REMARKS
Council Member Vickie Paladino expresses frustration over vacant storefronts in her district
1:17:22
·
3 min
Council Member Paladino expresses frustration over vacant storefronts in her district and asks about potential fines for property owners deliberately leaving spaces vacant.
- She says one property owner is purposefully leaving storefronts vacant, creating an eyesore
- She asks if there are any fines or financial consequences for owners not filling vacant stores
- Paladino notes the area used to be a vibrant shopping hub but has declined
- She ties vacant storefronts to concerns over crime deterring small businesses
- Paladino discusses large vacant retail spaces being ransacked
Vickie Paladino
1:17:22
Thank you.
1:17:24
Two things.
1:17:25
Gale brought up a very good point about finding because I just talked about how some of my shopping centers Now they're privately owned.
1:17:36
And I know for a fact that one of my owners because it took him 2 years before he would even talk to me on the phone.
1:17:47
He is deliberately letting these storefronts go, vegan.
1:17:50
It's an eyesore.
1:17:52
Is there any sort finds, you know, when council member brought that up.
1:17:57
I thought that was a really good idea.
1:17:59
Is there any way this is privately owned?
1:18:03
That he could face a financial consequence to the fact that he is deliberately deliberately not filling his stores.
1:18:13
He's owned this shopping center since 1957.
1:18:18
He owns 50 something other ones along with this one.
1:18:23
This is a hub.
1:18:24
This is where I grew up.
1:18:26
It was a go to for people who lived in my community at part of my district known as Whitestone.
1:18:33
And yet the this has become not a nice place to be.
1:18:38
So I was just wondering, that makes a lot I thought that makes You know, I hate penalizing people with fines.
1:18:48
But if it's the only thing that's really gonna shake them up, and there's some sort of consequence.
1:18:55
Only then are we going to see?
1:18:58
Something really happened here.
1:19:00
You know, we're talking about We can't sugarcoat the fact that there's rampant crime.
1:19:08
In the city, which is preventing people from opening small businesses in what was once good areas to go to.
1:19:20
You know, you my my chairman here has brought up a very good point.
1:19:25
You had to row a very nice stores at one time, and now they're empty.
1:19:29
They're empty since COVID.
1:19:31
Most of them.
1:19:32
Right?
1:19:32
Pre COVID, host COVID.
1:19:34
They never could rent again.
1:19:36
You have one guy who wants to go in and put in a really nice restaurant, something small, something cute.
1:19:42
And he's afraid or she's afraid to do that.
1:19:45
Because there while RDA in white in in in in in Queens is doing her with the passport situation, and we work very closely with our precincts.
1:19:55
We all know there's not enough cops to do the job.
1:19:59
We know that there's security people that are standing guard cannot stop what's happening.
1:20:06
So let me go back.
1:20:08
I diverted.
1:20:09
I'm sorry.
1:20:09
Let me go back to these large box stores as a cast member brew broke up.
1:20:17
Brought up.
1:20:17
We have it also.
1:20:19
A what once was a very large wallbounds.
1:20:22
They broke it into a CVS.
1:20:25
Anna and now North or farms, and they're being ransacked back CVS, and they're facing closure.
1:20:33
So I guess if we come back to empty storefronts, stay on the topic, like, empty storefronts.
1:20:39
And what kind of what can we do?
