Fans of a beloved Queens bakery that was facing eviction won’t need to bid farewell to their favorite custom cakes and croissants, at least for now.
The owner of Bonelle Pastry Shop — which was told to vacate its Ascan Ave. spot in Forest Hills at the end of 2014, after more than 20 years in the neighborhood — is in negotiations to stay, according to supporters in the community.
“Bonelle is not being evicted and has been given a fair rent increase on their existing lease,” said Josh Peskay, who helped organize support for the bakery when word of its closure spread last November.
An outcry from neighbors and help from the new Dunkin’ Donuts next door may have convinced landlord Chaim Babad of Real Estate Management Co. to reconsider. Babad and Bonelle owner Rahita Ravel could not be reached for comment.
Bus riders waiting for a ride along Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens are noticing a new sign on the exterior of Yee Mei Fong Bakery.
It provides schedules for the nearby bus. The Ultra Sign Corp recently began making and installing the signs for businesses using the real-time information data from the MTA.
Tien Wang is a bus rider and engineer. He created the software and hardware for Ultra Sign Corp.
A Brooklyn bakery worker who sold cakes and pastries also ran a half-baked side business that offered forged ID cards, prosecutors charged Thursday.
Jose Mateo Castro, 56, who worked at Las Conchitas Bakery in Sunset Park, was recently indicted, along with Leonel Escamiilo, 43, who is accused of producing the phony IDs out of his basement. Authorities said they sold a bogus green card and Social Security card to an informant.
"According to the agents at Homeland Security, these documents looked so authentic that an ordinary lay person could not detect them to be phony," said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes. The feds were tipped off about a forged-ID-selling baker in summer 2011. A subsequent yearlong probe involved surveillance from cars and a helicopter, Hynes said.
The two suspects, who are being held on bail, face seven years in prison if convicted, followed by deportation to their native Mexico.
Well, Council Member Elizabeth Crowley recently bent over backwards to make sure the street in front of the same bakery was plowed. And she wants the world to know about it. This made the front page of last week's Ridgewood Ledger.
After repeated calls, Crowley said she was finally able to convince sanitation to plow the street.
“I’m glad that our persistence prevailed,” she said. “This could have been an even worse situation for the community that depends on the goods that come from the bakery.”
Although Crowley said she was happy to help Grimaldi’s, there were many other incidents following the storm that did not have a happy ending.
“In those days after the storm, we were inundated with people who needed help. We had emergency situations where people needed care,” she said. “Some people’s lives were lost.”
But at least the bread was baked on time...
Because she obviously has her priorities in order, Liz has been selected as a "Rising Star" by Vicky Schneps:
At Beky Bakery on 103rd Street in North Corona, owners Jose Gonzales and his sons Jesus and Fernando prepare dough flavored with cinnamon, orange peel, walnuts, brandy, and vanilla.
The also make breads called muertitos which are shaped like a human figure with crossed arms, and topped with pink sugar.
The breads are traditionally eaten from October 28 to November 2 during the days when Mexicans commemorate their dead ancestors and family members with altars made of flowers, candles, paper, fruits, and the favorite foods of the deceased.
Believers in the All Saints traditions say that during these days, the souls of their ancestors return and eat the essence of the food and drink.
Around North Corona and Jackson Heights, bakeries do a brisk business in the breads at this time of year. Mexican immigrants in New York also make and sell sugar skulls, another typical offering.
A shuttered Forest Hills bakery once known for its sugary kosher treats - as well as its postwar architecture - may see new life in a historical village opening near Birmingham next year.
Business partners Patti Miller and Joel Owens want to buy memorabilia from Jay Dee Bakery - a 60-year-old neighborhood mainstay that closed a few months ago - to recreate the shop in their planned nostalgic town.
Miller said she may start removing Jay Dee's signage as soon as this weekend and re-open the bakery at the village in late 2010. She's hoping longtime locals can provide photos of the interior for her re-creation.
Jay Dee Bakery (98-92 Queens Blvd, Forest Hills) closed its doors after nearly 60 years. It stood as a well-known NY Art Deco landmark since the early 1950s (with features of an earlier bakery dating back to the early 1940s), and has been dear to locals and preservationists. Citywide, there are very few such surviving Art Deco style commercial buildings. On Aug 10th, my colleague and I met with the owner, and tried to convince him to preserve and adaptively reuse the property, making him eligible for grants, positive media, & awards. It will be transformed into a Russian restaurant, and the owner decided that he is not interested in preserving its historic Art Deco features.
The news is unfortunate, but the owner said he will give away any salvagable Art Deco features for free, if an individual, organization, or museum is interested. Rego-Forest Preservation Council is hoping that several features will live on elsewhere and showcased or creatively and adaptively reused, which has been done countrywide. We would be saddened if these unique businesses' Art Deco attributes are demolished forever.
The distinctive Art Deco and decorative features include the following (some are evidently more salvageable than others. Mosaics are salvageable):
- The classic reverse channel neon sign reading Jay Dee Bakery; - Ravenna green mosaic columns surrounding the window, which features a classic Art Deco orange and red vertical swirl pattern that resembles jewels; - Art Deco Lucite door and steel handle with "Pull" etched vertically; - Window featuring a variety of vintage tiered wedding and birthday cake models; - Exterior green terrazzo exterior floor (which likely continues inside underneath current floor tile); - Circular Art Deco recessed ceiling & indented cake displays built into upper walls (silhouettes); and - Any original counters & the brass cake tie devices hanging from the ceiling.
Please contact unlockthevault@hotmail.com if you are interested in an opportunity to own rare Art Deco attributes for free from the last known Jay Dee Bakery, know of someone who may be interested, or would like to offer any suggestions. Please spread the word. Time is of the essence! Thank you!
A Queens bakery owner who admits he molested a 10-year-old boy who came in for cookies isn't going to prison - and plans to be back at work next week.
Issac Ebstein, 50, pleaded guilty earlier this week to luring the child into an abusive friendship five years ago at Queens Kosher Pita in Kew Gardens.
He was released without bail and is expected to get a year of probation and sex-offender counseling when he's sentenced. He will not have to register as a pervert.
Prosecutors cut the deal to spare the victim from having to relive the ordeal.
A woman at Queens Kosher Pita said Ebstein would be back to work tomorrow - a prospect that horrified neighborhood residents.
"If he works here, I will pull him out myself," said a customer named Claudiu, who had just learned about the guilty plea. "There's no way he's coming back here. If he does, we won't buy here anymore."
Italicized passages and many of the photos come from other websites. The links to these websites are provided within the posts.
Why your neighborhood is full of Queens Crap
"The difference between dishonest and honest graft: for dishonest graft one worked solely for one's own interests, while for honest graft one pursued the interests of one's party, one's state, and one's personal interests all together." - George Washington Plunkitt
The above organizations are recognized by Queens Crap as being beneficial to the city as a whole, by fighting to preserve the history and character of our neighborhoods. They are not connected to this website and the opinions presented here do not necessarily represent the positions of these organizations.
The comments left by posters to this site do not necessarily represent the views of the blogger or webmaster.
