4 THE QUEENS COURIER • FEBRUARY 22, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Investment fi rm lists Neptune Diner in
Astoria as being on sale for $10.5 million
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
Neptune Diner, which has been located
at 31-05 31st St. in Astoria for 30
years, is offi cially on sale.
Eastern Consolidated, a real estate
investment fi rm, has the site listed
on sale for $10.5 million, the Queens
Gazette reported. Th ere have been multiple
rumors throughout the years that
the site was for sale, but owners have
denied it.
When QNS called the diner and asked
to speak to the owner — which is listed
as Peter Katsihtis in some Department
of Buildings documents and George
Katsihtis in other documents — a person
who was identifi ed as the owner said
that “it’s not on sale, ma’am,” and hung
up the phone.
According to the listing, the site
is 44,432 square feet and Eastern
Consolidated touts the diner’s proximity
to the N/W Astoria Boulevard station.
It consists of three lots and is within a
C4-3 zoning district, which will allow
buyers to build a variety of residential,
retail, commercial and community facility
spaces as-of-right.
Th e diner’s lease ends on Aug. 31,
2019, and there are no extension
options, according to the listing.
In other diner news, the Georgia
Diner is moving aft er 40 years from its
original Queens Boulevard location in
Elmhurst, which was sold to developers.
Th e Georgia Diner will merge with
the nearby Nevada Diner, which will
assume the Georgia name.
College Point spa
hit with child labor
violation
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
A College Point spa with a tumultuous
past recently found itself in hot water
again.
Th e owners of Spa Castle, located at
131-10 11th Ave., were fi ned $1,000 by
the New York State Department of Labor
aft er being found violating state child labor
laws. Th e establishment has since paid the
violation in full, the agency said.
According to a letter from the state
agency’s commissioner Roberta Reardon
to state Senator Tony Avella, the fi ne follows
an investigation by the department’s
Worker Protection Division and the
Governor Cuomo’s Joint Task Force into a
complaint opened in January 2017.
Aft er multiple visits to the establishment
and a “meticulous review” of the business’s
wage and hour records, the agency
verifi ed Spa Castle had violated Article 4,
Section 143 of the the state’s Child Labor
Statute, which bars 16- and 17-year-old
minors from working late-night hours on
days preceding a school day. More specifi c
details about the violation were not available
as of press time Wednesday aft ernoon.
Th e violation was issued in November
and the investigation was closed in
December. Th e Courier reached out to Spa
Castle owners for comment as is awaiting
a response.
Th e notorious spa most recently made
headlines aft er owners were indicted
on fraud charges in March 2017. One
year prior, the New York City Health
Department opened a special probe into
the facility’s safety features aft er a 6-yearold
girl was pulled under the water aft er
her hair got stuck in a vent. Th e young girl
survived the incident aft er being taken to
an area hospital.
Reports also emerged in 2016 that several
patrons were discovered having sex
inside the establishment’s pools. Between
2014 and 2015, the Health Department
cited Spa Castle for 49 violations.
Avella said he was “not in the least bit
surprised” about the most recent violation.
“I’m glad to hear that the state has taken
action to ensure that Spa Castle follows the
labor laws and hope that they maintain a
close eye on this establishment,” the state
Senator said.
Spa Castle also operates locations in
Texas and Manhattan.
Northeast Queens residents
unhappy with city’s tree services: pol
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
A Bayside-based lawmaker says a
recent constituent survey confi rms that
the city needs to change its approach to
taking care of its trees.
State Senator Tony Avella, who represents
District 11, recently announced
fi ndings from a constituent survey his
offi ce conducted asking residents for
their thoughts on the city’s tree removal
and pruning services. A total of 1,250
residents out of the approximately
300,000 in the district — which covers
areas including Bayside, College Point,
Flushing and Whitestone — responded
to the survey.
Two-thirds of survey respondents
said they felt unsafe about the condition
of the tree in front of their home,
according to Avella. Approximately
three-quarters of respondents indicated
that their tree is either overgrown, dangerous
or needs removal.
Out of the respondents who said they
made a request with the city to remove
a tree in front of their home, 42 percent
said they have been waiting fi ve or more
years for removal.
Findings also revealed many constituents
were unaware of the city’s “Tree
and Sidewalk Repair Program,” the lawmaker
noted. Announced in July 2017
during a press conference that Mayor
Bill de Blasio held in Whitestone, the
program off ers city funding to certain
homeowners who need to repair severe
sidewalk damage caused by the root
growth of street trees.
In the days following the conference,
Avella was openly critical of the program,
which he said does not go far
enough to provide all homeowners
relief. Th e constituent survey conducted
this year showed that 71 percent of
responding residents were unaware of
the program.
Avella said he now “has the numbers”
to prove that residents have safety concerns
due to a “failed job” by the city and
the Department of Parks and Recreation
(DPR).
“When 69 percent of people surveyed
say that their trees were not satisfactorily
pruned, it is clear as day that
residents are not being listened to and
are certainly not having their concerns
taken seriously by this administration,”
he said. “Th is is absolutely unacceptable
and clearly, it isn’t just me who feels
this way. We need the city to fi x their
approach to these basic quality-of-life
issues so that we can live without the
fear of a strong wind being able to knock
a tree onto our homes.”
Sam Biederman, a spokesperson for
DPR, said the department’s tree assessment
protocol is aligned with standards
set by the International Society
of Arboriculture and the American
National Standards Institute.
“As the stewards of New York City’s
urban forest, we care for our city’s street
and park trees and also respond to more
than 80,000 forestry-related service
requests from concerned New Yorkers
each year,” the spokesperson said. “To
help keep our tree canopy healthy and
safe, we’re integrating modern tree risk
management practices into the way we
care for our urban forest.”
Photo courtesy of Facebook/Spa Castle
Spa Castle in College Point
Photo via Google Maps
Neptune Diner in Astoria is on sale for $10.5 million.
Photo via Shutterstock