Forgotten-NY
June 28, 2016 By Christian Murray
Preliminary steps are being taken to form a Woodside business association, with the aim of beautifying the Roosevelt Avenue corridor, as well as bringing extra lighting and additional commerce to the strip.
The concept to form a business association followed a public presentation in Woodside last week by the Queens Economic Development Corp. that analyzed the Roosevelt Avenue strip.
The QEDC conducted a “needs assessment” of the Woodside corridor and determined, based on surveys, that the Roosevelt Avenue stretch had dirty awnings, subway trestles in need of paint, greater lighting, additional benches and plantings.
It noted that the shadows created by the elevated 7 train reduce light, diminishing some people’s sense of safety.
Robert Piazza, the chair of Woodside on the Move, advocated for the formation of a business association to help address these issues. He said that Woodside on the Move could oversee the group but it would be a membership-based organization open to all.
“We will be the leaders but we will not dictate what will happen with it,” Piazza said.
Piazza said it would not be a Business Improvement District, a concept that was discussed two years ago but didn’t get the support of local merchants.
The idea, Piazza said, would be to generate funds and then conduct small cleanup projects that would spark greater interest. Where the funding would come from is still to be determined.
The QEDC report included a series of findings, such as the vacancy rate of the Roosevelt Avenue strip—between 57th Street and 70th Street—which was 9.5 percent based on the 190 stores that were evaluated.
Of those 190 stores, 151 were single-store businesses, as opposed to chains.
QEDC also found that of those stores, 51 were bars/cafes and 20 were hair care/beauty.
The population within a mile radius of Roosevelt Avenue/63rd Street was 164,000 in 2015, with a median household income of $49,400.
Piazza’s idea for a business association was met with approval by the 50 attendees at the meeting and future meetings are planned.
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10 Comments
In order to improve the look and feel of Woodside along Roosevelt Avenue. You must diminish the number of Supermarkets and Street Vendors. The MTA must really clean up its act by creating brand new stations from 52nd st to 74th st.
It’s the people , they just don’t care. I see cabs on 61st all the time cleaning out their cabs a throwing the garbage in the street.
The cab drivers are a nuisance. They take advantage of the weakness of the infrastructure and try to abuse children and elderly people. The train system is screaming for improvement and the area needs speed bumps.
Also how do the landlords get the rents their getting when the place is like a sewer?? How do the businesses pay these rents when their stores are dilapidated. They must be selling more than what’s being advertised
It’s the same on Roosevelt from 50th st all the way up to main St. It really has deteriorated over the years. They want to fix 61st because it’s a main stop. 62st to 74st is the same mess. 69st has those day laborers. Its the neighborhood, its turned into a 3rd world slum. Businesses look a mess with their dirty filthy ripped awnings. I hate to say it but this is 20yrs too late
3rd world slum? It’s because those from the 3rd world live there. They bring their custom of throwing garbage on the street.
Between 57th and 70th >>>Why is the Woodside area between 50th St and 56th St always left out … I am a long time resident of Woodside and know about this forgotten strip when it comes to enhancements and help for the business in this area …
Only the sample study by the EDC was from 57th to 70th Street. I’m sure the actual boundaries of the proposed Association will be much larger, and include 50th to 56th.
Bob Piazza
Woodside on the Move
Good. The elevated train is always going to be the defining feature of Roosevelt Ave–and will always, sadly, be a negative one. But there’s a lot to be done to mitigate it. Make it look less dingy, more frequently clean up trash and bird droppings, etc. Best would be make MTA solder the rails together like LIRR so that it makes less noise.
Not sure soldering would solve the noise problem of the el trains but would like to learn more about that process There are several places along the line where the tracks and/or ties need to be replaced. There are also LIRR rails in Sunnyside that need the same treatment–the noise in one section near 43rd Street is terrible. Right now the LIRR is running trains on the new track built as part of the East Side Access Project and is replacing the old tracks so hopefully that will resolve the problem.