The Forest Hills Gardens Blog

Captain Thomas Conforti of the NYPD’s 112^th Precinct told the 112^th Community Council last Wednesday his officers have uncovered a pattern in a string of burglaries that have been plaguing Forest Hills since September.

While burglary isn’t something unheard of in Forest Hills – there have been 14 burglaries in the neighborhood so far this month – one particular modus operandi has been coming up with notable frequency in recent months.

“This is a very distinct pattern,” Conforti said. “They’re going to the back of the building and climbing up the fire escape.”

In every reported burglary, small items were stolen, according to Conforti. These items include laptops, iPads and jewelry.

In the seven months have passed since the pattern emerged, 27 apartments have been burglarized through open fire escape windows, according to Conforti. In all of these cases, multiple apartments were entered, with as many as seven and as few as three apartments being burglarized in a single day.

One of the challenges in addressing this problem for the 112^th Precinct, Conforti told the council, is the infrequency of the incidents.

“What makes it difficult is that it’s not something that happens every day,” Conforti said.

Conforti believes that because his officers have been able to establish a pattern in these burglaries, it could help them thwart this burglar or team of burglars, and they believe another string of burglaries is imminent.

“He’s going to hit us again in a week or so and we have to be prepared,” Conforti said. Still, he added, “I am very confident that in a matter of time we will be able to bring this [to justice].”

Conforti said his best advice is for buildings to install security cameras, for people to remember to lock their windows and for people to be vigilant.

“If you see someone climbing the fire escape, it’s probably them,” Conforti said.

Police say they will be ticketing homeowners if garbage cans are used in spots where it is legal to park.

It’s difficult enough to find a parking spot on Forest Hills streets in any kind of weather. But when piles of snow take up valuable parking real estate on residential Manse Street or Ascan Avenue, some have taken to their private spots on public streets.

On Ascan near Metropolitan Avenue, parking spaces are being saved by garbage cans.

with garbage cans in order to “save a space” in front of their house.

Some snoopy bloggers have been trolling side streets and noticed dozens of spots being saved. And we all know that when one person on your block sees fit to do it, others will seem to follow. On Manse Street near Selfridge a number of spots are taken up by garbage cans.

After serving the Rego Park community for more than 65 years, Joe Abbracciamento’s Restaurant and Catering will close its doors for good on March 2.

John Abbracciamento, who works as the restaurant’s head chef, said on Sunday that he and his wife have decided it’s time for them to retire; both themselves and the restaurant.

“This is my father’s establishment,” Abbracciamento said. “It was established here in 1953 and basically we’ve been running it ever since. Dad passed on in 1999, but this has always been his place, his dream, his sacrifices.”

John and his brother Joseph have kept the place alive ever since.

“We kept it going and now it’s time,” he said “I’m turning 60 and that’s where we’re going with it.”

Joe Abbracciamento originally opened the doors to his restaurant in 1948, then located at Pitkin Avenue on Cross Bay Boulevard, before moving to the current location at 62-96 Woodhaven Boulevard in 1953.

Ten years after settling into the current location, the catering arm of the restaurant was established, and the Abbracciamento family has been serving up traditional American-Italian food ever since.

As one would expect from a traditional American-Italian restaurant that saw Queens through its heyday, the Abbracciamento restaurant has a lot of history, and its closing marks the end of an era.

“It was established in the 50s, and when Queens was Queens in the 60s and the 70s with high-powered net-worth people that lived in this area, they all came here,” said Abbracciamento. “From all the judges and senators to the president, they were here. The place has a very big affection for Geraldine Ferrarro, her family has always supported us through the years.”

Abbracciamento has dedicated his entire life to the restaurant, having worked in some capacity or other in the restaurant since the early 60s.

“My father lived up here in Middle Village, and he’d send me down here at 12 or 13 years old,” he recalled. “He’d give me the keys to the place and he’d tell me, clean everything up, make sure the place is ready and put that pizza oven on.

“Still to the day it scares the hell out of me,” Abbracciamento added. “That brick oven where you have to pull the damper and light the gas, and he always used to say don’t forget that you’re going to explode.”

While the future of the space, Abbracciamento said there will never be another restaurant there as long as he continues to own the property.

“It has been a nice run, and a lot of happiness,” he said. “Hopefully, we did our job for them and no other way could I say thank you very much for all of this.”

De Chen demonstrating how a robotic airplane works.

Engineering for Kids is bringing a unique curriculum to the children of Queens – and it’s right here in the heart of Forest Hills.

The new center at 116-16 Queens Blvd. held an open house recently, welcoming parents and children to come and explore classes like Lego robotics and electronic game design.

De Chen, CEO and owner of Engineering For Kids, hopes to introduce children ages four to 14 to engineering in a fun and creative way, with the hopes of creating a science, technology, engineering and math enrichment program, also known as STEM.

“Parents want their kids exposed to things that they aren’t exposed to in school,” Chen said. “All of these things that we are teaching them at a young age, we are inspiring them to do this in the future. Normally, kids won’t get to see engineering classes until college.”

Along with engineering classes, the center also helps foster creativity, as they allow the children to decide what to build and design.

For example, in their electronic game design class, children create video game heroes and villains and even get to design the world or map for the program. The center also helps enhance children’s social skills through a series of hands-on learning activities.

“It helps them build friendships and it helps them with the concept of teamwork,” said Lupita Chen, program director and teacher for the center. “We always tell them that engineers don’t work alone. They have a huge team working with them.”

While the Engineering For Kids organization has over 60 locations throughout the United States, and even some internationally, this is the first center of its kind in Queens.

“There is a strong initiative by [President] Obama to push STEM because we are competing against China and India,” De Chen explained. “Obama is trying to push for more math and science, and a lot of schools want to incorporate STEM in their curriculum, but you don’t see it in the classroom yet.”

As they filtered in and out of the facility, each child was as eager as the last. “I’ll make sure to finish all my homework early on Wednesday,” said one child that signed up for a weekly afterschool class.

The Chen’s think their open house was successful, not only because kids registered for their classes, but because they were eager to learn engineering.

“Our idea behind Engineering for Kids was to inspire,” said Chen. “The kids are the reward.”

Nearly a year since previous development plans surfaced for the former St. John’s Hospital on Queens Boulevard in Rego Park – across from the Queens Center Mall

The former St. Johns Hospital site is on Queens Blvd. off Woodhaven Blvd. in Rego PArk

Chinese Investment Group, led by developer Steve Wu, purchased the vacant Elmhurst building at 90-02 Queens Blvd. just across the street from Queens Center Mall for a reported $55 million.

Plans include re-developing the 266,322-square-foot hospital, which went bankrupt in 2009, to incorporate a new medical facility, as well as residential, commercial and community space.

Madison Capital Realty (MCR), a commercial real estate firm specializing in debt and equity financing, provided a $38 million first mortgage bridge loan to assist in the most recent acquisition of the building.

“This is a particularly exciting and interesting deal because it highlights several trends we’re seeing in the market,” said Josh Zegen, co-founder and managing member of MRC. “New York has seen multiple hospital closings over the past few years, raising the issue of what happens to these large, centrally located buildings.”

The previous Brooklyn-based developer, 89-52 Queens LLC, received variances that allowed for 148,000 square feet of residential space and 118,213 square feet of commercial and community space.

“Investors now understand the opportunity, and they’re looking to create value through adaptive reuse,” Zegan said. “For MRC, this is exactly the kind of deal we like to finance.”

Community Board 4 district manager Christian Cassagnol said that while the new owners are not required to apply for new variances or address the community board, he still carries some of the same reservations from the last time developers eyed the building.

“The traffic situation is something to worry about, and with limited resources from sanitation down to electrical, it is something to think about,” Cassagnol said.

With a large influx of new residents – an estimated 144 new residential units are planned for the third and sixth floors with a seventh floor penthouse – the board has continued concern over access to the rear parking lot on Hoffman Drive.

Variances obtained by the previous landlord allow for a four-story, 89,601-square-foot parking garage with 290 spaces.

“The real hospital was on Hoffman Dr., and all the way up Hoffman you have to make a right turn to Woodhaven Boulevard and it is 10 blocks before you can come back down to Queens Boulevard,” Cassagnol explained. “If they’re using that parking lot for residents, we’re going to get a lot of illegal U-turns.”

Read more: Forest Hills Times – Former St John s Hospital acquired once again

Forest Hills Gardens residents love to shop on Austin Street. But The Shops at Atlas Park, opened in 2006 and managed by Forest Hills Gardens resident Damon Hemmerdinger, provided a new – indoor/outdoor shopping option. With stores like Stein Mart, Borders and Jos A Bank, the shopping center, by all accounts, seemed to be growing – albeit slowly – and on its way to providing one of the nicest shopping experiences in New York.

In 2011 Macerich, the operators of the Queens Center Mall, took over the operations at Atlas and have slowly been changing the look and feel there. Anchor tenants remain Regal Cinemas, Johnny Rockets and Shiro of Japan – and new tenant Forever 21 seems to breathe some new air into the facility – although some of the larger chain stores have resisted putting roots there.

The industrial properties adjacent to Atlas, owned by the Hemmerdinger family was recently listed for sale and reports have surfaced that Mr. Hemmerdinger had been involved in the planning of a new shopping center. Now a new shopping center is slated for development on Cooper Avenue, just East of the Shops at Atlas Park.

Schuckman Realty, a Woodbury-based real estate firm, was recently selected to manage the site owned by the Hemmerdinger family in a two-phase development process expected for completion by the spring of 2016. Phase one is slated for the fall of 2015.

While Schuckman Realty representatives said they are not prepared to make a comment and have yet to release information as to the types of businesses expected for the new shopping center between 84th St. and the Shops at Atlas Park, they do allude to plans for three anchor tenants and a grocery store in documents outlining the development design.

According to the Schuckman Realty website, they have plans to announce the results of current “negotiations with numerous big box retailers” at a later date.

Although some rumors in the community speculate Target or a Fairway Supermarket, we are not able to substantiate those reports at this time.

Meanwhile, they have released that the, ”suburban style shopping center,” has the possibility for stores and restaurants between 1,000 and 14,500 square feet with outdoor seating and drive-thru options.

With size constraints taken into consideration, Glendale’s Community Board 5 chairman Vincent Arcuri speculated that a Fairway Market could be a possibility for a small-scale grocery store anchor.

“I think Fairway has been going into smaller restaurant type locations in Manhattan,” he suggested.

As for the possibility for success, he added that it all comes down to advertising.

According to Andrew Pavia, a writer for the Queens Ledger Weekly Newspaper Group, the next wave of technology could have people waving their smartphones.

At least that’s what Tim Daly, a co-founder of thinaire believes. According to Pavia’s article published on September 27th in the Forest Hills Times, Daly’s company utilizes technology that is already in use for the purpose of advertising and connecting with consumers.

Thinaire -the leader in NFC (Near Field Communications) technology, has created a small RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Display) tag that hides underneath an advertisement. When a smartphone user waves their device over the tag, hardware inside reads the information and the user is given information on certain products and, in some cases, receives deals.

While speaking to us at the Queens College Business Forum on September 21st, Daly made it clear that the tag cannot steal information like cell phone numbers or data on the phone, and that any information the user provides is voluntary. He said its also easier to use than similar technology already on the market.

“If you put friction into the system, like QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) or different codes where you have to download a special app, you’re going to have drop off,  Daly said. “NFC takes away all that friction because it’s in your phone and you don’t have to turn it on.”

Daly explained that the technology has been around and in use for more than fifteen years.  ”Its been used in warehousing, tracking where pallets are located,” he said.  Thinaire is attempting to to take this technology out of the warehouses and into places like chain restaurants and grocery stores.

Daly also explained that thinaire has the ability to access tags that are already in use and change the content.  In other words, the content in a tag can be updated or altered without completely changing the advertisement or creating a new tag.

Currently, thinaire is working with major manufacturers, but Daly would not disclose specific names.

Daly believes the technology will change the money is exchanged.  ”Ultimately, we’re not going to take credit cards or money out and pay for things, ” he predicted. ‘We’re going to use things like Google Wallet.

“The smartphone has become the most relevant device in my life,” he added.  ”If I need something, if I need immediate gratification, I can get it right here.”

Wow, before we know it, we will no longer be running out of the house with our wallet, keys and cell phone clumsily in hand. Everything will be neatly all in one place…our smartphones! And the technology to do this is coming out of thinaire!

For more information about thinaire, visit their Web site at: www.thinaire.net