WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 5, 2017 17 WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES FEBRUARY JANUARY 23, 2017 5, 2017 17 Dining out in Europe but on Long Island LETTERS AND COMMENTS LETTERS AND COMMENTS MISDEMEANOR ISN’T STRONG ENOUGH FOR SUBWAY ATTACKER Regarding Patt Mahony, the man who allegedly pushed a woman down a fl ight of stairs at a Forest Hills train station. Mahony faces a misdemeanor assault charge. Misdemeanor?? Push someone down the stairs and it is a misdemeanor? That’s wrong. Victoria’s Secrets QUEENS BOULEVARD BIKE LANES AREN’T One of the great luxuries of my life is eating out. With my busy life, now with my children grown and with their own families, I don’t have to rush home after work to make dinner. I’m an expert chef for breakfast, my favorite meal, but dinner creations were never my priority and after a long day, nothing beats being served. Now my great pleasure is dining out with my family, friends, clients and dates, and relishing the service, the food and the ambiance of a restaurant. This week, I had lunch at a magical restaurant nestled on the second floor of the famous Oheka Castle. Having built a reputation as the finest catering hall and intimate hotel, it has recently opened for lunch and dinner overlooking the Versailles-like gardens and acres of land surrounding the unique mansion. I drove down the busy, highly trafficked Jericho Turnpike corridor, passing the Crest Hollow Country Club and Woodbury Country Club nearing the end of the Nassau border and entering Suffolk’s Cold Spring Harbor. On my left were large eggshell-painted stucco walls with the Oheka Castle name elegantly announced. I took the winding road past many homes set on the vast property and came to the gates to the castle. A woman stepped out of a crevice in the wall and asked my purpose and within seconds the black wrought-iron gates opened, revealing a cobblestone road leading up to the old world Gold Coast mansion. It has been lovingly restored by the present owner Gary Melius who, with his daughter Nancy, reigns over the unique Otto Kahn estate. Built in the 1920s as a 104,000-square-foot French-style chateau on the highest point on Long Island on a 443-acre plot, it had cost over $11 million (in today’s money, equal to $110 million) and served Kahn as his summer home, to which he invited the stars and royalty of the day to visit his 127-room estate for lavish parties. After Kahn’s death, the proud estate went through a drastic decline. It was a military academy for 30 years and was then abandoned and vandalized for five years with many acres sold off. In 1984, Gary bought the then 60-acre property and began lovingly restoring it to its old glory. He has recreated and restored the stately rooms and recently added more art that had once decorated the castle’s walls. About 10 years ago I was honored at a dinner dance by a Long Island group held at Oheka and as part of my “gift,” stayed overnight in one of the elegant suites. It’s a memory I cherish to this day. So when my friend and talented decorator Marilyn Rosen invited me for lunch with Gary and Nancy, I was delighted to return. It was even more beautiful than I remembered! I felt like Cinderella arriving at the ball. Coming up the elegant grand staircase, I held onto the recreated handcrafted wrought-iron railings as I walked through the $50 million renovated space. I passed the Charlie Chaplin Room, filled with memorabilia collected after his visit there. I then made my way into the dark paneled bar with small tables and into the lofty rectangular room with large, floor-to-ceiling windows facing the gardens that replicate Versailles. Even in the winter, the light and the view of the endless grounds made me feel that I was sitting in a chateau in France. Attention to every detail has earned Oheka Castle the recognition of being in the National Register of Historic Places and in the Historic Hotels of America. Oheka is now offering tours of the grounds, a great idea because there is so much history and beauty there. Oheka offers conference space, and the day I was there, the Laffey Group was having a seminar and lunch in one of the rooms near the dining room. My lunch was both beautifully presented and delicious. There is a wine list offered and of course cocktails. I plan to return for dinner because the service and the setting are so spectacular that it enriched my stomach and my soul. Try it. You too will love the experience. I’m pleased that the man who has dedicated decades of his life and invested millions of dollars for all of us to cherish Oheka Castle will be honored at our Kings of Long Island event April 6. I look forward to placing the crown on his head because he is a king who really lives in a castle. How great is that! Proud New Web Acquisition Last week, we signed the papers to be the owners of a respected, highly trafficked website Brownstoner.com. It has, for over a decade, covered the real estate market, particularly in Brooklyn. Brownstoner.com adds to our web products Brooklynreporter.com and Brokelyn.com and our newspapers Home Reporter, Brooklyn Spectator and Spectator News to provide exhaustive, in-depth coverage of Brooklyn. To my hometown, we have you covered with real quality news important to your life! Victoria SCHNEPS-YUNIS [email protected] tweet me @vschneps The dining room where I had lunch overlooking the Versailles-like gardens QNS user MaryAnn WANT AMERICAN JOBS? UPHOLD THIS AIR DEAL WITH IRAN Last September, Washington granted permission to the American aerospace manufacturer Boeing and its European rival Airbus (which uses some American components) to sell commercial aircraft to Iran. Iran has reached a $16.6 billion deal to buy 80 jetliners from Boeing. Boeing asserts that this sale will support thousands of U.S. jobs. Iran has also reached a deal to buy 100 additional aircraft from Airbus. Opponents of the nuclear agreement between Iran and the U.S. seek to block the sale by Boeing. But if they are successful, Iran will buy all of its jets from Airbus instead of Boeing. To create American jobs, the sale by Boeing should be approved. Otherwise, Birthday Celebration to create a level playing fi eld for Boeing, the sales by both Boeing and Airbus should be blocked. Ted Sheskin, Flushing Former BP Claire Shulman turns 91 on Feb. 23. She shares a birthday with Billy Papa and Michael Lee. Claire’s friends, Alex Rosa and Carol Conslato, had birthdays the week before. Rosa, Shulman and Conslato celebrated together at Vivaldi in Bayside. WORTH THE TROUBLE Mayor Bill de Blasio and DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg like to spend the taxpayers’ money for projects that yield minimal benefi ts. I can see bike lanes in Sunnyside and Long Island City as a means to commute to Manhattan due to its proximity. The bike lane in Woodside and Elmhurst is useless as it is not used by commuters. All the bike lane does is take away a lane of traffi c and valuable parking space, and slowing vehicular traffi c results in congestion and more pollution. Whatever happened to utilization statistics? De Blasio could care less about public opinion; witness his overriding Community Board 4 in western Queens, who were vehemently opposed to the project for Woodside and Elmhurst. John Ngai, Rego Park LET’S ADD ONE TO THE 2017 WISH LIST Transit riders and taxpayers would ask that you please add two more to “Ten wishes for 2017” (Editorial — Dec. 29). # 11, Governor Andrew Cuomo will deliver $7.3 billion of the remaining $8.3 billion he still owes to fully fund New York state’s share of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority $27 billion 2015-2019 Five-Year Capital Plan. # 12, likewise, Mayor Bill de Blasio will deliver the $2.5 billion balance he still owes to fully fund NYC’s share of the same MTA Five-Year Capital Plan. Larry Penner, Great Neck We just had to showcase this photo out of the Ridgewood Times archives of a winter’s day on a frozen lake in Forest Park, circa 1910, 117 years ago. The 544-acre Forest Park features glacier-molded “knob and kettle” terrain and is one of the few spots in Queens featuring tree-lined areas that have been virtually untouched for decades. Send us your historic pictures of Queens by email to [email protected], or mail printed pictures to A Look Back, c/o The Queens Courier, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All mailed pictures will be carefully returned to you. A LOOK BACK OP-ED TIME TO BUILD CITY’S ‘ROUTES NOT TAKEN’ BY JOSEPH B. RASKIN Service began on the first segment of the 2nd Avenue Subway on Jan. 1. The Q line has been extended from the 7th Avenue/57th Street Station to 96th Street. Much will be made of the amount of time that it took for this to happen since the line was first proposed in 1929 and the cost of building this first segment. What won’t be discussed is the lack of priority given to expanding the transit system or maintaining the existing system over the years. Capital and maintenance programs were deferred because few outside of the transit agencies wanted to build and they thought that the operation of the system could be paid for through the farebox. Public transit is not now, nor will it ever be, a money-making venture. How do I feel about the opening of the 2nd Avenue Line? A great thing, as long as it’s viewed as a first step toward the construction of a longer line and part of an overall continuing expansion of the transit system. The second phase of the current 2nd Avenue plan, a northern extension to 125th Street, must take place, as well as further extensions downtown. And there needs to be more than that. Extensions of existing lines into southeast, eastern and northeast Queens have been long postponed and should again be considered. Many people are calling for the reactivation of the Long Island Rail Road’s Rockaway Beach Line. Why not? The Northeast Bronx still needs rail service, either through the reactivation and expansion of commuter rail system or the expansion of the subway system. Why not build the long-promised Utica Avenue Line? Why not fi nally build a rail link to Staten Island, and reactivate the Staten Island Railway’s North Shore Line? There’s no question that you think of other lines. The cost of doing all of this, or even part of this, is immense. But these necessary steps for the continuing growth and development of New York City and the metropolitan area as a whole. Transit planners of the past never viewed any one plan as being a fi step in the completion of the system;realistically, it will never be completed. We need to look at the opening of this segment of the 2nd Avenue Line in the same way that Winston Churchill viewed an early World War II victory: “Now this is not end. It is not even the beginning the end. But it is, perhaps, the end the beginning.” Joseph B. Raskin was in the MTA’s Division of Government and Community Relations before retiring 2015. He is the author of “The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City’s Unbuilt Subway System,”available in paperback, hardcover and on Amazon Kindle. MISDEMEANOR ISN’T STRONG ENOUGH FOR SUBWAY ATTACKER Regarding Patt Mahony, the man who allegedly pushed a woman down a fl ight of stairs at a Forest Hills train station. Mahony faces a misdemeanor assault charge. Misdemeanor?? Push someone down the stairs and it is a misdemeanor? That’s wrong. QNS user MaryAnn WANT AMERICAN JOBS? UPHOLD THIS AIR DEAL WITH IRAN Last September, Washington granted permission to the American aerospace manufacturer Boeing and its European rival Airbus (which uses some American components) to sell commercial aircraft to Iran. Iran has reached a $16.6 billion deal to buy 80 jetliners from Boeing. Boeing asserts that this sale will support thousands of U.S. jobs. Iran has also reached a deal to buy 100 additional aircraft from Airbus. Opponents of the nuclear agreement between Iran and the U.S. seek to block the sale by Boeing. But if they are successful, Iran will buy all of its jets from Airbus instead of Boeing. To create American jobs, the sale by Boeing should be approved. Otherwise, to create a level playing fi eld for Boeing, the sales by both Boeing and Airbus should be blocked. Ted Sheskin, Flushing QUEENS BOULEVARD BIKE LANES AREN’T WORTH THE TROUBLE Mayor Bill de Blasio and DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg like to spend the taxpayers’ money for projects that yield minimal benefi ts. I can see bike lanes in Sunnyside and Long Island City as a means to commute to Manhattan due to its proximity. The bike lane in Woodside and Elmhurst is useless as it is not used by commuters. All the bike lane does is take away a lane of traffi c and valuable parking space, and slowing vehicular traffi c results in congestion and more pollution. Whatever happened to utilization statistics? De Blasio could care less about public opinion; witness his overriding Community Board 4 in western Queens, who were vehemently opposed to the project for Woodside and Elmhurst. John Ngai, Rego Park LET’S ADD ONE TO THE 2017 WISH LIST Transit riders and taxpayers would ask that you please add two more to “Ten wishes for 2017” (Editorial — Dec. 29). # 11, Governor Andrew Cuomo will deliver $7.3 billion of the remaining $8.3 billion he still owes to fully fund New York state’s share of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority $27 billion 2015-2019 Five-Year Capital Plan. # 12, likewise, Mayor Bill de Blasio will deliver the $2.5 billion balance he still owes to fully fund NYC’s share of the same MTA Five-Year Capital Plan. Larry Penner, Great Neck We just had to showcase this photo out of the Ridgewood Times archives of a winter’s day on a frozen lake in Forest Park, circa 1910, 117 years ago. The 544-acre Forest Park features glacier-molded “knob and kettle” terrain and is one of the few spots in Queens featuring tree-lined areas that have been virtually untouched for decades. Send us your historic pictures of Queens by email to [email protected], or mail printed pictures to A Look Back, c/o The Queens Courier, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All mailed pictures will be carefully returned to you. A LOOK BACK OP-ED TIME TO BUILD CITY’S ‘ROUTES NOT TAKEN’ BY JOSEPH B. RASKIN Service began on the first segment of the 2nd Avenue Subway on Jan. 1. The Q line has been extended from the 7th Avenue/57th Street Station to 96th Street. Much will be made of the amount of time that it took for this to happen since the line was first proposed in 1929 and the cost of building this first segment. What won’t be discussed is the lack of priority given to expanding the transit system or maintaining the existing system over the years. Capital and maintenance programs were deferred because few outside of the transit agencies wanted to build and they thought that the operation of the system could be paid for through the farebox. Public transit is not now, nor will it ever be, a money-making venture. How do I feel about the opening of the 2nd Avenue Line? A great thing, as long as it’s viewed as a first step toward the construction of a longer line and part of an overall continuing expansion of the transit system. The second phase of the current 2nd Avenue plan, a northern extension to 125th Street, must take place, as well as further extensions downtown. And there needs to be more than that. Extensions of existing lines into southeast, eastern and northeast Queens have been long postponed and should again be considered. Many people are calling for the reactivation of the Long Island Rail Road’s Rockaway Beach Line. Why not? The Northeast Bronx still needs additional rail service, either through the reactivation and expansion of the commuter rail system or the expansion of the subway system. Why not build the long-promised Utica Avenue Line? Why not fi nally build a rail link to Staten Island, and reactivate the Staten Island Railway’s North Shore Line? There’s no question that you can think of other lines. The cost of doing all of this, or even part of this, is immense. But these are necessary steps for the continuing growth and development of New York City and the metropolitan area as a whole. Transit planners of the past never viewed any one plan as being a fi nal step in the completion of the system; realistically, it will never be completed. We need to look at the opening of this segment of the 2nd Avenue Line in the same way that Winston Churchill viewed an early World War II victory: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Joseph B. Raskin was in the MTA’s Division of Government and Community Relations before retiring in 2015. He is the author of “The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City’s Unbuilt Subway System,” available in paperback, hardcover and on Amazon Kindle.
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