From anon- ymous: "There's a 'rumor' that the Abbraciamento building on Woodhaven Blvd. is about to be sold for $6 million to developers who want to build a high rise. However, there are reportedly two leases that would need to be broken at the site in order to bring the deal to fruition. The interested party is said to be a serious suitor.Connie Abbraciamento, the mother of the owners, didn't want the place sold. But she recently died, and her two sons who run the restaurant and catering business are said to want out. They also own the adjacent former Drake Theater site, having purchased that property several years ago to expand their catering business."
Photo from Forgotten-NY.com
26 comments:
So that's why city planning is keeping that area R6...
Shades of the Trylon.....h-m-m-m ? !!!
Lazy offspring wanting to cash out is the usual cause of a long thriving family business closing down and its property being sold to the highest bidder !
Sons and daughters don't want to work nowadays....let alone work hard.....to get rich. They just patiently wait for mom or pop to "croak" and show up for the reading of the will !
Sound cold ? Its a scene well played and far too often !!!!
This part of Woodhaven Blvd. sorely needs improvement. A high quality, reasonable size development would be a positive for the neighborhood.
"This part of Woodhaven Blvd. sorely needs improvement. A high quality, reasonable size development would be a positive for the neighborhood."
Huh? My dictionary does not list 'development' when I look up the word 'improvement.'
There are already plenty of towers in the vicinity and the buses down Woodhaven are packed...why would we need more towers here?
Wow, what a great place for a performance space!
Interesting point on the sons and duaghters.
Years ago, people lived in the communties they promoted. Now they live somewhere else. The community is simply a strip mine.
Dig a hole, take what you can carry, and get the hell out of town.
Flushing was betrayed and deprived of the magnificent RKO Keith's Theater as a much superior and well located performance space!
Those greedy developers (and their accomplices) will just piss all over the Drake with ease and then promptly flush it down the toilet !
Hey...."anonymous #4".....who do you represent.... an interested developer or his pompous ass kissing political friends ?
Maybe you're even a member of the local community board ? That tone of prattle sounds like the type of lingo CBs always love to use ?
H-m-m-m....."improvement" indeed.....you need to improve your mind a little !!!
Why should we keep this old, run-down structure on Woodhaven Blvd. when there is an opportunity to build a better, nicer, more productive space? Of course, the complainers here just love to moan about anything that changes their little worlds. I don't want to see an ugly box building put up, but I would love to see a good quality, aesthetically pleasing commercial/retail/residential building to replace the simple dreary building that is there now. Queens isn't a bunch of farmland anymore, we need to improve our urban environment.
The sons (and one of their wives) are DEFINITELY hard working.
I just had a party there a few weeks back. I never had tried the place until I was starting to plan my event, but had heard good things.
The food and service were excellent and the party was a success. Very resonable price as well. It's tough to find the combination of great food, good service and value in Queens these days, especially if you want a private room and parking for a party.
They run the place themselves. The son cooks (everything fresh, no frozen crap) and his wife runs the operations/management side. She didn't stop running around for a minute every time I was there. They took pride in what they did. They certainly could've handed the reigns off to a manager, but they understand that no one is going to care about the place and run it the way they would.
They probably want out because they seem to be in their mid-to-late 50s and have probably made their money. Who can blame them? Running a business like that is killer work -- you have no life -- you work every weekend, every major holiday. I was there to book my event right before Mother's Day and the phone did not stop ringing.
I hope they don't close -- it's a nice place for a party...
I agree with "anonymous"... there certainly is a lack of *high quality* catering establishments in Queens (and the chandelier castles/wedding factories that pose as catering facilities don't count).
Anylone that feels that this part of Woodhaven Boulevard is blighted really hasn't been there. In the course of a few blocks you have several great restaurants including, Abbracimiento's, The Woodhaven House, London Lennies and the Kilarney Cottage. In my opinion, the only thing missing from this strip is some form of entertainment for the masses that would make for a great night out.
One thing that we do not need in the area are more office buildings or Queenscrap style apartments.
Russ
First of all, the Trylon is now a thriving synagogue. This is similar to Jamaica's Valencia Theater, which is now a church. In Woodside, an Art Deco-style factory is now a korean church. All three buildings appear well-preserved.
Hopefully, if Abbraciamento's is not restored to a theater, it can be given to a religious group instead.
Isn't the Trylon the "Education Center for Russian Jewry?" That doesn't sound like a synagogue. I also don't understand why they had to destroy the place to inhabit the building.
On the condition that the space was sold to be built into a nice new building (not some POS dump), and the theater was returned to a performance space or movie theater or something, what would the harm be? Why is it so bad for so many of you to have something new?
The previous few comments bring to light a strange new trend in the borough of Queens. That is, the developers are knocking down our historic religious institutions (in most part for the land that they encrust) and the religious institutions are taking refuge in our displaced entertainment vestiges.
Russ
I said that "lazy offspring" are the "usual cause" of a "family business closing down" !
If anyone took it as a finger pointed directly to mean the Abbraciamento family, you have my full apologies (I'm fully aware of their fine familiy's history regarding this site) !
I invite you to please RE-READ....my original comment.....this time adjust your reading glasses !
Methinks you doth protest too much ( maybe even have a guilty conscience on this touchy subject ....perhaps.....no) ? !!!
Hey...."mazeartist".....I think that, perhaps, you're lost in a maze or your own creation .
The former Valencia Theater (now the "Tabernacle of Prayer for All People") is lovingly preserved by the congregation and its exterior is an official NYC Landmark (which was originally requested by its congregation) !
The Trylon (a world class Art Deco masterpiece), on the other hand, was destroyed (with questions of legality ....check out the DOB records) by Mr. Kasiev....its owner !
It IS NOT a synagogue but its facade is a wreck of its former self !!!
Nothing has been "preserved" of that Korean church in Woodside (the former Narden ? perfume factory...later Warner Lambert) !
Even from a passing LIRR train travelling over 40 mph, anyone can see that only a very small portion of the facade (hidden behind a metal cage-like screen) can be barely even seen!
Nothing of the original building remains behind its aborted facade !
Rather than suffer this degrading architectural amputation....better it would have been totally torn down !
There are some nice restaurants on this stretch of Woodhaven Blvd, but there also are spots that can use major improvement, including this one. What stands there now is bland and dumpy, and if the owners sell I would favor an improved, better building that can add value to the community. I would not like to see an ugly boxy apartment building, but a nice two or three story structure with commercial and retail space would be good.
What has the local COMMUNITY BORED got to say on this subject ?
Have any of you ever been inside the "Trylon synagogue?" Marble floors and chandeliers greet the visitors. Don't pass judgment until you have been inside the place.
You amaze me "mazeartist" !
It looks like the "fagella" son of a Russian mobster was employed as an interior decorator !
The Leonards of Great Neck look transported to Queens Blv'd .
It's truly tacky and tasteless !
OOhhh you people make me mad.
Do you sit around and wait all day to complain about the new blog from Queens Crapper? Politics make you all ugly. What happened to the "good old days"? Do any of you even remember when this place was renovated and made into the wonderful restaurant it is today? I remember as a little girl, my grandfather showing me the work in progess. He was sad that the Drake was changing but it was important to him that it was remaining there, changed or not. Have any of you people who are making comments ever had dinner there? Do you even know who ate there? This is a landmark for Queens. It has nothing to do with the kids not wanting to work, you asses. If they didn't want to, it would have been sold a LONG time ago. Joe loves that place. LOVES IT!!! And I know that for a fact. Every big event in my family is booked there. We do not think twice. And Joe Jr. personally makes sure it goes well. Whether it be years of our patronage to his place or his demeanor, this is dedication. Do not blame it on the "sons and daughters". Yes, this is the typical Middle Village way, but not in this case. He is not waiting for a will. I cannot believe you people for saying these things. If this were you, and you were a good person with a community family business, how would you feel. Why don't you say what is really on your mind?
I hate the lower middle class for always making comments about the upper middle class. The bitterness makes me sick. All you MIDDLE VILLAGE people do is blame things on; the mob, crooks and kids of the rich. But why do you continue to live here and have your houses extended or keep up with the joneses. Uggghhh. You know you have a grandmother that knows a guy from church that has a son that went to school with your dad....well that is, if you are a true Middle Villager. There is history here, and our ancestors would be disappointed to see the way you judge your fellow community members. Think about the amount of energy and spirit we could put into our community if we weren't wasting it complaining about our neighbors, our teachers, our nannys - OUR COMMUNITY.
Now, one more thing. Some of you said you can't wait to see the building come down. What do you possibly think will be put in it's place? I am sure you'll be complaining once that it is built. Hey, welcome to the extended projects of Rego Park. When this happens, you can all pat yourselves on the shoulder. I bet you won't consider putting your parents or loved ones into the nursing home down the block anymore.
Instead of wasting your spit on a blog anonymously. Say it aloud at a community meeting. Or as my grandfather said, "If you have nothing nice to say, dont say anything at all."
My mother was married there. It will be sad to see it go.
Deborah McCallen
Post a Comment