Queens Chronicle: Dromm protest vacant MTA retail spaces at Jackson Hts. station

From Queens Chronicle: by Willow Belden

Since the Metropolitan Transportation Authority renovated the subway station at 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, several retail spaces on the station’s street and mezzanine levels have stood empty, and elected officials say that should change.

Assemblymen Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights) and Michael Den Dekker (D-Jackson Heights), along with City Councilman-elect Danny Dromm and several community leaders, gathered outside the station Wednesday morning requesting that the MTA rent out the spaces.

They said the transit authority could bring in much-needed revenue and added that the neighborhood would gain a more welcoming face without boarded-up storefronts.

“Before the MTA starts to implement any service cuts at all, it should check all available financial resources, such as the leasing of MTA property and all other revenue sources they have,” DenDekker said.

Peralta echoed those sentiments. “Suitable funding sources, like the ones at the 74th Street station, are available yet they are not included in the financial equation,” he said.

Dromm added that the community is suffering because of the vacancies.

“People get out of the subway, and the first thing they see are these boarded-up stores, and it’s really a blight on the neighborhood,” he said.

The MTA says it has already rented out six stores and four news stands at the station and added that it is working to have tenants in the rest as soon as possible.

One of the largest empty stores, a 4,000-square-foot facility, is slated to become a bakery and coffee shop, according to spokesman Kevin Ortiz, but is running behind schedule because of problems with the architect. Ortiz said the tenant has paid a security deposit but couldn’t say when the cafe will open.