Best Of Queens

BEST NEW ADDITIONS TO AN EVER-GROWING BOROUGH

By Brian M. Rafferty

Every year life in Queens changes in one way or another – most often for the better. Whether it is a new restaurant opening, an old favorite being improved, the population shifting or simply life just getting better, Queens is constantly in a state of flux.

Within the last 12 months there have been a great number of changes for the better in this borough – some are long-sought, others came as surprises. Let’s take a quick look back at some of the best new additions to Queens in the last year.

The LIE’S new High Occupancy Vehicle lane cuts down congestion. Tribune photo by Ira Cohen

HOV on the LIE

Every year since it opened the Long Island Expressway has been jammed with cars. As the suburban population outside Queens has spread, the frail road system winding through our borough has been pushed nearly to its breaking point.

So when relief finally came this year in Nassau County to add an HOV lane, Queens was the thankful recipient of the dramatic drop in traffic.

At the end of the 12-year road project, the LIE is in the best shape it has ever been, and getting through Queens has been made more of a breeze than even Robert Moses planned it could be when he created the interborough highway system.

Rocket Return

Standing tall, gleaming in the sun, the great rockets of Rocket Park, next to the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, are back. After a multi-year project to refurbish, better protect them from the elements and to expand the educational component of the site, Walter Cronkite and several astronauts came to Queens to welcome back the old friends.

They stand tall next to the Hall, which opened a 55,000-square-foot expansion in November, reinforcing the site as the best educational center in the borough – and one of the best places for kids and families anywhere in New York.

R2A Zoning laws are the best idea so far for keeping urban growth in check. Tribune photo by Ira Cohen

R2A Zoning

For many years Queens was the suburbs. Neighborhoods like Bayside, Little Neck, Queens Village, Floral Park and others were idyllic areas with small homes that were not too close to one another – or larger homes that sat on big, otherwise-empty lots.

That is no more. It seems that every square foot of open space is being built on and built up, as multi-family dwellings, McMansions, apartments and more have begun to pepper the landscape.

This year a new zoning definition – R2A – went into effect, and with a little luck and persistence from neighbors, this may be the way of slowing the ever-growing density of Queens’ least populated neighborhoods. Though growth and expanding density are inevitable, R2A is definitely the best way devised so far to keep that growth in check.

Avenue By The Sea: one of Queens’ best-planned communities.

Arverne By The Sea

Not all growth is unwanted. Arverne By The Sea, a 117-acre planned community along some of the best oceanfront property in Queens, opened this year, and homes are selling fast. The once-dilapidated area is seeing a revitalization, and potential buyers are grabbing up homes well before ground even breaks for them.

Many of these homes, built with state-of-the-art conveniences, will have waterfront views, and the community will have its own day care facility, community center, elementary school and more.

Arverne By The Sea definitely stands as one of the best planned communities in Queens today.

Pedro Martinez has had a hand keeping the Mets in the best shape in years. Tribune photo by Ira Cohen

The New, New York Mets

Bolstered by the off-season moves that brought Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran to Shea Stadium, the New York Mets are looking good this season. Though in previous years they could generally be discounted by the All-Star break, the Mets entered this past week just 3 1/2 games out of first place, and with the strongest team they have had since they made the 2000 World Series.

Martinez and Beltran have broken the mold of many Mets off-season moves, actually being two veteran players who have maintained their game when coming to Shea – not lost it. This has been, by far, some of the best news for our Mets in years.

Best way to bank Seven days a week? Try Commerce Bank. Tribune photo by Ira Cohen

Commerce Bank

There are not many businesses that can set up shop in one year in eight locations at once, let alone build many of their outlets from scratch.

Commerce Bank has made an incredible investment into this borough within the last 12 months, and has plans to expand to three more locations shortly. With more than $32 billion is assets and an aggressive growth strategy, Commerce has introduced one of the best additions to Queens – seven day banking – as well as change machines that allow account-holders to deposit their loose change without the hassle of rolling it all.

Jimmy Meng, first Asian Assembly person, moves in as a best new borough addition. Tribune photo by Ira Cohen

New Faces

When Richard Murphy stepped down as Deputy Parks Commissioner for Queens, Dorothy Lewandowski stepped up to take his spot. One of the original Urban Park Rangers, Dorothy’s vitality and love for the parks has not faltered in her decades with the department.

In Flushing, which for years has been known as the nexus of Queens’ Asian community, businessman Jimmy Meng knocked fellow Democrat Assemblyman Barry Grodenchik out of his post to become the first Asian elected to the state Assembly in the body’s history.

Over in Jamaica, York College found itself looking for a new president after Dr. Robert Hampton stepped down for personal reasons. A quick search turned up Dr. Marcia Keizs, a veteran CUNY administrator, to take the helm of CUNY’s Southeast Queens campus.

Following Ellen Shulman Baker and Dennis Tito before him, Dr. Charles Campara of Ozone Park grabbed headlines in July as he blasted off into space as the third astronaut from Queens and one of the bravest – chosen to fly in NASA’s first mission to the stars since the Columbia disaster of 2003.

U.S. Rep Gary Ackerman celebrated 35 years of the Queens Tribune, the newspaper he founded in 1975, but his biggest celebration came April 1 with the birth of Max Cameron Forte, 8 pounds, 14 ounces, his first grandchild.

The salvaged Redbird car serves as one of Queens’ best pieces of history. Tribune photo by Ira Cohen

Redbird Returns

Though retired from service nearly two years ago, the Redbird trains that crisscrossed the borough from Hunter’s Point to Main Street on the No. 7 line made a welcome return to Queens this year.

Part of a project spurred by the Queens Tribune and grabbed onto by Borough President Helen Marshall, a single Redbird train was saved from the trash heap and brought to sit in front of Borough Hall this year. It is currently being renovated into a tourist information and help center, which may serve as one of the best reminders of Queens history while guiding people toward the borough’s future.