Monday, August 26, 2013

Restaurants Preparing For Extra Visitors

The Mumford & Sons Concert Wednesday will probably bring the most visitors to our neighborhood since the last concert was held at our Stadium some 16 years ago. Yes, local politicians, see all those empty storefronts along Austin Street? You bear some of the responsibility for that for not pushing for our beautiful Stadium to be utilized for all of these 16 wasted years; years when struggling local businesses really could have used the help. Yes, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Seriously ashamed. And the same goes for local residents who wanted all events at the Stadium squelched. What could be better for your quality of life here in Forest Hills than having a vibrant local shopping district with awesome restaurants and upscale stores, instead of sad, empty storefronts?

As proof of what I'm saying, local businesses are already embracing the large volume of visitors expected to stroll down Austin Street this Wednesday evening both before and after the concert.

One of my favorite new restaurants, Banter, will be having live music of its own after the concert ends around 10 p.m., and Jack & Nellie’s plans to open a little earlier that day for the pre-show crowd. And those are just the ones I know about. If you know of others, comment about them below.

The concert's organizers have really been handling this just fantastically by the way. They understand how much money events like these at the Stadium can bring to our local businesses, a shopping area that could most definitely use a good shot in the arm. (Things have improved, but hey, we're still all recovering from the Depression, aren't we?) So in the letter accompanying tickets to Mumford, the organizers add: "We encourage you to visit local restaurants and shops before and after the show, and explore Forest Hills."

This is truly a great week to be a Forest Hills resident. I hope everyone enjoys what will truly be a memorable time for our thriving New York City neighborhood!

24 comments:

  1. Saw a sign that Dirty Pierre's in Station Square is opening at 1pm and will have lunch and beer specials

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  2. Even McDonalds is putting on extra staff starting mid afternoon. They will get a ton of extra business from this event.

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  3. As someone who has resided here nearly 40 years and have family roots in this area that go back to the '60's, I can assure you that the years when concerts occurred at the stadium had no effect on the local economy. People are in and out, they aren't going to return to Forest Hills to shop or eat, we aren't that kind of destination. If you want to bring liveliness back to Forest Hills, something needs to be done about the sky high rents that local businesses here have to deal with, that makes a much bigger dent in their bottom line than a concert every few months.

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  4. Last night I grabbed dinner at Banter (great place!) and the bartender there seemed pretty excited about the show. I hope the show brings lots of business to the area, which in turn, will hopefully bring more great shows to the stadium. Kudos to all involved who got this up and running and wishing the stadium and local merchants all the best on Wednesday night. And to Mumford and Sons...welcome to Forest Hills!

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  5. It's all about how an event is promoted. Most businesses are aware of what's coming to town this Wednesday and if they are smart and have some marketing savvy they will capitalize on it....even if for one day only. Geez, even the newsstand next to McDonalds will have added stock of water and his family will be there to help. And Starrbucks will be doubling it's staff as well. That's the ticket!

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    1. Forest Hills missed a great marketing opportunity when Spiderman I, II, and III played in the theatres. Local businesses could have offered "Spiderman Specials" but none of them took advantage of the Peter Parker-Spiderman-Forest Hills connection!

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    2. And that was with the "Natural" awning clearly visible in the first movie.

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  6. McDonalds will be the only beneficiary, and rightfully so. The rest of these new restaurants in our neighborhood stink. When you look at the new restaurants opening in LIC and Astoria, you realize that Forest Hills keeps popping out mediocracy. Regrettably, I never eat in the neighborhood unless its a sandwich at Boulangerie or a special night at Danny Browns.

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    1. Who pissed in your cornflakes?

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    2. If you don't eat in the neighborhood, how can you even begin to talk about the selection of food Forest Hills offers. In the past weekend alone I've dined at Banter, Jack & Nellies, and Station House, with friends from other areas of Queens. All have been a hit, and a welcome addition to Forest Hills.

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    3. You people just can't handle the truth. Enjoy your mediocre lives.

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    4. You people just can't handle the truth. Enjoy your mediocre lives.

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    5. Mediocre lives says the man who seems to dislike almost everything about Forest Hills yet takes time to visit a Forest Hills blog and comment about it. At least we're here with a purpose of building a community and discussing topics of interest. You just sound sad.

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    6. Wrong again frog brain. I love Forest Hills which is why I live here. I want to see it get better and am not content with ho-hum places which obviously seem to thrill most people here. I may sound sad to you, but you sound pretty stupid to me.

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    7. As an ex-Astorian pushed to FoHi by high rents, I have to say Forest Hills dining was pretty mediocre before Banter, Flying Pig and the rest showed up. I nearly gagged the first time I ate at T-Bone Diner (really fit for a dog, name appropriate). The dining scene once catered to a geriatric, risk-adverse population. That seems to be changing with a younger, hippier crowd moving here. More power to the Pig, Banter, and Station House!!

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    8. Do us all a favor and go back to Astoria... And enjoy your Big Mac tonight.

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    9. "Frog brain...Sound pretty stupid?" Your intellect has show through. Moving on...

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  7. It's also worth noting that our neighborhood is getting a cool act like Mumford and sons while Brooklyn got Miley twerking

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  8. Ahahahaha! Good one!

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  9. There was actually a strange interview with Ben Lovett in the Wall Street Journal today. The headline refers to the Tennis Stadium in the headline as "Queens' Greek Theater". But here was the best part of the interview; the writer asks "How did the band en up here (F.H.)". Lovett replies: we played Manahattan before, we did a show on Pier A in Hoboken, and we played the Barclays Center. So in trying to complete the five boroughs, it felt right looking to do something in Queens.

    - sign me "Guy who lived in Hoboken for 15 years and had no idea it was one of the five boroughs of NYC"

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  10. I'm interested to see how the city will handle the lines/tailgaters. Personally I plan on getting there around 2-3 to wait for doors to open. But they seemed strict about no bags/outside food & beverage. Should be a good test for them - I think to avoid this, they'll have to make the benches have seat numbers so it's not general admission aka free for all for seats!

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  11. People are already online. I saw at 6am, about 40 people but they are near the mcdonalds train area not by the tennis stadium.

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  12. With more money from these concerts should come improvements to the stadium, hopefully, including seats.

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