What’s in a name? Don’t ask

Shakespeare first posed the question, “What’s in a name?” as if the issue were trifling. Don’t tell that to Michael Feiner, President of the Bayside Hills Civic Association.
“We have been wondering for years - what is the reason we are called Bayside Hills but some post offices consider us Oakland Gardens, others Flushing, and in actuality, shouldn’t we be called Bayside?”
The issue of postal addresses came to the forefront years ago, when the United States Postal Authority decided to use the location of the central post office which distributed the mail as the “town” portion of the address.
As a result almost all of eastern Queens wound up as either “Flushing” or “Jamaica.” Given the realities of the real estate market, this caused quite a stir in some corners of the borough.
People thought the matter was settled when Congressmember Gary Ackerman got a bill passed which enabled more accurate addressing. Yet Bayside Hills still suffers mis-identity, according to Feiner. Recently, “A couple of residents asked me about it,” and Feiner decided it was time to resurrect the issue.
In a preliminary announcement of the civic’s last meeting before summer recess to be held on Tuesday, June 24 he said, “I have invited experts to help us delve into this issue including Congressman Gary Ackerman, his press secretary Jordan Goldes, and Flushing Postmaster William Rogers.”
The meeting will also include a presentation from the city’s Office of Emergency Management on how to evacuate Bayside Hills in the event of an emergency.
Further, there will be an update on how well the Lawn Litter Bill of Senator Padavan and Mark Weprin is succeeding, and a status report from the 111th Precinct.
The meeting starts at 8 p.m. and the church is located at 54-02 217th Street in Bayside (Hills), near the intersection of Luke Place and Bell Boulevard.