Blackout Concerns Still Dog Sunnyside Chamber
BY THOMAS COGAN

The Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon at Dazies Restaurant on Queens Boulevard does not occur in July and August, so at the September meeting that opened the 2006-07 meeting year, the major topic occupying everyone present was the mid-July power outage that left many in Woodside, Sunnyside, Astoria and Long Island City powerless in more ways than one, some well into August. At the luncheon, it was plain to hear that there was still a lot of rage over Con Edison's handling of the crisis, and the damaged state in which many local business owners currently find themselves. But there were other things to talk about too, including the positive news that the Sunnyside Business Improvement District (BID) may actually be in operation by next spring.

The meeting was held on September 12, the day of the primary election. Guest speaker Assemblymember Catherine Nolan was delayed, so Congressmember Joseph Crowley, who happened to be in the area stood in for her to get the meeting started. He recalled one instance of Con Ed's being oblivious to the crisis by saying that the many apartments of Cosmopolitan Houses on 67th and Broadway had no power for six days before Con Ed realized it. He said that the century-old power grid would continue to be vulnerable and envisioned a time when smaller units would be delivering energy to numbers of residences and businesses. Solar power, which he saw in operation on a trip to Silicon Valley in California, is the key, he said. It is steadily being made more efficient, he asserted, while deploring the government's unwillingness to give tax breaks for solar panel installation. It is imperative, he said, that we escape our dependency on foreign petroleum and start "bringing wealth to middle America rather than sending it to the Middle East."

Jeremy Stone, a representative from Seedco Financial Services, was present to say that Seedco was appointed by the city Department of Small Business Services to handle loans to local businesses affected by the power failure. Loans can be as much as $10,000 per applicant and are interest-free for the first two years. He said that more than $1 million has been lent in Sunnyside in the wake of the crisis.

Nolan, when she arrived, declared that constant pressure must be exerted on Con Edison to make the utility fulfill its obligations to those who suffered business or personal misfortune during the power failure. She asked about the general status of local business right now, and SCC President John Vogt said he has been fending the frustration of many business owners, assuring them that aid will come from Con Ed, DSBS/Seedco or the Small Business Administration. Angus GrieveSmith, an SCC member, asked why the Public Service Commission is not militantly after Con Ed, instead of "sidestepping everything," as Vogt accused it of doing. Nolan said that the spirit of deregulation, "the Zeitgeist of the time" has been so in force in recent years that the PSC has been changed from an aggressive body to a passive one. She suggested that the chamber invite a PSC official to a luncheon meeting.

Before the power failure, the parking situation in Sunnyside generated grounds for complaint, and still does. Vogt said that when the neighborhood was polled about its concerns by those attempting to establish a BID, parking turned out to be the biggest one. Since then, the Department of Transportation has restricted parking further and may go further still. Parking sites on Queens Boulevard under the No. 7 viaduct have been reduced, and further reductions would have a negative effect on local businesses, the SCC president said. But Vogt had reason for enthusiasm too. He said the drive to establish a BID for Sunnyside on Greenpoint Avenue, Queens Boulevard and 39th Street is in its final stages and the Business Improvement District should be a fulfilled dream early in 2007.

By the time the BID is up and running, work on refurbishing the Sunnyside arch, opposite the Bliss Street station on the No. 7 line, should be well advanced, with the BID in charge of the funds for that project, which have come from both city and state. The No. 7 viaduct and the train line itself brought Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer of the Queens Council on the Arts to the meeting. She announced that the QCA wishes to revise its brochure about the No. 7 line, published in 2004, and in the process improve the photographs and text, particularly the material that describes Sunnyside.

Detective Glenn Yule informed the luncheon audience that the current strength of the 108th Police Precinct is 138 officers, down from 143 at this time last year. He said also that in 2005, the 108th led all 76 precincts in the city in the rate of crime reduction.

Jimmy Van Bramer of the Queens Borough Public Library said that the Woodside branch at 54-22 Skillman Ave. would have a grand reopening Friday, September 22, after being closed for renovations since June. The Sunnyside branch at 43-06 Greenpoint Ave., is due for renovation soon, though Van Bramer didn't specify a closing date or expected time until completion.