FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com APRIL 24, 2014 • The Courier SUN 3 Do you provide care to a family member, friend or neighbor who is sick, frail or disabled? Could you use some help yourself? If you are a caregiver, call Queens Community House for a confidential conversation at 718-268-5960 x226. Our support services include the following: information and referrals, respite and financial services, individual counseling, support groups, and assistance in sorting through the options. Photo by Jeff Stone ‘Neighborhood tech’ biz eyes Queens market BY CRI STABELLE TUMOLA ctumola@queenscourier.com/@CristabelleT A “neighborhood tech” business is fixing its sights on Queens as it continues to expand. 1800Fix.com, a chain of stores that repairs, buys, sells and trades electronics, is looking to open up 10 locations in Queens over the next two to three years, according to co-founder Tony Brea. The company, which already has corporate and franchise locations Brooklyn, the Bronx and Westchester County, is growing with the consumer technology market. “At the end of the day, the philosophy in this country is buy, buy,” Brea said. “But that costs too much.” Brea started the business with his brothers, Abel and Luis, around 15 years ago, but it originally developed from a beeper shop about 20 years back, he said. As technology evolved so did their business. People started coming in with broken cell phones and they had workers who could fix them, he explained. Today, 1800Fix.com will repair just about any electronic item, even hearing aids and Roomba vacuums, except, as it says multiple times on its website, the company has a strict “no toaster” policy. The rule comes from a fiery incident that happened years ago. Once, an elderly woman came into a shop, desperate to fix her broken toaster, Brea said. They tried to help her, but after a half-an-hour of working on the small Photo courtesy of 1800Fix.com appliance, it was on fire. “She was very upset,” Brea said. “We had to buy her another one — so no more toasters.” Though Brea said 1800Fix.com was one of the first businesses to offer the kind of services its stores do today, they are not the only ones who currently do. But he believes his business still stands out against the big chains by providing efficient, friendly service. “We strive to get your electronics back to you as soon as possible,” he said. “We want to be small in the neighborhood,” he said. “We don’t want to be big.” CITY’S CRAFT BEER CULTURE CELEBRATED BY ANGY ALTAMIR ANO aaltamirano@queenscourier @aaltamirano28 The best in New York City craft beers will come together in western Queens for a night filled with local drinks, food and music. The Five Boro Craft Beer Fest, inspired by the Five Boro Bike Tour, is expected to bring visitors a tasting of 100 different types of craft beer and also feature food tastings. The event will be hosted on Friday, April 25, at Studio Square NYC from 7 to 11 p.m. “We’ve created a grass-roots event here by honoring craft beer and the dedication it take to make it,” said Mike Rhyan, Five Boro Craft Beer Fest representative. “To honor it right we’re making sure the beer will be cold, the food will be plentiful and the music will be incredible. That’s our pledge.” Tickets to the beer fest, which are $85, are limited, and will enable participants to enjoy 2-ounce local craft beer tastings from 33 breweries, food from five local restaurants, a tasting glass and a VIP gift. During the night, New Jersey-based band Stolen Rhodes will perform live. Some of the breweries featured include Big Alice Brewing, Rockaway Brewing Company, Queens Brewery, Transmitter Brewing, Brooklyn Brewery and much more. Food tastings will be provided by Bill’s Balls, Bite Size Kitchen, the Brooklyn Wok Shop, Beehive Oven and Asia Dog. All proceeds of the fest will be donated to the nonprofit GrowNYC. For more info, visit www. FiveBoroCraftBeerFest.com. Frustrated CB members wait for more details on Glendale homeless shelter BY JEFF STONE Queens leaders said they are frustrated that there has been no date set for a community meeting on a controversial Glendale homeless shelter proposal. Community board members, along with the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS), said Monday they have yet to hear from Samaritan Village about when the homeless advocacy group will be ready with a presentation on the proposal to convert the abandoned manufacturing plant at 78-16 Cooper Ave. into a home for 125 families. Politicians and Glendale residents alike have previously expressed reservations over the sudden population influx, the building’s distance from the subway and possible contamination at the site in question. Since the DHS announced that it would support the Samaritan Village effort, though, elected officials in Queens have worried about whether the two political groups are on the same page. “It’s a very difficult process that seems to be all too standard,” said Gary Giordano, District Manager of Community Board 5, which includes Glendale. “It’s my impression that the Department of Homeless Services is talking to the applicant long before they’re talking to either the community board or the council person in the community.” The frustration stretches back to December of last year, when the DHS sent a letter to the mayor’s office recommending the former airplane manufacturing plant be converted into a living space for displaced New Yorkers. Along with unanimously disagreeing with the letter, board members complained about being given too little notice that meetings had been scheduled and implied that the DHS might be trying to rush through the process. Asked if the Department of Homeless Services needed a community board’s permission to build a new shelter, Giordano said, “Their policy is that they tell the applicant that they have to reach out to the local community board and let them know what they are intending and to give the community board an opportunity to conduct a public meeting on the matter.” DHS spokesman Christopher Miller said the agency has been trying to find a time that works for all three parties. “We are waiting for the provider to come up with a presentation date,” he said. Samaritan Village did not return repeated requests for comment. How soon the tension will simmer is anyone’s guess. Mr. Giordano refused to speculate on whether anything in the to-be-scheduled presentation was likely change his mind or the minds of any other board members, although he did say a meeting could soon be slated for a weeknight in May. “I expect them to tell us as much as possible, or as much as we can get out of them, about the specifics of what’s in their application, some of which we know and some of which we don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t heard anybody say this is a reasonable site and that this is a reasonable way to be living.” Image Courtesy of Five Boro Craft Beer Fest
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