Views from the Heights - Spring 2012

Views Spring 2012 Page 2

Editorial: 37th Road

Pedestrian Plaza

By: Edwin O’Keefe Westley

The Jackson Heights Beautifica-tion Group (JHBG) has support-ed the Department of Transpor-tation’s multi-year Traffic study of Jackson Heights. We have also supported the results of the study and Phase 1 implementa-tion beginning in September of 2011.

We also understand there has been merchant opposition to the Plaza. In fact, we have partici-pated in several meetings with the merchants to try to develop

solutions to their concerns. The merchants have consistently voiced their concern over a loss of business and the need for vehicle access to 74

th Street.

Unfortunately the implementa-tion would have been better served during the Spring/Summer months instead of Sep-tember because there is a greater revenue opportunity. Two businesses, on the Plaza, have recently stepped up and are in the process of setting up Plaza cafes. This will be gener-ating more revenue for the Pla-za.

Vehicular access to 74th street

has been improved by changing the direction of 37

th road be-

tween 74th and 75

th streets from

east to westbound. Now poten-tial customers driving off the Brooklyn Queens Expressway can proceed on 37

th Avenue to

75th street (instead of 73

rd

street) to access 74th street.

The serious traffic problems that had plagued the area adjacent to the Roosevelt Avenue/74

th

Street subway station and the Victor Moore Arcade bus station have been dramatically re-duced. Buses, which were of-ten delayed because of the vol-ume of traffic on 73

rd Street,

now make better time heading down 75

th Street. Pedestrians

are now also put at much less risk of being struck by passing cars and trucks.

(Continued on p. 4)

Historic Jackson Heights Weekend By Daniel Karatzas This year marks the 22nd annual “Historic Jackson Heights Weekend” sponsored by the JHBG. This year’s events will be held on Saturday June 9th and Sunday June 10th. This year there will be at least 13 gardens participating on Saturday; a record. We hope to have the Renaissance School par-ticipating this year for the first time, to show off its rooftop garden, which includes a greenhouse. Please see the flyer for de-tails on each activity. The JHBG would like to thank the Community Church for serving as the venue for our events for most of the last 22 years.

Commercial Concerns Over the past few months the JHBG has met with Council-member Daniel Dromm to express concern over the prolifer-ation of signs, awnings, and other means of advertising that some merchants have installed. Businesses need a permit to install signs and awnings, and complaints made to the Department of Buildings (DOB) over the last few years (yes, years) have never been inspected. The size of the awnings and signs, along with the fact that many are illuminated, leads us to believe that the proper permits have not been secured, making them illegal. As such, we are working with Councilmember Dromm to make sure that the DOB inspects all of these properties. Unfortu-nately, when one merchant gets away with an illegal sign or awning, their immediate neighbors, along with those down the block, find it necessary to do the same. The result is a endless stream of illegal advertising that is a blight on our residential community. Remember, our City agencies are complaint driven. They respond to complaints. So if you see something, say something… in this case simply call 311 with the address and as much detail as possible. Every complaint counts!


Historic Weekend …..……….….1-2 Editorial………………..………….2,4 President’s Message…..………….3 New from the Heights…………..2-3 JHBG-Who We Are………….……..4

Growing Traverse Park…….……..5 37th Road Pedestrian Plaza.……..5 First Aid for JH Trees.……………..6 Composting Project.…………… 6-7 Memories of JH…...………………8-9 Letter from the Provost…………. 10

Crossword …………...…………….11 JH Resident Takes Manhattan….12 Opera………………………………..13 Oasis……….………………………..14 Membership………………………..15

Message from JHBG President, Edwin O’Keefe Westley

The State of Jackson Heights

Part 2 “It is amazing what you can accom-

plish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

Harry S. Truman

Spring Has Sprung Our gardening volunteers: Virginia Yardley, Luise Schwabe, Ilse, Diane, Ed Walters, Frank LoRus-so, Madalyn Benoit, Mimi , Nuala O’Doherty, and Pat Kelly, are scheduled to begin the ‘37th Ave-nue Tree Garden’ planting on May 1st and complete by May 15th. Since spring weather was early this year Virginia, Ilse and Louise took on an additional project of get-ting the US Post Office Garden under control. Their work will con-tinue with the help of Howie and crew from Millimar Landscaping. If you would like to add your name to our volunteer list give us a call at 718 565-5344 New Building Proposed An application for another six story building is before the NYC Depart-ment of Buildings; this application has been rejected. But the builder,

the same one that is bringing us the building at 84-01 37th Avenue, has the right to appeal. This build-ing is next to the 84-01 structure. The land is owned by Kelly’s sta-tionery store. Stop by and say no to this new attack on our Historic District. The JHBG intends to fight this by going to the Historic Dis-tricts Council at the appropriate time. The land marking process requires that you demonstrate that the buildings are historically signifi-cant. We intend to prove our case again Blessed Sacrament Volunteers We are happy to announce that Father Patrick Burns, the singing pastor of Blessed Sacrament, has reached out to us to form a part-nership to keep uptown Jackson Heights beautiful. The details will be ironed out and we hope to begin in May Make Music New York On June 21st, Summer Solstice, street concerts will return to Jack-son Heights. The main stage will be at our new Pedestrian Plaza on 37th Road between 73rd and 74th streets and Espresso 77 on 77

th

street slightly north of 37th Avenue Play a Piano Around the same time as MMNY our good friends from Sing for Hope will be deliver-ing a piano on the sidewalk south east of the US Post Office. It will visit us for approximately two weeks and then be donated to a worthy cause Summer Sunday Concerts We held our first planning meeting and agreed that we would begin the season on July 8th and contin-ue each Sunday through August 26th. We are hoping to bring back many of last year’s favorites and add several new bands. Stay tuned for further announcements. Com-mittee members include: Carlos Martinez, Alfonso Quiroz, Valerie McLeod-Katz, Vinny Mongeluzo, Len Maniace, Andrew Ronan, Rebekah Oakes, and Dan Sheehan What’s on your mind? We would like to hear from you our members and friends. Tell us what you like and don’t like about Jackson Heights. What you would like more of or less of. Call us at 718 565-5344.


Maybe we’re shy, because we seldom blow our own horn. To-day is different. We’re going to let you know what we do, why, and then ask you to join us by volunteering, becoming a mem-ber, or making a donation. One problem could be our name, the Jackson Heights Beautification Group. Sounds like we plant marigolds and be-gonias. Yes, we do that, but we do a lot more. We are a grass-roots, all–volunteer, full-service civic and environmental organi-zation that works to make Jack-son Heights a better place for all. We’re also a not-for-profit group and a New York State recognized charity, so your do-nations are tax deductable. Here’s some of what we do:

* Graffiti removal * Halloween parade * JH CREW, Canine Recreation and Exercise Won-derland * Summer Sundays in the Park and other concerts * Views from the Heights news-letter * Candidate/Issue Town Hall meetings * Landmark ad-vocacy * Travers Park improve-ments and open-space advoca-cy * 69

th Street Greening pro-

ject * The Jackson Heights Art Contest * The Jackson Heights Greenmarket * Holiday Lighting ceremony at Post Office * His-toric Weekend tours * 78

th

Street Pedestrian Plaza/Play Street * Garden School athletic field purchase * Landing Lights Park ball field restoration * Lo-cal history books, Jackson Heights: A Garden in the City and Jackson Heights: From Ice

Age to Space Age * Garden Club * Community Awards * JH Urban Forest project * Soon-to-open JH Composting Center * Green Agenda for Jackson Heights * Jackson Heights would be a very different and less interest-ing place without these things. We are for democratic (small d) values. That means more than just voting. It requires getting involved with your neighbors to make Jackson Heights a better place, one that’s safe and hos-pitable to all, regardless of the potential divides of income, lan-guage, ancestry, age and sexu-ality. (Continued on next page.)

The JHBG has, for many years, been a proponent of more open space in our community. The nearest large park is miles away from Jackson Heights, and our Community Board (Community Board #3 covering Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, and North Corona) typically ranks next-to-last in open space com-pared to all other Boards. As such, open space, whether it is a green park or not, is very im-portant to the residents of Jack-son Heights.

For these reasons – the amelio-ration of serious traffic problems

and the creation of open space – the JHBG supports the one-block pedestrian plaza along 37

th Road between 73

rd and 74

th

Streets that was created as a result of the comprehensive DOT Study. We believe that it is an important amenity for the community residents, merchants and neighbors who use the nearby subway/bus terminal on a regular basis.

Implicit in our support is the un-derstanding that the current condition of the plaza – some boulders and a scattering of ta-bles - needs to be enhanced to

make it more attractive to all constituents. These include the “greening” of the plaza, includ-ing the planting of trees and oth-er plantings, more tasteful and comfortable seating areas, and perhaps some information ki-osks, describing the extensive public transportation system, local commercial district, and neighborhood history. The maintenance and cleanliness of the plaza is also crucial to its success. Hopefully this can be a cooperative effort, where the City, residents, property owners, and merchants all participate.

(Continued from p. 2)

JHBG—Who We Are

By: Len Maniace


Jackson Heights is on the verge of getting a real park. For years the complaints about Travers Park have gone like this: It’s not a park; it’s a playground. And, it doesn’t even have grass. Thanks to a long-awaited deal for the city to purchase the Gar-den School athletic field, and the expected permanent closing of at least half of 78

th Street, the

2-acre Travers Park is on the verge of a major expansion. The Garden School and New York City announced the deal for the 25,000-square-foot field on March 21. It calls for the city to pay $6 million for the field,

with $4 million from Councilman Danny Dromm, with the mayor and Queens Borough President offices each contributing $1 mil-lion. The Garden School would get use of the field during school hours. It would be available to the public afternoons and eve-nings, and completely when the school is closed, including weekends, holidays and school vacation periods. As for converting 78

th Street into

a permanent pedestrian plaza, the plan has the support of the Community Board and Dromm. Throughout the long effort, JHBG has worked with other

groups to support the Travers Park expansion. Knitting 78

th Street and the Gar-

den School athletic field into a redesigned contiguous Travers Park won’t happen immediately; it will cost a significant amount of money. The athletic field and the 78

th Street Pedestrian Plaza,

however, will be available for public use soon. If you want to participate in help-ing created a new expanded Travers Park, contact JHBG at 718-565-5344.

After a shaky start, the 37th

Road Pedestrian Plaza is grad-ually becoming a fixture in Jackson Heights: As the weath-er warmed this spring, the num-ber of people strolling and/or dining in the plaza has grown.

In response to merchant com-plaints about the plaza, the city’s Department of Transpor-tation has made a series of changes, including reversing an adjacent stretch of 37

th Road so

that traffic runs west toward the plaza and 74

th Street. That al-

lows customers of the South Asian shopping district to loop around the block that’s also bounded by 75

th and 37

th Ave-

nue as they look for parking. (Continued on p. 12.)

(Continued from previous page.) Some may scoff and say we’re a little naïve. We disagree and think it’s shortsighted to believe we can have a healthy and at-tractive community unless eve

ryone is included. That sounds like a beautiful place to live. So maybe our name, the Jackson Heights Beautification Group, really does describe what we do.

How can you help? If you want to volunteer, contact us at 718-565-5344. If you want to be-come a member or donate to JHBG, this newsletter contains a form for that. We hope you will join us.

Growing Travers Park

By: Len Maniace

37th Road Pedestrian Plaza

By: Len Maniace


City trees have a tough life, but if cared for they pay us back that effort many times. Trees cool our streets and homes, clean the air, and beautify our neighborhood. They, and the soil they are planted in, even clean the water in our city’s bays, creeks along our beach-es. What can you do? The first thing is to water trees. The winter and early spring have been exceptionally dry, endan-gering trees, especially those planted in the last few years. The best way to water a tree is to run a hose to the tree pit and let the water trickle into the soil. But first loosen up the soil with a small shovel, taking care not to damage roots. If the wa-ter runs out into the street with-in a few minutes, the soil is ei-ther too hard or the water is flowing too fast. If a hose is not

available, use a bucket; but remember: trees need about 15 to 20 gallons of water each week. Once you decide to take care of your tree the next step is to adopt the tree. All that means is that you have agreed to take care of your tree(s) and sign a statement to do so. It carries no legal liability, but is one way the city can track whether trees are being cared for. This tree care effort is part of the Green Agenda for Jackson Heights, a JHBG project. We especially hope to get co-ops to adopt all the trees on their street or block. This is actually less work than it sounds because only trees planted in the last few years require regular care and watering. Barring a sus-tained drought, established trees are happy with the care-ful loosening of soil in their tree pits.

A great way to care for your trees and improve the look of your street is to turn your tree pit into a tree garden. Planting annuals (flowers that need to be planted every year, like marigolds) or a few perennials (those that come up every year, like hostas) are a good way of keeping the soil loose enough for water to penetrate. (Don’t plant shrubs; their roots will compete with those of a tree.) Denser plantings will dis-courage dogs from urinating near trees (and acidifying soil, a bad thing), though a small fence is a smart addition. We will be holding tree-care classes and are putting togeth-er crews to care for trees. If you want to adopt a tree, to help in any way, or to learn more, contact us at: [email protected] Please write “Urban Forest” in the subject line.

Jackson Heights Composting Project in the Works By: Evie McKenna

First Aid for JH Trees

By: Len Maniace

Spring is often paired with opti-mism, hope and renewal. All of the-se elements are present in a new local environment project here in Jackson Heights which will keep the whole cycle in house so to speak. We will soon have a perma-nent site for composting right here in Jackson Heights on 69th street under the BQE.

The goal is to collect food scraps and other compostable items (such as coffee with the filter!) and have the process set up in our zip code and with local distribution of the soil that results. The site has the po-tential to be an environmental base in the community and an educa-tional tool, as well as acting as a location for tree and plant give-aways. This will be in addition to its primary function of reducing the

impact of these recyclable waste products adding to our garbage stream. The project is being steered by the Green Agenda group (under the JHBG leadership and funding) and follows a trajecto-ry of JH composters in the recent years from Lenny Olson’s work at St. Marks Church and the Farm Spot produce co-operative. (Continued on next page.)


(Continued from previous page.) He and Melissa Zavala pioneered that compost effort which is now well maintained by Kirsten Mag-nani. Currently, the Greenmarket site at 78th St on Sunday mornings is our place for public compost collection in Jackson Hts. This new JH com-posting project will allow more col-lection times at the Greenmarket

and, eventually, at the new site as well. Local residents who graduat-ed from the “Master Composter” course at the Queens Botanical Garden are spearheading this pro-ject. In addition to Lenny, Melissa and Kirsten, those MC’s include Julian McNamara and Evie McKen-na who are working with Len Mani-ace and Ed Westley to get this pro-ject up and running.

The location of the site is confirmed as the NE corner of 35th Avenue and 69th Street across from the dog run. The Dept. of Transporta-tion has once again been a willing partner (thanks!) and, as soon as details are finalized with the perim-eter, we will be able to announce

the opening date of the site.


With the completion of the Corona extension of the elevated train along Roosevelt Avenue and the popularity of the Garden City Move-ment in Europe, the Queensboro Corporation developed a marketing campaign promoting the innovative concept of “the garden apartment” to an upscale clientele. The first comprehensive planned group was named, “The Garden Apartments” with garden plots in front of each building and an uninterrupted shared green space at the rear run-ning the length of the block. Strip gardens of grass and trees contin-ued along the sidewalks interrupted only by the street, picking up on the other side. The whole block on both sides of the street was one enormous garden. We know it now as “The Greystones”. The next Queensboro project treat-ed the full block garden as a square block with the gardens be-ginning with grass strips along the street, flowing garden plots in in the front of all the buildings interrupted only by driveways and picked up in the rear with an innovative and dra-matic block long interior garden. They called it “Linden Court” after all the magnificent Linden trees planted in the street gardens. Even now when they are all in bloom the fragrance is intoxicating. One long-time resident called it “the smelling season”. That plan proved to be so successful that it became the mod-el for all of the subsequent garden apartment complexes for which Jackson Heights is justly famous. Queensboro owned a huge tract of farmland which was not yet under construction. All those folks in the new garden apartments needed

Memories of Jackson Heights Gardens By Doris Derwik Wurgler

amenities to make moving to the suburbs within the city irresistible. There were those who longed for the opportunity to actually do some real gardening. Not to worry! Queensbo-ro made community garden plots available at first in full blocks and later at the ends of blocks where apartment dwellers could landscape and raise glorious displays to be ad-mired by their neighbors. The Com-munity Gardens had large wooden disposal bins on the side street pe-riphery to be easily scavenged by evening strollers. In the first years of my life in Jackson Heights I joined my father and moth-er admiring the flowers. My father always came home with an armful of discarded plants from the bins. I par-ticularly remember the garden on 85th Street where the gardeners threw out the most exotic speci-mens. At one point my father had a dozen different varieties of iris in our garden, compliments of the bins. Mrs. Earle’s Garden on 35th Avenue between 87th and 88th streets was another favorite. We could see portly Mrs. Earle in blue overalls with her elegant upswept blond “do” tucked under an enormous straw hat, on her knees with trowel in hand work-ing in a far corner of her manicured stretch of restful green lawn with white Adirondack lawn chairs taste-fully interspersed among the showy colors of the exuberant flower beds. Bird baths and white bird houses on poles welcomed feathered guests. Mrs. Earle was the only gardener whose name we knew. My father was very good at chatting with strangers and she with her German accent may have felt more comforta-ble in 1940 talking with a passing Swede.

Continued on page ……...9

War Gardens were part of the war effort during World War I making good use of the fertile soil in the vacant lots which had so recently been converted from farm land. Once again in the 1940’s some of the vacant lots were converted to use as Victory Gardens. Bill Seelig and his fami-ly who lived on 89th Street next to the large vacant lot on 35th Ave-nue marked out a plot which he and his older daughter Barbara could manage. Many a summer evening we waved to them at work tilling the soil and producing a marvelous crop of vegetables for their table. Barbara later took her gardening skills to the Cha-teau Garden. My father grew to-matoes, with carrots and radishes for me, and even tried his hand at an espaliered apple tree against the side of the house, grape vines on the garage trellis producing enough to make jelly and fill rows of jars to stock the basement pan-try. We had currant bushes cov-ered with nets to save the berries from the birds so we could make Swedish Crème and a peach tree that produced huge juicy fruit until disgusting borers invaded and filled the fruit with sticky goo.. The back fence was always filled with climbing Blaze roses which we picked to take to my piano recital held at the clubhouse on a Saturday afternoon in June. The stage was filled with roses from the gardens of the young pupils of Miss Kathryn Owens, a very prop-er Southern lady who taught manners as well as music in Jackson Heights living rooms. I was four years old when I joined her group of very little people sit-


ting in a circle on the floor of the house on 87th Street which would a year later become my home. When we first moved into the 87th Street house, there were no fences between the gardens at the rear of the houses with a walkway that stretched from the driveway near 35th Avenue to the driveway at the other end near 37th Avenue. The house gardens further developed the same successful concept that was defining the apartment com-plexes: gardens beginning at the edge of the street with a grass strip, continuing in the front of the houses with sloping lawns flowing as a con-tinuous river of green up and down the block and around to the back gardens through breaks in the building line created by grouping together two, four and five houses. Queensboro decided that maple trees were to be the theme tree for our block of English Garden Homes so the street trees planted in the grass strips were maples. The property line trees in the front gardens at the breaks between the house groups were maples and the property line trees planted in the back between every two hous-es were also maples. By the time we got to Jackson Heights at the end of the 1930’s, the trees had grown enough to create a leafy vista on the whole street. In anoth-er ten years, the trees were huge with green canopies shading the entire river of green below. In the 1940’s a monstrous hurricane hurtled through our street and with a quiet “whoosh”, uprooted huge trees on either side leaving them to rest, blocking the entire street for several days. With no exterior wires to rip down, city kids were left with a marvelous one-time oppor-

Jackson Heights Gardens Continued from page 8.

tunity for safely climbing trees, al-beit in a prone position. When we first moved to Jackson Heights, my family rented a small attached house on 88th Street. It was a comfortable enough life to make my father, who had come from a line of landowning farmers in Sweden to long to own a piece of land in his new country. In 1940 many of the original owners of the houses had moved on due to the hard times of the Depression years. Some houses were owned by the banks which had foreclosed, others by investors who took ad-vantage of the opportunity. Gen-teel renters kept up a good front. Everyone on our common drive-way knew most everyone else and knew who was an owner and who was a renter. My father and mother fell in love with a “convertible house” in the middle of the block, at the end of its group so one could walk from front to back, facing south for more sunlight, without a solarium (which several end hous-es had) so there would be more growing space, an apartment on the top floor to help pay the mort-gage, a basement for a workshop and a laundry room for drying clothes. It even had a garage where he could park his black Pon-tiac sedan that he drove to work as an electrical engineer for Otis Ele-vator Company in Yonkers, NY. My mother could take the subway to her school in Long Island City where she taught eighth grade and music. My mother and father felt comfortable buying their dream house for $11,700 but didn’t move in for several years, permitting the renters to stay on and make the mortgage payments. In my fifth year, they asked the renting family to move. For us, it was the begin-

ning of the next phase of our lives as a family. My father was always close to the soil so he was anxious to get start-ed. He couldn’t handle all of those kids running through our yard, as well as the adults walking by. Before long, my mother and father decided a fence was needed. The chain link fence had just come into popular use and my father installed it all around the back yard with gates at the front and back. The “No fences” easement had expired and there was no one to protest. He tore up his portion of the common concrete strip that linked the “gardens” which by now were unmaintained mud and laid out flower beds along the fences with white wooden trellises along the garage and the back alley and an arbor over the back gate. The soil had been neglected for so long that it needed major improvement. A colleague at Otis who lived in Westchester had a chicken house on his property and offered to share the by-products of his poultry. One Saturday morning my father took the back seat out of the car, loaded his pitch fork, bushel baskets and card-board boxes and me. We drove to Harrison where he and his friend loaded our car with the stinkiest fresh chicken manure imaginable. Praying that the car would not break down along the way, I held my nose and leaned out of the window.. After the contents was unloaded, spread over the land and worked into the soil, my father was well on his way to realizing his dream. The car stank for many months afterward and we drove with the windows open even into the following winter. But it payed off! We had a garden that was the envy of all around. A sea of red salvia even enticed hum-mingbirds, to the delight of my moth-er.


A Letter from the Provost of Plaza College


CROSSWORD

Answers: 1. Jahns; 2. Armondos; 3. Happy Kitchen; 4. Mehfil; 5. Cannelle; 6. LaPortena; 7. Novo; 8. Arunee; 9. El Coyote; 10. Espresso77

A few weeks ago, in mid March, I had the pleasure of catching a set of some re-markably refreshing music at the Iridium in midtown Man-hattan. The unique jazz and pop vocalist Bethany Wild was joined by an impressive and solid trio comprised of Glafkos Kontemeniotis on piano, Fima Ephron on bass, and veteran Dave Meade on drums. In an hour set that covered some classic standards and jazz tunes, as well as a few originals, she lead her trio through a selection of almost a dozen tunes that included a fun and bawdy rendition of “Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You?” “Prelude To A Kiss,” “All of You,” “Body and Soul,” “Afro Blue,” and a jaunty lyrical version of “Well, You Needn't,” as well as her original songs “A Chance of Peace,” “Hummingbird Street,” “The Shooba” (a real crowd pleas-er), and the charming “Wonders of the Heart.”

I hadn't heard Wild in years--the last time I heard her sing she was doing all originals. She has rediscovered her first love--the standards--which she grew up hearing as a child (her parents were big fans of the music). Many pop singers are seduced by the elegant clarity of the lush mel-odies and sophisticated lyrics of traditional jazz standards, and many a pop singer stum-bles when attempting to navi-gate the sometimes tricky depths ofthese songs. Ms. Wild is not one of those sing-ers. Whether interpreting the standards or presenting her own material, all of it was classic Bethany. Her voice is a friendly instrument that de-livers effortlessly all the way, hinting at and toying with the melody, growling and soaring, totally at ease with not know-ing exactly what's coming next. A mature and confident artist who can swing like crazy on the up tempo material, and still caress every nuance from

the ballads (“Body and Soul” was especially lovely); she brought both complete respect and a sense of humor to every note she sang. Still I admit I happen to have a bias for Ms. Wild’s original tunes. She is an amazing songwriter with an uncanny knack of throwing together a catchy tune and an irresistible lyric, like a natural born chef who cooks without a recipe--she‘s just got it like that. Whether her songs are hu-morous and witty, or haunting-ly profound--her unique and lofty musical observations tied to the tale of song--her voice needs to be heard, whether through her own very lovely one or many others. Later that evening, I felt, when I emerged from the dark base-ment nightclub into the unsea-sonably mild winter night, that I had already experienced a breath of fresh air. If the op-portunity arises to catch this beautiful force of nature sing live, do not hesitate to take it!


Jackson Heights Resident Takes Manhattan

By: Linda Reynolds

(Continued from p. 5) Other changes from the DOT include more than a dozen large planters containing shrubs and flowering perenni-als, and additional tables and chairs for 37th Road those restaurants who support the

plaza and hope to see addi-tional business from it. Many of us believe the pedes-trian plaza will be good for the neighborhood, but the plaza’s long-term success will depend

on support from its mer-chants. That’s where all of us come in. What better way to show your support for our new plaza than to walk there for a meal or shopping with your family or friends.


Why did the chicken cross the road?

By: John Petrozino

VIEWS FROM THE HEIGHTS

Volume 23 Number 3 Spring 2012

Jackson Heights Beautification Group

Post Office Box 720253 Jackson Heights, NY

11372-0253 718-565-5344

Email: [email protected]

Editor

John Petrozino

Writers and Reporters

Graphic Design James Stonebraker

JHBG OFFICERS Edwin O’Keefe Westley,

President Len Maniace,

1st Vice President John Petrozino,

2nd Vice President Janet Kelly, Treasurer John J. McCaffrey, Jr.,

Secretary

JHBG DIRECTORS Leslie Elliman Nelida Florez Darryl Hoss

Daniel Karatzas Janet Kelly

Barbara Kunkel Lori Longbotham

Len Maniace Carlos Martinez

John J. McCaffrey, Jr. Evie McKenna

Finuala O’Doherty John Petrozino

Jim Riccio Basil Safos

Edwin O’Keefe Westley Doris D. Wurgler

Founding Director Maire Breen

Daniel Karatzas Len Maniace

Evie McKenna Linda Reynolds

Edwin O’Keefe Westley Doris D. Wurgler

colorful garden that would be nice to look at for the store’s employ-ees, customers and those who pass by everyday. They had spe-cial ordered the little fence to give the area its own space and added a few garden decorations. They also feel it is a nice gesture to-ward the community where they do business and their hope is that other businesses in the area fol-low suit and do the same in their storefront—it would make the city streets look so much lively! Thanks to Anwar and his staff for helping make our neighborhood more beautiful!


Emergency Tips on How to Save Your Trees:

First loosen up the soil with a small shovel, taking care not to damage roots.

Run a hose to the tree pit and let the water trickle into the soil.

If the water runs out into the street within a few minutes, the soil is either too hard or the water is flowing too fast.

If a hose is not available, use a bucket; but remember: trees need about 15 to 20 gallons of water each week.

To get to the oasis, of course! If you haven’t seen it yet, you should stop in front of The Original American Chicken, located at 78-07 37th Avenue, to check their beautiful and stunning tree garden. The "Oasis" was created by Anwar Ahmed, one of the owners of the restaurant. According to Anwar, there was an open space that was left empty by the city after taking a tree trunk that was there for a long time. It looked quite ugly given that the owners and their staff were looking at it all day, everyday. Anwar came up with the idea and vision to turn this little space into a


Membership: Jackson Heights Beautification Group

Your annual membership in the JHBG helps us fund neighborhood activities, demonstrates your commitment to a better community, and permits us to be your voice in the revitalization of Jackson Heights. Your support is important to the future of our neighborhood. The JHBG is 100% volunteer-run, and there is no paid staff. The JHBG is a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization, and your contribution is tax-deductible. Please make checks payable to Jackson Heights Beautification Group. You will be mailed a receipt for tax purposes.

Please fill out this page and return it with your payment to:

JHBG—Membership Box 720253

Jackson Heights, NY 11372

1. Please circle membership level: Individual—$25 Business—$50 Sustaining—$100 Patron—$250 Benefactor—$500 Sponsor—$1,000 Other: ______ 2. Please print the following: Name: ________________________________________________________________ Address (including Apt. #): ________________________________________________ City/State/Zip: __________________________________________________________ E-mail Address: _________________________________________________________ Daytime Phone (optional): _________________________________________________ Evening Phone (optional): _________________________________________________ 3. Are you interested in being contacted about any of the following JHBG activities? If so, please circle the appropriate one(s): Clean Streets Friends of Travers Park Garden Club (including flower planting) Graffiti Busters Halloween Parade Historic Weekend Membership Building Newsletter and/or Website Town Halls Other: __________________ 4. Suggestions? Comments?

THANK YOU! If you have any immediate questions or concerns, contact the JHBG by phone (718-565-5344) or email ([email protected]).

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CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE!

JHBG’s website has a new look!

Check us out at: www.jhbg.org Do you have a story or event coming up? Send e-mails to [email protected] or Leave us a message at (718) 565-5344. Don’t forget to us @ facebook.com/JHBGNY