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QUEENS WEEKLY, JUNE 2, 2019
BY MAX PARROTT
Councilman Jimmy
Van Bramer could barely
keep his voice from being
drowned out by the shrieks
of children during recess
on May 24 as he thanked
the DOT for installing
a new all-way stop sign
at a treacherous
Woodside intersection.
During his speech, a
group of toddlers walked
through the crosswalk,
prompting him to
remark how “impossibly
adorable” they were.
The intersection
of 57th Street and
Woodside Avenue, which
sits adjacent to the St.
Sebastian Catholica
Academy playground, has
been the site of two fatal
car accidents over the
past year. Van Bramer
joined with Assemblyman
Brian Barnwell and
representatives of
Community Board 2
(CB2), the Department of
Transportation and the
school to unveil a new
traffic sign to address the
safety concerns.
The ceremony
resulted from a
campaign spearheaded
by CB2 member Dorothy
Morehead, whose
granddaughter attends
St. Sebastian’s. Morehead
collected 400 petition
signatures after the fatal
accident in October to stir
the DOT into action.
“This is the easiest
petition I’ve ever
participated in. People
were waving me over to
sign it,” Morehead said.
Christa Wittekind, a
82-year-old grandmother,
was pushing her
shopping cart across
the intersection last
February, when an
SUV fatally struck her,
hurling her down the
street, according to Jim
Condes who lives above
the intersection.
“It was a
devastating experience.
Unfortunately many of
the children were here at
the time of the accident,”
said CB2 Chair Denise
Keehan-Smith.
Nine months later, an
83-year-old woman was
also fatally struck by a car
in the same intersection.
The community board
members said that
they were especially
concerned about the large
number of children who
cross the intersection to
get to and from several
nearby schools.
“It’s common sense.
It’s going to save lives.
Unfortunately it took a
tragedy for this to get
pushed along. But that’s
why we’re here to make
sure it doesn’t happen
again,” said Barnwell.
Reach reporter Max
Parrott by email at
mparrott@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
224-5863, ext. 226.
From left, Dorothy Morehead and Denise Keehan-Smith of
Community Board 2, Assemblyman Brian Barnwell, DOT
planner John O’Neill and Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer joined
to unveil a new stop sign in Woodside. Max Parrott/QNS
London Lennie’s listed for sale
Rego Park restaurant touted as a ‘rare development site’
The exterior of London Lennie’s restaurant on Woodhaven Boulevard in Rego Park. Photo via PropertyShark/Christopher Bride
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
The latest catch of
the day for real estate
developers in Queens
could be the site of London
Lennie’s Restaurant in
Rego Park.
An advertisement on
the real estate website
Zillow that surfaced on
May 23 listed the beloved
eatery at 63-88 Woodhaven
Blvd. as being “for sale or
lease” with a $6.5 million
price tag. Salvatore
Crifasi of Crifasi Real
Estate is handling
the transaction.
Even with the site
being on the market,
London Lennie’s remains
open for business, serving
luxurious seafood lunches
and dinners to hundreds
of guests each week.
The Zillow description
notes that the one-story
property is “a rare
development site.” The
restaurant itself occupies
6,000 sq. ft. of the 10,700
sq. ft. lot, but the existing
residential zoning and
commercial overlay could
allow a developer to erect
a more than 22,000 sq.
ft. building — nearly
four times the size of the
existing eatery.
“This redevelopment
opportunity provides
developers the ability to
capitalize on tremendous
demand in an area with
a scarcity of developable
sic land,” according to
listing, which indicated
that it could be perfect for
a “mixed-use project with
the potential to include …
medical, retail, residential,
community facility, hotel
and/or office.”
The restaurant’s owner
also owns the property
through a holding company
listed on city records as
RP Seafood LLC. Crifasi
told QNS the owner is
keeping his options open
about whether to sell the
restaurant and its property,
or lease the building to a
tenant for uses other than
a restaurant.
The Barnes family
opened London Lennie’s
in 1959, and over the last
60 years, the eatery has
become one of Queens’
prime seafood spots. On
its website, the restaurant
boasts of “serving only
the best hand-selected,
local fish and seafood …
artfully prepared and
presented to you with pride
and consistency.”
The restaurant is one of
the more popular dinner
spots in the Rego Park and
Middle Village areas. It’s
not uncommon to see a
packed house walking
into London Lennie’s on
a given night or weekend.
London Lennie’s also has a
3 1/2-star rating on Yelp.
QNS reached out
to London Lennie’s
restaurant for further
comment and is awaiting
a response.
Reach reporter Robert
Pozarycki by email at
rpozarycki@qns.com or
by phone at (718) 224-5863
ext. 204.
Woodside intersection
gets new traffi c sign
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