Why Starting Up in Queens is a Great Idea
What is Queens? A) A borough of neighborhoods. B) The most diverse county in the world. C) The home of the two busiest airports in the Northeast. D) The fourth biggest city in the world, if it weren’t incorporated into the Big Apple.All of these statements are true, and it is for these reasons and more that Queens is an up-and-coming location for startups. More than 2.3 million people live in more than 40 distinct neighborhoods. In these communities, one finds a blend of languages, cultures and ethnicities with people from every corner of the globe. The common bond is that Queens has communities where they can use their knowledge, energy, and skills to start and grow businesses.
A DIVERSE HISTORY
By the 1920s, Queens -- especially along the East River -- was the headquarters for many household brands: Eagle Electric, Beech-Nut, Nabisco, and Swingline Staplers. These companies brought tens of thousands of workers to the borough.. Queens was also the site of two World’s Fairs in 1939 and 1964. In some ways these international events were the borough’s greatest economic development projects: highways were built; housing developments were created; and small businesses began to sprout up in our neighborhoods. But the most positive result of the fairs was that people from all over the world came to the borough – and they stayed.Today, Queens is seeing tremendous interest as a place to start a business. This is evident in all areas of the borough, but especially in the hub communities of Long Island City, Flushing and Jamaica. Additionally, neighborhoods around JFK and LaGuardia are poised for growth.
LONG ISLAND CITY
Based on location alone, LIC is a winner. The smokestack industry has been replaced by the service sector and housing. Where the waterfront was once home to warehouses, it is now a new Gold Coast with luxury high rises and ethnic restaurants. Transportation via eight subway lines has been a key to this revitalization. It is easier to get to midtown Manhattan from Queens Plaza than it is from Manhattan’s Upper East or Upper West sides. This one of the reasons Cornell Technicon selected Roosevelt Island for its new campus. The LIC community has many of the attributes tech startups seek when considering locations: new and flexible housing, good cultural and culinary amenities, and access to other tech-savvy businesses (LIC is home to the city’s two great film studios: Kaufman Astoria and Silvercup). Currently, small tech businesses are finding locations in retrofitted buildings such as Standard Motors on Northern Boulevard and smaller co-working spaces.
FLUSHING
At the end of the 7 train, Flushing has seen rapid development in the last 15 years. The centerpiece will be Flushing Commons on the site of the former municipal parking lot. Work has begun on this $800 million project that will bring office, retail, housing and recreational space to the community. Flushing is already a destination of choice for investors from the Pacific Rim. Foodies make their way here for the authentic Pan-Asian cuisines unavailable elsewhere in the city.Adjacent to downtown is Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Once the notorious ash heaps described in the Great Gatsby, the current green space is the legacy of the World’s Fairs and has given us landmark cultural institutions, such as the Queens Museum, New York Hall of Science,Queens Theater, Queens Botanical Garden andUSTA. North of the park is Willets Point, which is soon to be transformed into a new community with housing and retail developments.
JAMAICA
This neighborhood’s central location makes it a nexus for transportation from Long Island and JFK Airport. Downtown Jamaica is one the city’s most important retail districts and home to one of the first business improvement districts in Queens. When the AirTrain opened 10 years ago, it spurred development around the terminal on Sutphin Boulevard. Now, new housing, retail, and a hotel are planned for the area. The in-place industrial park south of downtown has a number of businesses that want to be near JFK Airport.Culturally, a new interest in the arts is blooming. The Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, York College’s Performing Arts Center and the Black Spectrum Theater in Roy Wilkins Park offer regularly scheduled programs ranging from concerts to theater.
Queens has a number of organizations that assist and accelerate business growth. TheQueens Economic Development Corporation offers business counseling, training, and incubator space while the Queens Tourism Council provides information for the growing visitor base. There are two SBA Small Business Development Centers, and the Queens Chamber of Commerce and Coalition for Queens provide information and assistance.