Jackson Heights Life

If you haven't seen Jackson Heights' newest garden, take a walk by the Post Office on 37th Avenue. (See attached photo.) It looks pretty good now and will be looking great starting in a few weeks when the blooms start.
Last fall we had more than two dozen shrubs planted along the rear of the PO's two garden sections; on Friday past we had 102 perennials, many of them natives planted. Many attract beneficial insects. That includes 10 flowering milkweeds, the essential plant for Monarch butterflies. It's the only plant on which they lay their eggs. Among the other natives, black-eye Susans and Echinacea.
JHBG has been working on this garden for more than two years: obtaining the funding, getting Post Office permission and many other steps that you never envision when you first start a project.
It's all part of one of JHBG'S key callings: environmental sustainability, as in bringing Mother Nature back to the City.
On a related point, you may have already noticed that our Curbside Tree Gardens along 37th Avenue from 74th Street to 87th Street (as well as a stretch of 75th Street.) are looking colorful. While the Post Office was planted by a contractor because it was such a big project, we rely on Tree LC volunteers for the tree gardens. So please think about getting involved. Our next tree garden session is this SUNDAY, 10 a.m. We meet at 37th Ave and 80th Street. Get involved in your community. You might find you love it. 

We will tell you how you can help tame this threat, but first the details.

It's no secret that high-rises well above the six-stories that's been the max in Jackson Heights will be rising here. At least five buildings that would break though that ceiling are proposed, approved or under construction - including two 13-story buildings - a photo of one we've attached here. The Jackson Heights Beautification Group (JHBG) the Queensboro Houses Association and others included at least one elected official are pushing city government act on our seven-year-old application to expand the existing landmark district before it is too late.

First, let's get one thing out of the way.  We are not trying to freeze all development or prevent new housing from being built. We will explain later,  but back to the threat.

We've already seen massive development in Long Island City and part of Astoria, as well as Flushing and other parts of Queens, now it appears to be JH's turn. Several months ago a developer bought two, two-story brick buildings on 89th Street off 37th Avenue and filed plans to put up a nine-story building there. This should SCARE you if like JH's planned mix of smaller buildings with apartment buildings because this is the first time developers bought multi-family buildings in Jackson Heights in order to tear them down to put up much bigger structures.

Think about this: these will not contain so-called affordable apartments (even those not affordable for most local renters,) but they will burden our local infrastructure: our already crowded transit system, parks, schools and streets.

As we said above landmarking does not halt development, witness the six-story building that went up on 37th Avenue near 84th Street a few years back or "Kelly's Manor," a five-story building to replace a one-story structure already approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

What land DOES do is it requires new buildings to fit in with the character of our neighborhood. The fact is
the buildings and their gardens outside the historic district are of the same high quality of the buildings designated as an historic district in 1993. 

How you can help:
Remember, complaining about how bad this is on this or other site won't help.
Instead, contact Landmarks Preservation Commission Executive Director, Sarah Carroll.
1. Place "Expand the Jackson Heights Historic District" in subject line or atop your letter.
2. Tell her know why the landmark extension is important to you. USE YOUR OWN WORDS, but you may want to cover some of these ideas:
* The buildings in the proposed district extension are just as worthy as those within the existing district.
* Jackson Heights' architecture and building gardens create a distinctive and beautiful community appreciated by NYC’s most diverse population.
You can email her at: scarroll@lpc.nyc.gov

and please copy us at expandJHdistrict@gmail.com

Or write her at:
NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission Executive Director Sarah Carroll.
The Municipal Building
1 Centre Street, 9th Floor North
New York, NY 10007

Many things have changed; many have not.

Martin Luther King Candlelight Community Vigil
When: Wednesday, April 4th from 7 PM
Where: Post Office

Organized by: Catalina Cruz, City Council Member Daniel Dromm, Jackson Heights Beautification Group, Jackson Heights Green Alliance, Newtown Civic Association, New Visions Democratic Club, Elmhurst Preservation and Cemeteries Society, Friends of Diversity Plaza, and community leaders and members.

The two-story theater building on 82nd Street that's already been demolished would be replaced by a 13-story tower, with 128-space garage that is likely to worsen already difficult traffic.

A public hearing on the plan is set for Tuesday, March 13 at 7 p.m. at Elmhurst Hospital, Room A122. The developer is seeking a zone change that would permit construction of 13 floors, four more than now permitted.

Check out story in the Jackson Heights Post:
https://jacksonheightspost.com/developers-aim-build-13-story-building-former-jackson-heights-cinema-site-seek-rezoning



https://jacksonheightspost.com/developers-aim-build-13-story-building-former-jackson-heights-cinema-site-seek-rezoning

Needed now more than ever:
A day of remembrance and action.
Monday, Jan. 15, 9:30 a.m., Martin Luther King-Mitzvah Day. The Renaissance Charter School, 81th Street and 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights.

Please see attached flyer.

It's JHBG's Donate in December drive, the month when nearly one-third of all contributions are made to nonprofit organizations like ours. We hope you will donate to us.
You know JHBG; we run a long list of programs that help make Jackson Heights a great place to live (which you can find on our website jhbg.org and FB page.
ALSO please consider a contribution to organizations that help the homeless, hungry, ill, etc. -- folks who are in a far less comfortable place this winter than most of us.
Donate to JHBG here:
www.jhbg.org/donate
Happy Holidays to all and thank you.

Len Maniace
President Jackson Heights Beautification Group

Giving Tuesday is nearly here. GT is a national observance to encourage us to give to charities and volunteer organizations that make our lives better. We hope you will consider a gift to JHBG, the Jackson Heights Beautification Group. Here is a link to our website: www.jhbg.org/donate
You know us. We’re the folks who bring you the Halloween Parade, the Christmas-Hanukkah festivities at the Post Office, the Jackson Heights Orchestra and Summer Sundays in the Parks; we run the JH Scraps compost center, advocate for parks/open space and programs that green the neighborhood and make it more environmentally sustainable; we remove graffiti, provide a park to walk your pooch, support our landmark district, run an annual children’s art contest, provide info on local schools, and produce this newsletter. Whew! And we do this with volunteers.
But just because we are volunteers, doesn’t mean the programs we run are without cost.
Donations are often matched by employers so check on the policy at your workplace.
Through all of these programs, we think we make Jackson Heights a friendlier neighborhood, a place where it’s not unusual to run into friends while picking up groceries or heading to the subway for work – in short, a small town in the big city.

We will have a Christmas Tree ornament-making workshop, Christmas and Hanukkah music, hot chocolate and festive desserts at the Jackson Heights Post Office Saturday, Dec. 9. Will start in late afternoon. Details to follow. See you then.