4 THE QUEENS COURIER • FEBRUARY 28, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
D’Alessandro’s
Meat Center in
Auburndale sell to
Marino’s market
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
Th e owners of a beloved Italian meat
market in Auburndale are leaving aft er
more than 60 years in the business and
the shop will be run by the owners of
Bayside supermarket.
D’Alessandro’s Meat Center, located
at 46-07 Hollis Court Blvd., took to
Instagram on Wednesday, Feb. 20, to
inform customers of the news.
“D’Alessandro’s has been proud to
service the community for 60 years.
Regrettably we will be closing on
March 17, 2019,” read the Instagram
post.
Word spread that the business had
been sold to the owners of Marino’s
Supermarket at 163-07 29th Ave.
Owner Peter Marino confi rmed the
rumor to QNS.
According to Marino, he plans to do
store renovations and hopes to reopen
the business at the end of June. He
added that the store would “not lose
anything” and would carry the same
meat.
In addition to store renovations,
Marino said that he plans to expand
the 3,000 square feet of selling space
and add more produce and prepared
foods.
Antonio D’Alessandro founded the
business in 1957 aft er moving from the
Lower East Side in Manhattan where he
opened his fi rst butcher shop. Th e business
owner and his family later moved
to Long Island, where D’Alessandro
eventually retired in 1980.
His four children took over the business
and continued providing customers
the “fi nest meats, cold cuts and groceries.”
Word of the business’s closure
spread quickly on social media as customers
expressed their sadness and
shock.
“I worked there for a few years, many
years ago. Th e brothers Joe, Sal, and
Tony were some of the nicest guys to
work for. Very sad to hear this news,”
said one Facebook user.
“I have been a customer there since
1972. I’m sorry to them go,” said
another.
The Courier reached out to
D’Alessandro’s for comment, but no
response was received before press
time.
Grand opening celebration for One Flushing
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e largest aff ordable housing development
in the heart of Downtown Flushing
welcomed new residents with a festive
opening celebration and ribbon-cutting
ceremony on Feb. 21.
Offi cials from the city’s Department of
Housing Preservation and Development
(HDP) and the New York City Housing
Development Corporation (HDC) joined
project managers and community leaders to
celebrate the completion of One Flushing.
Th e innovative 231-unit intergenerational
residential project, located at 133-
45 41st Ave. adjacent to the Flushing-
Main Street LIRR Station, was developed
by Monadnock Development and two
non-profi t organizations with deep community
roots: Asian Americans for Equality
(AAFE) and Th e Hellenic Neighborhood
Action Committee (HANAC).
“One Flushing not only addresses a critical
need for aff ordable housing in our community,
it will enable Asian Americans for
Equality to expand services for empowering
immigrants and low-income families
to realize their full potential, and supporting
the wellness of our multigenerational
community,” said Th omas Yu and Jennifer
Sun, AAFE co-executive directors.
Th e city awarded a contract to the
developers in 2015 to transform cityowned
land into a vibrant new community
resource. One Flushing was the
fi rst project to incorporate the city’s pioneering
Mandatory Inclusionary Housing
Program (MIH), which was enacted in
2016 and creates permanently aff ordable
housing in designated areas that
are rezoned for increased density. Th e
285,000 square foot state-of-the-art complex
was completed by Monadnock on
time and on budget.
It was designed by Bernheimer
Architecture with SLCE Architects serving
as executive architect.
“At One Flushing, we created a new
model for building aff ordable housing in
which diverse communities support themselves
and each other,” said Monadnock
Development Vice President Frank
Dubinsky.
Th e 10-story complex includes apartments
ranging in size from studios to
3-bedrooms and serves very low-, and
moderate-income individuals and families,
and includes 66 units reserved for very
low-income senior residents (age 62 or
older). A total of 117 units will be permanently
aff ordable, in part due to the development’s
participation in the city’s MIH
Program.
Additionally, One Flushing features
22,000 square feet of ground fl oor retail
space for local Flushing businesses, 15,000
square feet of community facility space, a
24-hour doorman, children’s playroom,
gym, landscaped rooft op terraces and a
rooft op farm, with programming coordinated
by GrowNYC and building residents.
Th ere are also 156 public parking spaces
located in an underground garage.
Th e roof features a 134kW solar array,
one of the largest in any multi-family project.
Th e facility includes offi ces for AAFE’s
array of immigrant and social services, as
well as a branch of the AAFE Care Senior
Center, which provides adult day care and
other support services for senior residents
of One Flushing, as well as for the general
public. One Flushing will also serve as
a new home for Renaissance Economic
Development Corp., AAFE’s small business
affi liate, which off ers low-interest
loans and training to immigrant entrepreneurs.
Th e project was fi nanced through nearly
$116 million in public and private investment
utilizing HPD and HDC’s Mix &
Match program. HDC provided more than
$23 million in tax-exempt bonds, almost
$32 million in recycled bonds, $14.5 million
in corporate reserves, and HPD provided
approximately $15.4 million in city
subsidy.
Vallone: City should notify about sex off enders at shelters
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
A northeast Queens lawmaker wants
the state to pass legislation in a continuing
eff ort to bring transparency to communities
with incoming homeless shelters.
Councilman Paul Vallone announced
that he would be draft ing a resolution
calling on the state to pass a law requiring
the disclosure of sex off enders housed in
homeless shelters.
According to Vallone’s offi ce, registered
sex off enders must complete a “long
list” of reporting and registration requirements
before the community is made
aware of their presence. Th e requirements
are even more stringent for “level 3” sex
off enders who are considered “high risk”
of committing another sex crime.
Current state social services law restricts
a social services agency from divulging
that a sex off ender is being housed in a
“transient” or temporary homeless shelter
like the one proposed for College Point.
“If the city brings a homeless shelter
with over 200 transient men to any community,
then those residents must be able
to know if there is registered sex off ender
at that location. Th e proposed site in
College Point, a result of profi t hunting
and failed policies, continues to show
why it is a clear threat to the safety of over
3,000 students and the quality of life of the
community at large. Whether you’re placing
a registered sex off ender in our communities
for one year, or even one day,
then we have a right to know,” Vallone
said.
Th e state Assembly and Senate passed
legislation in 2007 that would have closed
loopholes for sex off enders to retain confi
dentiality when living in temporary shelters,
but it was vetoed by then-Governor
Eliot Spitzer who cited “privacy and
implementation concerns.”
“Th is is not a privacy issue; it is a safety
issue and there is no reason that sex
off enders should be living within close
proximity to a school,” Vallone said. “Th e
state must expand restrictions on sex
off enders living within a few blocks of
schools.”
Since the College Point community
was informed about the shelter back in
October, many have argued that the location
at 127-03 20th Ave. is too close to fi ve
area schools that 3,000 of the neighborhood’s
children attend.
Photo courtesy of D’Alessandro’s Meat Center
Photo: Carlotta Mohamed/THE COURIER
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