FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com december 18, 2014 • The Queens Courier 35 FLUSHING COMMUNITY CRITICIZES MODERN LOOK OF PLANNED BUILDING BY ERI C JANKIE WICZ [email protected] @ericjankiewicz Flushing’s Great Wall is being torn down. Great Wall Supermarket, on Northern Boulevard and Leavitt Street, will be replaced next year by a glass-clad, 11-story building after the supermarket’s owners decided to not renew the lease, according to city records. The proposed building, with is modern, sleek look, will tower next to the Civil War-era Flushing Town Hall, causing many in the community to criticize the new building for not conforming to the appearance of its historic neighbor. “This thing looks like it’s something out of Miami Vice,” Flushing resident Vincent Amato said. “You can kiss goodbye any sense of history this neighborhood still had.” Despite community resistance, Community Board 7 passed a request to change the area’s zoning, allowing the building’s developer, George Chu, to move another step closer toward his goal of developing a mixed-use building with a hotel, store fronts, community space and apartment units. Flushing Town Hall wrote a letter expressing their support for the new development, and the planned community space will be used often for Town Hall events. During the community board meeting, the board members defended their decision to allow the building to be constructed. “We’re not granting something that’s significantly different than what could be there,” Chuck Apelian said. “None of us are negligent of the history.” Flushing Town Hall was once the center of civic life, serving as the seat of local government until the mid-19th century before Flushing and other towns in Queens were absorbed into Greater New York City. But now it is a lone reminder of the past in the center of a new Flushing that is undergoing a building boom. Nearby, a similar plan for a mixed-use building, including community space and a hotel, has been approved and is set to be built. The hotel in the new building at the Great Wall site will occupy floors three to eight, with the top three floors divided into 43 apartment units. There will be 10,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor for restaurants and coffee shops, according to Eric Palatnik, the developers’ spokesman. “We’re going to liven up the street with a sidewalk plaza area,” he said. As the meeting ended, Apelian said, “This is a tragedy not just for Flushing, but the whole nation. Hundreds of years of American history will be overshadowed by this new building.” Rendering courtesy of Raymond Architecture ANTIQUES WANTED Buyer of Fine Arts Careful management of your precious estate heirlooms and buying and liquidation of your estate is our top priority. In addition to antique buying, we also can provide estate clean out services. We’re your premier antique buyers. • Antiques • Oil Paintings • Sterling Silver • Jewelry • Porcelains • Bronzes • Carved Furniture • Clocks • Bronze Statues Member of the American Society of Appraisers and the Better Business Bureau Garden City Antiques and Fine Arts, Ltd. HIGHEST CASH PRICES PAID IMMEDIATELY 718-347-0900 www.gardencityantiques.com IF BUSY 516-524-6000 and Antiques for Over 30 Years
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