FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com december 3, 2015 • The Queens Courier 3 THE COURIER/Photo by Alina Suriel Arron Afflalo (left) and Kyle O’Quinn appeared at Chase Bank on Bell Boulevard. Knicks players meet fans in Bayside event By Alina Suriel asuriel@queenscourier.com/@alinangelica Knicks fans were treated to a meet-and-greet with some of their basketball heroes when players made an appearance on Nov. 30 in Bayside. Kyle O’Quinn and Arron Afflalo signed autographs and took photos with fans of all ages at Chase Bank on Bell Boulevard as part of the Knicks’ “Basketball in the Boroughs” program. Attendees were gifted with Knicks merchandise such as towels, sweatbands and T-shirts all emblazoned with the team logo and the signature colors of orange and blue. Fans also got a chance to win free tickets to a Knicks game by answering trivia questions about the players’ game history and personal lives. O’Quinn, a Jamaica native, said it meant a lot to him to come back to his home borough to meet local Knicks fans. “As a Knicks fan you always wanted to engage with them,” O’Quinn said. “I’m on the other side now and it feels good giving back and engaging with the fans that support us so much.” Young fans attending the event could not believe that they were meeting the basketball stars in person. “When I came in I was so excited,” said an 11-year-old fan named Brandell. “I was telling my friend I was so nervous.” “I’m really excited because I’m a big fan of the NBA, so to see them here is really cool,” 15-year-old Malcolm Combs said. The Basketball in the Boroughs program is presented by Chase and has been hosting events across all five boroughs for the past five years, according to a Madison Square Garden representative. Activities include Chase branch visits with Knicks players and alumni, youth basketball clinics and court refurbishments in the boroughs. This season’s Basketball in the Boroughs celebration culminates on Monday, Dec. 7, with a Knicks vs. Mavericks game featuring the borough of Queens in a themed night of programing with local DJs, youth halftime games, honors for local coaches, highlighted regional food, borough merchandise and more. LIC Partnership launches business survey to gauge future economic improvements By Angela Mat ua amatua@queenscourier.com @AngelaMatua The Long Island City Partnership (LICP), whose mission is to advocate for economic development in the area, on Monday launched a business survey that will be distributed to more than 6,000 businesses. The survey will inform the organization’s comprehensive plan to strengthen Long Island City’s economic, social and physical infrastructure. In light of a major rezoning in 2001, which created a commercial and mixed-use district, the neighborhood has seen an uptick in office development, residential buildings, hotels and commercial property. “For generations, LIC has been a thriving industrial hub of production, key distribution point and an increasingly important business district critical to New York City’s economy,” said Elizabeth Lusskin, LICP president. “As we look to the future, our business survey will help gather essential data across all sectors needed to ensure local stakeholders will continue to benefit from LIC’s unique assets both in the near and long term.” It will serve dual purposes, acting as a census and also collecting data on four categories: business/organization description, location within LIC’s historically vast area, workforce and access to local services, space needs, resources and amenities. According to Lusskin, the organization plans to identify key improvements, investments or policy changes to improve Long Island City in the future. “These could be capital investments – for example in transportation or public space – or perhaps changes to tax incentive programs to make them more accessible and effective – or workforce development to better connect local residents with good local jobs,” Lusskin said. The LICP will then work with elected officials and stakeholders to make those ideas a reality. “Given Long Island City’s growing business community, LIC Partnership’s firstever business survey will gather valuable information from business owners and other stakeholders to allow for a more educated and focused advocacy effort,” state Senator Michael Gianaris said. “The future of LIC continues to be strong thanks to creative ideas such as LIC Partnership’s business survey.” Local businesses will receive the survey through direct mail and LICP will also conduct door-to-door outreach. Every person who responds to the survey will be entered to win a set of JetBlue tickets or a threemonth membership to the LIC YMCA.
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