24 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 14, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
CB 2 turns down Sunnyside protected bike lanes
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/@jenna_bagcal
Community Board 2 made it clear on
Th ursday night that they are against a
proposed set of protected bike lanes in
Sunnyside.
Nearly 300 people gathered at
Sunnyside Community Services center
for the June 7 meeting when board members
Ben’s Best will close at the end of June
BY RYAN KELLEY
rkelley@qns.com
Twitter @R_Kelley6
Aft er more than 70 years of serving pastrami,
corned beef and cold cuts in Rego Park,
Ben’s Best Delicatessen is on the verge of
closing its doors for good at the end of
June.
Jay Parker, the longtime owner of the famous
deli founded by his father, Benjamin Parker,
in 1945, plans to close the Queens Boulevard
store on June 30 unless an acquisition of
the business can be made. According to a
June 8 press release, Rego-Forest Preservation
Council Chairman Michael Perlman submitted
a preservation proposal to Parker as soon
as he heard the news.
“I had every desire to continue the business
through other hands,” Parker said. “If
you find an interested party, we can reconstitute
the business. My staff would love to
continue working here.”
Parker pointed out that around the time
the deli opened in the 1940s, there were
nearly 1,500 kosher delis in New York City.
Today there are only about 12 left, he said.
In an average week, Ben’s Best would
serve an estimated 900 pounds of pastrami,
900 pounds of corned beef and 250
pounds of white meat turkey. The deli is
know for catering private and corporate
events, appearing on television shows like
Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and
Dives,” serving as the backdrop in scenes of
movies like “The Comedian,” and attracting
famous figures like Israeli President
Shimon Peres, actor and comedian Jerry
Lewis, Senator Jacob Javits, Governor
Nelson Rockefeller and Mayors Ed Koch
and Rudy Giuliani.
“Time is of the essence to find an individual
who will take over this historic business,
which is known citywide and even nationally,”
Perlman said. “Ben’s Best offers soulful
kosher deli food in a classic ambiance,
and has attracted celebrities and landed
spots in movies and on TV. This is one of
the last mom-and-pop-style delis citywide.”
The location features a 65-seat wood-paneled
dining room that is adorned with pictures
and plaques that signify its family tradition
and impressive history. A map on
the wall that reads, “You’ve been in our
home. Where is yours?” allows patrons to
place a pin where they are from.
Those who may be interested in making
Ben’s Best Deli their new home are encouraged
to reach out to Perlman — who has
helped spare locations like Forest Hills
Stadium and Cinemart Cinemas — via
email at unlockthevault@hotmail.com.
voted 27-8 in opposition of protected
bike lanes along Skillman and 43rd avenues.
Th e plan was voted down against
the recommendation of the board’s own
Transportation Committee, which days
earlier had approved the plan by a 5-2
vote.
Th e conversation between those for and
those against bike lanes got heated during
the public comments section, when individuals
other than board members were
invited to speak for two minutes each.
“Go back to Jackson Heights,” shouted
a woman in the crowd aft er community
advocate and Make Queens
Safer co-founder Christina Furlong took
her turn at the podium. When Furlong
refused to leave aft er her two-minute
time limit was up, Board 2 Chair Denise
Keehan-Smith grabbed the microphone
from her, and the crowd jeered.
Macartney Morris, the chair of the
Transit Alternative Queens committee,
attempted to play audio of Keehan-Smith
at a press conference for slain cyclist
Gelasio Reyes last April. Morris confronted
the chair and said that she “stood with
Flor Jimenez,” Gelasio’s widow, in support
of protected bike lanes.
Keehan-Smith responded that a bike
lane would not have helped keep Gelasio
alive, as he was in a crosswalk when the
crash happened.
During his impassioned case in favor of
bike lanes, Morris pleaded with the board
to take action.
“People are dying. Please save them,”
he said.
But one elderly woman standing in
the back of the room yelled, “I don’t care
about cyclists, I care about myself” —
a remark met with applause and cheers
from the anti-bike lane side.
Adam Gordon, a Sunnyside resident
and teacher at Maspeth High School said
that the reason he opposed the bike lanes
was that “bike lanes exacerbate gentrifi cation.”
Gordon mentioned that “research
and facts” show that when bike lanes are
built in neighborhoods, rents go up, families
get displaced and people are forced to
get rid of their cars.
Th en the Department of Transportation
presented their proposal for changes that
would be made in key areas including
Skillman Avenue and 43rd Avenue.
According to the DOT, some of the
changes they proposed include over 30
pedestrian islands, shorter crossings,
and “high-visibility” crosswalk upgrades.
Th ey also proposed narrowing the roadway,
which would discourage speeding on
certain neighborhood corridors. Th e full
proposal can be found on nyc.gov/DOT.
Nicole Garcia, the Queens Borough
Commissioner of the DOT, brought up
the point that aft er Community Board
2 voted to make changes on Queens
Boulevard, there have not been any additional
deaths on the “Boulevard of Life.”
She added that DOT came up with this
plan aft er requests for safer streets from
the community and local elected offi cials.
Following the presentation, board
members were invited to ask the DOT
questions. Some wondered why the decision
to created the bike lanes felt “rushed”
while others asked if the lanes could be
built on Queens Boulevard or Northern
Boulevard instead.
Th e general consensus among those
against the protected bike lanes was that
too many parking spots would be lost if
they were built. Some were concerned
that the plan would hurt businesses that
rely on parking to receive deliveries and
provide spaces for customers.
Th e DOT said in a statement that they
were disappointed in Th ursday night’s
vote against their plan, but would continue
the conversation moving forward.
“We are disappointed that the CB2 full
board vote did not refl ect the overwhelming
5-2 vote in support of this same safety
design by its Transportation Committee
this Monday. Th e design that was presented
last night articulated our responsiveness
to the top concern, which was
parking loss. Over the past few months,
DOT reworked the design to preserve as
many parking spaces as possible, and in
some instances, including in the commercial
core, with no parking loss on
the south curb of Skillman Avenue and
north curb of 43rd Avenue, respectively.
On June 8, Assemblywoman Catherine
Nolan issued a statement in favor of fi nding
alternatives to the bike lanes.
“I share the concerns expressed by
Skillman Ave civic leaders, business owners,
and residents about eliminating parking
spaces in Sunnyside, particularly on
Skillman Avenue,” she said. “I join with
Congressman Crowley in his concern
about the NYC proposal. I pledge my
eff orts to work also with Community
Board 2, Councilman Van Bramer, bike
riders, store owner Gary O’Neil and all
residents of our districts to support reasonable
alternatives to this proposal.”
Photo by Jenna Bagcal/QNS
DOT presents proposal for protected bike lanes on Skillman and 43rd avenues.
March for “a safer bicycle lane” to
take place in Bayside/Douglaston
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com
@smont76
A local group has organized a
rally to call for “common sense”
changes to a controversial city
transportation project in Bayside
and Douglaston.
On June 16 at 10 a.m., the
Douglaston Civic Association will
march alongside the protected bike
lane project on Northern Boulevard
from the corner of Douglaston
Parkway to the Cross Island Parkway
overpass. Th e group will then reconvene
at Northern Boulevard and
Douglaston Parkway and be joined
by local leaders who will advocate in
favor of Community Board 11’s bike
lane proposal, which would expand
the existing sidewalk and create a
pathway that would be shared by
pedestrians and bikers.
The city’s Department of
Transportation implemented the
protected bike lane along the corridor
in summer 2017, shortly
aft er the community board gave
its approval to the plan in June.
However, in September, the board
offi cially revoked its support and
instead proposed the sidewalk plan,
which some argued was safer.
A number of rallies and demonstration
have taken place in the
months following the project’s
implementation. At one event in
September, bike advocates appeared
at a rally organized by state Senator
Tony Avella, who spoke out in
favor of the community board’s
plan. Counterprotestors argued
that the city’s plan implemented
much-needed safety changes more
quickly than the board’s proposal.
Th e call for safety improvements
at the location was spurred by
the death of 78-year-old Michael
Schenkman, who was struck and
killed by a car while riding his bicycle
on Northern Boulevard to access
the nearby Joe Michaels Mile bike
path in August 2016.
Th ose with questions about the
rally can direct inquiries to the civic
association at Douglaston.civic.
association@gmail.com.
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