Diner dream dashed Van Bramer to cops:
Stop placard abuses Shalimar demolished as rescue bid falls through
BY MARK HALLUM
With bicyclist casualties
due to vehicle collisions
accumulating to an alarming
number this year, Councilman
Jimmy Van Bramer is has
turned criticism toward the
108th Precinct claiming they
have been letting dangerous
parking practices slide.
Alleging that NYPD’s
lackadaisical attitude toward
enforcing placard abuse
policies as well as parking
practices that block sidewalks
and bike lanes have conveyed
that the “law does not apply,”
Van Bramer called for
a crackdown.
In letter to NYPD
Commissioner James
O’Neill, Van Bramer listed
off 11 locations within the
command where he claims
residents are forced to walk in
the street with their children
because of vehicles parked on
sidewalks.
“The 108th Precinct has
become the epicenter of
rampant illegally parked
cars on the sidewalk and
in the street, in addition to
placard abuse. The precinct
is overrun with illegally
parked cars whose owners
have no concern or respect
for the law or resident of the
community,” Van Bramer
wrote. “Fifteen cyclists have
died this year. Illegal parking
makes our streets unsafe
for everyone.”
The number of cyclists
killed across the city has
reached 15 this year.
Laura Shepard, a Queens
organizer for Transportation
Alternatives, said the 108th
Precinct rarely takes action
on reports of illegal parking
in the command and that
there is an active effort by
bike advocates to document
the issue on Twitter whenever
it takes place. They also make
311 complaints.
“I’m glad to see Council
member Van Bramer take
a stand. Drivers jeopardize
the safety of pedestrians
and cyclists when they block
sidewalks and bike lanes,”
Shepard said. “The problem
is constantly documented
and reported, but the 108th
Precinct is one of the worst
offenders and rarely takes the
reports seriously. We need a
serious effort to put an end to
this dangerous behavior.”
Van Bramer indicated 10-
20 44th Rd. as a location where
Ryder trucks are regularly
parked on sidewalks and
30-30 Hunters Point Ave.
as another location where
Adirondack Direct employees
use the walkway for
vehicle storage.
UPS employees are also
known to park their personal
vehicles on the sidewalks
around 49th Avenue and
27th Street, according to
Van Bramer.
In recent months,
Mayor Bill de Blasio
has charged Chief of
Transportation Thomas
Chan with the task of
enforcing placard abuse and
enlisted a small fleet of tow
trucks to remove parked
cars in bus lanes as park of
citywide effort to decrease
commute times.
And in February,
Councilman Robert Holden
and Speaker Corey Johnson
introduced a legislative
package that would take
city employees to task for
using parking placards to
block bike lanes and park
on sidewalks.
NYPD did not respond
to QNS regarding the letter
before press time.
BY BILL PARRY
The former Shalimar
Diner in Rego Park is now but
a memory.
The iconic Rego Park
eatery, which served the
community for 45 years, was
destroyed by its new property
owner Wednesday as the
efforts of two men who grew
up in Forest Hills and hoped
to move the diner to another
location fell through.
Photos of the demolished
diner, reduced to rubble
behind a green, plywood
construction fence, circulated
across local Facebook groups
on the afternoon of July 10.
In April, preservasionist
Michael Perlman started
looking for an ally that
could save the diner and
transport it to a new location.
Perlman enlisted real estate
attorney and entrepreneur
Ronald Hariri who wanted
to transport the structure to
a parcel of land Hariri owns
in the Suffolk County hamlet
of Aquebogue.
Former Mets outfielder
Lenny Dykstra would round
out the team helping to
market the Shalimar as a
brewery and diner.
“We tried but the diner
would not fit in with the
zoning on my property in
Riverhead,” Harriri said.
“We feel terrible but they
have restrictive zoning
with certain architectural
requirements that prohibited
this type of structure. I had
my architect look into it and
it was determined that if we
went for a zoning variance it
could have taken years.”
For Hariri, who grew up
in the neighborhood and
graduated from Forest Hills
High School, his attempt to
save the diner was personal.
“I spent a lot of time at the
Shalimar Diner when I was
growing up,” Hariri said.
“We had the people lined up,
we just couldn’t save it.”
Ten days before the
Shalimar Diner closed for
good in November 2018, three
holding companies closed
on a $6.55 million cash deal
for the property at 63-38
Austin St. and the adjacent
parking lot.
The commercial developer
Crews demolished the former Shalimar Diner in Rego Park on
Wednesday, July 10. Courtesy of Michael Perlman
is listed as 63-38 Austin LLC,
which could not be reached
for comment.
The city Department of
Buildings said there have
been no applications filed
for a new building at the
property but the developer
has begun demolition. The
lot is currently zoned R4 with
a C2 overlay, meaning that a
one-story retail building, or
a mixed-use building with
stores on the first floor, can
be built as of right, among
other possibilities.
“I spoke to the new owner
just a couple of weeks ago,”
Hariri said without divulging
the owner’s name. “He’s got
his plans and at some point
you’ve just got to move on and
that’s apparently what he did.
We’re very disappointed.”
Hariri added, “We’ll try
for the next one.”
Before the wrecking ball
hit Wednesday, Perlman
remained hopeful that the
Shalimar could be saved.
“I reached out to the
Shalimar diner property
developer and asked him to
halt all demolition ASAP,”
Perlman said in an email
early Wednesday morning.
“Another interested party
has come forward, and
would like to tranport
the Shalimar Diner to
Kingston, N.Y.”
Hours later, the iconic
eatery was reduced to a pile
of rubble. Perlman, who
became known as “Diner
Man” after he brokered deals
to move the Moondance Diner
from SoHo to Wyoming and
the Cheyenne Diner from
Midtown to Alabama, had no
further comment.
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by email at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
Transportation Alternatives at Wednesday’s die-in in Washington
Square Park. Photo: Transportation Alternatives/Twitter
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