FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
Little Neck facility celebrates a special day for residents 100 and up
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
It’s not every day that someone celebrates
their 100th birthday, so one senior
care facility in Little Neck is highlighting
the milestone day for six of its residents.
On Saturday, Sept. 22, residents at the
Brandywine Living at Th e Savoy were
honored for National Centenarian Day,
a yearly celebration that recognizes individuals
who are 100 years or older or
are entering their 100th year. Celebrants
included an array of native New Yorkers,
including two World War II veterans, a
self-taught pianist and a retired police
offi cer.
Brandywine’s Escapades Producer
Donna Lapidus said that she was
“impressed” at the number of residents
who were celebrating the milestone birthday
and thought that they should be honored.
According to Lapidus, this is the fi rst
year that the facility is celebrating their
centenarians. In her roles at previous
facilities, she said that many of them celebrated
the milestone of their residents
who reached 100, though she shared that
there were not as many honorees at other
facilities compared to Brandywine.
On that day, honorees blew out candles
on a birthday cake and received congratulatory
certifi cates, surrounded by their
families, peers and facility employees.
Lapidus said that the six centenarians
were “surprised and happy” and appreciated
the celebration.
Among the honorees were three residents
who were 100 years old and up,
including retired New York City police
offi cer Louie Schlifstein, 105, Brooklyn
resident Celia Mitchell, 101, and selftaught
pianist Henrietta Simon, 100.
Th ree of the residents honored will be
celebrating their 100th birthdays over
the next six months: retired Salvation
Army employee Evelyn Mehling and
World War II veterans Herb Grundfast
and Jack Stollack, who was also one of the
grand marshals for last year’s Little Neck-
Douglaston Memorial Day parade.
Lapidus said that all six of the honorees
are active in the Brandywine community,
where activities include brain
games, cooking classes, daily fi tness and
fi eld trips. She mentioned that the facility
specialized in enhanced care so that residents
could “age in place” and not have to
be transferred to a nursing home or other
Photo: Google Maps
Developer eyes care facility.
new plan to turn
Parkway Hospital
into apartments
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
Aft er a decade of dormancy, plans
are in place to build aff ordable housing
units at the former Parkway Hospital
in Forest Hills.
Crain’s originally reported that the
Manhattan-based developer Jasper
Venture Group has fi led a request
to turn the former site of Parkway
Hospital, located 70-35 113th St., into
housing units.
Reports say that Jasper Venture
Group is looking to add two new stories
to the existing building and construct
135 aff ordable housing units,
some of which will be allocated for
seniors. Th e plans also include building
another 14-story residential building
at the site which would have 216
market-rate apartments.
Parkway Hospital closed down in
2008 and has been vacant ever since.
Th e building site went to auction in
2013, and it was eventually purchased
by Jasper Venture Group.
In May 2014, Jasper Venture Group
announced its original intentions to
demolish the abandoned hospital and
construct a larger residential building.
However, the company reportedly
decided to sell the property in 2015,
but was ultimately unsuccessful.
QNS has reached out to Jasper
Venture Group for comment and is
awaiting a response.
Photo courtesy of Brandywine Living at The Savoy
Evelyn Mehling and Brandywine’s case manager Andrea Dronca.
Residential building with museum coming to Elmhurst
BY RYAN KELLEY
rkelley@qns.com
Twitter @R_Kelley6
A new residential building is on the
horizon in Elmhurst complete with a
museum on the fi rst fl oor, according to
permits fi led through the Department of
Buildings.
Th e building will rise on a currently
empty lot at 47-11 90th St., a triangular
patch of land tucked away between
mixed-use buildings on Corona Avenue to
the south and the tracks of the Long Island
Rail Road’s Port Washington branch to
the north.
According to the permit, the fi ve-story
building will be 55 feet tall with 88,514
square feet of total space. Most of the space
will be residential, with 80 condos totaling
74,165 square feet. Th e other 5,000 square
feet will be used for a museum on the
ground fl oor, according to DOB records.
When reached over the phone on Sept.
20, Song Liu, listed as the building’s owner
on the DOB documents, could not provide
any additional information about the
project.
Th e building will also feature a basement
parking garage and a rooft op recreational
space for residents, records show, as well
as a separate tax lot for an outdoor meeting
place for St. Mark African Methodist
Episcopal Church.
Th e building is being designed by 5D
Architecture & Engineering, PLLC, and
if the permits are approved, construction
could begin immediately since the property
is vacant.
Image via Google Maps
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