for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com MAY 9, 2013 • The CourieR SUN 21 SHOPPERS’ DREAM BY MAGGIE HAYES mhayes@queenscourier.com Some 35 years ago, if you lived in Brooklyn or Queens and wanted to shop, Jamaica was the place to go. The retail hub has since declined, with those department stores still standing all closed. The neighborhood TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE Cambria Heights residents want action on accidents BY MAGGIE HAYES mhayes@queenscourier.com For residents of one Cambria Heights block, it was nothing new. In the early morning hours of Friday, May 3, two cars reportedly collided and then careened into a home near the corner of Francis Lewis Boulevard and 133rd Avenue. According to residents, traffic conditions create a high number of accidents in the area. “This is something that’s been happening for a while,” said Roxanne Depeiza, who lives next door to the damaged home. Depeiza said the home’s resident, Pat Austin, frequently deals with her property being damaged, with cars regularly knocking down her fence. Friday’s accident was the second time her stairs have been destroyed, according to Depeiza. “Those stairs are her entrance and exit to the house,” she said. “What does she do now?” Austin could not be reached for comment. Depeiza said last month, two cars got into an accident on the block and slid into her own parked van, “totaling” it completely. Along Francis Lewis Boulevard, one traffic light is at 133rd Avenue, with another a short distance away at Merrick Boulevard. Residents said that cars speed down the road to make green lights. “Once that first light changes, you don’t have much time to make the second,” said David Varick, who lives on the block. Depeiza said she has asked the Department of Transportation (DOT) to install speed bumps in the area, but to no avail. The DOT said it has not received any requests, but will review the location for the applicability of safety enhancements. The department added there have been no fatalities, pedestrian injuries or serious driver injuries at the intersection between 2007 and 2011, the most recent year for which data are available. “Somebody needs to do something about this before someone dies,” said Depeiza. “It’s getting worse every year. I could go on and on about how many accidents we see here.” Jamaica set to get department store Regional Hospitals in the NY Metro Region... 1of the Best ...with High-11 Performing Specialties Award-winning care across an extraordinary range of medical specialties. That’s the level of excellence Winthrop-University Hospital has achieved by uniting behind a powerful guiding principle: Your Health Means Everything. To learn more, visit winthrop.org. For a physician referral, call 1.866.WINTHROP. 259 F irst S t reet, M ineola, N ew York 1 1501 • 1 .866.WINTHROP • w inthrop.org is looking to make a comeback with a new department store and other development. “This will build up the economy of the whole region,” said Fred Winters, spokesperson for the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation (GJDC). “Other stores want to be close to the department store. This is a very big deal.” The site of the store is bordered by 90th Street, 169th Street, Jamaica Avenue and Merrick Boulevard. A 160,000-square-foot retail space will dominate one side of the street, with a 500-car garage on the other side. Construction is expected to start in about two years. Blumenfeld Development Group (BDG), a leading retail developer in the metropolitan area, is taking on the project in cooperation with GJDC. Other sites built by BDG include Manhattan’s East River Plaza and The Arches in Deer Park on Long Island. “To build the space with a department store in mind is a very big deal,” Winters said. “There aren’t many sites in Jamaica that are appropriate for a department store anymore.” “It symbolizes the way greater Jamaica and all the other civic groups have helped Jamaica really turn a corner economically,” he added.
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