Community Corner

New Market Tops Agenda At Community Board 11 Meeting

Issues of snow removal also discussed at monthly meeting in Bayside

Get ready for Fairway, northeastern Queens.

Members of Community Board 11 unanimously approved a request from the Manhattan-based grocer to amend a variance allowing as many as four freestanding signs, as well as four on the structure the new market, the former Waldbaum's at Douglaston Plaza.

With one of the last impediments removed, construction at the site is set to begin in early February, according to Daniel Glickberg, the third generation owner of Fairway Market.

Find out what's happening in Bayside-Douglastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The market could open as early as this summer.

"We want to get this market open as soon as possible," said Glickberg, grandson of Russian immigrant Nathan Glickberg, who opened the first Fairway at the corner of 74th Street and Broadway on Manhattan's Upper West Side in 1954.

Find out what's happening in Bayside-Douglastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The variance became necessary when Fairway Market's attorneys realized that the original application capped signage size to 300 feet. 

"We're a little embarrassed that this got in," said Joseph Sollano, chairman of CB11's zoning committee, before the vote was taken. "We are trying to correct that."

Other business at the monthly meeting at Marie Curie Middle School in Bayside included an application to change zoning on a property on 216th Street from residential to commercial — a request that was ultimately rejected by CB11's board after residents aired concerns about parking and the effect of the zoning change on property values.

Continuing questions regarding snow removal also popped up during the meeting, with CB11 chair Jerry Iannece claiming that plows on area streets had their blades six to eight inches off the ground while traveling on snow-covered streets.

Union leaders representing workers with the city Department of Sanitation denied an intentional slowdown or delay in snow removal efforts.

"The city of New York should be ashamed of itself for doing this to the people of the outer boroughs," Iannece said. 

Iannece also said he planned to attend hearings convened by the City Council in Manhattan Jan. 10 to express neighborhood concerns over the pace of snow removal in the wake of last week's blizzard.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Bayside-Douglaston