From the Daily News:...there is anticipation surrounding the opening of the Applebee's this month.
"There's no place to eat other than fast food in Jamaica," said Manshel, predicting Applebee's "will draw more people to the downtown and make it a fun place to be."
Brigit Pinnell, executive director of the Jamaica Center Business Improvement District, said the new office workers in the community will help local merchants.
"They're going to shop in our district," she said. "They're going to eat in our district."
Sounds like wishful thinking to me. The movie theater that opened years ago was supposed to accomplish that. Maybe instead of focusing on providing tax breaks to businesses to get them to move or open there, you should make the place safe and clean and the businesses will come on their own.
40 comments:
Safe Jamaica? Good luck with that one.
Jamaica is as run down and seedy as it has been for decades. Even AirTrain passengers are afraid of walkng around Sutphin which is a real disgrace. Helen Marshall hasn't a clue on what's going on here.$Millions being wasted on this cesspool.
Maybe instead of focusing on providing tax breaks to businesses to get them to move or open there, you should make the place safe and clean and the businesses will come on their own.
You would think Helen our leader would have the issue in Jamaica solved! Bringing in NYS offices is the first sign of bad news. As the line above implies: Get the Police in to crack down on every thing in the area to rid the scourge from petty crime to worse and business will come in. An Applebee restaurant is nice to see come in but if you can't get to it in safety or consider it after dark than why bother.
It will be interesting to see how Applebee's operates behind the thick plexiglass partitions that are the signature fixtures of Jamaica's businesses.
This article might be the first time in my life I have seen "fun" and "Jamaica" linked referring to the Queens neighborhood and not to the island.
What's the over/under for this place staying open under the Applebee's name and management?
IF a fine establishment like the Long Island Room at the old Gertz Dept store couldn't save Jamaica, an Applebee's surely won't.
I bet the people in Jamaica are cooler than all of the white people in Queens. Go kill yourselves you racist bigots.
Regarding the racism on Jamaica Ave., unfortunately, Hugo Tale-Yax is not available for comment.
Dummy said "Even AirTrain passengers are afraid of walkng around Sutphin which is a real disgrace."
Why would Airtrain passengers need to walk around Sutphin when 99% just make the direct subway/LIRR transfer?
Who mentioned race?
Why would passengers at Grand Central Terminal want to walk on 42nd Street?
Why would passengers at Pennsylvania Station want to walk on 34th Street?
A- they have to visit Cipriani's,the Yale Club and the Hyatt hotel.
B-Macy's,Madison Sq.Garden and wabc radio 770 Am(hannity,limbaugh,Imus, etc.
JAMAICA IS A DUMP, LEAVE NYC WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!! APPLEBEES IS ALSO FAST FOOD IDIOTS!!
I bet the people in Jamaica are cooler than all of the white people in Queens.
I bet $10 that the guy who wrote this is a white liberal "Tower Person" living in Astoria who's never even been to Jamaica, Queens, or Jamaica, W.I. for that matter.......
I guess we should make South Jamaica real nice too so all the people on layovers at JFK can walk around and stretch their legs.
Transit hubs in most cities are economic engines. Only in Queens is this idea mocked. Ever walk around Grand Central? Penn Station?
I guarantee the state will subsidize this Applebee's location with taxpayer dollars to keep this place from going out of business.
We can't let the truth be known as to why there aren't any restaurants in Jamaica.
Yes crapper. Ever walk around JFK or Jamaica station? They are not good neighborhoods. Unless the plan is to push out the locals with those new overpriced glass towers that we all despise, I don't see much changing.
The areas around Grand Central & Penn Station were dumps not too long ago as well.
If you were up to snuff on Helen Marshall's plan to expand the business district around Jamaica Station, including the Suphin Blvd underpass, then I would think your comments would be retracted.
Crime in that area is still a very BIG problem, unfortunately. I doubt any major retail chains or hotels would want to come in at this time. Have you walked around there after sunset?
"I bet $10 that the guy who wrote this is a white liberal "Tower Person" living in Astoria who's never even been to Jamaica, Queens, or Jamaica, W.I. for that matter......."
AND I'll bet $10.00 that this person is a white REPUBLICAN living in Ridgewood and looking to stir the pot.
A white Republican living in Ridgewood? I guess you haven't walked around there lately.
Anyway, back to the original point. IF YOU MAKE THE AREA SAFE AND CLEAN, THE BUSINESSES WILL COME ON THEIR OWN.
Having safe and clean areas is what the govt is supposed to be there to provide. Tax breaks for businesses, to magically transform an area, no.
Doesn't have to be clean, or even completely safe. Look at downtown Flushing.
Guys - feelin' alright? No one's said Applebee's "will bring jobs to Queens" . . . you know your usual Repuk mantra about benefits of big businesses.
Applebee's not changing anything anywhere - it does attract young kids for some reason - maybe because of the birthday celebrations . . . the food is extremely salty and high in fat - I think Applebee's will do well there - but, I don't think the nab will benefit.
I remember when Jamaica WAS a wonderful place to shop - Gertz, May's, Fairyland and XMas time . . .Q44 from Main Street.
Jamaica NEEDS good small businesses - NOT chains. Smiley's was / IS(?) a GREAT place for yarn and craft accessories. People came from all over to shop there. THAT'S what they need.
No they said Applebees will make Jamaica fun. The office workers from the other projects we lured to Jamaica with our tax dollars are the "jobs".
Ooooh yay! Blabs is back!
If Hugo Tale-Yax wasn't a sufficient-enough history lesson, let's turn the pages of the history book back, because, kids, once upon a time, Jamaica had the same cachet as any retail district in Manhattan like Herald Square.
What changed? Take this one story and repeat it over and over again for a decade, and that creates the Jamaica of the present day.
Babs said...
Jamaica NEEDS good small businesses - NOT chains
Chains are what they put on slaves. See? Babs is politically correct!!! Oh. And hell's frozen over.
Appleby's is Mcdonald's with table service, lousy food.
There are a couple of decent restaurants, cafeteria type places near Sutphin Boulevard, at least during the week for lunch.
You have the courts , the dept of finance, the Environmental Control Board and is there a DMV outpost there? a traffic court?
Whenever I've had to be in that nabe even during business hours, I wasn't sure who I was more afraid of, the organized drug thug dealers or the groups of cops driving around in small vans. Did not want to get caught in the crossfire.
I have seen that section really go down and get beyond seedy in the past four years. Heroin addicts/meth heads on the nod in front of the McDonald's near the E train entrance.
down the street from housing court on the block of the Queens County Bar Association you have drug dealers protected by their pit bulls doing a brisk and uninterrupted business of distributing heroin to their community.
I so wish Queens Boro Hall instead of bankrolling a franchise would do a study on how drug dealers are subsidized by government benefits and housing subsidies. when you see a drug dealer you can be they are living in Mom's NYCHA apartment or on Section 8, buying their groceries with food stamps.
I like how bring Applebee's to the area is a priority, but reopening the closed hospital a few blocks away isn't even talked about anymore.
yeah, when you get a heart attack from eating Appleby's food how much farther does the ambulance have to go?
I remember when Jamaica WAS a wonderful place to shop - Gertz, May's, Fairyland and XMas time . . .Q44 from Main Street.
Smiley's was / IS(?) a GREAT place for yarn and craft accessories. People came from all over to shop there. THAT'S what they need.
A couple more data points confirming to us that BLABS! is just an out of touch old biddy who doesn't get out of the house much!
Open your eyes BLABS!!
Look around you - enjoy the decline!!
Applebee's is too highbrow for Jamaica. A White Castle or a KFC would be more appropriate.
Whenever I've had to be in that nabe even during business hours, I wasn't sure who I was more afraid of, the organized drug thug dealers or the groups of cops driving around in small vans. Did not want to get caught in the crossfire.
So, you don't want the "drug thug dealers" around (are they people that buy and sell drug thugs?) but you're also not thrilled with the police presence there? Should we just not have any cops rolling around Jamaica? That'll teach those drug thugs.
Doesn't have to be clean, or even completely safe. Look at downtown Flushing.
As a transit hub Flushing succeeds only because it has to> Downtown Flushing is a hodgepodge of cheap businesses run in so called arcades in store fronts.
There is not so much intermingling of races there other than the Chinese who work or shop there and those passing through via bus.
Jamaica can succeed on it's own but the zoning is a bit to blame, storefronts cater to tiny businesses and national chains need to be open well after dark.
Where is the police in this area, all folks want to be safe and this area is no different. That is the single root cause why this area will never achieve success.
"A couple more data points confirming to us that BLABS! is just an out of touch old biddy who doesn't get out of the house much!"
azzhole - I've been doing crafts ALL my life inclusive of music, art, writing, etc. if that makes me an old biddy - so be it. So long as I'm not a deranged idiot like you - all's well dude.
I have never considered Jamaica unsafe to shop. It just appears that the comments written here reflect that some individuals, for whatever reason(s), are uncomfortable shopping in a community that has changed demographically. Applebees is not moving there to fulfill some social mission, its moving there to make a handsome profit just like Old Navy,Loews Movie Theater, and other establishments have. A walk through Jamaica Avenue on any day of the week are evidence that plenty of folks give Jamaica Ave a vote of confidence by way of their discretionary spending. Calling a community a "dump" implies that those individuals that work and shop in a community are garbage and less human than those who shop at Atlas Park, 34th Street, or Green Acres. Lets stop it with the ignorant comments.
Sorry, I generally don't call neighborhoods dumps, but Jamaica is one. It's filthy. But at least it's vibrant and diverse...
lets talk about the heyday of Jamaica Ave for a second. in the 1960's, there were a lot fewer shopping malls, more NYC residents depended on public transportation, and lived and shopped in the same community often within walking distance. shopping strips like jamaica ave in woodhaven, myrtle avenue in ridgewood, and main street in flushing have also had to compete with people taking their leased or financed vehicles and driving to the home depots, targets, or bj's to purchase their goods. you are more likely to see a cop at bj's, costco, or barnes and nobles than you are to see one patrolling your local shopping districts. and that is only because they are being paid by the aformentioned establishments to stand guard at these stores. i say no tax breaks for big box stores and an increase emphasis on business improvement districts where all business owners realize they are stakeholders in building up a community. i would also push for big box stores that compete with mom and pop shops near shopping districts to contribute towards their local business improvement districts for the upkeep of those businesses. this is a different type of taxation that would help level the playing field in terms of competing for the scarce resources of shoppers.
Anon-1 has written a revisionist fairy tale. The retail center that was Jamaica collapsed long before Price Club's arrival in Queens in 1996. The retail corridor of Queens Blvd from Grand Ave to Yellowstone Blvd was built up as Jamaica was in rapid decline. Why did that happen? Jamaica became associated with riots, crime, and ugliness. The businesses and residents who could leave left.
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