Socrates Park, Plaxall, HSBC Honored At LICBDC Luncheon
BY THOMAS COGAN

Photos Luke Adams At the LICBDC Luncheon and Trade Show, the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce table featured (l. to r.) Hiroshi Hatazaki of Ariyoshi Restaurant; Claire Carsen of Nourish NYC; Rita Lowery of Welcome Home Real Estate; Roel Vanderkooi of Assemblymember Catherine Nolan's office; Lily Gavin of Dazies Restaurant; and Arty Weiner of Nelson's Christmas Shoppe.

The Long Island City Business Development Corporation's 20th luncheon and 17th annual trade show, held at Terrace on the Park in mid-November, was perhaps more crowded than last year's presentation, which is not an easy accomplishment. More than 150 exhibitors at the trade show, and a good 2,500 visitors overall, again made it seem the show had outgrown TOP, leaving LICBDC perhaps hoping to exhibit one day in a place like the proposed convention center in Willets Point. But the luncheon celebrants dwelt in the present, where overcrowding was only a problem of success. LICBDC President Gayle Baron hailed not only the luncheon and exhibit but Long Island City itself, where the current building boom has "40 projects in the ground" and "countless" others in preparation. She also gave a tardy birthday greeting to the Long Island City Business Improvement District, which turned two years old in July, and looked forward eagerly to the Jackson Avenue improvement project that is to be launched in 2008. Then it was time to recognize the three honorees for 2007: HSBC Bank USA, Plaxall Inc. and Socrates Sculpture Park, three enterprises reflecting business, the arts and a combination of the two.

Accepting the award for HSBC USA, one of the honorees at the LICBDC Luncheon and Trade Show, was one of its officials, John Kourkoutis. Presenting it was Assemblymember Catherine Nolan.

Socrates Sculpture Park was the first honoree to be presented with the celebratory transparent plaque. Assemblymember Michael Gianaris presented it to Alyson Baker, executive director of the park. She contrasted the land that was, on Vernon Boulevard near Broadway in Astoria, and the park it became: in 1986 it was nothing but a lot that was vacant except for the rubble and illegally dumped trash it contained, and currently it is a thriving enterprise that mounts two exhibitions of large sculpture annually (some of the works being brought in from all over the world) and conducts various locally aimed programs throughout the year. She cited local suppliers that have been vital to the success of these programs and productions. "I could go on and on," she said, after mentioning York Scaffolding and others, and concluded by saying, "I would like to thank LICBDC for recognizing the value of Long Island City's cultural community."

An award was then presented to HSBC Bank USA, which has its Long Island City office at 22-15 43rd Ave., where it stands as the head office of 17 branches in Queens. HSBC is a board member of LICBDC and sponsors several of its events. It is also a member or sponsor of Queens Chamber of Commerce, CityParks Foundation, Queens Medical Society,

Queens Botanical Gardens and the annual Dragon Boat Festival on Meadow Lake each August. Presenting the award to HSBC was Assemblymember Catherine Nolan and accepting it was HSBC's John Kourkoutis, who called himself a Brooklynite with eight years' experience in Queens at HSBC.

The third recipient, Plaxall Inc., came to Long Island City after being uprooted from Flushing. The company was founded by the remarkable Louis H. Pfohl, an engineer, lawyer, architect, designer- and inventor. His invention was a method of plastics manufacturing called thermoforming, and from it he founded Plaxall. He set up operations in Flushing in the late 1940s, in a plant largely of his own design. He was no sooner started than he was stunned to find himself in the path of Robert Moses and eminent domain, two irresistible forces. Because an apartment project was to be built where his Flushing plant stood, he had to abandon it and search until he found a new site, in Long Island City on 46th Avenue. Plaxall has remained there since, and is now in its third generation as a family business. His son, James Pfohl, bought local properties. One result of this has been enhancement of the arts in Long Island City, where artists such as Tadeshi Murakami and Matthew Barney have taken space, architect Richard Meier has set up a model museum and art dealer Jeffrey Deitch has established a studio. Accepting the award for Plaxall was Louis H. Pfohl's grandson and current company president, Matthew Quigley. He remarked that despite the changes coming over Long Island City, there are still several family businesses in operation there.

Speaking briefly at the luncheon, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall praised the "gold standard" rating awarded to the new Citibank building that stands beside the one built earlier in Long Island City and told an anecdote indicating that even traditional business ceremonies are changing there. When the building was opened last month, she said, instead of cutting a ribbon, the celebrants watered the plants on the ground floor.