GJDC installs new chair

The Greater Jamaica Development Corporation (GJDC) installed Lamont R. Bailey, Esq. as the new chair of the organization at its 40th Annual Membership Meeting on Tuesday, June 5.
Borough President Helen Marshall was also on hand to welcome Bailey and thank the former chair, David Kotheimer, for all the work he has done for the organization.
Bailey, a partner in the law firm Hopkins, Lawrence & Bailey, P.C., has been a member of the GJDC for 12 years as a director and vice-chair.
In his new role, he has set out three ideas for the greater Jamaica area, with efforts centralized on the congested business district.
One of these would be a community-owned and operated commercial project for downtown Jamaica. Another, an “Ambassadors Program” of sorts, would help to get the word out about the organization to the media and other institutions, through word of mouth by all involved in the organization, which lacks a press department.
The last involves what is called “Incomplete Public Investments” that have been built in Jamaica, primarily because of the lack of parking spaces, which is a huge problem for those who work in and visit the area.
“The downtown streets have become more congested then they should be,” commented GJDC President Carlisle Towery. “We have to provide, with the city, more areas for parking,” especially on the neighborhood’s west side, which, he said, is facing a “critical deficit” in off-street parking.
In addition to the new ventures, the GJDC will continue on other projects, like converting the Long Island Rail Road dumpsite by the AirTrain into an arcade, or an “Airport Village” of sorts, including commercial businesses and a hotel. They are also vying to build more affordable housing and business space in the Parsons Corridor, along 161st Street.
As well as honoring Bailey and Kotheimer, the GJDC welcomed five new directors and six new members, who will “bring impressive power and spirit” to the organization, said Towery. The diverse board, “representing the constituency” of Jamaica, looks to further their plans to enhance the greater Jamaica area and support development to realize the neighborhood’s potential.
The new directors are: Daniel Marks Cohen, Vice President and Development Specialist for ING Clarion Partners; Carolene Eaddy, a Compliance Officer and Counsel to Hearst Corporation; H. Sidney Holmes III, corporate partner of Winston & Strawn LLP in New York; Adam Ostrach, Senior Vice President of North Fork Bank; and Carlos Soto, Senior Vice President and Queens District Executive for HSBC Bank USA.
The new members welcomed include Justin Bernbach, Managing Director of Corporate Affairs at American Airlines; Pat Edwards, Vice President and Queens Community Relations Director at Citibank; Michel Hodge, Director of CUNY’s Aviation Institute at York College; Frederica Elena Brown Jeffries, Esq., Supervising Assistant District Attorney for Special Prosecutions at the Queens District Attorney’s Office; Jodi M. Morris, Managing Director of The GRADS Foundation, Inc.; and Brian J. Sarath, Resident Manager for Massey Knakal Realty Services.
In addition to appointing the new directors and welcoming the new members, the organization re-elected 26 members and six directors.