20 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 24, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Sample Bayside’s best
restaurants during food festival
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Bayside’s vibrant food scene will be
on full display at a fun outdoor festival
next weekend.
Th e Bell Boulevard Food and Music
Fest will take place on June 3 from 2 to 6
p.m. and off er bites from 30 of the commercial
strip’s restaurants. Th e event
is organized by the Bayside Village
Business Improvement District (BID).
Diners can stroll down Bell Boulevard
between 38th and 43rd avenues, as well
as down 41st Avenue, and enjoy tastings
from restaurants including Avli Greek
Cafe, Bourbon Street, Krave It, Maria’s
Mediterranean, Papazzio, Press 195 and
Taverna Kyclades, the strip’s newest
addition. Italian, Spanish, Greek, French,
Chinese, Korean, Indian, American and
other cuisines will be represented.
Certain restaurants will off er outdoor
tastings or seating. Th e event will
also feature live music, dancing lessons
and children’s activities on every block.
Story time for kids will take place in
front of Turn the Page Again at 1 p.m.,
just before tastings begin.
Attendees can taste food from all 30
participating eateries for one fl at rate.
Tickets are $25 per adult and $10 per
child under 12 years old and can be
purchased on Eventbrite or at Avli Kafe
on 38th Avenue prior to the event.
Same-day tickets will cost $35 for adults
and $15 for kids.
Upon check-in the day of the event
at 42nd or 43rd avenues, diners will
receive a “passport,” which will be
stamped at each stop along the route.
Adult tickets come with alcoholic beverage
tastings.
During the event, Bell Boulevard
will be closed to traffi c between 42nd
Avenue and 38th Avenue. Th e festival
will take place rain or shine and tickets
are nonrefundable.
View a full list of participating restaurants
at www.baysidevillagebid.com.
Jamaica Center
BID gets $300K to
revitalize commercial
businesses in the
neighborhood
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
Th e NYC Department of Small Business
Services (SBS) announced on Monday that
a Queens business improvement district
(BID) will receive funding to help improve
the neighborhood businesses.
As a part of the SBS’ Avenue NYC initiative,
the Jamaica Center BID will receive
$300,000 to provide commercial revitalization
services to businesses on Jamaica
Avenue and in the Downtown Jamaica retail
corridors.
With this grant, the Jamaica Center BID
will be able to hire a full-time program manager,
conduct an in-depth district needs
assessment and execute commercial revitalization
programming for the next several
years.
“We are thrilled to have been awarded
this grant, which will enable us to delve in
and better understand how we can be most
eff ective in serving our commercial and residential
stakeholders,” said Whitney Barrat,
Jamaica Center BID’s executive director.
“We’re so grateful to SBS for their partnership,
and to have this opportunity to plan
and implement programming that will truly
refl ect the evolving needs of our community.”
SBS’ Avenue NYC initiative is a grant program
that funds and builds the capacity of
community-based development organizations.
So far the initiative has awarded $1.17
million in grants to community-based development
organizations throughout the city.
Th is is the fi rst year that Avenue NYC will
be awarding multi-year grants to allow community
based development organizations to
understand the community’s needs while
developing more impactful commercial revitalization
projects.
“As New Yorkers, we take great pride
in our neighborhoods, which is why the
city is committed to empowering community
based organizations to strengthen
and preserve their neighborhoods,” said
Gregg Bishop, commissioner of the NYC
Department of Small Business Services.
“With these new multi-year awards, we’ve
taken this commitment to the next level by
funding valuable commercial revitalization
projects for up to three years.”
For more information about Avenue
NYC, visit nyc.gov/avenuenyc.
Uber ridership doubles in four Queens areas: report
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/@jenna_bagcal
More people in Queens neighborhoods
are using Uber for their transportation
needs than ever before, and ridership
in certain areas has more than doubled
over the past year.
According to statistics from the new
microsite uberconnectsnyc.com, which
launched last week, several Queens
neighborhoods have seen a spike in
Uber ridership.
Th e four Queens neighborhoods that
have seen the most growth in Uber
users are Bayside, Elmhurst, Maspeth
and Jamaica. Th e micro site also said
that the majority of Uber trips are taken
in the outer boroughs, especially in
areas “long ignored by yellow taxis and
where access to public transit is limited.”
“From Jackson Heights to Jamaica,
Uber helps us move around in our communities,
and in every corner of the
fi ve boroughs. Th at is why the majority
of Uber rides are now outside of
Manhattan, in areas like Queens. And,
in the past year, trips here have nearly
doubled,” said Danielle Filson, Uber
spokesperson.
Th e site allows the users to hover over
an interactive map and see statistics
for the four outer boroughs: Queens,
Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island.
Once users click on a borough, there are
neighborhoods that the site highlights.
In the past year, trips in Bayside have
nearly doubled and half of the trips
use uberPOOL, which is a service that
matches people with riders going in the
same direction, usually for cheaper than
a solo ride. Uber trips have more than
doubled in the three other neighborhoods
highlighted by the website. More
than half of the trips in Elmhurst and
Maspeth use uberPOOL, while almost
two-thirds of the trips in Jamaica use
the service.
Data from the site shows that the
most popular destinations for Uber
trips (excluding the airports) include
Sutphin Blvd./Archer Avenue subway
station and the Jamaica LIRR station;
Queens Center mall; Roosevelt
Ave.-Jackson Heights subway station;
Queensborough Community College;
and the Woodside LIRR station.
Many of these areas lack adequate
public transportation for people who
live in these communities, and yellow
taxis do not service these areas.
Reverend Al Sharpton, president
and founder of the National Action
Network, emphasized the importance
of services like Uber to neighborhoods
and communities that lack access to yellow
cabs and public transportation.
“Ridehailing services are a critical part
of our transportation system, especially
in communities outside of Manhattan
where taxis don’t go. Since apps have
launched in New York City, all New
Yorkers can get an aff ordable ride – no
matter where you live or what you look
like,” Sharpton said.
File Photo
Photo courtesy of the Bayside BID
Photo via Flickr/Mark Warner
Uber rides in Queens have increased over the past year
link
/www.baysidevillagebid.com
link
/@jenna_bagcal
