WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES NOVEMBER 18, 2021 29
Residents reject plan to demolish Tower Diner, Ohr Natan Synagogue
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMED@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Forest Hills and Rego Park residents
are speaking out against the demolition
of two historical buildings on
Queens Boulevard to make way for a
mixed-use development, which they
say does not fi t the character of their
community.
During the Community Board 6
Land Use Committee virtual public
hearing held on Nov. 3, board members
and residents were presented with a
redevelopment plan to erect a 15-story
building on the triangular block of the
Trylon Theater that houses the Ohr
Natan Synagogue at 98-81 Queens Blvd.
and Tower Diner at 98-85 Queens Blvd.
The public hearing is the fi rst step
to getting the rezoning application approved.
It’s part of the Uniform Land
Use Review Process (ULURP) that is
used by the city to assess rezoning
applications.
THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
The applicant, RJ Capital Holdings
under Trylon LLC (via Rudy and Michael
Abramov), is seeking to construct
a 153,000-square-foot development,
which includes 144 total units with 44
of those units as aff ordable housing at
an average of 80% Area Median Income
(AMI) under the city’s Mandatory
Inclusionary Housing Program. The
plan proposes 136,000 square feet for
residential space and 17,400 square feet
for commercial space, with 45 parking
spaces, including bicycle parking on
site.
Eric Palatnik, who’s representing
the developer, is requesting to rezone
the area currently under an R7-1 zone,
to an R8X zone, which would permit a
higher building height that produces
15- to 17-story apartment buildings.
The height requirement for R7-1
districts encourages lower apartment
buildings on smaller zoning lots and,
on larger lots, taller buildings with less
lot coverage. As an alternative, developers
may choose the optional Quality
Housing regulations to build lower
buildings with greater lot coverage.
“I’ve watched Queens Boulevard and
have grown up with it, and I’ve seen the
potential that it has to create housing
that’s transit rich and transit-based
smart development,” Palatnik said.
According to Palatnik, the building
they’re proposing fi ts well with the
community’s character that has several
high-rise buildings.
The developers intend to begin
demolition next month, and it would
take about 30 to 45 days to complete,
Palatnik said.
In previous meetings with the CB 6
Land Use Committee, concerns were
raised about keeping the confi guration
of the Tower Diner, which is housed
in the colonial bank building with a
distinguished clock tower.
Though the site isn’t a registered
historical landmark, Palatnik said
they’re planning to call the new development
the Trylon Building, in addition
to replicating the Tower Diner in
the design and a clock mimicking the
historical structure.
THE HISTORY OF THE
TRYLON THEATER AND
TOWER DINER
According to Michael Perlman, a
fi ft h-generation Forest Hills resident,
historian and chair of the Rego-Forest
Preservation Council, the 1939 World’s
Fair-inspired Art Deco-styled Trylon
Theater was designed by notable architect
Joseph Unger. The cherished colonial
style Tower Diner is in a historic
bank building with its distinctive clock
tower architecture.
The Trylon Theater was named aft er
the 1939 World’s Fair’s symbolic spirelike
monument, the Trylon, which
stood alongside the globular Perisphere
monument. Analogous to the
fair’s theme, “The World of Tomorrow,”
where exhibits featured technological
innovations, the theater was known as
“The Theater of Tomorrow.”
The Trylon was shuttered aft er its
60th anniversary celebration in 1999,
and was presumably one of the last
single-screen theaters citywide. Since
2006, the theater has operated as the
Ohr Natan Synagogue, which is comprised
of over 1,000 congregants who
are mostly Bukharian Jews.
The popular Tower Diner is owned
by Spiro and John Gatanas and their
parents. The family emigrated from
Greece, fulfilling the “American
Dream,” and adapted the colonial-style
bank building in 1993 while preserving
its authentic features.
The diner is considered a must-stop
by patrons who enjoy its extensive
menu of American and cultural foods.
It was the home of the longtime tenant
Emigrant Savings Bank and formerly
City Savings Bank. Beside the clock
tower are columns, a cornice, a pitched
roof and colonial interior features.
COMMUNITY OPPOSITION
The Ohr Natan/Trylon Theater,
Tower Diner and surrounding local
businesses bear signifi cance on an
architectural, cultural, religious and
small business basis, Perlman said.
“It is a shame that its future is even
being debated upon, all for a largely
unwelcomed high-rise,” Perlman said.
“This application would demolish
historic and distinctive sites and place
an economic burden on tenants, not to
mention additional congestion and a
domino eff ect of demolitions nearby of
other preservation-worthy sites.”
Those sites include Parkside Memorial
Chapels and Forest Hills Jewish
Center, which are award-winning
historic, sacred and beautiful sites
designed by foremost architects and
artists, Perlman said in his written
testimony.
“Not everything needs to change, and
everything does not change in other
communities. There are landmarks
that are offi cial or awaiting designation.
Sites can be adaptively and creatively
reused rather than demolished.
Preservation is also greener based on
retained materials and a building’s
embodied energy,” Perlman said.
A majority of the community members
are calling on CB 6 to reject the
developer’s application in an online
petition to save the Trylon Theater,
Tower Diner and nearby small businesses
from demolition.
To date, the petition has received
3,727 signatures.
Many residents submitted their
written testimony that were read aloud
during the public hearing, while others
spoke on the panel voicing their
concerns regarding quality-of-life
issues.
Phyllis Zimmerman said there’s no
need for another high-rise building in
the neighborhood.
“So many people are disgusted with
the overdevelopment, and what does
this building do for people in the
neighborhood? I would say nothing,”
Zimmerman said. “Forest Hills is going
to become a crowded, dirty neighborhood
and the very things that make
it desirable in the fi rst place will be
destroyed by overdevelopment and
crowding.”
Other residents pointed out the lack
of aff ordable housing developments in
the area, and said the developer’s units
aren’t “truly aff ordable.”
RJ Capital Holdings plans to off er
44 units — 30% of the total units — to
residents who earn 70%, 80% or 90% of
the AMI.
The proposal off ers nine aff ordable
one-bedroom units for approximately
$1,500 at 70% AMI, nine for $1,790 at
80% AMI and nine at $1,950 at 90% AMI,
according to Palatnik.
A CB6 member requested for some
units at 60% AMI, but Abramov said
they crunched the numbers and can’t
do it without jeopardizing the quality
of the apartments they hope to build.
Forest Hills resident and student
Zeke Luger said he wouldn’t be able
to afford the so-called “affordable”
apartments.
“If I were to move out of my parents’
home, which I’m hoping to do once I
graduate, there’s no way in hell I’d be
able to aff ord a $2,000 rent,” Luger said
during the hearing. “That’s not aff ordable.
That’s already the average rent in
our neighborhood.”
Another resident said it’s disappointing
that her friends are unable to afford
an apartment in the neighborhood.
“We have to make a conscientious effort
to have more aff ordable housing
and become less exclusionary and elitist
and allow for more opportunities
for people of lower-income to aff ord
more housing,” the resident said.
Meanwhile, Pat Morgan spoke of her
late father’s frequent visits to the diner.
“My father was one of the ‘mayors’ of
the diner. If he didn’t appear when he
was supposed to, which was usually
twice a day, they would call to make
sure he’s OK,” Morgan said. “This
diner serves an incredible community
of people and the regulars are treated
like gold.”
In regards to the Ohr Natan
Synagogue, Abramov said they have
allocated space for its members. Currently,
the synagogue has relocated to
the 99-cent discount store across the
street from the site, and Abramov is
continuing to have an open dialogue
with the rabbi.
As for the Tower Diner, Palatnik says
it has been invited to return to the new
and improved location.
“The Tower Diner is not being forced
out … For everyone who loves Tower
Diner, we are going to save everything
about it, if they would like to come
back,” Palatnik said.
In respect to the city’s environmental
quality review analysis, an
assessment was conducted on traffi c,
noise, schools and infrastructure. According
to Palatnik, the building does
not trigger any thresholds that would
cause any negative impacts with those
studied categories.
Read more on QNS.com.
Tower Diner (l.) and the Trylon Theater that houses the Ohr Natan
Synagogue (r.) on Queens Boulevard. Photos courtesy of Michael Perlman
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