QNE_p038

QC12152016

36 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 15, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM editorial Small industries can produce big returns for Queens Travel throughout Queens today and you’ll fi nd reminders that this borough was once a major part of the city’s industrial sector that slowly evaporated over the last few decades. Areas of Ridgewood south of Myrtle Avenue have blocks of empty warehouses and factories that some property owners hope to redevelop for other purposes. A former door factory in Maspeth was transformed into an arts and entertainment venue. Th e auto body shops and junkyards that occupied Willets Point are slowly disappearing as plans for the area’s redevelopment take shape. Warehouses also line much of the area adjacent to the Long Island Rail Road’s Main Line in Jamaica and Hollis. Th e textile mills and part manufacturers have long gone, but that doesn’t mean Queens industry has gone by the wayside. What is past isn’t prologue; there’s plenty of room for industrial growth in Queens, but it won’t be with the grimy, sweaty jobs usually associated with the word industry. Take, for instance, the announcement last week of a new modern industrial center to be developed in Ozone Park. Th is center will not house one company or employ hundreds of lunch pail-toting workers. Instead, it will off er workspaces to 24 small businesses employing as many as 80 people with annual wages averaging at more than $50,000. Th at may not sound like a lot, but like a stone cast into a pond, the creation of such a center can cause a ripple eff ect of growth for the surrounding area. Giving good-paying jobs to Queens residents pumps money into the local economy. Th ey will not only pay local taxes, but they’ll also shop locally, supporting area supermarkets, restaurants, clothing stores and other retail facilities. Th e vitality of an industrial work center may spur other industries to the area, leading to further job creation and economic growth. Th e city is, of course, investing quite a bit into this venture. Th e Economic Development Corporation is providing the Ozone Park industrial center’s developer with a $10 million grant on top of a loan to move the project forward. Let’s hope this money does what is promised and gives Queens industry a much-needed boost, and reinforces our borough’s strong economy. We may not get back the industrial giants we have lost over the decades, but we can prosper nonetheless by piecing together a bunch of small businesses to build a large and powerful economic engine that’ll keep us running for years to come. THE QUEENS PUBLISHER & EDITOR CO-PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA ART DIRECTOR ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR ARTISTS SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER STAFF REPORTERS CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS EVENTS COORDINATOR ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHER CLASSIFIED MANAGER CONTROLLER PRESIDENT & CEO VICE PRESIDENT VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS BOB BRENNAN ROBERT POZARYCKI AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ NIRMAL SINGH CHERYL GALLGHER RON TORINA, JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ EMILY DAVENPORT KATRINA MEDOFF, ANTHONY GIUDICE, ANGELA MATUA SUZANNE MONTEVERDI CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI JACLYN HERTLING DEBORAH CUSICK CELESTE ALAMIN MARIA VALENCIA VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 www.qns.com editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com Entire Contents Copyright 2016 by The Queens Courier All letters sent to THE QUEENS COURIER should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, AS WELL AS OP-ED PIECES IN NO WAY REFLECT THE PAPER’S POSITION. No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE QUEENS COURIER. The publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Errors must be reported to THE QUEENS COURIER within fi ve days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. Schneps Communications assumes no liability for the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold THE QUEENS COURIER and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement. LAST LEAVES OF AUTUMN // PHOTO BY KATRINA MEDOFF Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! To submit them to us tag @queenscourier on Instagram, visit our Facebook page, tweet @QNS or email editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps). STORY: Hit show ‘Homeland’ will film in Bayside on Thursday SUMMARY: The Showtime series ‘Homeland’ is set to film in the Oakland Gardens section of Bayside on Dec. 8. REACH: 17,039 (as of 12/12/16)


QC12152016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above