Feature
‘Slow Death’
for Shops on 30th Ave
BY ANGELA MATUA
AMATUA@QNS.COM
Konstantinos Platis has been running
Tastee Corner, a 24-hour diner in Astoria,
for 22 years.
The business has allowed the Greek
immigrant to send three kids to college,
but for the first time in more than two
decades, Platis said he is struggling to
survive.
The reason for this struggle is the
closure of the 30th Avenue N/W train
stop, which is located right outside of his
shop at 30-20 30th Ave. His location next
to the train used to be one of the main
reasons for his diner’s success; now, the
location is a source of worry and grief.
“After 22 years in business, it’s the very
24 MARCH 2018 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
But Platis and other business owners
QNS spoke to said the agency did not give
enough notice, resulting in a significant
drop in business, staff layoffs and other
issues with no solutions.
“We were in the meeting last week
and they all tell us that ‘We have a plan,’”
Platis said. “That plan is to spend $150
million for this project. I said, ‘You had a
plan. Why didn’t you give us some time
to make our plans of how to survive?’”
After pleas from local businesses, As-semblywoman
Aravella Simotas helped to
set up a meeting between agency officials
and shop owners on Feb. 1 at Katch
Astoria, a gastropub at 31-19 Newtown
Ave. that is also struggling.
“It is important for quasi-governmental
entities, like the MTA, to be responsive
first time that I cannot make it,” he said.
“I don’t know if I will last until the end of
the project. I depend very much on the
traffic — on the community to see my
space, the people that are passing by to
buy coffee, to buy donuts, to buy things
and take them to Manhattan. Prices are
cheaper here.”
The MTA announced in January 2016
that they would shut down 30 stations
around the city to work on renovations
that include improved mezzanines and
platforms and other amenities like USB
ports, digital screens and countdown
clocks.
The 30th Avenue station officially shut
down in October 2017, and work on the
$150 million project is scheduled to be
completed in June.
