Nabes not so high on weed shops

 

Queens Chronicle

Last Thursday, the Office of Cannabis Management announced that New York State had begun accepting applications for the first recreational cannabis dispensary licenses.

The first legal adult-use retail dispensaries will be run by those impacted by the prohibition of cannabis. Qualifying business applicants must have a conviction for a marijuana-related offense or have a parent, legal guardian, child, spouse or dependent with one in New York.

One Ozone Park man has already submitted one application and is working on a second, with hopes of eventually opening a dispensary in Queens.

“My business partner and I are both justice-involved and we both meet the criteria,” said Jeremy Rivera, a 38-year-old from Ozone Park.

“Kush Culture is me 51 percent, him 49 and then Gourmet Buds is him 51 percent me 49,” he told the Chronicle this week.

Rivera spent eight years in prison for nonviolent crimes, two of which were drug-related.

Now, he owns a construction-consulting company where he teaches OSHA and city buildings regulations and audits job sites for construction-safety compliance.

“I am and always have been ambitious. Even when I was in the streets and I was dealing drugs, I was very ambitious.”

His business experience helps him check off the box from the state that requires applicants have experience owning and operating a “qualifying” business that has been profitable for at least two years.

His business partner owns a deli in Lindenhurst, LI.

Although Rivera is a Queens guy through and through, he is not sure he will be able to open the dispensary here.

“I’m not getting really good responses from the communities in Queens,” he said.

“I’d love to open a dispensary here, but I don’t know. It seems like I’m getting a lot of conservative views on this.”

He specifically wanted to open up a shop in Ozone Park but was told by community leaders that it might not be “the right place.”

de Blasio signs bill permitting retail stores to sell merchandise outside

 

 

Queens Post 

Small business owners will soon be able to expand their storefront onto the sidewalk as part of a new Open Storefronts initiative the City will launch on Friday.

Retail shops will be able to sell their wares on sidewalks in front of their storefronts from Oct. 30 through Dec. 31 — just in time for the holiday season, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday.

In addition to retailers, repair shops, personal care services and laundry services can also use sidewalk space for seating, queuing or displaying dry goods under the Open Storefronts program.

The initiative aims to help more than 40,000 small businesses in a similar way that the Open Restaurants program helped thousands of restaurants across the five boroughs.

“Our Open Restaurants program … turned out to be something that really worked for New Yorkers,” de Blasio said during a press briefing. “Let’s apply that same idea to small businesses — retail businesses — all over the five boroughs that need additional business to survive.”

The program is modeled after the Open Restaurants program. Likewise, businesses located on existing Open Streets: Restaurants — that are cut off to most traffic — will be able to sell their products on the closed streets as well.

Multiple businesses on the same block can also join together to apply for an Open Street designation to turn their roadway over from car usage to ad hoc market usage, de Blasio said.

While this will (incrementally) help small businesses as long as this pandemic continues, this will wind up being counterproductive. It will just make the sidewalks more clustered which will make it harder to enforce distancing guidelines and also will make it more vulnerable to shoplifters and looters, which will require more NYPD presence. Not to mention that a lot of sidewalks where these stores are located aren't ample enough for those measurements detailed on that layout above.

 

40%

 

Bloomberg

 

The pandemic has battered New York City businesses, with almost 6,000 closures, a jump of about 40% in bankruptcy filings across the region and shuttered storefronts in the business districts of all five boroughs.

It’s going to get worse.

This fall, the nation’s largest city will see even more padlocked doors as companies burn through federal and private loans they tapped in March, landlords boot businesses that can’t make rent, and plummeting temperatures chill outdoor dining and shopping.

“By late fall, there will be an avalanche of bankruptcies,” said Al Togut, a lawyer who has handled insolvencies for small businesses and huge corporations like Enron. “When the cold weather comes, that’s when we’ll start to see a surge in bankruptcies in New York City.”

New York City and its businesses have reached a pivotal point. After over six months with the specter of Covid-19 hovering in every subway car and corner bodega, the virus is showing signs of resurgence.

The state of New York on Saturday reported more than 1,000 new cases for the first time since early June. Spikes emerged in south Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods with large Orthodox Jewish communities, just as they observed Yom Kippur. Meanwhile, principals called on the state to take over schools days before they restart in-person classes, saying Mayor Bill de Blasio failed to ensure enough staff to open safely.

The coming wave of business closings will touch every New Yorker as jobs get scarcer, neighborhoods lose beloved shops and families run out of cash.

Already, dwindling tax revenue has led to cutbacks in municipal services. Trash on sidewalks, unkempt parks and an increase in shootings have made it more difficult to persuade workers to return to offices, more than 150 executives told the mayor in a letter this month. A dearth of office workers is a death knell for many merchants.

“It’s a crisis, and we need to act—our economy can’t recover without saving small businesses,” said city Comptroller Scott Stringer, a candidate in next year’s mayoral election. “When they close, we don’t just lose our beloved Main Street businesses. We lose jobs, tax revenue and the economic backbone of our city.”

The pandemic could permanently close as many as a third of New York’s 230,000 businesses, according to the Partnership for New York City, a business group.

Store owners claim they are gouging customers during COVID-19 pandemic because their suppliers are pressuring them to

QNS

 
For weeks, hand sanitizer, face masks, Lysol spray, disinfectant wipes and even gallon jugs of water have become scarce across New York City as residents stockpile their apartments for self-quarantine. In response to reports of price gouging on these items, Mayor de Blasio has vowed to get tough on the culprits.

The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection put an emergency rule into effect that makes price gouging illegal for a number of items needed to stem the spread of coronavirus. 

But while the mayor’s announcement took aim at retailers, dollar stores in the Ridgewood area struggling to comply said that they are not often the source of the inflated prices. Price gouging begins higher on the supply chain with wholesalers and distributors that sell to discount stores, they say.

When a customer walked up to the counter of U2 99 Cent Store in Glendale asking for isopropyl alcohol, store manager Steven Ng said that he stopped stocking it because he himself was getting gouged on the wholesale price. 

“We have to make a living, too. Before we sold for $2 and right now the wholesale price is $2. If we sell it for $2.99 people complain. What are we going to do? Sell it for $1.99? We’re losing money. So I’m not going to carry anything,” Ng said.

The mayor’s new law has presented 99-cent stores, who often rely on a competitive market of wholesalers for their stock, with a choice: continue to stock the items at a loss or negligible profit or stop stocking them at all. 

Out of the eight dollar stores that QNS visited, only one had a supply of hand sanitizer that it had saved  from a shipment that the store got before the last week of closures and directives to self-quarantine. Many of the shop owners said they are choosing the latter option and leaving their shelves that once contained wipes and hand sanitizer empty.

“If they’re charging more money, what am I going to do?” said Saleh Hassan, the manager of Glendale 99 Cent on Myrtle Avenue.

Hassan said that he relies on salespeople from wholesalers who typically travel into his shop to update him on their stock. His store has stayed out of wipes and sanitizer for weeks because his wholesaler didn’t have a supply or was inflating prices that he was unwilling to pay.

The problem is unique to stores that rely on a loose network of wholesalers to supply their products. 

Family Dollar on Broadway and Grove Street in Bushwick, for instance, doesn’t have that problem. A cashier said that they rely on a chain-based distribution system that drops off a limited supply of the sought-after items every few days.

Ng said that he gets his product supply from a number of wholesale warehouses that straddle the Brooklyn-Queens border on Flushing Avenue, but declined to identify which specific outlets are inflating their prices. He said that he’s stopped selling 33-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer at the price point set by the wholesaler because customers were complaining.

De Blasio may seek retail vacancy tax

From Curbed:

Mayor Bill de Blasio has been largely noncommittal on speaking about how the city can combat some of the blight that’s sweeping New York’s retail corridors, but that may soon change.

On his Friday spot on WNYC, the mayor alluded that retail vacancy has been on the brain (h/t NY Post). “I am very interested in fighting for a vacancy fee or a vacancy tax that would penalize landlords who leave their storefronts vacant for long periods of time in neighborhoods because they are looking for some top-dollar rent but they blight neighborhoods by doing it,” he said. “That is something we could get done through Albany.”

The mayor’s office said the initiative is in the planning phase.

Rego Park Sears is closing

Forgotten-NY

From DNA Info:

The Rego Park Sears will close this spring after two decades in the neighborhood, the company announced.

The store at 9605 Queens Blvd., near the 63rd Drive subway station, was was deemed “unprofitable,” according to Sears Holdings, which also owns Kmart.

The Rego Park location, which has been one of the anchor stores at the Rego Center Mall since 1996, will be among 42 stores nationwide that will close this spring, the company said.

Sources said the Rego Park store will close for good sometime in April.

Kew Gardens Hills businesses destroyed by fire

From PIX11:

Three firefighters were injured and at least 14 businesses were destroyed when a massive blaze ripped through a row of stores in Queens Friday evening.

FDNY received a call about 6:30 p.m. of a fire in a store that is part of a one-story building on Vleigh Place between 77th Road and 78th Road. The fire spread to neighboring stores located in the building on the block.

By 7:30 p.m., the row of stores were up in flames, FDNY said. Fourteen stores and businesses were destroyed.

The fire has burned through the roof, causing part of it to collapse.

Three firefighters were injured. One suffered a sprain and another fainted, FDNY said.

Jamaica department store not happening soon

From DNA Info:

The deal to bring the first major department store to downtown Jamaica in more than three decades, announced nearly three years ago with great fanfare, has recently been terminated, officials said.

In May 2013, reps for the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation and the Blumenfeld Development Group said that they had signed an agreement to convert two parking lots on 168th Street, near 90th Avenue, into a massive 160,000-square-foot retail store and a 550-space parking garage.

In Nov. 2014, officials from Blumenfeld said that they were looking for a possible "anchor store," and were talking to several retailers, including Costco, Burlington Coat Factory, Target and BJ’s Wholesale.

Kissena Blvd stores have no entrances on street

From Citizen of the Month:

[In 2008] I wrote a blog post titled, “The Slummification of Kissena Boulevard,” where I talked about the decline of the street’s shopping district. I couldn’t understand the logic behind all these stores left empty. The neighborhood wasn’t fancy, but it wasn’t impoverished. Surely a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise would do OK. Was it possible that a landlord could make more money NOT renting the property, under some sort of tax loophole reminiscent of “The Producers?” To this day, I still get comments on that post from people who used to live in the neighborhood.

I’m glad to say that a lot has changed since then. Not long after I wrote that post, there was movement on the street, and workmen began making repairs to the infrastructure. Rather than the structure being demolished, it was strengthened, and smaller storefronts were consolidated. While no Target or Kmart ever moved in, new stores DID arrive. Today, 95% of the original Kissena Boulevard shopping area is back in use, the centerpieces being a supermarket, a National Wholesale Liquidators, and an established electronics/computer store. I enjoy each store and shop there often.

One aspect of this neighborhood revival disappoints me, and that is the suburban mentality that is foisted on our urban folk. While the once empty parking lot is now busy with shoppers filling up the trunks with purchases, Kissena Boulevard is still a ghost town. All entrances that were once directly on Kissena Boulevard have been locked, boarded over, or bricked over. The only way to enter the stores is through the parking lot. It feels as if the stores have open arms to visitors driving in from other parts of Queens, while sending a message of distrust to the actual residents of the neighborhood.

Aigner Chocolate to reopen

From DNA Info:

Aigner Chocolates, a much loved Forest Hills store which closed earlier this year, will reopen next week under new ownership.

The shop, at 103-02 Metropolitan Ave., known for its homemade pistachio marzipans, peanut butter cups and almond clusters, closed after the Aigner family, which had run the store for decades, decided to remodel it.

The family was initially planning to reopen the store for its 85th anniversary, but then they decided to retire and sell it instead.

The shop was purchased several weeks ago by Mark Libertini, 42, whose lifelong dream has been to open a chocolate store.

In August, Libertini, a trained pastry chef, who also co-owns a deli in Midtown Manhattan, was in Forest Hills on an unrelated matter and spotted the shop.

He wanted to buy some chocolates for his fiancée, Rachel Kellner. But the store, which Libertini, who lives in Bayside, had never heard about before, was closed.

When he saw the sign that it was for sale, he instantly felt it may be his chance to fulfill his goal.

Two weeks later, he bought the store.

Fresh Pond Road Staples closing

I had to pick up some supplies this weekend at Staples on Fresh Pond Road, and when I returned home, I noticed this in the bag. So is it a permanent closure or are they doing an inventory?

The deed changed hands last year, and when I searched their online directory, the Maspeth location doesn't come up as a choice anymore. So it looks like it's permanent.

Now the question is what is coming to this super large lot...

Forest Hills mystery accident

From Edge of the City. Anyone know what happened here? Looks like a doozy.

So this happened again...

From CBS New York:

Witness Joe Illescas said his family was shopping when he believes the driver was trying to park in a handicap spot in front of the store.

“You can see that she was parking, trying to put it in park, she didn’t have it in park, took her foot off the brake and must have accelerated, right inside,” Illescas said. “Thank god there’s no tragedy, call it luck, a miracle, thank god everybody is okay.”

The driver was not injured.

About 15 people were inside of the store at the time. The manager reported she was cut by glass, but no one was seriously injured. Castro reports only the manager reported a small injury
The store is expected to be shut down for a week.

Residents identify Jamaica's problems

From Karen Clements:

Poor transportation, too many fast food options and crime are some of the barriers residents told Downtown Jamaica’s three Business Improvement Districts, which prevent them from visiting the area. This feedback was part of a forum hosted by the BIDs to gather resident input and participation on improving Downtown Jamaica.

Despite persistently low crime rates, Downtown Jamaica continues to suffer from the perception of being a crime ridden district. Part of that perception has to do with the large number of teens that congregate on Jamaica Avenue at the end of the school day. In addition, residents cite recent high profile police events, including the attack on a police officer by a machete wielding assailant.

Transportation was also an area of concern. Although the Jamaica Center Transit hub is located in the Downtown Jamaica District, residents mentioned how poor service curtails opportunities to shop and dine to just passing through

“I still wait thirty minutes for the Q6 bus,” said Vanessa Sparks a resident who participated in the forum.

“It would be great to get off work, pick up a meal, put it in a bag and then take it home,” said Maria Starks, a resident who participated in the forum and summed up the insights of her group.

In addition to an over abundance of similar stores and too many fast food chains, residents felt that Downtown retail is geared towards a younger market. Sneakers and trendy clothing are heavily marketed, however goods that would be of interest to mature adults and seniors are not readily available and that audience is not coveted. The quality of merchandise and poor service were also in question with residents suggesting the addition of higher end retail.

Residents didn’t only look at external forces as the cause for their for their lack of interest in the area, but took ownership for their part as well for their lack of participation.

Dirty grocery stores are everywhere

From WPIX:

From meat and produce, to cheese, eggs and milk, do how you know how clean your grocery store is?

An undercover investigation by PIX11 News revealed the city’s filthiest grocers, exploring all five boroughs and the markets that failed their state health inspections over the course of a year.

The state worked for months to give us those 5,000 pages of reports, which led us to your grocery aisles equipped with an undercover camera.

We found disgusting, unsafe and filthy conditions that easily could make your family sick.

Long time small businesses shut down by landlord

From Sunnyside Post:

The face of Greenpoint Avenue—between 47th and 48th Streets—is going to change as three long-time stores are closing.

King Boulevard, SSS Video and Azteca Restaurant have all been notified that they have to leave—as the owner of the property is selling it.

Mike Perez, who has owned King Boulevard for the past 31 years, said that he will be closing down his store at the end of the month. He said that the 47-18 Greenpoint Avenue property, which is owned by Greisman Properties, is currently in contract to be sold. He said that his landlord told him that the building will be torn down and redeveloped.

A lawyer, who represents a co-owner of Greisman Properties, confirmed that the building is in contract. However, he said that the building is likely to undergo a major renovation as opposed to redevelopment.

The name of the prospective buyer is not known and there are no filings with the Department of Buildings indicating that work is about to begin.

Show a little pride!

Our wanderings reveal more trashification. Last week it was the unsightly, dirty property at 67-70 Yellowstone Blvd. This week it's the corner of Austin St. & Ascan Ave., apparently the permanent home of New Town Grocery's gigantic filthy rag oops we mean awning.

You thought this was Dean & DeLuca, right? Easy mistake to make. We wonder why this has been allowed to remain for so long. There are even apartments right over the awning. Compliments on the view, not to mention the sanitation aspect.

Haven't any nearby businesses complained? What could be better than kicking back with an overpriced glass of wine at Jack & Nellie's on Ascan and a view of the shredded, bird-pooped New Town awning? This might be one of the few instances when yet another Starbucks, eyewear place or hair salon would be an asset as long as we didn't have to look at that ratty thing. The interior of the store further reflects its dignity level.

Hey, we're all for Mom-and-Pop stores, as long as Mom and Pop have some self-esteem.

- Forest Hills Wanderer

Dormant site on major corner

Last July, there was word that the Gulf gas station at Metropolitan Ave and Woodhaven Blvd was for sale. There was a permit issued to remove the underground tanks. So far, that's all the work that has been done on the property. The construction fence looked like this on Saturday night. One can only imagine what's been going on inside...

According to ACRIS, the lot has not yet been sold. But here are the plans:

90-04 Metropolitan Avenue Queens Exclusive Flyer Web 0

The total transformation of a community

From the Queens Chronicle:

In October 1965 a liberalized immigration law known as the Hart-Celler Act was passed allowing immigrants to come to America and bring family along later without quota restrictions. Opponents of the bill said immigration would get out of hand and engulf and change communities overnight. Flushing was one such neighborhood whose identity was changed and lost overnight as predicted.

In the early 20th century, 40th Road was a block of handyman shops. Rent was cheaper here than on Main Street. It you needed a locksmith, plumber, printer or even a quick haircut, 40th Street was where you would go for a good deal and fair prices.

Other shops were there too. In the 1930s came Shifman’s kosher butcher shop, which later became Dan Schreiber’s kosher butcher shop, a staple for many years at 135-38 40 Road. Schreiber’s speciality was corned beef and pickled tongue.

Next door, right on the corner with Main Street, was the Hy-Heat Coal Co. When coal went out of favor as a fuel, the site became became the home of the M.C. Avery liquor store. That was another neighborhood staple. In 1962 it became Gem Liquor, which continued to operate there until 1987.

Today 40th Road is of course filled with Asian-American shops, with most signs not even written in English.

Many people who come to America have already studied our history. Perhaps the Bowne House, a symbol of freedom of religion located a short distance away, is one reason this neighborhood was chosen as the favorite place to be for one wave of immigrants who came here.

I sincerely doubt that was the reason. Actually I know it wasn't a reason at all. Think tweeding.

Howard Beach Staples closing

From the Queens Courier:

The only Staples in Howard Beach is closing at the end of this month.

The store put signs up announcing the closure last week but there will be none of the usual sales fanfare, according to the workers at the Cross Bay Boulevard location. Residents have noticed workers starting to pack boxes as the store nears its closing date.

“Sad how everything seems to stay here short term,” Lisa Marie, a local, wrote on the Howard Beach Civic Association Facebook page.

Superstorm Sandy hit businesses hard on the boulevard and the office supply store didn’t open back up until mid-2013. With less than a year of operating after recovering, the store will be closing its doors for good.