FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 15, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 27
Small businesses 'dying' from Astoria project
ers argue that a dedicated shuttle would
create more foot traffi c.
“NYCT directly addressed this concern
by adding service to the already
existing Q102 bus, which runs exactly
along the train line,” said MTA spokesperson
Shams Tarek. “We are continuing
to monitor the service needs and will
adjust appropriately.”
Shahraj Khan, who runs Astoria
Wireless at 28-60 31st St., said business
has decreased by about 50 percent since
the station shut down. Th e construction
equipment and MTA cars also take up
curbside parking, making it even more
diffi cult for potential customers to visit
his business. He heard about the project
15 days before it began.
“People get longer notices when they
get fi red,” Khan said. “A project, something
this big, should have had at least a
three- to six-month notice.”
He called the Feb. 1 meeting “sad.”
“It was sad because they pretty much
just brought us all together to tell us how
they’re going to screw our businesses,” he
said. “Th ey had no solution. Th ey weren’t
even willing to negotiate. Without saying
it directly they just said, ‘Get over it.’”
Frank Arabascio, who runs Redken
Salon at 36-17 30th Ave., said that
depending on the week, business is down
20 to 25 percent even though his hair
salon is about seven blocks away from
where the construction is taking place.
“Th e shuttle bus is a solution,” he said.
“Not the best, but it’s a solution. It’s being
ignored. Businesses are still going to have
that walking traffi c that they depend on
with the shuttle bus. Whichever way
you walk is where you’re going to get your
coff ee, your newspaper.”
Arabascio said he is glad the MTA held
a meeting because it has started a chain
reaction of businesses speaking to each
other, to elected offi cials and to the press.
Since the MTA is planning to conduct
similar repairs to the Broadway and 39th
Avenue stations later this year, Arabascio
said he wants to inform businesses in that
area so that they can better prepare.
“We have six months to warn them and
possibly do something about it,” he said.
“If we can tell them in advance the pressure
on the MTA, win or lose, has got to
be coming beforehand.”
Elected offi cials in Astoria recently
slammed the MTA when they announced
last week that the Ditmars Boulevard station
would also be repaired. Th ough the
station will not shut down while upgrades
are being made to the infrastructure, offi -
cials said they are worried that businesses
will suff er and that the repairs are mostly
“cosmetic.” Th ey also argue that the MTA
should make elevators a priority during
these shutdowns.
MTA offi cials said the work is not
merely cosmetic and that the stations
need critical infrastructure upgrades since
they are 100 years old. Work includes
repairing and replacing structural columns,
beams and girders, repairing the
underside of the mezzanine and more.
“Ditmars Boulevard and the other
nearby stations on the N/W line are more
than 100 years old and have not received
comprehensive overhauls until now,” the
MTA said in a statement. “Th e longer
much-needed repairs are delayed, the
longer the repairs will take and the more
urgent they will become. Th e extensive
repairs these stations are receiving are
essential for public safety – to characterize
them as merely cosmetic and unnecessary
is absolutely incorrect, and irresponsible.”
Arabascio also said the area has not
experienced a shut down like this so it
was diffi cult to prepare. In 2006, a nineday
blackout devastated businesses in
western Queens. Former Mayor Michael
Bloomberg announced that the Small
Business Administration would give
emergency $10,000 low-interest loans to
aff ected shops.
Arabascio and other business owners
argue that the city should replicate those
eff orts here.
“Th e MTA can get to the city and ask
them to give us relief. Th ey made a $150
million project. Spend a couple million on
the businesses to relieve the people here,”
Platis said. “If I knew that the station was
closing in advance, I would do something.
Close my place for two to three
months and renovate. Do something and
use this time. Not dying every day. It’s a
slow death.”
Owners of Irish Whiskey Bar at 28-48
31st St. say business is down 50 percent
during the daytime and 30 percent
at night. Barry O’Reilly, the co-owner
and bookkeeper, acknowledged that the
100-year-old station needed repairs but
said the construction equipment “just
showed up one morning.”
“We’re losing a lot of guys,” O’Reilly
said. “We’re here building the business
for fi ve years. But now obviously people
can’t get off at 30th Avenue. If you’re getting
off on Broadway, you’re gonna go to
a bar on Broadway. Th ere’s nothing you
can do; you just gotta suff er through.”
Co-owner Liam O’Reilly scrolled
through pictures on his phone of cars and
construction equipment taking up valuable
parking spots near his bar. He was
also alarmed to hear that as of January,
the MTA announced they had completed
25 percent of the work.
“Th ey said they were 25 percent completed
aft er four months and they said
they were on schedule. So you can do the
math on that,” he said. “Th ey’re supposed
to fi nish in fi ve months.”
Th e MTA has said they are still on
schedule to fi nish in June.
Platis, who has had to lay off three
employees since his revenue has declined
by 40 to 50 percent, said the area resembles
a desert at night, which is troublesome
for a 24/7 diner.
He is hoping that his suppliers and
landlord are “patient” because he is
already falling behind on payments. He
tries to keep up appearances, stocking the
window displays with donuts and fresh
pastries every day.
“If I don’t sell the donuts the same day, I
have to throw them away,” Platis said. But
leaving his front window empty is not an
option. “For the few people coming in, I
have to have something.”
Instead of brewing four pots of coff ee
a day for customers, he only brews one,
he said. Platis added that he has racked
up parking tickets because he is forced to
double park to load in food.
“I have to carry my stuff half a block
away,” he said. “I had my car full of perishable
things and I cannot fi nd a place
to unload.”
Each business owner recounted stories
of friends in the neighborhood who
were also struggling — Opa at 28-44
31st St. closed down because the owner
could not keep up with rents, according
to McSorley from Katch; Petey’s Burger
at 30-17 30th Ave. is now relying on takeout
orders because in-store customers are
almost non-existent, according to Platis
from Tastee Corner.
Khan said that though the issue is discussed
within the business community,
Astoria residents may not fully realize the
extent of the problem.
“Th e business owners, we know what
the situation is, we know how we’re hurting
but I don’t think the community
understands,” he said. “It’s not their problem.
I understand and I don’t hold them
accountable for it but I think if they knew,
people would be upset as well.”