COVER STORY Queens Day in Albany Returns for 5th Year

By Matthew Fischetti mfischetti@queensledger.com

On Tuesday, May 2, legislators, local business leaders and over 40 different Queens eateries made their way up to Albany to celebrate Queen's Day.

Queens Day in Albany, the Queens Chamber of Commerce’s annual event, celebrated its fifth trek to the state’s capitol.

“All of the samples – it is a wide array of businesses. Because that’s what Queens is…we are the most diverse county on the planet. Look at our delegation: that tells you something about how we feel about our borough,” Jamaica area Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman said at the dinner reception.

2023 was Janel Rhymer's first year at Queens Day in Albany. The twoyear chamber member and owner of Holy Sweets NYC, a custom cake and treat business located in Rockaway Park, said she was surprised it was her first year as the event was well organized.

“I have to say it's amazing to be around so many other vendors who are also trying to do the same thing and are like minded, and also the fact that they provided us with the available space to get this work done and to showcase and highlight our sweets,” Rhymer said in an interview.

Holy Sweets brought an assort- ment of different samples for attendees to try, including a vegan red velvet marble cake, a pina colada with toasted coconut and a “secret rum” ingredient, as well as a lemon blueberry glaze complete with a blueberry frosting and sauce.

Dr. Priscilla Pender, also of Holy Sweets NYC, said the event was a beneficial experience that allowed greater connections with other Queens eateries.

“You're so used to people seeing you as a competitor even when you're not a competitor. And it's so refreshing to know that you know the Chamber is doing this because it allows for us to see each other more as family than anything else,” said Pender. “And like every vendor here has come up to us. And we're exchanging information, we're exchanging compliments – because everyone here is so good.”

2023 was also Eden Gebre Egziabher’s first year at Queens Day in Albany. The owner of Makina Cafe, an Ethiopian food truck that will soon be opening a brick and mortar location in Sunnyside, said that being able to interact with other Queens businesses was worth the journey.

“It’s been really really good to be in the same space as other business owners. Usually, we’re behind the scenes taking care of and worrying about our own businesses, but this was an opportunity to be in the same space for the same event,” Gebre Egziabher said.

Gebre Egziabher brought Sambusas, a traditional triangle shaped meat-filled pastry with a jalapeno tomato based hot sauce, which she says is a staple at the truck.

Paty Boccato, of Dutch Kills Bar in Long Island City, an upscale cocktail lounge, is only a recent member of the chamber but said she enjoyed her trip to Albany.

“We didn't really know what to expect, but I loved to see all the fellow Queens businesses here. And you can see by all of the different businesses being here – you get all the different cultures, all the different ethnicities of Queens in one place. It’s so beautiful to see it.”

Queens Chamber C.E.O. and President Tom Grech celebrated the amount of development and projects happening across the borough at the dinner reception.

“By my last tally, we have $28 billion of projects happening in Queens County,” Grech said. “We have more projects and more activity than any other county in America.”