C R Y D E R P O I N T SEPTEMBER 14 New dollar store opens in Whitestone directly across the street from another dollar store BY ERIC JANKIEWICZ A new 99¢ store is opening across the street from another 99¢ store in Whitestone’s commercial strip 150th Street. Stork’s Bakery closed earlier this year and a private company purchased the place in June 27 for $925,000, according to government records. Jumbo 99¢ Mall Discount Store is set to open this week, according to workers on the site. Across the street, husband and wife partners Huang and Gueng Ze worry that the new dollar store will put their own discount store, which has been around for 10 years, out of business. “This will be a big problem for us,” the husband Huang said. The two worry that the new competition will cause them to lose what business they already have. As they spoke, a customer came in and told the owners that he wouldn’t shop at the new place. “Why are these people opening the same kind of store across the street?” customer Gastao Almeida said. “Everybody likes this place and we will support them so that they don’t go out of business.” Devin O’Connor is the president of the Whitestone Civic Association, and his group often works with local businesses for events. He hopes that the new 99¢ store will cooperate with his group and the community. “It’s a shame that the bakery closed. It was a Whitestone staple,” he said. “But it is a business in the neighborhood so I understand both sides.” O’Connor said that the character of the neighborhood is changing, and not always for the best. “The village is not what it used to be,” he said and pointed out that the new store is the most recent indicator of “times changing.” ARK AT JFK BY LIAM LA GUERRE Action on the wildest project in the borough is set to begin shortly, about two years after its approval and numerous reports. Investment firm Racebrook is looking to complete its animal handling facility at John F. Kennedy Airport, named “The Ark at JFK,” in a year, with construction commencing in a couple of months. Although a specific date was not given, in an interview with The Courier, Aaron Perl of Racebrook, who is overseeing the $48 million development, said the company is a few months away from completing preparations to begin building the world’s first animal terminal, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2016. The 178,000-square-foot project, which consists of a main center and a 63,515-square-foot cargo handling facility, will be constructed at a 14.4-acre site in the airport’s vacant Building 78. The building will not be demolished, but revitalized, which will cut down on construction time. The Ark will provide services to board, kennel, quarantine, import and export up to 70,000 domestic and wild animals annually. There will also be a veterinary clinic. Approved by the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey since 2012, the project is being designed by Gensler and GH2 Architects. The facility is expected to create more than 150 jobs, and generate $138 million in rent for the Port Authority over the 20-year lease. Investment firm Racebrook is aiming to begin construction on its animal terminal at JFK in the next couple of months. Construction on JFK animal handling center to begin in coming months Photo courtesy of ARK Development, LLC 14 CRYDER POINT COURIER | SEPTEMBER 2014 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM
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