Flushing Chamber Closes Its Doors
By ROSS BARKAN
After 80 years of operation, the Flushing Chamber of Commerce and Business Association has closed its doors.
That’s not because Flushing business is bad, explained Myra Baird Herce, the former co-president.
“We have a great many business organizations in the area,” Herce said. “I really think they’re sufficient to handle anything that comes up.”
Herce did not speak of the FCCBA’s demise glumly. She said Flushing business is booming, and there are simply many other organizations that already handle all matters related to commerce. The FCCBA is now legally dissolved as an entity.
Three co-presidents once steered the FCCBA. With Jack Hogan’s death and Richard Gelman’s move to Florida, FCCBA was left with one president, Herce, who decided the FCCBA was no longer essential.
“We have the Flushing Chinese Business Association, Korean American Association of Queens. We have the BID,” she said. “Flushing isn’t bereft of any type of leadership.”
She said other Flushing business organizations are more than capable of forming a new chamber of commerce, if they so choose. For now, Herce will turn her attention to the ongoing development plans for Willets Point. She is currently on the board of the Flushing Willets Point Corona LDC.
Reach Reporter Ross Barkan at rbarkan@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 127.