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Rockaway Parkway Merchants Meet To Discuss Improvements
The Rockaway Parkway Merchants' Association met with community leaders during a special dinner on January 24 to discuss various upgrades that need to be implemented along the heavily-trafficked shopping strip from Farragut Road to Flatlands Avenue. According to Rockaway Parkway Merchants' representative Herb Preminger, street enhancements are still in the initial stages. "We've been working diligently with Community Board 18. Streets and sidewalks that need to be repaved have already been included in Department of Transportation's budget," he said. "Over the past several years merchants have expressed that they want the bus terminal next to the L train station improved. As far as we know, the MTA expects to create a more modernized bus terminal within the next five to seven years."
Councilmember Charles Barron and Assemblyman Nick Perry attended the meeting and, says Preminger, indicated a willingness to help the merchants generate more funding. "Barron and Perry showed their full support," said Preminger. "They highlighted the fact that mom and pop stores are the backbone of the community and serve as a fuel engine for economic development." "The merchants want to thank the community for their patronage. We have a great appreciation for those commuters who pass through our businesses and it's important that they feel better about shopping on Rockaway Parkway," he added. Preminger said he hopes merchants can attend regular meetings over the course of the next few months and offer more input on attracting local shoppers. Perry said he has allocated a small grant to the Informed Voices Civic Association, an organization working to help the merchants. "I want to work with the merchants and my colleagues to make Rockaway Parkway more appealing to shoppers," he said. "But a lot more can be gained if there is an increased level of interest among the merchants. The success of their businesses is also dependent on their consistent involvement and in order to truly revitalize the area, they must be a vital and functioning organization." Perry said the current level of involvement among merchants is not substantial enough to obtain funding needed for the revitalization they seek.
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