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QUEENS WEEKLY, AUGUST 25, 2019
Vacancies still plaguing Glendale biz strip
Merchants and residents look to stop the downward spiral along 13-block stretch of Myrtle Avenue
BY MAX PARROTT
If you need a cavity
filled, you’ll have no
problem finding a dentist
along Myrtle Avenue
in Glendale. A 13-block
stretch between Fresh
Pond Road and Cooper
Avenue has 12 dentist
offices alone, along with
seven realty offices and
seven medical suppliers.
But if you’re in need of
something not related to
oral hygiene, real estate or
medicine, chances are you
won’t find it on that strip
so easily.
In fact, a survey of
the strip that QNS and
the Ridgewood Times
conducted this week
revealed that there are
more closed storefronts —
at least 16 of them — along
the street than active
stores for any particular
business category.
Now that local business
owners and elected
officials are making moves
to resurrect the Glendale
Chamber of Commerce,
local business owners
say that the effort to
strengthen the area’s local
businesses is an uphill
battle. They say any of the
problems in the strip stem
from its zoning and the
attitudes of the business
community.
Despite these
challenges, a new
generation of
A store on Myrtle Avenue holds a fire sale to liquidate its stock before closing. Photos: Max Parrott/QNS
entrepreneurs is leading
the way to create more
destination businesses
that can attract the
neighborhood’s increasing
number of millennial
transplants.
Mitchell Todd, a real
estate broker at Carollo
Real Estate on Myrtle,
said that the problem
with the strip is that
none of the stores past
Fresh Pond Road are
destination shopping.
“I mean what is the
story with a dentist on
every block?” he said.
The strip becomes a
ghost town once all the
professional stores close
down for the night, he
said. While Ridgewood is
getting flooded with young
professionals who are
hungry for nightlife, foot
traffic doesn’t typically
make it past Fresh Pond
because the businesses
don’t cater to them.
“And most of these
bars, they’re all old man
bars. I go by at 10 a.m.
and there’s guys already
drinking. These aren’t
bars where hipsters come
to socialize,” Todd said.
Todd argued that the
problem boils down to
zoning. The entire strip
is an R5 district with,
a residential zoning
designation that restricts
buildings to three or
four stories and limits
the area of commercial
space, preventing many
types of retail and service
industries from being able
to take root there.
Bob Kueber, a broker
at another Myrtle Avenue
Realty company, agreed
with this assessment.
While Kueber doesn’t
think that the answer to
the strip’s problems is bars
and restaurants on every
corner, he did say that the
small size of the buildings
is the root of the problem.
“Retail buildings aren’t
big enough to support
chains or things like that,”
Kueber said.
He recalled the recent
closing of a Subway
store, which was forced
out of business because
the building didn’t have
ADA access. When the
owner began the process
of putting in a ramp, he
learned that a ramp would
have extended into the
sidewalk, and violated
traffic regulations.
“He couldn’t conform
and he couldn’t operate
without conforming,”
Kueber said.
Dorothy Stepnowska,
the owner of Flower Power
Coffee House who is
leading the effort to restore
the Glendale Chamber of
Commerce, also represents
the millennial-catering
cohort that Todd suggested
might attract more
foot traffic.
Her business opened as
the first cannabidiol (CBD)-
infused coffee shop in New
York City before the Food
and Drug Administration
banned the addition of the
CBD oil to food. Like many
other businesses on the
strip, she closed her shop
for several weeks in the
summer to make up for the
lull in customers.
Stepnowska’s hopes
for the chamber hinge on
enlisting local electeds to
apply political pressure on
behalf of businesses. She
has been talking to state
Senator Joseph Addabbo
about proposing a bill that
would cut down on the
tax exemptions landlords
receive while they sit on
vacant storefronts.
For a shop like hers,
the character of the strip
can make or break her
bottom line. To boost her
customer base, she has
had to get creative by
organizing events, like
open mics, drag shows,
outdoor movies and even
live streaming a talk show
on Instagram that takes
place every Tuesday.
While she admits
that the neighborhood
presents a challenge,
she believes that an
increase in businesses
like hers is inevitable
given the neighborhood’s
demographic trends. She’s
just trying to kickstart
the process by forming a
coalition that can support
each other.
“This area is the best
area to open now because
the rents are still low.
Because everyone is
coming. This is going to
bloom this neighborhood.
I tell people grab a store
because if you want to
open a business and you
want low rent, you’re good
to go for a few years,”
Stepnowska said.
Reach reporter Max
Parrott by email at
mparrott@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260-2507.
The long-shuttered Capital Video store located at 62-15
Myrtle Ave. in Glendale, just one of many vacant storefronts
on the strip.
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