens.
Maggie Marvels Queens World FF
Queens World Film Festival Entertains & Educates
March 7, 2011 / Jackson Heights / Queens Buzz. We were fortunate to have returned to the Queens World Film Festival on Saturday night in time to catch the screening of a great indie comedy thriller entitled Maggie Marvel. It's a cross between James Bond and Austin Powers.
Maggie is a single mom with a daughter and one nasty temper. Oh, by the way, she's also employed as a hired killer. The movie is fun as the hits are mostly comedic not grotesque, and as the movie progresses the family appears to works through some of their dysfunctionality.
Click here later Tuesday to hear more about the Queens World Film Festival in Jackson Heights. Including a review of Sillage, Maggie Marvel and eventually about Vinnie.
Mayor Mike Mulch Fetes Media
Supports Environmentalists' & Parks Dept Effort
January 8, 2011 / Jackson Heights / Queens Buzz. This past weekend the Parks Department hosted its 7th annual Mulchfest. The event was city-wide, including at nine parks in the borough of Queens. Last year this event helped save nearly 24,000 trees from filling landfills, as the mulch was used by the Parks Department to help irrigate local parks.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg appeared at the Jackson Heights Mulchfest on Saturday afternoon, to display his skills as a Metro Mulcher, while querying the crowd as to the purpose of this event and why it's important. The Jackson Heights crowd was well informed, answering his mulching questions in a heart beat. Then, in front of a Mediafest of cameras, the Mayor and City Councilman Danny Dromm proceeded to don protective glasses and begin mulching away.
Jackson Heights & Elmhurst News Briefs 2010
Jackson Repertory Theatre Concert Series
December 5, 2010 / Jackson Heights / Queens Buzz. The Jackson Repertory Theatre held its first concert in what will continue as an ongoing series in 2011. In the first concert we were treated to the eclectic sounds of Sunny Knable on the piano. Sunny prepared a medley of tunes from classical to jazz to original works by the musician himself.
Sunny is an accomplished pianist whose versatility was matched by his originality and enthusiasm. The crowd of about 50 seemed to greatly enjoy the performance, which was given at the Jewish Center in Jackson Heights. The next concert will be held next year. Stay tuned.
78th PlayStreet Video Gaining Popularity
Local Video Attracts Thousand(s)
October 6, 2010 / Jackson Heights / Queens Buzz. This Spring Jackson Heights community activists sought and received approval to 'take back the streets'. The stretch of road along Travers Park on 78th Street between 34th Avenue and Northern Blvd was closed to local traffic all summer long to allow kids to safely play in it.
The inaugural event included appearances by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn [originally from Queens], as well as Daniel Dromm and Jose Peralta. The photos shown here were taken by Len Maniace, one of the community activists involved in getting the street closed for the summer. A similar action was taken in Astoria the past couple of years, when the Astoria Park Alliance received permission to close Shore Blvd one day each weekend for three weekends in August.
Len points to the fact that Jackson Heights has garden apartments which have beautiful, spacious private grounds, but the neighborhood has little in the way of public park land. He notes that this is a way to create public recreational space. Len is a member of the Jackson Heights Beautification Group and The Friends of Travers Park committee. The following link will take you to the video created about 78 PlayStreet in Jackson Heights. Or click here to view three more of Len Maniace's photos of 78 Playstreet in Jackson Heights. Special thanks to Len and Helen Ho for some of the information contained in this report.
June In Jackson Heights
Art & Photography & Other Cultural Events In Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights / June 2010. June In Jackson Heights is an effort to showcase the arts and culture in Jackson Heights. As part of that broader effort, artist Afzal Hossain and photographer Greg Stowell held a two person show that opened June 24th at Novo Restaurant in Jackson Heights. The exhibit will be shown in the restaurant on 37th Avenue between 78th and 79th Streets through July 22nd.
The photo to your left shows an observer at the opening reception, studying the black and white photos and artwork shown in the exhibit. This restaurant / exhibit was one of many that participated in a June effort to showcase the arts and culture in Jackson Heights.
Four Alarm Fire Burns Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights / February 17, 2010. Yesterday as we were walking along 37th Avenue near 82nd Street in Jackson Heights, we were surprised to find that the site of the four alarm fire in Jackson Heights had already been mostly cleared away.
FDNY Responds & Extinguishes Fire
A four alarm fire on 37th Avenue between 82nd and 83rd Streets was responded to on the morning of Saturday February 13th around 9.30 AM. The fire was detected by an employee of one of the many local shops located in the building. The fire raged until after 3 PM the same day and the property losses appeared to be total. The good news is that apparently nobody was injured. We also understand that the fire department returned to the site on Sunday.
Fire houses from nearby neighborhoods such as Woodside were also called upon the help extinguish the fire. We spoke to Steve Ritea of the FDNY who informed us that early this week the fire department sent out an email informing the established media that the cause of the fire was accidental and that it was caused by a defective boiler.
Wenzhou NY Realty Owner
Wenzhou NY Realty is the owner of the location. As you can see by the photos shown here, they have wasted no time in clearing the location in preparation of the next edifice. We understand that the neighborhood city council man and community groups have made efforts to reach out to the location owner in hopes of working with them to erect a building that will be compatible with the neighborhood's interests.
Click here to view other Jackson Heights News Briefs / Elmhurst News Briefs.
Jackson Heights & Elmhurst News Briefs 2009
JHBG Tree Lighting Ceremony 2009
Jackson Heights / December 16, 2009. Ah yes, another year gone by. So hard to believe that ought ten is only two weeks away. The Jackson Heights Beautification Group [aka JHBG] hosted another tree lighting event in front of the U.S. Post Office on 37th Avenue near 78th Street.
This year the emcee was Len Maniace and the prayer was given by the reverend Ronald Tompkins standing next to him [see photo album for many more and larger photos]. Teachers and students from 82nd Street Academics provided a little holiday performance of a reading, chorus accompanied by guitar. The band from PS 69 [Community United Methodist] also entertained the audience with a few musical numbers from its repertoire. Meanwhile the post office Christmas tree sat waiting quietly for its big moment. Click here to view photos of the Jackson Heights Beautification Group's annual Christmas Tree Lighting 2009.
Jackson Heights Food & Film Festival Cancelled
Jackson Heights / October 2009. This year the Jackson Heights Film and Food Festival [hereafter referred to as JHFFF] did not take place. First there were difficulties obtaining access to the Eagle Theater, which had served as the host for the film portion of the program in 2008. Since they could not obtain a commitment for a date for the film portion of the festival, the JHFFF held off scheduling the food portion.
In September the JHFFF managed to gain some sort of agreement from the Jackson Triplex theater on 82nd Street to host the event in one theater for one night only in October. Because of the limited time duration, the JHFFF had to reduce the number of films shown to two: a short film and a documentary. The JHFFF also couldn't pull together a full blown food festival on such short notice, and so decided to host a reception following the scaled back screening. When the arrangement with the Jackson Triplex theater fell through, for reasons unknown, the film portion was completely cancelled.
By this time the food portion was scaled down to an after party reception at nearby Limoncella. Limoncella hosted a small reception, as what remained of "the show must go on". Needless to say, all in all it wasn't a good year for the Jackson Heights Film and Food Festival. Click this link to view stories about the Jackson Heights Film Festival and the Jackson Heights Food Festival of 2008.
Jackson Heights Film Festival Preview
Jackson Heights Film Festival Cancelled - See Report Above
October 19, 2009. This weekend is the 2009 Jackson Heights Film and Food Festival. It's on Saturday at the 82nd Street Triplex theater which is a beautiful classic turn of the last century movie theater. There will be a reception starting at 6.30 pm with food from six different area restaurants. The program includes three films: two shorts and one longer one. And the event will be followed by an after party at nearby Limoncello which is a small charming Italian restaurant. You might want to purchase your tickets through the Jackson Heights Film and Food Festival website [jhfff.org - $20 / $15] as seating is limited. Our full report of this event was cancelled due to cancellation of the festival.
Battle: Park Vs Parking
Jackson Heights / September 21, 2009. Summer is over and today is officially the first day of Autumn. Enjoy the week as the current forecast calls for dry and moderately cool.
Last Friday Transportation Alternatives and the Friends of Travers Park installed a temporary park along 37th Avenue near 78th Street [see photo to right]. The new park opened around 9.30 am. There were more visits to this park per square foot, than in nearly every other park in the city, and yet in spite of the large per capita square footage occupation rate, there wasn't any littering, rapes, murders or burglaries reported in the new park. But alas, all good things must come to an end and at 6 pm the city closed it and converted it into - of all things - a parking space!
All kidding aside, the event was intended to get people to think about how much space is devoted to automobile parking versus how much space is devoted to recreational space for people. Click here to view a photo album containing additional photos of the 'new park', as well as a few other photos of Jackson Heights this past weekend. In other events we covered this weekend, click here to learn a bit about the Jackson Heights Art Club.
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