16 THE QUEENS COURIER • FEBRUARY 22, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
New owners revive an Ozone Park pizzeria
BY RYAN KELLEY
rkelley@ridgewoodtimes.com
Twitter @R_Kelley6
A longtime Ozone Park pizzeria
and restaurant has new owners, a
new look and a new menu — but its
identity remains the same.
Aldo’s Pizza & Restaurant held its
grand re-opening on Feb. 19 under
the leadership of Anthony and Joe
Livreri, brothers raised in Glendale
who also own Mr. Bruno’s Pizzeria
in East Elmhurst. Th ey brought with
them a revamped menu with traditional
Sicilian fare and more than 30
varieties of pizza, but upholding the
Aldo’s name was also a priority.
“It’s been here for so long and it’s
got such a good name,” Anthony
Livreri said. “I just wanted to bring
the place back up to what it was. It
was in the wrong hands for a short
period of time.”
When the pizzeria’s namesake
owner, Aldo Calore, retired from the
business in 2014, the new management
made a mess of the place, he
said. When he went to see what the
Livreri brothers had done to renovate
the space, Calore said that he
knew it was in good hands once
again.
“It’s beautiful. Th ese guys know
what they’re doing,” Calore said.
“Th ey do everything excellent and
they go out of their way to buy good
stuff , not cheap.”
Although the Livreri brothers have
been running Aldo’s since Jan. 2, the
dining room was under renovation
and was opened for the fi rst time at
the re-opening party on Monday,
Feb. 19. Th e room was fi lled with
Italian cheer as friends and family
members came to congratulate the
brothers on their latest venture, eat
from a buff et of fresh entrees and
drinks from the updated bar.
Th e brothers describe their new
menu as simple and traditional,
with meals such as lamb chops,
skirt steaks, rib-eye steaks, a variety
of fi sh, pasta and a large selection
of appetizers and salads. Th e
pizza menu is anything but simple,
however, with a brand-new, 26-foot
showcase in the restaurant that is
stocked with everything from buff alo
chicken, Th ai chicken, grandma,
upside down, cheese steak and rigatoni
vodka pies, to rice balls, paninis
and potato croquettes.
Above all, with many years of
experience and multiple successful
restaurants, the Livreri brothers
know that the people are the most
important thing. Th ey used to own a
few places in New Jersey, but coming
back home made Joe Levriri realize
the biggest diff erence with their latest
location.
“Th e people are diff erent in New
York,” said Joe Livreri. “New York
is New York; you can’t change
it no matter where you go. You
could talk to one person and talk
to another person and you feel like
you’re at home, where you’re supposed
to be.”
Vacant lot in Jamaica with potential hotel
plans hits the market with a $3.6M price tag
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A Jamaica lot with approved plans
to build a hotel is up for sale for a
huge asking price.
NAI Queens announced on Feb.
15 that a vacant lot located at 149-
21 through 149-29 Archer Ave. is on
the market with an asking price of
$3,600,000.
Th e 4,027-square-foot lot sits comfortably
on the corner of Archer
Avenue and 150th Street. Just three
blocks away from Long Island Rail
Road, subway lines and the AirTrain,
the lot can cater to residents and
travelers who are looking for easy
access to public transportation to
nearby shops and restaurants.
Th e lot is suitable for residential,
commercial or mixed-use development
and has been approved
for construction of a 15-story,
32,000-square-foot hotel building. A
rendering has been released of the
potential hotel, which would have 72
units, that could be built on the site.
Th e lot is also in close proximity
to York College, Queens County
Family Court, Jamaica Performing
Arts Center, Jamaica Multiplex
Cinemas and King Manor Museum.
Photo courtesy of Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Offi ce.
Mayor Bill de Blasio says he wants New York to be “the
fairest city” in America.
De Blasio makes grand promises
in his plan for a fairer NYC
BY EMILIE RUSCOE
editorial@qns.com / @QNS
Mayor Bill de Blasio outlined not one, but two
broad policy blueprints at the State of the City
address on Feb. 13 in Brooklyn.
Th e fi rst is a 12-point plan to make New York
“the fairest big city in the world,” which builds
on the successes of his fi rst term in offi ce and
renews his commitment to many of his signature
issues. Th e second is a 10-point plan to fortify civic
engagement in New York.
Both position the city — and the mayor —
as nationally infl uential and both help defi ne de
Blasio’s positions on issues that are highly visible
on the national stage.
“Th ree years, 10 months and 15 days: Th at’s how
long this administration has to ensure we become
the fairest big city in America,” de Blasio told
the crowd gathered inside the Kings Th eater on
Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. “We will take on that
mission and we will do it with speed and urgency.”
Th e most well-defi ned initiatives under the “fairest
city” umbrella included the promises that every
NYPD offi ce will wear a body camera by the end of
the 2018; that a “3-K for All” nursery school program
will be citywide by 2021; and that the administration
will work to help create 100,000 jobs that
pay $50,000 or more for New York residents.
He also listed steps the city has taken to expand
its aff ordable housing initiative and to combat the
eff ects of climate change and the opioid epidemic.
De Blasio also touted Th riveNYC, the mental health
initiative spearheaded by fi rst lady Chirlane McCray.
Some of de Blasio’s “fairest city” talking points
lacked specifi city, such as a plan for improvements
at rundown New York City Housing Authority
(NYCHA) facilities in the wake of revelations that
more than 80 percent of the city’s 400,000 offi cial
NYCHA residents have been without heat or hot
water at times this winter.
Other proposed initiatives seemed to provide little
toward advancing the administration’s strategy
for addressing key issues, such as de Blasio’s insistence
on returning to Albany with his oft -thwarted
plan to fi nance work on the subway with a millionaire’s
tax.
Both the “fairest city” agenda and a civic engagement
initiative, called Democracy NYC, build off of
grassroots political momentum resulting from the
2016 election. Th roughout the address, de Blasio
emphasized New York’s role as a national leader.
Early in his speech, de Blasio proudly made the
point that despite a Halloween terrorist attack, New
Yorkers came out in force for that evening’s annual
parade in Greenwich Village.
Th is, said de Blasio, demonstrates something
essential about the character of the city: “We will
not be intimidated, and we will not change.”
Photo by Ryan Kelley/QNS
Joe and Anthony Livreri, owners of Aldo’s Pizza & Restaurant on Cross Bay Boulevard in
Ozone Park.
Photos courtesy of NAI Queens