Queens lawmakers announce passage of legislation
to save small businesses on Lefferts Boulevard
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | APRIL 9-APRIL 15, 2021 9
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Assemblyman Daniel
Rosenthal and Senator Leroy
Comrie on Tuesday, March 30,
announced passage of their
legislation to protect the character
of the Lefferts Boulevard
bridge amidst restoration, and
to give protections to existing
small businesses atop the
structure.
“The Lefferts Boulevard
bridge serves as both a historic
landmark and a community
hub for Kew Gardens,” Rosenthal
said. “Over decades, the
diverse small businesses along
this corridor have been entrenched
in the civic and cultural
life of our neighborhood.
To destroy their livelihoods
without cause during a pandemic
is both unconscionable
and preventable.”
Since the late 1920s the Kew
Gardens Lefferts Boulevard
bridge over the Long Island
Rail Road has been home to
mom-and-pop stores that give
the town its character and
serve the shopping needs of the
urban village in the city.
In October 2020, the MTA,
which owns the property,
announced that the compromised
structural integrity of
the storefronts atop the bridge
would require major capital
investments. The MTA introduced
a request for proposal
(RFP) for a new master leaseholder
to manage the stores on
the Lefferts Boulevard bridge
with no provisions for existing
tenants.
According to Save The Kew
Gardens Coalition, a broadbased
group of civic and resident
organizations and Kew
Gardens businesses, the RFP
also specifically stated that the
stores will be delivered empty.
Existing small mom-and-pop
stores who have served the
community for over 20 years
and are already hit hard by the
pandemic would be forced to
close under these conditions.
To save the stores which are
central to the neighborhood’s
economic life, Kew Gardens
community organizations
partnered with the Mutual
Housing Association of New
York (MHANY), a nonprofit
housing and commercial property
development organization,
to submit a unique response to
the MTA’s RFP.
“The Lefferts Boulevard
Bridge has suffered from years
of MTA mismanagement. Because
of this neglect, approximately
$11 million in capital
improvements will be required
for the buildings, and an additional
$5.5 million will be
necessary to repair structural
work on the bridge,” the organizations
said in a petition that
was shared in January. “The
MTA expects the master lessee
to bear the considerable cost
burden of these repairs even
after the city has given money
to the MTA in the past to make
repairs to this structure.”
Rosenthal and Comrie argued
that the state of disrepair
to the storefronts came at no
fault of the business owners, a
consideration not included in
the MTA’s impending bid. The
legislators introduced a bill
to give right of first refusal to
existing small businesses and
to preserve the footprint of the
current structure. This legislation
follows a 2018 bill from the
elected officials which saved the
bridge itself from demolition.
“I have worked closely with
Assembly member Rosenthal
and the Kew Gardens community
to ensure the architectural
and cultural integrity of
the Lefferts Boulevard bridge
is upheld through this restoration
process,” Comrie said.
The bill passed both houses
of the legislature unanimously
and will be sent to the governor
for approval.
The MTA is seeking a master tenant to renovate, lease and operate
the Kew Gardens retail complex on the Lefferts Boulevard bridge.
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