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Downtown Flushing Improvements
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 Downtown Flushing has become an increasingly chaotic, unattractive and - yes - smelly place over the past decade. Increasingly, store inventory is illegally spilling into the sidewalks, placing pedestrians at risk. Storefronts that once housed one business have a dozen stalls inside. The streets are horribly crowded, the "subway renovation" was a cosmetic job at best and a completely corrupt job at worst (the elevators and escalators are routinely out of service) and sanitary services remain poor. Finally, perhaps the most contentious issue in downtown Flushing has to do with signage. It has become overwhelming and unattractive, with many non-Asian residents trying to guess at what sort of establishment they are in front of. Something has to be done, and soon.
Add to this the fact that downtown Flushing, as the largest intermodal transport point in the United States, has more than 150,000 people going to and from work every day by bus, car, subway, train and foot.
First and foremost: A Business Improvement District (BID) MUST be created. BIDs are semi- governmental organizations which represent the business district in which they are created. The businesses and landlords in the area place a small additional tax upon themselves in order to raise money for the coordination of capital improvements and increased services. As one of the largest retail centers in New York City, and the only one of its size without a BID, it is essential that the Flushing business community "bite the bullet" and form a BID.
Build the Bus Depot - fifty years ago, Flushing had a bus depot. With almost two dozen bus lines converging on Flushing, a new bus depot is critical to lowering air and noise pollution in Downtown, and creating some sense of order for commuters. The Municipal Lot is probably the last place that the Bus Depot can be built in downtown Flushing. The lot could be reconfigured to include both a new parking structure and a bus depot, and in the process could return the land unlawfully taken from Macedonia A.M.E. Church by Robert Moses over fifty years ago.
Streetscape Improvements - although some of the streets in downtown Flushing now have new attractive light fixtures and granite curbs, the entire business district needs to be improved in the same manner. Also, more garbage cans and other pedestrian amenities are needed.
Signage - The signage laws are not being enforced by the Department of Buildings. If the laws are enforced, much of the signage would have to be removed or reconfigured. IT IS ESSENTIAL that all signage be in English as well as the business owner's native tongue.
Go back to PLANS FOR A BETTER FLUSHING |
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