4 times • MAY 19, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com Business owners look to make a ‘BID’ for Glendale BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport With the great success of the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District(BID) in Ridgewood, the store owners on the commercial shopping strip inGlendale want to see that success transfer down their way. Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley invited local shop owners, residents and interested parties along Glendale’s stretch of Myrtle Avenue to her district office in Atlas Park to take part in a re-envisioning CANDLELIGHT VIGIL Monday May 23, 2016 at 8PM Maspeth Memorial Park 69th Street & Grand Avenue Brief Religious Ceremony In the event of rain, the ceremony will take place at the Frank Kowalinski Post 4 61-57 Maspeth Avenue Maspeth, NY 11378 The United Veterans & Fraternal Organizations of Maspeth session with Ted Renz, director of the Myrtle Avenue BID, representatives from the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Queens Chamber of Commerce on Friday, May 13, to find out what they would like to see happen to their portion of Myrtle Avenue. “This meeting is really about bringing more resources to the businesses along Myrtle Avenue who are not in the Business Improvement District,” Crowley said at the meeting. “The Business Improvement District currently is a real resource to the Ridgewood community. But it is outside my district and a lot of business owners along Myrtle Avenue have said, ‘Why can’t we extend everything that is good that’s happening over in the Ridgewood section into the Glendale area of Myrtle Avenue?’” Crowley announced that there is $400,000 in DOT funds earmarked for improving Myrtle Avenue in Glendale with capital projects. “We want to make Myrtle Avenue more of a place for our local Glendale residents and people from Queens to want to come, get there easily, be interested in walking around and staying, and just having an overall pleasant experience,” Crowley said. B u s i n e s s and property owners’ suggestions for how the $400,000 could be used to improve the commercial strip in Glendale included the following: • Benches and street seating; • Improved signage and crosswalks for pedestrians; • Bus shelters and countdown clocks; • CitiBike and bike racks; •Environmental upgrades such as namesake trees and increased sanitation pickup; •Technology improvements for the corridor, such as Link NYC free Wi-Fi hubs and installing traffic cameras; and • More cultural street events and networking events for the businesses. One major concern brought up by the business owners at the meeting was the amount of vacant storefronts along Myrtle Avenue in Glendale and what could be done to fill them. Having a BID for the Glendale section of Myrtle Avenue — from Fresh Pond Road to approximately 86th Street — would put the business and property owners in charge of projects and events that happen there, which would entice more businesses to open up shop there. “I think we had a good number of people who showed up and great feedback and solid ideas,” Crowley said. “We have a plan in place to do the first steps.” Crowley announced that she will be holding more meetings to get even more feedback from the community and to finalize a plan to see if a BID would be appropriate for the Glendale portion of Myrtle Avenue. EXCLUSIVE Font: Engravers Old English Normal RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photo by Anthony Giudice Business and property owners joined Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, Ted Renz and members of the Queens Chamber of Commerce to re-envision Glendale’s part of Myrtle Avenue.
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