Councilmember Julissa Ferreras: “The New Deal for Roosevelt Avenue”

“If you take a walk down Roosevelt Avenue, there is no denying that a change needs to be made… my hope is to revitalize Roosevelt Avenue and make it the must-see destination for tourists, business owners and residents alike.” –Council member Julissa Ferreras

• Julissa Ferreras is part of the official Steering Committee of the BID and 82^nd Street Partnership.
• As a member of the City Council, she serves as a direct link between the residents, business owners, property owners and the larger government and its associated parts.
• Ferreras has referred to the Jackson Heights-Corona BID  as a “New Deal for Roosevelt Avenue,” alluding to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s revolutionary economic program of the 1930’s.

Julissa Ferreras presenting the “New Deal for Roosevelt Avenue”

Jackson Heights-Corona BID Map; Areas that will be influenced by the BID

The Seven Points of the “New Deal for Roosevelt Avenue”: 

• Increased sanitation services: 
  • More than doubling of garbage collection, from six times a week to fourteen times a week
  • Addition of fourteen garbage baskets
  • Propagation of “Stomp Out The Litter,” an anti-litter and waste campaign put forth to encourage residents to “keep Roosevelt Avenue clean.” (Press Release, New Deal)

• New lighting and painting 
  • $500,000 of funding to line the streets with more lamposts
  • This will both improve the aesthetic beauty of the streets, as well as enhance the safety of residents
• Better business environment
  • Growth of 82nd Street Partnership–extension to 114th Street.
  • $350,000 in funding towards the implementation of the BID
• Community focused public safety
  • Implementation of new security cameras throughout the community
  • Increased surveillance of streets for illegally parked vans and trucks that have blocked pedestrian walkways and have taken up parking spots
• Updated zoning
  • Commercial rezoning that will allow businesses “…to make improvements to their properties under proper commercial regulations…” (Press Release, New Deal)
• Car free Corona Plaza
  • Corona Plaza is in the process of becoming a full-fledged community center, where residents can socialize with one another in a public space.
  • Partnerships with Queens Economic Development Corp and the Queens Museum of Art to create community-building events

Corona Plaza as a Community Center; Photographed by Neshi Gallindo

• Roosevelt Avenue Task Force:
  • “…[T]he Roosevelt Avenue Task Force will work closely with other elected officials, government agencies, law enforcement, educational institutions, community-based organizations, business groups, individual merchants and community leaders to study the problems [with Roosevelt Avenue] and begin to develop a long-term systematic plan to tackle these complex issues.” (Press Release, New Deal)