Tour Pushes Queens As Economic Priority
BY DOMENICK RAFTER
Mega convention centers at Aqueduct, housing developments at Hunters Point, and the redevelopment of Willets Point were not the main focuses when Kenneth Adams, chairman of the Empire State Development Corp. came to Queens last week. Instead, Adams, who met with Borough President Helen Marshall and then toured the borough, stopping in at sites in Long Island City and Southeast Queens, said small businesses and “main streets” took center stage in discussions about how to lift the borough out of economic doldrums.
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| Empire State Development Corp. Chair Ken Adams (right) took a tour of Queens last week with local officials. Photo by Domenick Rafter.
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“Our focus was more on small businesses and commercial strips in the borough,” Adams said. In his early morning meeting at Borough Hall, Adams noted the borough’s uniquely diverse economy and the importance of Queens’ commercial corridors like Bell Boulevard, Steinway Street and Austin Street. Adams discussed ways Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council aims to help small businesses including increased access to and streamlining loan applications to make it easier for entrepreneurs to start businesses.
Adams toured the 12,500-sq.-ft., City-sponsored food-and-business incubator and business center in Long Island City, which features a fully equipped commercial kitchen, offices and classrooms. State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Hollis) took Adams on a tour of Jamaica and the Rockaway Peninsula including the Beach 116th Street retail corridor in Rockaway Park and Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway.
Earlier, he met with the Greater Jamaica Development Corp. and other Southeast Queens officials to discuss development ideas in Downtown Jamaica, including at the former site of Wonder Bread and Mary Immaculate Hospital, as well as the long-touted Airport Village development around the Jamaica LIRR station. There, Assemblywoman Vivian Cook (D-South Jamaica) had one simple message to Queens-native Cuomo’s economic development czar to bring back to the state’s chief executive; “Come home, Andrew.”
Cook implored Adams to push Downtown Jamaica as a priority in Gov. Cuomo’s economic development plans, noting that Cuomo is a native of Southeast Queens and his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo- grew up in South Jamaica.
“We need [Gov. Cuomo] to bring his vision home,” she said.
Reach Reporter Domenick Rafter at drafter@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400 Ext. 125.