8 TIMES • MAY 26, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com MASPETH MIDDLE VILLAGE: OUR NEIGHBORHOODS HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Middle Village is pretty fl y for 200 years old The Crifasi family has helped build Middle Village into what it is today BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport The Crifasi brothers, Sal and Joe, are the go-to names in real estate for Middle Village, Ridgewood, Glendale and Maspeth because of their history and hard work to make the neighborhoods they have call home for nearly 40 years the best that they can be. The Crifasis can trace their entrepreneurial roots back to their time growing up in Bushwick when the brothers would sell drinks, candy and pretzels at a table outside of their home, and charging friends to come watch movies in their house for three cents a ticket. “I guess we have been entrepreneurs our whole lives,” Joe said. “We really wanted to be our own bosses,” Sal added. Sal took that feeling to heart and has been his own boss since he opened up his fi rst Crifasi Real Estate offi ce in Ridgewood in August 1979. Since that time they have opened more storefronts on Metropolitan Avenue, which is their current Middle Village offi ce and Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood. When they began, all of their money went into advertising and growing their name brand. “When I started we were competing against the big boys,” Sal said. “All the money we earned went right back into the business. We had to build our brand.” Once their brand was established, they quickly became a major player in Middle Village, helping families purchase homes, business open on Metropolitan Avenue and giving back to the community through involvement in various charity and civic organizations. Sal Crifasi is currently on the board of directors of the Middle Village Chamber of Commerce, he helped start the Middle Village Kiwanis, he is involved in the Middle Village Property Owners and Civic Association and Crifasi Real Estate sponsors various events around the neighborhood, including the concert series at Juniper Valley Park. “Middle Village is a great community to work and live in,” Joe Crifasi said. “There are not that many communities anymore that have that tight-knit feeling and that old civic duty that you fi nd here in Middle Village.” “We were instrumental in bringing the TD Bank to Metro and 80th Street, the veterinarian on Metro and 79th Street, and helped the Middle Village Library keep their lease,” Sal added. “We were instrumental in making Metropolitan Avenue what it is today by bringing in business that have lasted and thrived to become part of the community.” BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport Get ready to celebrate Middle Village. This year marks the bicentennial for this Queens neighborhood! Middle Village was originally settled 200 years ago in 1816 and was established as the midway point for travelers going between the bays of Williamsburg and Jamaica, appropriately giving it the name Middle Village. Shortly after the Williamsburg- Jamaica Turnpike opened for business in 1816, hotels and inns, restaurants, and shops began opening up along the roadway to cater to these travelers staying in and going through Middle Village, and the population boomed. When the toll road became public in 1873, it became known as Metropolitan Avenue. Now, 200 years later, Middle Village is a bustling community that is home to several cemeteries, popular businesses, and residents who truly care about their town. Once such resident is Robert Holden, the president of the Juniper Park Civic Association (JCPA), which is an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of all the residents of Middle Village. “Middle Village is a great community. A community where neighbors still know one another and look out for each other,” Holden said. “I still have friends and relatives from when I was a kid who still live here today. I think the unique thing about Middle Village is that although we are in NYC, we still have that smalltown feeling. Walking down Eliot Avenue, with its stately trees, gives you a sense of peace and security. It’s home.” Some things the JPCA have accomplished over the years include working with a former councilman, the late Tom Ognibene, to oversee the total reconstruction of Juniper Valley Park; successfully getting additional police offi cers for the 104th Precinct; forming an overdevelopment task force to downzone all of Maspeth and Middle Village; sponsoring the Midville Dodgers youth baseball team for the last 15 years; and so much more. “I have dedicated half of my life to the betterment of this neighborhood and will do anything to see it fl ourish,” Holden said. “Having lived my life here, I can say that Middle Village has never been better.” Sal Crafasi Sr., Sal Crifasi Jr. and Joe Crifasi with bishop Nicholas DiMario and Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello
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