Monday, February 8, 2016

Big Changes Coming to Restaurant Row

A reader tipped me off to this story in the Queens Tribune:

Central Queens Rising: New Developments Planned In Rego Park, Forest Hills
Gulluscio also noted that there will be another mixed use structure going up at 107-18 70th Rd in Forest Hills, across the street from the Verizon building near one of the busiest stretches of Austin Street. 



Gulluscio also noted that there will be another mixed use structure going up at 107-18 70th Rd in Forest Hills, across the street from the Verizon building near one of the busiest stretches of Austin Street. - See more at: http://queenstribune.com/central-queens-rising-new-developments-planned-in-rego-park-forest-hills/#sthash.DPEZvOnE.dpuf
Gulluscio also noted that there will be another mixed use structure going up at 107-18 70th Rd in Forest Hills, across the street from the Verizon building near one of the busiest stretches of Austin Street. - See more at: http://queenstribune.com/central-queens-rising-new-developments-planned-in-rego-park-forest-hills/#sthash.DPEZvOnE.dpuf
Gulluscio also noted that there will be another mixed use structure going up at 107-18 70th Rd in Forest Hills, across the street from the Verizon building near one of the busiest stretches of Austin Street. - See more at: http://queenstribune.com/central-queens-rising-new-developments-planned-in-rego-park-forest-hills/#sthash.DPEZvOnE.dpuf
Gulluscio also noted that there will be another mixed use structure going up at 107-18 70th Rd in Forest Hills, across the street from the Verizon building near one of the busiest stretches of Austin Street. - See more at: http://queenstribune.com/central-queens-rising-new-developments-planned-in-rego-park-forest-hills/#sthash.DPEZvOnE.dpuf
Gulluscio also noted that there will be another mixed use structure going up at 107-18 70th Rd in Forest Hills, across the street from the Verizon building near one of the busiest stretches of Austin Street. - See more at: http://queenstribune.com/central-queens-rising-new-developments-planned-in-rego-park-forest-hills/#sthash.DPEZvOnE.dpuf

Gulluscio also noted that there will be another mixed use structure going up at 107-18 70th Rd in Forest Hills, across the street from the Verizon building near one of the busiest stretches of Austin Street. - See more at: http://queenstribune.com/central-queens-rising-new-developments-planned-in-rego-park-forest-hills/#sthash.DPEZvOnE.dpuf

43 comments:

  1. Ugh. The article might as well be titled "Death of Restaurant Row". MoCA, Bangkok Cuisine, The Grill and Cabana will soon be evicted purely in the name of profit, and it's absolutely disgusting. When are people going to make like Network and demand their representatives pass rent protection for small businesses? Because the BS of our neighborhood character being swept away is only going to continue to happen the more we stay silent.

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  2. Will this effect the restaurants below?

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  3. there's already so little foot space on austin street, densely populated with nearby residents, you have to wait on line to cross a street. i think this overcrowding is insane.

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  4. There is no reason that the building should effect the restaurants. As far as whether or not the businesses will be chased out because of rent Heights, will that has to do with how greedy the landlords are, and in my experience they are absolutely evil .

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  5. If it is mixed use, the present restaurants or other commercial businesses will remain on 70th Road.

    A bigger question is what will become of the Verizon building which was built in the era of increasingly obsolete landlines.

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  6. Those restaurants are pretty crappy anyway - no big loss

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  7. No big loss. There could be a chance that the restaurants will be offered to return, but I doubt anyone of them would be willing to wait lose 2 years of revenue....

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  8. Why are you assuming it's the entire block? This building looks like it will have only three or four storefronts.

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  9. Hang on Forest Hills, the changes that would finally kill off our neighborhood are about to start. Thanks in part to Melinda Katz and her zoning changes she pushed through 7 years ago.

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  10. The Midway Theater's days are numbered too. Any day now it will fall to the developer!s wrecking ball. Where will our elected representatives be when that happens?

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  11. More details plus access to the petition can be found here -- https://www.change.org/p/queens-communinty-board-06-save-restaurant-row-and-our-forest-hills-community?recruiter=19729626&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-lg-share_petition-reason_msg&fb_ref=Default

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  12. This is really a huge blow to the community of Forest Hills, way bigger than what happened to Barnes and Noble. If this doesn't stop, it can only get worse. The sidewalk is already barely walkable with the crowding and the congestion can only get worse with more apartments coming in.

    Everyone knows that Restaurant Row is a popular and attractive part of Forest Hills, and it will never come back to form with a huge structure looming above it. The dark shadow cast by this proposed building would be undesirable to the outdoor eating experience of the area. The same people who built the Aston are the same ones building this one. If you haven't seen it, it's very obvious that the style doesn't fit in the character of Forest Hills.

    Community Board 6 of Queens has a meeting tomorrow (Wed, 2/9) night at 7:45pm at Kew Gardens Community Center, Room 202 / 80-02 Kew Gardens Road if you're interested in voicing your opinion about this.

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    1. what restaurants are you talking about?

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  13. People complained about the Aston causing a MAJOR blow to the neighborhood. In the end, we all got a nice CVS in lieu of those terribly maintained stores of once upon a time. And congestion from Aston? If so, I haven't noticed. I live across the street from this building, I see the entrance every day. I'm lucky if I've seen 10 people in and out since it was constructed. The same for the new building near NYSC. Oh gosh the congestion this will cause!!! Seriously, does anyone even live there? So now, another building is coming up starting at $800k a piece. Shouldn't we praise that people of this financial caliber are willing to spend the money to live here and potentially pump money to this neighborhood? That it may in fact cause a boom for the small mom and pop restaurants? This is a mixed use building so it will have some commercial aspect. Nicer restaurants? Perhaps. Another bank, who knows. But at least the option is there. Lets try embracing change a bit and stop complaining that Satna Fe and UNO's is no longer around. Oh no, it doesn't blend with the neighborhood. Yes, that was the case for the Windsor...then the Aston, then the random little building by the NYSC. It's changing. It's what happens in life. Holding on to the past will only hold you back.

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    1. Thanks for the one voice of reason. You are absolutely right. More people equals better quality of stores and restaurants, which are currently sorely lacking.

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    2. Here's another voice of reason! Agree with you both.

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    3. I agree with this. The restaurants, except for Cabana, are terrible.

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    4. I second this. Those restaurants are horrible. A brand new building with better commercial space is always welcome.

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    5. I think change is great. But this is at the expense of something that is historically part of Forest Hills. It's an attraction to the area and can continue to be versus a luxury apartment building.

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    6. Yes, this new building is a very positive development for Forest Hills.
      The restaurants on Restaurant Row are all mediocre. I say good riddance.
      What Forest Hills needs is more than anything is younger people with good taste who will inspire and support more interesting restaurants and business ideas.
      These are exciting times for Forest Hills!

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    7. Thank you! The know-nothing Nimbys are out of control. What exactly are they trying to preserve? Forest Hills' reputation of BUTS? It's a nice neighborhood BUT the restaurant scene is worst in the city. It's a great place to live BUT it has the worst strip of retail around. Yes, let's rally against change that could actually improve the neighborhood!

      There are only a handful of restaurants and businesses in all of Austin Street that are worth savings. Plow down all of the rest and build something worth patronizing.

      By the way, landlords are local business owners too. Business owners who have just as much of a right to maximize profits as anyone else. The whole greedy landlord bit is tired and ill-informed.

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  14. A second thank you for a voice of reason. So many, "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!" people here.

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  15. I live right next door to restaurant row. Rumor is the ground floor of the new building could potentially be a Whole Foods (again only a rumor). Mixed feelings about this - restaurant row definitely brings patrons to the neighborhood, but agree with poster above, all the restaurants there aren't very good - with the exception of maybe Cabana.

    It'll be interesting to see how this situation develops.

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    1. I would totally welcome a Whole Foods but not at the expense of losing Restaurant Row. There is no way a Whole Foods would fit in the space alloted for the new building even if all the restaurants on Restaurant Row were removed. Whole Foods has always been big establishments and the square footage for the ground floor is way too small. The developer obviously reads this blog and knows that everybody complains about the supermarkets around here and want a Whole Foods instead. It would never happen. It is just a ploy to get people to trick the council and community board to allow the developer to build this building, and then when it's built, the developer would give some excuse and say it didn't work out with Whole Foods and then bring in some other business instead. A building of this size surely would have a garage and a decent lobby but with a big supermarket that wouldn't be possible. Don't be fooled by empty promises.

      Regarding the restaurants, same goes everywhere. Some people like the restaurants, some don't. Some like the burger joints like Shake Shack, some don't. Enough people like the remaining restaurants on the block that they are able to stay in business. If they are not your taste, they are somebody else's.

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    2. https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160209/forest-hills/forest-hills-restaurant-row-could-be-replaced-by-120-foot-tall-building

      According to this article, Community Board 6 district manager Frank Gulluscio was told by the landlord that he is planning to bring the restaurant back after development. But local business owners such as The Grill owner Oleg Kaz was devastated by the plan because he invested a lot of money into the business and he can't just close shop for 2 years, and then come back 2 years later and reinvest money to build it again.

      Looks like the Community Board and council are having the wool pulled over their eyes. They have to stop it.

      “I invested a lot of money here and it's going to be a big loss for me,” said Oleg Kaz, who opened The Grill on the block about 2 years ago.

      Kaz acknowledged that his lease includes a clause giving the landlord the right to break it in case he wants to build a building.

      “But he told me they are not going to do anything for many years to come,” Kaz said.


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    3. Wow, +1 for this comment. There's no proof that Whole Foods has a deal with this developer and the above comment does raise a lot of good points.

      Regarding the people who think that Restaurant Row is mediocre, take a look at Yelp. The newest establishment, The Grill, has 4/5 stars on 165 reviews and it opened three years ago. Who knows what other good establishments could have opened in Restaurant Row in those empty locations of Santa Fe and Uno's. They've probably been denied because of this new development.

      I've only lived here for less than a few years, and Restaurant Row is a popular place and one of the first things I mention to people who think about moving here. There are other great things about Forest Hills, but once we lose Restaurant Row, it will never come back. The people who think that Restaurant Row can come back are missing the big picture.

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  16. Whole Foods sounds logical.

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  17. I would love to have a whole foods.

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    1. So would I. IMHO, that would have been a much better use for the former Barnes & Noble space than a Target.

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  18. I really love Cabana and my entire family would be really upset to see it go. And we don't need more housing, the streets are already crowded enough, not accounting for that new target. And there isn't any more space in the schools!

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  19. A number of points here:

    1) The restaurants on 70th Rd are not terrible, so let's kill that myth. Nothing irks me more than whiney FHers who demand only the best ("I want to see more restaurants like they have in Manhattan!") and then, when it comes, demand that it cost less ("Where does this place think it is?!? Manhattan?"). I've been here fifteen years and it's like listening to a broken record. Aged has gone severely downhill, but that's the only one. Santa Fe and Uno's are literally non-existent and don't count. The Thai place is good, Narita is good (not Katsuno good, but when I want Katsuno good, I go to Katsuno), Cabana is good, and there's nothing wrong with fro-yo. I will always want improvements, but feeling like throwing away an entire block of restaurants rather than adding to the mix because some pipe dream isn't reality is pouty and inane.

    2) I'm more concerned with outdoor seating. You may not have noticed this, but come summer, there ain't a whole lotta places to park your butt outside and eat. We have narrow sidewalks and rear patios are few and far between. And me likey outside grub.

    3) If they're thinking about putting in a Whole Foods, let's lobby for a Fairway instead. It's less douchey.

    4) a) Traffic. It will not get measurably worse with an apartment building. Let's ballpark it and say that there will be 100 apartments. Only 46% of NYCers own cars and only 24% of commuters in NYC drive to work, so of those 100 apartments there will be roughly 46 cars and only 24 of them will actually be on the road during the weekday.

    b) Will adding a supermarket increase traffic? Maybe, but in all likelihood, so will a Target and restaurants and movie theaters and anything that might make FH a destination for shopping, dining, entertainment, etc. But the fact is, traffic is everywhere. Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village is a nightmare. Brooklyn is a mess. Staten Island, of all places, is basically a parking lot with lawns. The only place I can think of without traffic is South Dakota, and don't quote me on that.

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    1. Have any FH restaurants ever been featured on Eater.com?

      They cover the whole city - featuring restaurants from numerous neighborhoods in all the boroughs, but FH never seems to appear in any of their lists, reviews or heat maps.

      Certainly they have no reason to exclude FH. So, why do you think it is that FH restaurants never seem to make the cut?

      Same goes for Village Voice Best Of Lists, and NY Times reviews, and NY Magazine, and...

      Oh, perhaps it's because (with very few exceptions) FH restaurants are just crappy and boring.

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    2. Good points with data to back them up. A whole foods would increase traffic compared to restuarants, but the apt building alone will not (for the reasons stated above). If traffic is the main concern, Id argue getting rid of the restaurants would DECREASE traffic.

      You would think something desirable would go downstairs, whether that be a supermarket, more restuarants, or whatever. It's part of why people would want to live in the area in the first place.

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    3. Eater, NY Mag, Thrillist, Inside Hook, yada yada report on three things: (1) restaurants that are trendy/glitzy, (2) restaurants that have celebrity chefs, and (3) restaurants near where their writers lay their weary heads (these lists are basically nothing more than maps of where the employees live). Do not confuse any of these three things with "good". I'll give you the boring, though. FH is not a dining destination and not a place where chefs make bold new menus. If and when this becomes a neighborhood where people are willing to spend $75-100 per person on the average dinner, the way they do in restaurant hotspots in Brooklyn and Manhattan, maybe that will change. Maybe the new tenants of buildings like the one this comment thread is about will make that demand. The residents who have been here thus far (myself excluded) have not.

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    4. Great reasonably priced restaurants are to be found all over Brooklyn, Manhattan, Western Queens, etc. without glitz or celebrity chefs. Don't distort the facts.

      I am constantly discovering restaurants where I can get delicious, interesting food for less than $20 per entree... just not in so much in FH.

      Having said that, I'd like to throw my support to a few local establishments that are making FH a better place to eat and drink... Nick's Pizza, Old Siam, Martha's Bakery, Sushi Time, Haveli Indian, and FH Station House.

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    5. The glitz and celebrity chefs are what drives the lists you mentioned. I also mentioned that the lists are also driven by the proximity of where the writers and their friends spend their free time. That's not a fact distortion.

      And I stand by my statement. Until FH becomes a millennial/hipster living space, the best way that we'll get more and better restaurants (specifically on Austin Street and the immediate area) will be to have a population willing to spend the money to make such an investment worthwhile.

      I will add to your list: Wafa's, Tazzina, End of the Century.

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  20. They just talked about this on NBC news at 6pm! They had interviews with the owner of Aged and a few other places, and the segment was a lot more sympathetic to the restaurant owners than I would have imagined. It was a pleasant surprise.

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    1. Here's the link...
      http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Forest-Hills-Residents-Fear-Development-Will-Ruin-Restaurant-Row-368355921.html

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  21. Here's the NBC article on this...

    http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Forest-Hills-Residents-Fear-Development-Will-Ruin-Restaurant-Row-368355921.html

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  22. Narita is worth saving.

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  23. Narita has been there for over 30 years!

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