Asian American Federation launches assessment with
goal of revitalizing Murray Hill’s commercial area
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
The Asian American Federation
(AAF) held its first Avenue NYC Commercial
District Needs Assessment
(CDNA) meeting with members of the
Murray Hill Merchants Association of
Flushing on Feb. 7 to discuss business
owners’ concerns, as it begins the process
of revitalizing three commercial
corridors in the area.
AAF was selected to receive an Avenue
NYC Grant for three years starting
in 2022, by the city Department of
Small Business Services (SBS). Grantees
will be awarded up to $100,000 per
year over three years for a maximum
possible award of $300,000, according
to SBS.
As part of the requirements of the
program, AAF began conducting a
CDNA in January, and the recent
meeting with the Murray Hill Merchants
Association was the first in a
planned series of events.
There will be several more opportunities
for merchants in the area to
provide feedback and participate in
the CDNA, said Ahyoung Kim, AAF’s
associate director of Small Business
Programs.
“We are thrilled to bring this project
to Murray Hill, where small business
owners have consistently asked
for more assistance programs and better
avenues to communicate with city
agencies,” Kim said. “We thank the
SBS for their support in this program,
and invite other small business organizations
to participate in the merchant
survey.”
AAF’s revitalization project includes
three commercial corridors in
Murray Hill:
• Northern Boulevard: 149th
Street to 162nd Street (including Crocheron
Avenue between Northern
Boulevard and 162nd Street and Depot
Road in front of the Broadway LIRR
Station)
• 162nd Street: Northern
Boulevard to 46th Avenue
Photo courtesy of AAF
• Near Murray Hill station: 149th
Place (Northern Boulevard to 41st Avenue),
150th Street (Northern Boulevard
to 41st Avenue), 41st Avenue (149
Street to 150th Street)
AAF will conduct a consumer survey,
a streetscape assessment, such as
taking a look at infrastructure on the
roads, a storefront assessment to evaluate
a storefront’s presentation and
welcoming environment for customers
and a total count of the storefronts in
the area.
During AAF’s Feb. 7 meeting, business
owners from 10 restaurants responded
to its merchant survey. They
shared their concerns about neighborhood
safety and regulatory guidance
on new programs such as the city’s
Open Restaurant program.
Their concerns were centered
around an uptick of anti-Asian attacks
towards business owners and public
safety in general, Kim said, and a recent
gunpoint robbery in a deli.
Younghwan Kim, president of the
Murray Hill Merchants Association,
said their members always have concerns
to share but language and cultural
barriers have been a challenge
for merchant organizing.
“It’s very encouraging to have
this opportunity to communicate our
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.10 COM | FEB. 25 - MARCH 3, 2022
needs on the grounds to city agencies
and we look forward to working closely
with AAF in this commercial district
revitalization project,” Kim said.
In the commercial corridor near
the LIRR Murray Hill station, which
is home to Korean immigrant small
business owners, there are about 70
small businesses. Approximately
60% of those businesses are restaurants
operating within a five- to
six-block radius, according to Kim’s
daughter, Yoonjoo Lee, the executive
secretary of the Murray Hill
Merchants Association and a small
business owner.
Lee’s family moved to the neighborhood
seven years ago to expand their
business. She helps her father run
their Korean barbecue restaurant,
Hahm Ji Bach, located at 40-11 149th
Pl., across the street from the train
station. Her brother runs a coffee shop
around the corner.
Lee is also currently preparing for
the opening of her restaurant in March
that will serve chicken and pizza.
Like many small businesses across
the city, Lee said Korean business
owners in the community suffered a
loss in revenue and customers amid
the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Now
as the city emerges from the pandemic,
they’re still experiencing a slowdown
in foot traffic.
During the holiday season, according
to Lee, businesses were struggling
to stay afloat amid the omicron coronavirus
variant surge.
“We are still having a hard time
because of the omicron variant. The
restaurant’s peak time is lunch and
dinner. Peak time is from 6 to 9 p.m.,
and now after 7:30 to 8 p.m., there’s an
empty space. People don’t want to come
out and share food with others,” Lee
said.
Lee also expressed the business
owners’ frustration with the city’s outdoor
dining guidelines.
“We had a permit to open outdoor
dining, but in the beginning, different
city departments came and told us to
fix things and gave us violation tickets,”
Lee said. “It was chaotic because
the departments had different guidelines
and there wasn’t one set guideline
to follow. There were constant
changes.”
A major concern for business owners
along the block, Lee said, is the
alternate side parking rules. Every
Thursday and Friday between the
hours of 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., sanitation
trucks clean the roads, which are
usually peak hours for businesses.
“We are trying to change that. I
know the city needs to clean up the
area, but we don’t want it to be cleaned
during that time,” Lee said.
Across the street from the LIRR station,
Lee envisions a municipal parking
lot that can be constructed in the
space above the train tracks where two
bridges connect 149th Street and 149th
Place.
“We do not have municipal parking
and there’s a spot that the city can invest
in to make money and we can do
more business,” Lee said.
While outdoor dining has helped
their businesses stay open, Lee said
that a lack of parking discourages people
from dining at the restaurant.
In regards to the language barrier
that has been a challenge for business
owners, Lee said they would prefer
the city to have more people who
speak the native language of an ethnic
community.
According to Kim, the business
owners located near the Murray Hill
LIRR station are reliant on customers
driving into the area. Other business
owners have suggested reorienting the
streets so smaller streets can go from
two-way to one-way streets to allow for
better traffic flow.
They would also like to see more pedestrian
signs on certain roads where
a few accidents have occurred.
AAF will conduct a consumer survey
to find out what changes residents
would like to see in the area and they
would also like to hear from landlords
as most buildings remain vacant, Kim
said.
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