Jackson Heights Life

one hurdle  -- not an insurmountable one -- is the 7 train.
whenever i've been on a busy shopping strip under an elevated train, the shops seem slightly more downscale than shopping strips even a block or two away, the vibe grittier. frankly, streets under elevated train tracks just LOOK dirty, dirtier than they actually are, maybe because sunlight is largely blocked. i'm thinking of Brighton Beach Avenue. million dollar oceanfront condos are literally a couple of hundred yards away, but the street is funky, messy, kinda dirty. the same is true in a lot of the southern part of brooklyn and in the bronx.

YES!  I cannot think of any neighborhood where whatever street is under the elevated train is not gross.  Even 31st Street in Astoria, which is at least wider than Roosevelt, is pretty icky.  I used to live on Kings Hwy in Brooklyn and the area under the F train was similarly sketchy, but the area near the N, which was open to the air but below street level (like a little river) was much better.

Going back to the beer thing, though - I had no idea there was any place you could get a growler in the neighborhood!  So excited for this revelation!  Thank you, Jeff!

gothamist has a roundup of the BID process so far

http://gothamist.com/2014/10/09/jackson_heights_bid_battle.php

The 82nd Street Partnership has appointed a new director.

From New York Daily News:

Group behind contentious BID proposal in Jackson Heights appoints a new director

January 2, 2015/ News / Economy / Jackson Heights
Jax Hts BID still voting
By Bill Parry
TimesLedger Newspapers
Contrary to a published report, the project to expand the 82nd Street Business Improvement District from Jackson Heights into
Corona is not on hold but moving forward.
The BID’s new executive director, Leslie Ramos, is concerned that some business owners and residents might be tearing up their
ballots as a result of word on the street since the online article appeared just prior to Christmas.
DNAinfo reported that the 82nd Street Partnership plan “is temporarily on hold” and “the process has been postponed” until the new year.
“The voting has never been closed and that’s something that’s very important for stakeholders to know,” Ramos said. “The process is not on hold. We were just slowed by
events like our Christmas tree lighting and Small Business Saturday. We’ve never been on hold and the ballots are still being accepted. In fact, they can call and we’ll go and
pick them up because at the end of the day this is something the neighborhood wants and we’re moving forward.”
Ramos, a longtime member of the Bloomberg administration, took the position in October after Executive Director Seth Taylor’s surprise departure to assume the leadership
of a BID in Manhattan.
She inherited a controversial proposal that would expand the business district from 82nd Street along Roosevelt Avenue to 104th Street and include Junction Boulevard to
45th Avenue.
The project has created a formidable opposition of anti-gentrification groups among small business owners and vendors along Roosevelt Avenue.
“That’s one of the reasons I came here,” Ramos said. “I’m very passionate about moving this project forward because we can’t have the city grow and flourish while leaving
these neighborhoods behind. I took this to make sure we have a strong business district in a community of color, especially a Latino community. We deserve a neighborhood
as nice as any other.”
The 43-year-old Ramos began her career at the City Office of Management and Budget, where she was in charge of overseeing all agencies responsible for the economic
prosperity of the city, including the Department of Small Business Services, the Economic Development Corporation and the Department of City Planning. She went on to
serve as executive director of the mayor’s Office for Industrial and Manufacturing Businesses, and the assistant commissioner for finance at the Department of Housing
Preservation and Development.
“I only started two months ago and I am still catching up on administrative business,” Ramos said. “This process will take a long time as I’m meeting one-on-one with any
business owner that wants to. I am pressing ahead on this because we need to make sure we don’t allow uneven development. I’m making my way through the community
because at the end of the day we need a stable, long-term and sustainable business section.”
Jax Hts BID still voting • TimesLedger Page 1 of 2
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I haven't seen this exhibit, but it sounds interesting.