The Jackson Heights Herald

Rendering of an Amalgamated Bank branch proposed for 78-01 37th Av. Courtesy of Mike Savarese/Miller Savarese Assoc.

Amalgamated Bank is considering a Jackson Heights branch for the corner of 78th Street at 37th Avenue, company representatives said recently.

The proposed 4,000 square-foot branch would occupy a former vitamin shop at 78-01 37th Av, architect Mike Savarese described at a Sep 1 meeting of the community board’s landmarks committee. The branch would also occupy an adjacent empty storefront along 37th Avenue that until this spring was the Newman Jewelers curio shop, he said.

The “boutique-sized” bank would place two automated teller machines and a main entrance inside the corner storefront, which will be lighted around the clock, Savarese said. The remaining interior space would contain four teller windows and room for other customer services. The bank has no intentions of placing ATMs along the building’s exterior, regional manager Carlos Sanchez added.

Alterations to the building’s facade include the installation of new storefront openings, a marquee and signage, according to documents from the city’s landmarks preservation commission. The commission approved those exterior changes on Sep 7. However, it’s not yet known whether Amalgamated Bank has chosen to move forward with the project.

Regional manager Sanchez and a member of architect Savarese’s team did not respond to emailed queries of the project’s status.

Rendering of a proposed six-story apartment building at 37th Avenue and 84th Street. Image courtesy of Charles Knight/Angelo Ng & Anthony Ng Architects.

A six-story apartment building might be constructed along 37th Avenue at 84th Street, where a fire leveled a row of shops earlier this year, representatives for the lot’s owner announced.

If approved by the city’s landmarks preservation commission, the proposed project could place 45 apartments at 84-01 37th Av within Jackson Heights’ historic district, Howard Weiss, the property owner’s lawyer, told the community board’s landmarks committee on Sep 1.

The building also would contain 6,800 square feet of street-level retail space, or enough room for up to four tenants, architect Charles Knight told The Herald via email. A second-floor mezzanine would have 2,100 square feet of commercial space, while an 825-square-foot community space would be available to the building’s commercial tenants or for use as a medical office, he added.

The proposed development contrasts with the one-story storefronts that occupied the lot until February 13, 2010. That morning, fire erupted from a malfunctioning boiler and destroyed 8 of 15 stores there, The New York Times reported. One tenant chased out by the fire – Colony Liquors — has reopened at another 37th Avenue location and was unlikely to return to its former site, property owner Thomas Hu said. However, a furniture store that rented space there might move back, he said.

Committee member VM Gandhi commended Hu for pursuing redevelopment at the site only six months after the fire, but Andrew Ronan, economic-development coordinator for city council member Daniel Dromm (D-25), indicated that some area residents hoped for a smaller structure. District manager Giovanna Reid added that other residents would prefer a recreation center or school on the site.

“There’s strong community outcry of how high the building will go, and there seems to be a disconnect with what the community wants and what the community needs,” Ronan told the committee.

Legal representative Weiss argued that collecting rent on a smaller structure would not be economically viable, and he admitted that the proposed building would block kitchen windows for some residents of an adjacent apartment building on 84th Street. However, the obstruction would not affect the amount of light entering individual apartments, he claimed.

Committee member Gandhi suggested assigning some of the proposed apartments to affordable housing in order to gain “sympathy” from adjacent property owners. Current plans are to price all of the residential units at market value, though Weiss and Hu did not specify whether the 650-square-foot one-bedroom units and the 800-square-foot two-bedroom units would be available as condominiums or co-operative shares, or if they would be rented.

A public hearing on the project will take place before the city’s landmarks preservation commission on Sep 28.