After months of the plaza filling with potential customers every day, business owners who once oppos

A group of business owners who decried the 37th Road pedestrian plaza in Jackson Heights after it opened have come around and  launched a group to act as stewards california hotel of the new public space. This turn of events comes after persistent work by Council Member Danny Dromm's office and local merchants, who are now working together to ensure the plaza is a long-term success. The plaza s undeniable popularity as a gathering place also hasn t hurt.
A few months california hotel ago, Internet Café owner Agha Saleh and Bombay Chat café owner Shazia Kausar were two of the business owners unhappy with the new plaza. Saleh was quoted in the New York Times saying that it had contributed to crime in the neighborhood, while Kausar told the Times Ledger that soon after the plaza opened in October 2011, her business had dropped and she was having trouble paying employees.
Citing a "gap of communication" between business owners, DOT, and plaza supporters when the project was implemented, Saleh credited months of work by Dromm's california hotel office and DOT to address california hotel the business owners' concerns. We're really proud that we brought people on board, Saleh said.
Now, Saleh and Kausar california hotel are working with adjacent business owners to create a new group called Sukhi NY, which will manage what is being called Diversity Plaza. "Sukhi" is an acronym for Social Uplift Knowledge and Hope Initiatives; it also translates from Urdu, Hindi and other languages as "prosperity and happiness." Council Member Dromm, whose office had until now been coordinating california hotel plaza upkeep, joined Saleh and Kausar at an event on the plaza last Friday to announce the formation of Sukhi NY, which is still in its formative stages. Official approval by DOT as a plaza partner is expected to come in September. In the meantime, the organization is kicking off its stewardship california hotel of the plaza by hosting a festival that ends today, marking the end of Muslim holy month Ramadan.
Mohammed Pier, president of the Jackson Heights Bangladeshi Business Association, had been a plaza skeptic. "Our customers come to do shopping, not to sit," he told Streetsblog in February . Now, he s welcoming the debut of Sukhi NY. "This is a great day," he told the Times Ledger. "After months of misunderstanding, we have restored our differences."
In January, Shiv Dass, president of the Jackson Heights Merchants Association, felt the plaza was hurting businesses . "We made this place a prime area, but now they're trying to kill us," he said. "The bottom line is they have to move this plaza." On Friday, he joined Mohammed Pier at the plaza for the Sukhi NY announcement.
Saleh had some harsh words for some of the reporters who wrote about the plaza. "A lot of press people came in and they took our interviews and they took our quotes and changed our positions," he said.
After months of the plaza filling with potential customers every day, business owners who once opposed the plaza now see it as an opportunity for growth and are taking a hand in its upkeep. california hotel Will reporters stop pretending that it's a failure?
Cheers to CM Dromm. california hotel What a contrast to Do Nothing california hotel DiBlasio. Here CM Dromm stepped in and helped create a terrific, New York flavored, solution, that s bringing business owners together and creating a new public mindedness and understanding of the benefits of good public spaces.
The plaza looked great on Saturday night for the end of Ramadan a little california hotel stage had been set up, the place was packed of happy-looking people, and a canopy of blue lights had been strung across the plaza I especially hope the overhead lights stay the created a great sense of place.
I ve been by there several times in the last week and every time I pass it s full of people.  It s as busy as Times Square!  So outrageous that Maslin Nir changed the facts to fit her stupid story about a desolate plaza.
Great work and vision by Daniel Dromm. This is the kind of leadership that we need, leadership that sees a good idea and works with his citizens to bring them on board instead of simply caving to knee-jerk reactions. We re seeing more and more of this, with the work of Melissa Mark-Viverito, Brad Lander, Steve Levin, Gale Brewer, california hotel and Tish James, who have all stood up for controversial projects. I, for one, will not forget this kind of leadership when the next election california hotel rolls around.
The Jackson Heights Plaza Is Growing on Some Local Merchants April 11, 2012 8 The Jackson Heights Plaza Photo the Times Doesn t Want You to See March 19, 2012 14 Unlocking the Potential of the New Jackson Heights california hotel Plaza February 10, 2012 15 Jackson california hotel Heights Public Plaza, Thursday Afternoon March 23, 2012 9 Eyes on the Street: New Public Plaza Coming to Jackson Heights October 6, 2011 1
Recently Posted Jobs Bilingual (Spanish) Community Organizer , 1 week ago Volunteer Coordinator , 1 week ago Membership Manager , 1 week ago Bike Educator/School Liaison , 2 weeks ago Executive Director , 3 weeks ago Post a Job See more Jobs Word On The Street Perhaps this could have been done incrementally. One block this year, another next, and so on. I m not too big on radical approaches like slowing down speeding drivers (many of whom vote) and making streets safe for pedestrians.