Long Island City’s gain is a loss for struggling businesses in central Queens after New York’s hometown airline departed Forest Hills.
JetBlue moved about 900 employees from its headquarters on Queens Blvd. and Union Turnpike to a state-of-the-art facility in Queens Plaza last week.
And now local merchants that were supported by airline workers are beginning to feel the pinch.
“I’m sorry Forest Hills wasn’t able to keep them here,” said Leslie Brown, president of the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce. “Hopefully, [we’ll] get another big client to fill those spaces.”
Con Edison, which has about 80 public relations and support staff in the same Forest Hills Tower, is also moving out. Some employees left Friday and the rest are set to move out by the end of the year, a Con Edison spokesman said.
Rikin Patel, 23, who works at Mini LLC, a snack shop in the lobby of the Forest Hills Tower, said he’s hoping to hold on until a new client moves into the building. But business has dropped 50% since JetBlue left, he said.
“It’s too early to tell if we’ll survive,” said Patel, who is now covering operating costs out of pocket. “Everybody’s struggling.”
Angelo Rosselli, one of the owners of Michaelangelo’s Pizza, said he isn’t sure his Queens Blvd. shop will stay afloat either.
“We’re going to try,” said Rosselli, who estimated business was down 30% since JetBlue flew the coop. “But if there’s no people, how are we going to survive?”
The pizzeria started running lunch and dinner specials and lowered the price of a large pie from $15 to $12 to bring in new customers, he said.
“We need more people,” Rosselli said. “It’s very bad.”
Muss Development, which owns the 17-story tower where JetBlue had occupied 10 stories, was mum on who the next tenants might be.
However, Ken Siegel, international managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle, which is marketing the space, said interest in the tower has been “intense.”
“Its amenities, panoramic views of all five boroughs and proximity to highways, airports and public transportation make it a coveted location for tenants of all sizes,” he said in a statement.
Sources confirmed that Plaza College, a Jackson Heights business and health school, is looking at renting one of the vacant floors for its roughly 140 staffers and 700 students. But the deal is still being negotiated.
The Queens District Attorney’s Office is also said to be eyeing the empty floors to consolidate offices scattered in various locations.
“We have a chronic need for additional space,” said spokeswoman Meris Campbell. “However, any talk of the district attorney’s moving is merely speculation at this point as no specific location has been selected.”
JetBlue had looked into moving to another city once its Forest Hills lease expired this year. The discount airline was offered $30 million in tax breaks and subsidies to stay. The airline announced in 2010 that it would move to Long Island City.
But that decision didn’t bode well for Patel, Rosselli and other local merchants who said they are hoping a large company will soon take JetBlue’s place.
Jack Friedman, executive director of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, said the building won’t be vacant for long.
“It’s hard to find an area that’s got a parking lot underneath with great mass transit access,” Friedman said. “Space like this is hard to come by.”
