Maloney voices support for Amazon deal
BY BILL PARRY
In the early 1990s, U.S.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney saw
the potential of Long Island
City as a business district
and began advocating
for funding to bring parks,
healthcare, affordable housing,
infrastructure and
transportation projects, and
innovative economic development
projects to the gritty
neighborhood.
Maloney worked along
with the LIC Business Development
Corporation which
changed its name to the Long
Island City Partnership in
2010.
Last week, Maloney returned
to speak at the Partnership’s
breakfast for business
leaders and spoke of
her support for the state and
city’s deal to bring Amazon’s
HQ2 waterfront campus
around Anable Basin a promise
of 25,000 good-paying jobs
over 10 years, with a plan to
grow to 40,000 over 15 years.
“I love jobs,” Maloney
said. “While there are many
benefits to being a place people
want to come, there are
also many challenges to fast
growth and abrupt changes.
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (r.) joins members of the Long Island City Partnership and speaks of
transit improvements that must be mande before Amazon moves into the neighborhood.
We need to work with the city
and the state to make sure
that this community gets
the type of investments that
are needed in a fast-growing
neighborhood.”
“I’m glad that the mayor
announced $180 million in
new investments, including
the aging, overworked, overwhelmed
sewer system — but
that’s just the beginning,”
the congresswoman added.
As Long Island City has
recently added more residential
units than any other ZIP
Photo courtesy Maloney’s offi ce
code in the country, with another
6,500 new units coming
on line in the next few years,
Maloney knows there is much
more to be done on the neighborhood’s
infrastructure.
“We need to make sure
we have an integrated transportation
system that brings
people where they need to go
— not just between Manhattan
and Queens but within
Long Island City,” she said.
“But we need to make sure
that we get the promised Sunnyside
stop to make it easier
for people in this neighborhood
to commute and to
bring workers to jobs in this
major business center. I am
enthusiastic about the idea
of a Grand Central East that
will make use of the fact that
the LIRR, NJ Transit and
Amtrak already come into
the Sunnyside Rail Yards
— there should be a station
here with stops for all three
systems.”
Maloney added there was
more on her wish list.
“We need upland parks
— along with an extended
park along the waterfront,”
she said. “We need resiliency
so that businesses along the
waterfront and along Vernon
Boulevard aren’t at risk of
flooding in the next Sandy.
We need new schools.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4538.
Celebrated chef will open cafe at TWA Hotel
BY BILL PARRY
World renowned chef
Jean-Georges Vongerichten
will premiere the Paris Cafe
restaurant at the TWA Hotel
at JFK International Airport
in spring 2019.
Located in the heart of the
iconic 1962 Eero Saarinendesigned
Trans World Flight
Center, the Paris Cafe by Jen-
Georges will encompass the
entire footprint of the terminal’s
original Paris Cafe and
Lisbon Lounge, which have
been dark since 2001.
The $265 million hotel conversion
project, shepherded
by MCR Development, is expected
to open this spring.
The spaces were originally
outfitted by famed Parisian
industrial designer
Raymond Loewy — the mind
behind the 1955 Coca-Cola
contour bottle, the 1959 TWA
twin globes logo, the 1963
Studebaker Avanti, the 1962
Air Force One livery and the
1971 Shell logo. Vongerichten’s
take on the restaurant
will help reignite the magic
of the Jet Age throughout the
TWA Hotel.
“As an avid traveler I am
very excited to be part of
recreating a culinary destination
in this iconic landmark,”
Vongerichten said.
The restaurant’s name
holds special significance for
Vongerichten who was raised
in the outskirts of Strasbourg
in Alsace, France. The chef
trained in classical French
cuisine at Auberge de I’lll in
Alsace and L’Oasis in Southern
France before developing
his passion for flavors
of the East at luxury hotels
in Bangkok, Singapore and
Hong Kong.
Vongerichten currently
operates 36 three- and four
-star restaurants around
the world including ABC
Kitchen in Manhattan, Mercato
in Shanghai and Simply
Chicken at Madison Square
Garden.
“Around the world, Jean-
World famous chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten (l.) and MCR Development CEO at the TWA Hotel which
will open this spring.
Georges is known for his delicious
dishes and impeccable
service,” MCR and MORSE
Development CEO and Managing
Partner Tyler Morse
said. “He is the perfect chef
to reinvigorate the legendary
Paris Cafe for our guests and
JFK travelers.”
Awarded Michelin stars
for 14 years, Jean-Georges
will serve breakfast, lunch,
dinner, snacks and cocktails
at a medium price point.
Vongerichten will partner
with Tastes on the Fly, a
leading boutique airport restaurateur
with more than 20
locations coast to coast, on
the restaurant.
The TWA Hotel features
512 ultra-quiet rooms, 50,000
square feet of event space for
up to 1,600 people, a 10,000
square foot fitness center,
a rooftop pool and observation
deck and a museum
dedicated to TWA and the
mid-century modern design
movement.
TIMESLEDGER,24 DEC. 21-27, 2018 TIMESLEDGER.COM
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