FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com MAY 26, 2016 • TIMES 28 Photo courtesy of Flickr/Daniel Oines All Sports Authority locations, including its two Queens shops, are going out of business. Monthly rents spike in LIC, Ridgewood: Study BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected] @AngelaMatua Prices for a studio in Ridgewood or two-bedroom apartment in Long Island City have jumped since March, according to a study by real estate fi rm MNS. The report found that studios in Ridgewood jumped 8.03 percent from $1,713 in March 2016 to $1,850 in April 2016. Meanwhile, two-bedroom apartments in Long Island City rose by 9.91 percent, from $3,697 in March 2016 to $4,063 in April 2016. These were the largest monthly increases. Long Island City is consistently home to some of the most expensive apartment units and MNS CEO Andrew Barrocas does not see that changing anytime soon. “I think LIC is an incredible market, and it always fascinates me how quick the absorption rate is there,” Barrocas said. “I don’t see it changing at all. More families are moving to the neighborhood, and as the area continues to be developed, more retail and restaurants are coming in. It is truly becoming one of the premier rental markets in New York, and demand will continue.” Flushing and Astoria saw the largest monthly decreases in the borough. The price for studios in Flushing decreased by 5.93 percent from $1,480 in March 2016 to $1,392 in April 2016. In Astoria, studio prices decreased by 5.76 percent, from $1,875 in March 2016 to $1,767 in April 2016. But prices for a one-bedroom increased by 4.79 percent to $2,267. Astoria was also the only Queens neighborhood to be placed on a list of top 15 gentrifying neighborhoods by the NYU Furman Center. The average rent in Queens rose by 3.26 percent between March 2015 and March 2016, from $2,082.78 to $2,150.59. Rego Park is the home of the largest yearly increase in overall rent, according to the report with a 7.8 percent increase. Ridgewood comes in at a close second with rent prices jumping 6.7 percent within one year. Not surprisingly, April’s most expensive studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments were located in Long Island City. Prices averaged $2,417, $2,921 and $4,062 respectively. Forest Hills’ Shake Shack is opening this Thursday BY KATARINA HYBENOVA [email protected] @kamelka Burger lovers, brace yourselves because the fourth Queens location of popular burger eatery Shake Shack, in Forest Hills, is set to open its doors on Thursday, May 26, according to a statement from the company. Located at 71-26 Austin St. in Forest Hills, in the former space of the clothing store Strawberry, this standalone location of Shake Shack has been confi rmed since November 2015, but the opening date had not been announced. “Shake Shack is proud to announce that it will open in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens Thursday, May 26th at 11AM,” company wrote on its website on May 23. In addition to Shake Shack classics, the Forest Hills location will feature three frozen custard concretes called Queens Bee (vanilla custard, marshmallow sauce, Liddabit Sweets honeycomb candy and strawberry purée), Hill of Beans (vanilla custard, Stumptown coffee beans, salted caramel sauce, chocolate truffl e cookie dough and chocolate sprinkles) and the Austin Street Treat (chocolate custard, peanut butter sauce, sugar cone cookie and banana). To wash down all the sweet as well as salty treats, Shake Shack at Austin Street will serve Brooklyn Brewery ShackMeister® Ale, Blue Point, Captain Lawrence, Ithaca Beer Co. as well as Shack-exclusive Shack Red® and Shack White® wine from Frog’s Leap Winery, and halfbottles of Minetto Prosecco, Seghesio Zinfandel Sonoma and Adelsheim Pinot Gris. The popular fast food chain already runs three other Queens locations: one at JFK airport, one at Citi Field stadium, and the most recent location at the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst, which was also only the only Queens location that didn’t require a ticket to access. Austin Street is a popular shopping corridor in Forest Hills. Snowdays, a popular shaved ice cream shop from California, as well as a Target, are opening on Austin Street soon as well. Queens Sports Authority shops to close for good BY ROBERT POZARYCKI [email protected] @robbpoz The game’s over for the Sports Authority in Queens and the rest of the country. The bankrupt sporting goods retailer announced on May 19 that it would shutter all of its locations, including its store on Woodhaven Boulevard in Glendale and on Northern Boulevard in Long Island City. Earlier this month, employees at both Queens locations vehemently denied previously published reports of the stores’ impending demise. Sports Authority, which fi led for federal bankruptcy protection in March after incurring more than $1 billion in debt, initially indicated it would only close about a third of its shops; the Queens stores were to be spared. The franchise, however, decided to liquidate the entire chain after failing to fi nd a company to buy its stores, the Los Angeles Times reported. Instead, the company found buyers for its various assets including inventory and furniture. Sports Authority had put the leases for its Queens locations on the market earlier this month, according to The Real Deal. More than 16,000 people are employed by the Sports Authority nationwide, the Los Angeles Times reported. Stores are expected to begin their going-out-of-business sales this week. The Queens Courier contacted managers at the Glendale and LIC Sports Authority locations, both of whom declined to comment on the situation. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Jleon Ridgewood and Long Island City saw some of the biggest rent increases in Queens last month. Shack Maps Street around queens
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