Some Flushing residents who feel alienated by the area’s signage issues, specifically on and around Main Street, created a petition to make English the primary displayed language on storefronts.
Eugene Alan Sadowsky, a retired resident of Flushing, believed that if signs are only in Chinese or Korean, they convey a message of exclusivity to residents who do not speak the language.
He felt that stores that cater to Jews on Jewel Avenue in Fresh Meadows display are examples of welcoming businesses.
“You got English, it’s not just Hebrew lettering, said Sadowsky, who is Jewish.
He did note that the Asian influx into Flushing has changed the neighborhood, for what he believed to be the better.
“The Asian people . . .have picked up Flushing from the street and they made it something again that it hasn’t been since I’ve lived here,” said Sadowsky, 66. “Populated and booming, booming, booming.”
But the signs must be equally presented, he said, alluding to how English versions of signs already in place vary in size, shape and lettering. Sadowsky said he has been living in Flushing since 1957.
A member of Assemblymember Grace Meng’s advisory board on signage, 52-year-old James Trikas has lived in Flushing since birth.
“We won’t alienate them coming in,” said Trikas. “They also should not be alienating us.”
At a meeting in January, Meng, Councilmember Peter Koo and State Senator Toby Stavisky proposed a shopper’s guide with translations of common phrases in Chinese, Korean and Hindi. The pamphlet was originally proposed by Stavisky’s late husband, former State Senator Leonard P. Stavisky.
Peter Tu, executive director of the Flushing Chinese Business Association, stressed that businesses, including restaurants, in Flushing had to put up more signs in English. However, he was unsure if that would attract more exclusively English-speaking customers.
He did not believe that the shopper’s guide would work by putting too much burden on customers and employees.
Mary Ann Boroz, 62, is also a resident on Meng’s advisory board. She believed the translation pamphlet would only create more issues.
“How do we accommodate everybody?” said Boroz.
According to New York State general business law, section 131, any kind of business must display its “true, full name, including the full first name or legally registered trade name or names of the proprietor or owner” prominently in English for all to see.
The state law does not currently specify consistent regulations for sizes and dimensions. It also notes that a violation is grounds for a misdemeanor.
The Department of Buildings (DOB) has more specific provisions, including what type of signs are appropriate for different districts, according to a DOB pamphlet. Still, the question of who will make sure businesses comply with the law still remains.
“There is a law, but no one is really sure who enforces them,” said Meng.
Some members of the board, including Trikas and Boroz, are circulating the petition among residents appealing to elected officials to create penalties for non-compliance and designate an agency responsible for enforcement. Additionally, the secondary language and logo would have to be smaller than the English lettering.
Meng thought this to be confusing, because she has been meeting with residents to flesh out a solution to the issue. She said that during the next meeting, she had planned to discuss, examine and draft legislation, as the petition requests.
She noted that even if the legislation is created, the problems go beyond signage, noting that many of her constituents have a difficult time communicating with store employees who don’t speak the language.
At the meeting, some members of the advisory board contested that when Americans, go abroad, they are expected to learn the language. They believed the same principle should apply for immigrants coming to the U.S.
In a letter sent to Koo, Meng and Stavisky, members of Meng’s advisory board complained that the officials were not “fully representing” the community.
“For several months we have had meeting regarding the use of English in the stores and on their signs. We have gotten nowhere,” the letter stated. “All we hear are what seems to be one excuse after another.”
Meng responded in a statement, saying that she understood the frustrations, but noted that her first priority is to “protect and preserve the many crucial services that may be lost due to the budget crisis, i.e. saving our city’s 105 senior centers.”
