By Jennifer Warren
Last week after six years as the chamber's executive director, Collett stepped down from his position. He cited financial reasons for leaving the part-time post and intends to teach full-time in New York's public schools.
“I think collectively we have achieved a lot and I'll look forward to sharing what I've learned on the job over the years with my students,” Collett said. “Hopefully, we'll be able to pass on some of the knowledge to the next generation coming up.”
During his 17-year tenure with the Chamber of Commerce, Collett served as president and vice president in addition to executive director. He worked on projects ranging from zoning issues to creating children's coloring books alerting young Forest Hills residents to safety issues. In the end, it was all in the interest of fostering the commercial and community development of Forest Hills.
Other projects were somewhat rockier. Last winter after a clash over finances, three of the chamber's board members were fired. A merchant group they had loosely formed years before, The Austin-Continental United Merchants Group, officially incorporated soon after they were ousted.
Collett said the rift came as the merchant group insisted Austin Street and Continental Avenue businesses should be the chamber's priority and that advertising should be geared to a more focused market.
“The chamber's perspective was a little broader,” Collett said.
But Collett prefers to focus on the achievements, like the renovations to the Long Island Rail Road station, the expected renovations to the 71st Street-Continental Avenue Station and, of course, the eagerly anticipated 31 bishop's crooks street lamps.
Colette, a third-generation Forest Hills resident, first joined the chamber in 1983 as the proprietor of the crafts shop Hobbies 'N Such. The business closed in 1994 due to rising commercial rents, which had pushed the store further up Austin Street to other sites until it was well past Ascan Avenue. But after the store shut down, the board offered Collette the position of director to keep him in the area
Now, however, Collette is thinking somewhat tentatively about the students he is teaching now as a substitute.
“I enjoy working with young people,” he said. “I haven't committed 100 percent yet, but if I can get a kid to enjoy math, that's a big ego boost for me.”
