8 DECEMBER 6, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Opposition to Amazon HQ2 grows at Ridgewood community space
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@CNGLOCAL.COM
Ridgewood-based Woodbine
began organizing opposition
to Amazon’s decision to land
a headquarters in Long Island City’s
Anable Basin with a meeting at their
community space in Ridgewood on
Nov. 30.
The Woodbine, at 1882 Woodbine St.,
is a community center for political action
and civic organization co-founded
by Matt Peterson.
According to one attendee who
went by the name Devin, Berlin’s
Kreuzberg neighborhood became a
center for immigrants and low-income
bohemians who took an active role in
opposing displacement from Google
by occupying the space the company
intended to move into and other forms
of demonstration.
“They decided to move in because, in
their words, they saw Kreuzberg as a
hub of opportunity,” Devin said. “The
way protestors organized was much
like this actually: they had a lot of community
meetings, some of them just
started by having forums that were open
to everybody ... Aft er that it settle into a
rhythm where people then sort themselves
into interests groups who would
meet regularly and they would report
back to these larger community forums.”
The discussion also weighed the
pros and cons of boycotting Amazon
as a tactic to keep make a statement
against the retail giant.
It was generally agreed upon
that the Amazon HQ2 would cause
displacement throughout western
Queens, impacting the dense immigrant
communities such as Jackson
Heights.
“Not only is Long Island City about
to get 25,000 new job opportunities,
it might be a combination of people
being recruited from the city, but a lot
of them are going to be moving in and
lot of them are going to be moving into
Photo courtesy of the Queens Chamber of Commerce
Jackson Heights which is one of the
most diverse parts of Queens,” a woman
who wished only to be identifi ed as
Shannon said. “Basically the residents
of north Queens are being hit on two
fronts right now.”
Transit was also topic with the wellknown
fact that the 7 train is well
beyond capacity and is likely to only
get worse as Long Island City becomes
more heavily developed, especially if
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to develop
over the top of Sunnyside Yards, on top
of Amazon’s decision to bring 25,000
jobs to Anable Basin.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has offered
Google a $3 billion tax cut for
Amazon to build HQ2 in New York
and Borough President Melinda Katz
has backed the proposal on the condition
that the company pay to create
more robust infrastructure such
as the Brooklyn-Queens Connector
(BQX).
Queens Library receives $250,000 for future temporary space in Woodhaven during renovations
BY NAEISHA ROSE
NROSE@CNGLOCAL.COM
Councilman Eric Ulrich secured
$250,000 in funding for the
Queens Borough Public Library
to open a temporary location while its
Woodhaven branch undergoes a major
renovation in the future.
The library publicly thanked Ulrich
at a press conference announcing the
allocation on Nov. 30 at the Woodhaven
library.
Queens Library CEO Dennis Walcott
said the funds from fi scal year 2018
will go towards a temporary space for
the aging library, which will undergo
interior renovations that are expected
for 2020.
“It’s important for people that rely
on the library,” said Ulrich as toddlers
and their moms gathered at the
94-year-old institution located at 85-
41 Forest Pkwy. for reading activities
with librarians. “It’s important they
have access to all the wonderful services
that Queens Library provides.”
The Woodhaven library was built
in 1924 and has nearly 132,000 visitors
annually, according to Queens Library
spokeswoman Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska.
It also circulates more than 145,000
materials a year.
“The City Council has been a phenomenal
partner with providing not
only capital, cut expense funding to
support keeping libraries open and
expanding services,” Ulrich said.
Ultimately, having a temporary
space is necessary for the library to
continue to provide services to its
readers while the original site gets
brought into the 21st century, according
to Walcott.
“He is being visionary with this type
of support, because he is laying out
money for the future,” said Walcott.
“When we do eventually shut down
and use the temporary space, this will
help us tremendously.”
Walcott hopes the integrity of the
library will be maintained.
“This particular library is a very
historic and beautiful building but it
is an old building,” said Ulrich.
The Woodhaven Library was the
last of the four Queens libraries built
with money donated by philanthropist
Councilman Eric Ulrich signs a check for $250,000 for Woodhaven Library.
Andrew Carnegie and was designed
by Robert F. Schirmer, according to
Kern-Jedrychowska.
Walcott could not elaborate on
what type of upgrades the library
will have, but he will be providing
the public with more information
in the future once talks with those
Photo by Naeisha Rose
providing construction for the site
commence.
“The only way we can really do the
type of renovation this place really
needs is if we temporarily relocate it
somewhere else in the community,”
said Ulrich. “The work really needs
to be done.”
link
link
