Putting the “Park” back in Midland Parkway

Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski and City Councilmember James F. Gennaro (center left, right) ceremonially break ground on the $787,000 restoration and greening of seven malls along Midland Parkway between Hillside Avenue and Surrey Place.
Joining them at the Thursday, June 7 event are community activists Ed Linenschmidt and Ed Morrill, Jamaica Estates Association President Michael Bookbinder, and Jamaica Estates Association Chair Arthur Flug (left to right).
The gatehouse to the century-old upscale community, which houses a memorial to 10 Jamaica Estates residents who died fighting World War II, is also being restored, thanks to $550,000 from Gennaro and $237,000 from Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The seven malls have been planted with a range of trees, shrubs and flowers, including dogwoods, yews, hydrangea and euonymus, that greatly enhance the street. At Surrey Place - the north end of the parkway - four small islands are now reconstructed. One of the islands is encircled with granite block and planted with liriope, of the lily family.