13
QUEENS WEEKLY, AUG. 4, 2019
New welcome sign for Bay Terrace community
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Bay Terrace is the latest
Queens neighborhood
to get a personalized
welcome sign.
On July 26, lawmakers,
civic leaders and members
of the community joined
together to unveil the
new Welcome to Bay
Terrace sign at the corner
of Bell Boulevard and
26th Avenue.
According to Bay
Terrace Community
Alliance (BTCA) President
Matthew Silverstein, he
and Councilman Paul
Vallone discussed the idea
of putting up a sign for
the neighborhood similar
to the ones in Whitestone
and Sunnyside.
“We called Cord Meyer
and they were kind
enough to do this. We’re
really excited, I think
this is the first official
designation that says
this is Bay Terrace or
welcome to Bay Terrace.
So as people come down
Bell Boulevard they will be
welcomed by this beautiful
sign into our community,”
Silverstein said.
Bay Terrace was
established in 1949 and
is often considered to be
part of the larger Bayside
area. The neighborhood
was originally comprised
of farms and large estates
until Cord and Charles
Meyer sold their farm for
development in the 1950s.
R e s i d e n t i a l
development began in
1952 and continued into
the 1960s. Commercial
development, including
the creation of the Bay
Terrace shopping center,
also began in the 1950s.
“It was a perfect summer
day for the grand unveiling
of the new Welcome
to Bay Terrace sign Friday
morning!” said Vallone.
“I was happy to work
with Cord Meyer and the
Bay Terrace Community
Alliance, which is
celebrating 20 years of civic
activism, to see this great
idea come to fruition.”
The welcome sign
installation coincides with
the BTCA 20th anniversary.
In 1999, residents formed
the coalition which
now represents 5,000
households in northeast
Queens.
“People know Bayside
and they hear about
Bay Terrace but they
might not exactly know
where Bay Terrace is,”
said Assemblyman Ed
Braunstein. “So now when
they’re coming down Bell
Boulevard, they’ll see
this sign and they’ll say,
‘Oh, now I’m entering Bay
Terrace. This is what all
the fuss is about. I have to
check it out.'”
Unveiling of the Welcome to Bay Terrace sign Photo by Jenna Bagcal/QNS
Popular eatery in Forest Hills ablaze with local art
BY TAMMY SCILEPPI
Over in leafy Forest
Hills, which has become
home to a robust Asian
population and recently
praised for welcoming
some of the finest and
diverse Asian restaurants
in Queens, one popular
spot in particular – that
the New York Times
and other publications
have raved about – is
making news.
Spy C Cuisine, located at
72-06 Austin St., has done a
great job connecting with
— and tapping into — the
great resources of the local
community, thanks in part
to their collaboration with
longtime neighborhood
real estate broker Rhona
Magelowitz, who brought
in Forest Hills-based,
multimedia artist Hilary
Mance, to create an eyecatching
mural dedicated
to the owners of the
restaurant and their
Chinese heritage. The
work honors a prominent
Chinese artist and was
unveiled last Thursday at
an intimate champagne
and hors d’oeuvres event.
“I’m so proud to host
this event to celebrate my
hood,” said Magelowitz
(prior to the gathering),
adding, “Hilary Mance
is a dedicated, self-taught
artist; I knew she would
make magic at Spy C.”
The broker, whose
family has been rooted
in the area (owning two
buildings since 1930),
noted that over the years,
she has supported her
neighbors and local artists,
and strongly believes
in both individuals
and businesses.
In a recent interview,
Mance talked about her
massive Spy C project.
“The owners, Nancy and
Lei (the chef), were great
to work for,” said Mance.
“They gave me the keys
and I would let myself in at
11:30 pm after they closed
and work through the
night, for the past 5 weeks.
They showed me photos of
the art of Chinese master
Wu Guanzhong and asked
me to replicate his work on
the walls, then trusted me
to execute it without any
preliminary sketches.
“Images of his towns
and landscapes had to be
scaled from small photos
to large walls. I had to just
wing it as I went along,
starting in front with
spring and going through
the seasons to winter in
the back. It was a fun job,
but the hours were murder.
Every night, I’d be sitting
on top of the ladder trying
to figure out how to blend
one of his paintings into
another, asking myself:
‘What would Wu do?
The NYC native has
been enjoying a colorful
and adventurous creative
life, even moving to New
Zealand, where she “just
chills and paints” several
months a year. But her
career got jumpstarted in
a weird way.
“At 15, I moved to L.A.
to live with my father, and
go to high school. My dad
took a small apartment in
Beverly Hills so I can go
to a good school, though
I hated it there,” she
recalled. “I was the first
person to ever graffiti
Beverly Hills High School,
as far as I know, sneaking
through the bushes on
prom night with my best
friend, dressed in black,
armed with spray paint.
It made the local papers,
but we never got caught.
I moved back to NY right
after high school.”
As a freelancer, Mance
has been taking on
myriad projects: creating
commissioned paintings,
murals, and replicas of the
masters for hotels, offices,
lobbies, restaurants and
homes. All the while, doing
makeup and hair for photo
shoots, commercials,
magazines, weddings, and
films; and even a steady
part-time gig doing make
up in some of NYC’s most
popular strip clubs, like
the Hustler Club on the
West Side Highway, where
she’s worked for many
years but had to give up
her shift four years ago
to move to New Zealand.
When she returns to
NY, she still works
there occasionally.
Read more at QNS.com.
Photorealistic portrait of David Byrne, lead singer of new wave punk group Talking Heads. Oil
on canvas, 3’x4’
/QNS.com
