20 times • APRIL 16, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.timesnewsweekly.com BUILDINGS DEPARTMENT APPROVES REVISED GLENDALE SHELTER CONSTRUCTION PLANS BY ROBERT POZARYCKI rpozarycki@ridgewoodtimes.com @robbpoz While the battle over the proposed Glendale homeless shelter is far from over, the Department of Buildings (DOB) gave its blessing to the shelter’s revised blueprints. The DOB approved on April 2 amended building plans to convert a long-defunct factory at 78-16 Cooper Ave. into a hotel with 70 dwelling units. In March, the agency approved plans for 103 units but quickly reversed course and withheld them for further review. Issues stemmed from the previous classification of the site as “lodging,” but the revised plans approved on April 2 describe the building as a class B hotel. This change would allow operation of a hotel as-ofright, without requiring changing the location’s manufacturing zoning, which would involve a public review process. The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) previously reached a five-year, $27 million agreement with the nonprofit Samaritan Village to operate a homeless shelter for up to 125 families at the factory site. Its owner, Michael Wilner, is reportedly leasing the site to Samaritan Village and is responsible for the factory’s renovation. While construction may take place at the shelter site, the contract itself must be approved by City Comptroller Scott Stringer before it can be used as a homeless shelter. A spokeperson for Stringer told The Courier his office has yet to receive the contract, and therefore has yet to make the decision. Meanwhile, the fight goes on for community activists opposed to the shelter’s opening. Community Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano said in a phone interview the advisory body would file a formal challenge of the plans with the Buildings Department. The public has until about May 11 in order to officially file a challenge with the agency. “We will do some consultations with attorneys and try to make the best of it,” Giordano said. The Glendale Middle Village Coalition, a group of civic and business organizations, continues to raise funds for its legal challenges to the plan. It previously filed an Article 78 proceeding against the DHS’ environmental assessment which determined that 78-16 Cooper Ave. — used for industrial manufacturing for decades and located adjacent to a chemical storage facility — is safe for reuse as a shelter. The coalition hopes a judge’s ruling will force the DHS to perform an environmental impact study on the site, which could cost millions and take several years to complete. THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre The Department of Buildings approved amended construction plans for the proposed homeless shelter at 78-16 Cooper Ave. in Glendale. Junior’s moving its Maspeth cheesecake baking operation to New Jersey BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA AND ROBERT POZARYCKI editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com @timesnewsweekly A slice of Queens is heading to New Jersey. Junior’s, the famous Brooklyn cheesecake institution, is moving its baking operation from 58-42 Maurice Ave. in Maspeth to Burlington, New Jersey, according to the company. “We can’t afford the real estate around here,” Alan Rosen, grandson of Harry Rosen, who founded the business in 1950, told Crain’s New York Business, which first reported the relocation. Its new baking facility across the river also affords more space — 103,000 square feet compared to 20,000 square feet in Queens — and features more refrigeration, freezers and loading docks, according to Rosen. Junior’s has been reportedly renting the Maspeth facility for the last 15 years to supply its four restaurants in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut, as well as its wholesale and mail-order businesses. According to Rosen, by July its baking operations will be moved to its New Jersey facility. Up to 75 jobs could be affected by the move, the New York Times reported, but only about 15 employees are expected to come to the new place. Workers were told about the relocation in January following the decision to relocate, which Rosen said was made in late 2014. The product quality won’t be affected, he said. “Not one iota. I tested cheesecakes there on Monday with my grandfather looking down on me. Our cheesecake has not changed one bit in 64 years,” he told The Courier. Some baking will continue in New York at its flagship location in Brooklyn, according to a Junior’s spokeswoman. Last year, there was talk of the cheesecake maker selling the 386 Flatbush Ave. building, but the owner decided to stay put. Rumblings about Junior’s relocation of its Maspeth facility began in 2011 when the city was considering the Maspeth bypass plan — a truck route through an industrial part of the neighborhood. The plan converted the segment of Maurice Avenue where Junior’s factory is located from a two-way street to a one-way thoroughfare. At a Community Board 5 meeting in June 2011, a lawyer for Junior’s stated that the Maspeth bypass plan was untenable due to delivery logistics, adding that the board was “forcing Junior’s to move to Jersey” if it had supported the Maspeth bypass. The board recommended the bypass plan’s approval in July, and the DOT implemented it in November of that year. Rosen said the Maspeth bypass situation had no impact on Junior’s decision to move from the area. Photo courtesy of Property Shark/Scott Bintner The Junior’s baking facility at 58-42 Maurice Ave. in Maspeth.
RT04162015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above