Historic Downtown Flushing Gets Upgrade

Plans for a new area beautification and pedestrian improvement program in downtown Flushing were unanimously approved last week by Community Board 7.
The $5 million project is the latest step in the City Planning Departments (DCP) Downtown Flushing Plan. It was first proposed nearly a decade ago when the 55-block business communitys booming economy made the citys zoning regulations obsolete.
DCP Director Amanda Burden called the project "an excellent opportunity to consolidate and build upon the administrations ongoing efforts to upgrade the vital pedestrian corridors in downtown Flushing." DCP representative Aron Goobler told CB 7 that current plans call for work to begin next spring. The Economic Development Corp. (EDC) will implement the projects financing with federal and city transportation funds.
An exuberant CB 7 District Manager Marilyn Bitterman declared, "Were absolutely thrilled with the announcement. The Department of city Planning shared all our thoughts, ideas and concerns to develop a plan that will enhance downtown Flushing."
The new plans call for the establishment of a historic trail featuring 16 sites, ranging from the nearly 350-year-old Friends Meeting House, on Northern Boulevard, whose efforts helped launch the American tradition of religious freedom, to the 100+ year home of Lewis Latimer, a famous African-American inventor.
Highlighting the trail will be a series of enhanced walkways along 37th and 39th Avenues, which run from the heart of the business district to just past College Point Boulevard. The historic sites are within a 20-minute walking distance of each other. Ultimately, the two pathways will go to the foot of the Flushing River, where the city has already announced plans to construct a public waterfront promenade.
The walkways will also feature brightly-designed signs for visitors unfamiliar with the location of the historic sites, as well as uniquely-designed street lamps to promote pedestrian safety.
Special attention will also be paid to Lippmann Plaza, the busy pedestrian walkway that serves as a link to the Main Street train station which serves 40,000 rush hour commuters every day. The slanted walkway will be regraded, new lighting and seating installed, and special mosaic art will be installed to promote area beautification as well as to help combat graffiti. The plaza will serve as a gateway to a new bus shelter that will be built along 39th Avenue, between Union and 136th Streets.
More development is in store for the busy shopping, commercial and business area. Late last month, the city Economic Development Corporation began examining proposals to provide professional planning services for the further development of downtown Flushing, the nearby Flushing River waterfront, and the Willets Point peninsula, which has been mentioned as a possible site for a sports arena.
As the oldest retail center in Queens, downtown Flushing has recently undergone more than two decades of record-breaking economic growth. During the 1980s, 345,000 square feet of commercial space were constructed in downtown Flushing, and the DCP estimates that three times more space was added during the 90s.
Aided by the city Planning Departments research, and financial assistance by the EDC, the 55-block areas complex zoning rules and its street traffic and mass transit systems have been upgraded during the past 10 years. Still awaiting completion are a giant interconnecting sewer system and a massive underground sewage retention tank that features baseball diamonds on its roof projects that will help clean up the malodorous Flushing River.