From the Times Ledger:The former site of the Caldor department store in downtown Flushing is slated to open by the end of the year as a mall with a wide range of new amenities for area shoppers.
In the building located at the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue, construction has been underway for months on what will be called the “New World Mall.”
“This mall will have a supermarket, restaurants, lots of stores,” said Sharon Shi, a broker for Perfect Group Realty, which represents the project. “It’s a mixed-use, brand new shopping mall.”
But the supermarket might be a point of contention with the area’s non-Asian residents, many of whom have been vocally opposed to the conversion of two Key Food store locations into Asian groceries in the past year.
Community Board 7 District Manager Marilyn Bitterman said she believes the supermarket will primarily serve American foods, but will offer an Asian food section.
“They’re very receptive,” she said. “They want to bring in American stores, not just have an Asian mall.”
But on Tuesday, Shi said the store will be a primarily Asian one.
“It will not be an American supermarket,” she said. “The majority of people are Chinese, so the purpose is to pick up a Chinese supermarket, but of course there will be American food, too.”
53 comments:
This mall will be the typical crappy Asian bazaar mall with a supermarket that smells like rotting Karp and have zero employees who speak English, nor post signs in English and make non-Asians un-welcomed.
Is a shame that Asian business owners take for granted that non-Asian will shun their businesses. Americans are friendly and loyal customers if they are made to feel welcomed and are eager to try new foods and products all the time. Being friendly and trying to include all people as customers will greatly increase revenue and insure a loyal following. East trying harder to meet Western sensibilities since they are here in Flushing not mainland China is something the Chinese need to address to survive successfully here!
The Asian markets should be shut down for animal cruelty with their tanks of dead lobsters, fish, and frogs.
They're cruel and disgusting!
Welcome to Third World Flooshing!
It's really depressing.
I will NEVER set foot in such an awful, disgusting, dirty place. Do food and restaurant inspectors ever come to Flu Shing?
It seems like it is always ok for a neighborhood to be overwelmingly Asian, Hispanic or Black, but God forbid if there is a white European majority!
Frankly, I like shopping in an Asian market particularly the Great Wall supermarkets on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst and a nice gem on 31st Avenue across from the Boulevard Gardens in Woodside. Fresh fruit and fish and very inexpensive. They also carry good old American healthy products like potato chips and Spam.
It seems like it is always ok for a neighborhood to be overwelmingly Asian, Hispanic or Black, but God forbid if there is a white European majority!
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thank the machine for that but since you morons always reelect them then volunteer to do things like clean ups and the like that they should be doing frankly....
.... you deserve it.
I'm sure this structure will be built by illegal, unskilled labor with no regards to safety, codes or American law as is the case in most parts of this city now because Bloomberg wants to placate the illegals at the expense of American jobs, structural safety and giving his Wall Street buddies a financial boost for the Asian markets that have all of our manufacturing now. If it still was the Caldor site, there would have been a much better chance to have it built RIGHT by skilled union labor, from the steel workers who risk their lives for this city every day to the LICENSED ELECTRICIANS & CARPENTERS and everyone else that is required to put a sound, safe structure up in this city who are not being employed anymore because these companies are using the cheapest most unskilled labor they can get their hands on. If Helen Marshall had any balls she would stop this from ever going forward. But she has NO BALLS and Bloomberg has been NEUTERED by the elite he serves.
Did you ever see electrical wiring done by an illegal Chinese worker in this city? I have, and I was almost killed, several times. THIS IS NOT A JOKE. Don't think that you live and work in a nice neat new luxury building that your electrical or your plumbing or you structure itself is indeed safe. IT IS NOT. And for all the candy ass whimps that union bash in this country, I hope you never are faced with this because you probably have NO CLUE as to look out for these problems and will just be another statistic.
This country better wake up and start realizing there are 44 million people in the USA now under the poverty level with absolutely no hope of the American Dream anymore because it has been given away by these corporations who refuse to pay American taxes and give decent, living wage jobs with health care benefits to the people who were born and raised here. There is NOTHING WRONG with Americans making a decent living - CONTRARY to what Fox News tells YOU. We have been doing it for generations. We are NOT doing it anymore.
This must stop. These politicians, Democratic and Republican scum alike, must be held accountable for the overwhelming deficit we are faced with and worse yet, our children and THEIR children will not have HALF of what we have in this country because NOTHING is made here anymore while these CEOs are turning into billionaires right under our noses and firing people left and right all for the sake of greed and these politicians that are allowing this are all taking bribes and lobbiest money in order to get rich at the expense of the people that have elected them. We are the new Soviet Union. Corrupt, self-serving and designed to keep the ones in power IN POWER.
This country is collapsing, Europe is collapsing, South America is collapsing, most of Asia is collapsing and China is RIGHT WHERE THEY WANT TO BE with a growing military who fights us every step of the way in regards to Iran, North Korea and a host of other nations that do not have our interests at heart.
We can thank our multi-national corporate scum for this.
These types of establishments should be boycotted. They are filthy, unhygienic, unsafe and DO NOT HIRE AMERICANS OR BUY FROM AMERICAN COMPANIES. MELTING POT MY ASS!
Put Chinese made goods back on the shelf and let them rot and buy something else that was made here or at least in a different country OTHER than China. If you are NOT lazy, you will find them. GO TO ANOTHER STORE. What you buy from China will break and fall apart within months anyway because it is DESIGNED to and is made inferior to ANYTHING THAT CAN BE MADE BY AMERICANS.
Corporations WANT YOU TO SPEND MORE MONEY ON THIS CRAP BECAUSE IT GOES STRAIGHT INTO THEIR POCKETS - NOT OURS! These companies are not paying taxes to this country and therefore are reaping the benefits of living high on the hog here while everyone else is suffering and will continue to suffer if nothing is done about this travesty to America.
Fuck Nafta. Fuck the WTO. Fuck anyone that wants to give more of jobs away to overseas.
Interesting that Greenspan who is one of the main architects of this fiscal disaster has just come out this week as Mr. Doom & Gloom.
. East trying harder to meet Western sensibilities since they are here in Flushing not mainland China is something the Chinese need to address to survive successfully here!
Why? Study history. The Chinese are ethno centric and would put chauvensitic Brits or an Euro to shame.
The are working on have a foreign consession here the way the western powers had in Shanghai in the 19th century - a bit of land under their effective control - base that they can operate under.
As our politicans are a bunch of losers they will give up anything for their opinium and concubines - well not really, but you get the picture.
Remeber this the next time you see a vacantly smiling John Liu standing in the middle of some event that he really has no business being at and think of pictures of 19th Century chinese officals with some Brit consul in full uniform towering over them.
Why can't it be an American Mall? Aren't we in America? When we can't read the signs in the mall because they are Asian, isn't that discrimination? Where are our Civil Rights? Do Americans have them anymore? Just asking.
An American supermarket....what have you been puffing?
This is a typically out of touch comment from CB# 7's district manager!
Mariyln Bitterman is a has-been doofus earning at least $80,00 a year....who has been kissing her benefactor (Wellington Chen's ?) ass for so long that she needs to be removed from her post....AND PRONTO!
We understand that she prefers not to shop in any local supermarket anywhere near the downtown hub...not even at Pathmark which is close to her apartment.
I think she was once overheard saying that she drives out to the island to shop with "people of her class".
Really?
Better not let that get around Marilyn...that you consider yourself "upper middle class" and above the rest of the "peasants" you apparently look down upon!
But if she loses her current lucrative job what will she do with a ner-do-well hubby like Jack?
He doesn't appear to have any reasonable source of income...does he?
Uh...maybe Mike Meyers will show some pity and engage her to work in some capacity at Flushing Commons.
Who cares?
I live far enough away from that crappy little chinatown!
No mystery foods for sale in my local supermarket.
And its walls are not lead painted either.
I say let those downtown coolies choke and trip all over their overpopulated, overcrowded nabe just like in the old country!
That's not how the rest of the civilized world lives.
I've got a little prediction for you:
The Chinese will never be able to contain the hundreds of separate ethnic minorities contained within their own country.
As soon as communism vanishes....it'll be back to the old war lord system.
This time it will be economic war lords or cities competing for their individual shares of the chow mein.
History has proven that without the terror state of the old emperors or the party chairman...the vast territory of China never be controlled as one nation.
India, which is the world's largest democracy, will rule the word's economic roost.
They are already gaining ground on China.
And regarding Floo-xhiang....it's just a pimple on the ass of NYC and will change hands from the Taiwanese to another group in the future.
MARK MY WORDS WELL!
Why can't it be an American Mall?
It could be, if the market existed for it.
Aren't we in America?
Yes, last time I checked google maps, this is still
America.
When we can't read the signs in the mall because they are Asian, isn't that discrimination?
No, it is freedom of expression.
Where are our Civil Rights?
You have the right to shop there if you choose.
Do Americans have them anymore?
They are slowly being stripped away. Not by the Chinese retailers, but by our own governments in the form of the patriot act, and overzealous ticketing and law enforcement.
You should be much more concerned about what our own government is doing to strip our rights to privacy than a particular ethnic group engaging in the American ideal of capitalism.
The colonizing of Flushing by the Chinese and Taiwanese is almost complete. Next it will be the invasion of Union Street to get those pesky Koreans away from the Chinese Flushing Commons Project. All that’s left is Macy’s and the takeover will be complete. So long Flushing. Hello little Taipei.
Maybe "George" goes there to get his jollies at the "happy ending" booth in the market's basement.
O-o-o-o-o-h!
Ah...let those unsanitary sidewalk spitting chinks have 3rd world Floo-xhiang!
Nobody else that can call themselves normal would want to set foot in that stinking sump anymore anyway.
There are still Whites living in Flushing? Get out now while you can, that neighborhood has turned into a dump much like the rest of NYC...I wonder with China's economy being better than ours if the Chinese here will start moving back..i hope so.
Asian's don’t want Americans or their money.
That’s why all the signage has been that way in Flushing Mains Street, Nassau Street for at least 15 years.
This is the cherry on the cake
I’m so pissed off !
To now buy my annual $25 Rolex or service pack of assorted 25 Lithium watch batterys, 3 inch Festival balls I must ask in Chinese or shlep all the way to Canal & Broadway ($20+) on the MTA
Time for all the white people to head for the exits. Get out of New York while you can. When the New York tax base is gone, they'll be sorry. Bloommberg will move to Bermuda where he belongs and you'll need a passport (not US) to be admitted to Flushing. We have no one to blame but ourselves. If everyone stayed put and voted for the best person for the job instead of down party lines, things would be different.
Being Caucasian,I cant wait to get stared at and bumped into.
"Asian's don’t want Americans or their money. "
Neither did nor do the Orthodox Jews who have been creating their own country within our country 4ever.
They still own a very LARGE portion of Flushing.
Italian nabs have Italian stores - the Polish nabs have their own stores, etc.
The difference though is in NUMBERS. The Asian population here is huge.
Baa Baa Bab Sheep Have You Any Wool ?
What a crock of crap~ola !
Just like the current mosquito, Flaushing bacterial tide & pissed off yellow jacket population right Babs ?
-Joe
Asian mall :( Now what if I wanted to open a Caucasion Mall? I'd be called a Racist:( This is such BULLSHIT!!!!!
Anonymous said...
It seems like it is always ok for a neighborhood to be overwelmingly Asian, Hispanic or Black, but God forbid if there is a white European majority!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Look I'm White and Cherokee:) But you are absolutely correct!!!! People don't want the truth !!! The Truth is that the White male is discriminated against more than anyone else:( and That Is The Gods Honest Truth!!!!!
Everyone cries, "Capitalism! Capitalism! Market Forces! Market Forces!" until something like this comes up. If the area is so heavily populated by Chinese that another Chinese-focused store can survive, that's market forces for you. If it performs poorly and goes out of business because the management shuns the significant population of non-Asian customers, that's market forces too.
All your cries of racism are silly. Nobody is stopping you from shopping there. I'm sure you can identify carrots and a can of beans without signs in English saying "Carrots here" and "Can of beans here." Or are you too stupid to be trusted alone in a grocery store?
I'm sure you can identify carrots and a can of beans without signs in English saying "Carrots here" and "Can of beans here." Or are you too stupid to be trusted alone in a grocery store?
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I'm guessing you never shopped in an Asian grocery market!
All your cries of racism are silly. Nobody is stopping you from shopping there.
lol look how dumb you are. Go shop in an asian supermarket and watch how they over charge you for being white. But only white people can't be racist right?
Joe - have a little respect for the people who slaved over the production of your cherished counterfeit Rolex.
As a Flushing native I remember the boarded up storefronts of the 1970s. Coming from relatively recent immigrant stock (grandparents), I'm proud of our culture's openness to new arrivals. I support bilingual government services, especially for emergency aid. I think it's reasonable to then ask in return that stores and businesses post signs in both the immigrant language of that business' primary market and English. This would also serve as language immersion for the immigrant community, to speed English acquisition and improve educational and economic prospects.
All that’s left is Macy’s and the takeover will be complete.
I doubt that would happen. Chinese are consumers also and flooded with cash and some are shopaholics. Macy and Old Navy makes money from them. I went inside and at least 50% are Asian shoppers. Without them shopping as in if they aren't interested, Macy and Old Navy will close down and then 'the takeover will be complete'
I traveled to Shanghai before recently and believe me when I say shoppers who will buy regardless of price..and they shop US brand names too like Coach, Macy, etc.
Next it will be the invasion of Union Street to get those pesky Koreans away from the Chinese Flushing Commons Project.
At the least the Koreans assimilate and appreciate the American dream, few are illegal - no reason otherwise not to be.
...I wonder with China's economy being better than ours if the Chinese here will start moving back..i hope so.
heheh..actually I have Asian friends who knows their other friends whom actually 'immigrated' back to China because money opportunities for doing business there are huge.
Some are staying there long term and others are travelling back and forth. But usually the one staying there long term are the ones doing business there in hundreds of millions of dollars.
But many are still staying in US because it's still easy for them to make money. In China just like in India, you have to know someone based on some connections to do businesses. In US, you can still make it base on your brains without human networks so it's easier in the US to make money.
"Everyone cries, 'Capitalism! Capitalism! Market Forces! Market Forces!' until something like this comes up. If the area is so heavily populated by Chinese that another Chinese-focused store can survive, that's market forces for you. If it performs poorly and goes out of business because the management shuns the significant population of non-Asian customers, that's market forces too."
Excellently put. I just hope that all the people whining about this do not label themselves conservative or libertarian. Because that would be some serious hypocrisy at work.
Time to pull your head out of your ass Ms. Bitterman and see what's really going on around the town for your $85,000+ a year salary!
Asshole!
As soon as muni lot #1 closes to build "Flush-Com"....Macy's will soon follow.
These are not upscale Shanghai Chinese who live in Floo-xhiang...they're low class Fujienese and peasant class Taiwanese!
And as far as those expensive "Coach" bags you see a lot of Asians carrying...they're most likely Chinese bootleg knockoffs!
I can pick up a decent (from a distance) looking (LOL) "Rolex" watch for about $20 on Canal Street.
In US, you can still make it base on your brains without human networks so it's easier in the US to make money.
Yeah, if you don't pay your taxes and moneylaunder everything in cash. Give me a break. The American dream for most immigrants that have come to NY since 1980 is to rape our system. Who are you kidding?
I think it's reasonable to then ask in return that stores and businesses post signs in both the immigrant language of that business' primary market and English. This would also serve as language immersion for the immigrant community, to speed English acquisition and improve educational and economic prospects.
The problem with this is that the city council and the local governments have all turned a blind eye to non-English signs in the past 10 or so years because they want the votes.
There should NEVER EVER be a sign posted in this city and this country that is not English or at least bi-lingual! Other countries simply DO NOT ALLOW THIS because of the non-assimilation problems it causes.
English is our national language. No one can dispute this fact. If you don't know it, you cannot assimilate into our culture and chances are you never will.
"I doubt that would happen. Chinese are consumers also and flooded with cash and some are shopaholics."
Absolutely. They are also some of the BEST dressed people - the younger generation especially is VERY hip and fashion-minded. They are BIG Macy's shoppers.
Over time - I will go so far as to predict more high end stores.
"English is our national language. No one can dispute this fact. If you don't know it, you cannot assimilate into our culture and chances are you never will."
I would like very much to see English signs in ALL stores - I think in the next local elections - we should make that an issue.
Remember that the older immigrants - like ALL older immigrants will tend to separate themselves from other cultures because of the ease of communication - the YOUNG though mix extremely well with others and speak very good English - and of course the next generation of these Asian immigrants will speak English as their first language.
"And as far as those expensive "Coach" bags you see a lot of Asians carrying...they're most likely Chinese bootleg knockoffs!"
Actually the Asians that I see seem to have more class than that - i.e. they do not concern themselves with labels rather - they have just plain old fashioned good taste.
"I can pick up a decent (from a distance) looking (LOL) "Rolex" watch for about $20 on Canal Street."
JOE - it's not the 1980s any more! Most people don't even WEAR watches . . .
It is interesting that whites feel being discriminated. There is next to none whites live in Flushing. There is next to none whites live along 7 train line actually.
I commute on 7 every day, there are few whites.
In newly openned BJ's, which mostly sell american foods, about 50% customers are Asian, and the rest are Hispanic. Almost no whites there.
So it is funny that on this blog that whites are the loudest to opposite the developments in Flushing, and feel being discriminated.
If you think Flushing is ONLY in or around the Main Street area - you need a map - that's the first thing.
Aside from that - you are wrong about something else - as a long time white resident - I do not "feel discriminated" AND I OPPOSE the developments simply because I - like many of my neighbors - fear OVERDEVELOPMENT.
No such thing as assimilation anymore.
The Divided States of America.
"There is next to none whites live in Flushing"
Really? Babs is right get a map. Its a reason we call it downtown Flushing ie there are more parts to it. And in those other part low and behold lives whites,hispanics, blacks etc ect. Lastly I for one dont want my neighborhood to have a skyline that rivals Downtown Brooklyn (though it looks like thats wishful thinking these days). My mother had it right when she said this about the overdevelopment of Flushing...
"Remember in the second Back to the Future movie where he goes back to his hometown and everything has turned for the worse? Its ugly crowded... Thats what downtown Flushing has turned into."
Get out of NYC while you still can, it's turned into a dump, unless you're Bloomberg rich there's no quality of life, Flushing is a nightmare!!
Will this mall be patronized by American citizens? If so, then it's an American mall.
I'm more interested in what's going to be in the mall than the nationality. With the new bus zoning, it's not that bad to move around.
Phranq Soyonutria said: I'm guessing you never shopped in an Asian grocery market!
And you are guessing wrong. I shop at Hong Kong market at NY Chonghap and Hanareum and other Asian grocery markets all the time.
My point remains - if you can't identify carrots and onions without a sign in English, you have no business going grocery shopping without your mommy holding your hand.
Some anonymous idiot said: lol look how dumb you are. Go shop in an asian supermarket and watch how they over charge you for being white. But only white people can't be racist right?
lol look how you start sentences with lol like an 11-year-old.
I have never been overcharged. The price posted is the price I pay. 'Cause I use my brain when I shop. And how do you know you're being overcharged if you "can't read the signs"? And if you know you're being overcharged, why do you shop there anyway? You're just making a fool of yourself. You don't deserve to live in New York if you can't handle a little diversity in commerce.
This city was founded - if you remember your history - on a cross-cultural business deal.
Things like I remember in queens are gone for good ! And will never return . I used to ride the 7 train to times square . When I was 13 I used to work in the garment district while school was out back in the day . Today I would not let my 16 year old go to main st flushing by bus . Different time different place .
If it makes anyone here feel better Asian are rude to asians. It's just a cultural thing. Watch and see how asians deal with each other and you'll realize they are not skilled in being "warm and welcoming". Asians are taught to keep to themselves - even in the family. So to all the non-asains out there - it's nothing personal, so don't get offended. Yes asians can use a lesson on being warmer and nicer. And I think Americans can get a lesson on being more discrete. Americans are known as loud mouths and demanding around the world when they travel. I was traveling in a mostly white resort and was surprised at how polite and discrete everyone was. I couldn't figure out why until I realize they were europeans. Haha Don't get offend people. It's just an observation. If you get to know a certain culture you might find nice things about it (even if it's just ONE thing) and you might also start to see shortcomings in your own culture.
When I was 13 I used to work in the garment district while school was out back in the day . Today I would not let my 16 year old go to main st flushing by bus .
This shows that you are old and cannot accept change. Have you ever been to Main Street, Flushing recently? I ride the 7 all the time and it's not dangerous or anything. It's a busy area. I think it's just a stereotype that it's bad and many negatives are based on people whom go there once in a while. I go there every day to get to the 7, and there are bakery for a buck and stuff. Heck, I've been going there for the past 5 years and I didn't even get mugged or stopped by strangers. You want where I feel uneasy? Try at a corona bus stop. I feel uneasy at a Jamaica Station, BUT I don't go there often based on stuff I hear, so it can be a getting used to thing and hearsay just like how you are thinking right now regarding your 16 years old. Been there done that.
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