4 The Queens Courier • juLY 16, 2015 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Local group playing a major role in improving the Flushing landscape by ALINA SURIEL [email protected] @alinangelica Calling it “a labor of love,” the president of the Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corporation (LDC) said the nonprofit group is working hard toward improving Flushing for the entire community. Former Borough President Claire Shulman serves as president and CEO of the organization which is currently involved in the first stages of the downtown Flushing revitalization effort. The process began after the nonprofit was granted funds through a state environmental program to complete a master plan for an approximately 60-acre area of the neighborhood. The project has since been largely taken over by the Department of City Planning, which has received funding from the LDC to study potential environmental impacts of rezoning the area and renamed the project “Flushing West.” According to Shulman, Flushing needs increased city infrastructure because of the high volume of people it services. Reports by the State Comptroller’s office have praised the neighborhood’s strong economy, with visitors drawn from all around the tri-state area to experience its legendary cultural and dining ‘Retro-futuristic’ coffee and dessert café opens in Astoria Photos courtesy of Gossip Coffee Lemon poppy seed (back) and orange creamsicle. BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO [email protected]/@aaltamirano28 People won’t be able to stop talking about one new coffee and dessert café that opened its doors in Astoria Monday. Gossip Coffee, located at 37-04 30th Ave., has opened for business and calls itself the first retro-futuristic coffee and dessert café in the western Queens neighborhood. The shop comes from duo James Paloumbis and John Bortolis, who are the partners behind MexiBBQ, located at 37-11 30th Ave. Its interior, referred to as following a “Googie-style architecture” as seen in “The Jetsons,” features plush lime green and sky blue arm chairs, and hightop chairs lining the wallmounted bar. The site is decorated with bags of the shop’s signature coffee, wheat-grass planters, and retro memorabilia. Patrons will also be able to enjoy an outdoor deck filled with wooden benches, colorful plants and trees, and yoga mats hidden to the side for whoever is looking for some time on their own. Gossip Coffee offers 10 rotating blends of coffee along with 10 different cold teas served on tap such as ceylon sonata, masala chai and peach oolong. All drinks are made on site daily, and prices range from $3 to $5. For visitors looking to satisfy their sweet tooth, the café features an extensive selection of pastries – including doughnuts made fresh daily by Chef Scottish Francis Legge, who was dubbed the “Donut King” on season five of Fox’s “MasterChef.” Some of the doughnut flavors, which will be $4.50 each, include prosciutto and stout – which was what got him the nickname by “Master Chef” host Gordon Ramsay – orange creamsicle, lemon poppy seed, and doughnut holes rolled in espresso and chocolate bits. Every day, there will also be a 10-doughnut supply of the Gossip Doughnut, which is a caffeineinfused chocolate doughnut topped with a gold leaf that runs for $10. The doughnuts are made twice daily. The site also includes an entire rice pudding bar, featuring a rotating selection of nine different flavors of rice pudding at a time. Puddings are available in four different sizes: the fourounce Teaser, eight-ounce Selfie, 16-ounce Date and 32-ounce Entourage. Gossip Coffee is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, call 718-440-8792. offerings. “If you walk down Main Street, it’s as busy as Times Square. Look at all the people that are there,” said Shulman, who added that the area’s infrastructure include housing for employees of Flushing small businesses, young families and local seniors. While the Flushing West study is one of the most high profile of the LDC’s projects, the group has also undertaken other community initiatives. In 2009, the LDC envisioned a plan to convert a municipal parking lot to a mixed use facility which would address significant need for senior facilities. They subsequently received a $14,000 grant to create more elaborate development plans for the project, which would incorporate the Flushing-Main Street Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) station into the design, and the project is still in the early stages of planning. The corporation has also worked with the MTA and LIRR to identify useful improvements to the Flushing-Main Street LIRR Station. These will include two new elevators which will make the station handicap accessible, as well as platform railings, lighting, and warning stripes. The contract to do the station work is expected to be awarded by the end of 2015. THE COURIER/Photo by Alina Suriel Claire Shulman and LDC project manager Nixxi Chen look at a map of Flushing.
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