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Stay Connected With the Queens Chamber in August
QUEENS CHAMBER PARTNERS & AFFILIATES
82ND STREET PARTNERSHIP
37-06 82nd Street, Jackson Heights, NY 11372 Executive Director: Leslie Ramos 718.335.9421 82ndstreet.org QUICK GLANCE: Budget of $224,000 with more than 200 businesses under its umbrella. The district is on 82nd Street from 37th Avenue to Baxter Avenue. The board meets quarterly with the annual meeting in June.
There are free immigration services every Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 71-29 Roosevelt Avenue. All services are free, confidential and open to any member of the community. Some of the services include DACA, TPS and document replacement and renewal. Call (212) 652-2071 with any questions.
BAYSIDE VILLAGE BID
213-33 39th Avenue, Bayside, NY 11361 Executive Director: Christine Siletti 718.423.2434 info@baysidevillagebid.com QUICK GLANCE: Budget of $218,000 and over 350 members. Founded in 2007, the BID includes commercial property owners and residents on Bell Boulevard between 35th Avenue and Northern Boulevard, as well as a block east and west on 41st Avenue.
BAYSIDE BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
41-16 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361 President: Ed Probst Vice President: Judith Limpert 718.229.2277 info@baysideba.com baysideba.com
Founded in 2007, the BID includes commercial property owners and residents on Bell Boulevard between 35th Avenue and Northern Boulevard, as well as a block east and west on 41st Avenue.
BUSINESS CENTER FOR NEW AMERICANS (BCNA)
78-27 37 Avenue, Jackson Heights, NY 11372 Business Development: Tshering Gurung 347.730.6468 tgurung@nycbcna.org QUICK GLANCE: Since 1997, BCNA has been serving New York City entrepreneurs. BCNA is an approved Small Business Administration Intermediary Lender and a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). BCNA’s Microloan program is the cornerstone of its services. They provide small business loans and microloans to business owners who are not able to obtain loans from traditional lenders.
FOREST HILLS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
PO Box 751123, Forest Hills, NY 11375 President: Leslie Brown 718.268.6565 FHChamber11375@gmail.com FHChamber@aol.com QUICK GLANCE: Re-formed in 1995, the group has over 225 members. Chamber meetings are held on the last Wednesday of the month at 9 a.m. at the West Side Tennis Club, 1 Tennis Place, in Forest Hills.
GATEWAY JFK
Executive Director: Scott Grimm-Lyon 516.730.3400 info@GatewayJFK.org GatewayJFK.org QUICK GLANCE: Formerly the Greater JFK Industrial BID and founded in 2016, the group seeks to provide support to the off-airport air cargo and services district through supplemental services and improvements, technical and professional services for its members, and advocacy and administration.
GREATER FLUSHING CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
39-01 Main Street, Suite 511, Flushing NY 11354 Executive Director: John Choe john@flushingchamber.nyc 646.783.8985 flushingchamber.nyc QUICK GLANCE: Founded in 2014 and representing over 200 businesses.
GREATER JAMAICA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
90-04 161st Street, Jamaica, NY 11432 President: Hope Knight 718.291.0282 gjdc.org QUICK GLANCE: Founded in 1967, the group has 75 members. GJDC’s work expands economic opportunity and improves quality of life for the ethnically and economically diverse residents of Jamaica and for the region at large, which benefits from rational, well-planned, and sustainable metropolitan growth.
84-01 Jamaica Avenue, Woodhaven NY 11421 718.805.0202 gwdcbid@hotmail.com woodhavenbid.com QUICK GLANCE: Budget of $257,000 with more than 350 businesses under its umbrella on Jamaica Avenue from Dexter Court to 100th Street. They are providing free benches for store owners along Jamaica Avenue. They also provide 2.5 and 5 percent home improvement loans.
JAMAICA CENTER BID
161-10 Jamaica Avenue, Suite 419 Jamaica, NY 11432 Executive Director: Jennifer Furioli 718.526.2422 jamaica.nyc @JamCenterBID (Twitter) @jamcenterbid (Instagram) @Jamaica Center BID (Facebook) QUICK GLANCE:Founded in 1979, the Jamaica Center BID serves over 400 businesses on Jamaica Avenue between Sutphin Boulevard and 169th Street. With a budget of over $1 million, the BID’s goal is to promote and maintain Downtown Jamaica as a thriving business hub and an enjoyable destination to shop, work, live and visit.
JFK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
P.O. Box 300687, Jamaica, NY 11430 Executive Director: Clorinda Antonucci President: Al DePhillips Vice President: Joseph Morra JFKCoCExec@gmail.com jfkairportchamberofcommerce.org QUICK GLANCE: Founded in 1978, the group has over 200 members. The chamber was chartered in 1978 by a group of business people in and around JFK Airport. It is the only airport in the nation to have its own Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber seeks to create an environment in which members of the business community can work together to enhance the growth, well being and economic development of the airport community and its aviation industry.
LONG ISLAND CITY PARTNERSHIP
President: Elizabeth Lusskin 718.786.5300 longislandcityqueens.com
Founded in 1979, the Long Island City Partnership advocates for economic development that benefits LIC’s industrial, commercial, cultural and residential sectors. The goal is to attract new businesses to the neighborhood, retain those already here, welcome new residents and visitors, and promote a vibrant and authentic mixed-use community. The LIC Partnership operates the LIC Business
QUEENS CHAMBER PARTNERS & AFFILIATES
Improvement District and the LIC Industrial Business Zone.
MASPETH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
P.O. Box 780265, Maspeth, NY 11378 President: David Daraio 718.335.1300 maspethchamberofcommerce.org QUICK GLANCE: Founded in 1953, they have 120 members and a budget of $115,000.
MASPETH INDUSTRIAL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION (MIBA)
BOC: 96-11 40th Road, Corona, NY 11368 Coordinator: Quincy Ely-Cate 718.205.3773 qelycate@bocnet.org mibanyc.org QUICK GLANCE: Covering roughly 600 businesses with 30 active members, the Maspeth Industrial Business Association provides a collective voice in advocating the needs and interests of industrial and manufacturing business
BY SARA KREVOY
The Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association recently organized its second distribution event to help neighborhood locals struggling with food insecurity during the pandemic.
Residents lined up around the block outside the WRBA office on Jamaica Avenue to collect one of 100 grocery boxes supplied through an initiative launched by FreshDirect and the Office of the Queens Borough President.
“This pandemic brought a lot of problems out,” said WRBA President Stephen Forte. “People are losing their jobs and a lot of them don’t have enough to eat.
“Honestly, it was very surprising to me,” he added. “We got into the game late because we had put out feelers to the community and nobody responded at first.”
WRBA normally acts as a liaison between residents and city agencies, but the office pivoted its efforts to accommodate needs that arose during the pandemic and resulting lock down.
This included starting a weekly newsletter to keep residents informed about what’s happening around the community.
After taking note of the large turnout to a food distribution event in neighboring Ozone Park, Forte and his team decided to sponsor a similar effort in Woodhaven- and the response was overwhelming.
“The line went two blocks,” recalled Forte. The same was true of the most recent food es in Maspeth. They help companies in the Maspeth Industrial District in developing workforce, accessing tax credits, obtaining financing, navigating government regulations and, in some cases, finding real estate.
MIDDLE VILLAGE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
79-47 Metropolitan Ave., Middle Village, NY 11379 President: Salvatore Crifasi 718.894.8700 Sal@Crifasi.com QUICK GLANCE: Budget of $8,000 with 35 businesses under its umbrella. Formed in 1929. MVCC meets annually and focuses on the Metropolitan Avenue shopping district between 69 and 80 th streets. The mission is to improve the area and assist local businesses if they have any concerns or needs.
MYRTLE AVENUE BID
62-14 Myrtle Avenue, Ridgewood, NY 11385 Executive Director: Ted Renz 718.366.3806 drive on July 23.
Care packages, which were distributed by volunteers from the local American Legion Post 188 and its Women’s Auxiliary, included the FreshDirect boxes as well as two pairs of Bomba socks and 10 face masks.
Jenifer Rajkumar, who recently won the Democratic nomination for the 38th Assembly District representing Woodhaven, Ridgewood, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and Glendale, donated 1,000 masks for the event
“Especially now, as we rebuild from the coronavirus,” she said, “it’s more important than ever to have energy and strong leadership QUICK GLANCE: Budget of $500,000 with over 300 retail and service businesses under its purview. Board meetings are held four times a year with the annual meeting in June. The district includes Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood between Fresh Pond Road and Wyckoff Avenue. Program support is provided by the Ridgewood LDC.
QUEENS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
12-55 Queens Boulevard, Room 309 Kew Gardens, NY 11424 Executive Director: Seth Bornstein 718.263.0546 queensny.org QUICK GLANCE: Budget of $1.5 million and a resource for over 2,000 businesses in the borough of Queens. Register online for upcoming virtual events, including:
ROCKAWAY BUSINESS ALLIANCE
info@rockawaybusinessalliance.org
WRBA DISTRIBUTES CARE PACKAGES
Jenifer Rajkumar donated 1,000 masks that were distributed along with the food.
QUICK GLANCE: Budget of $40,000 and a in south Queens.”
Rajkumar, who is a Woodhaven resident herself, reported that her campaign has hosted three additional food drives in the district over the last three weeks. She committed to working with community actors such as WRBA to combat issues such as sanitation and public safety.
As for the block association, Forte says the group will continue to expand and adapt itself to the evolving needs of the neighborhood.
“We do it because we care,” explained Forte, a resident of Woodhaven for 40 years. “We live here and the community is going to be what we make of it.”
