Over the past four years, the Kew Gardens Civic Association and the Kew Gardens Improvement Association have engaged elected officials, non-profit organizations, and community members in the fight to save the Lefferts Boulevard Bridge from neglect and destruction by the MTA/LIRR, which owns the property and has woefully mismanaged it for decades, causing vacancy blight and destruction of the bridge’s small businesses.

This week these Kew Gardens civic organizations announced our participation in a “Request for Proposal” by the MTA for a new master lease holder. Below is the text of the press release: 

"Small Businesses Can Be Saved on Lefferts Boulevard Bridge / Community and Elected Officials Band Together in Response to MTA’s Request for Proposal 

Kew Gardens community organizations are partnering with the Mutual Housing Association of  New York (MHANY), a not-for-profit housing and commercial property development  organization, to submit a unique response to an MTA request for proposal (RFP). The RFP calls  for managing the 14 stores that are at the heart of this community’s main shopping area and are  situated on the Lefferts Boulevard bridge over the LIRR mainline tracks. This is the first time that  a not-for-profit housing and property development organization has pitched to manage MTA-owned properties, and they have done this in conjunction with the community and the store owner  representatives with the intent of maintaining the existing character of the buildings. 

The Lefferts Boulevard Bridge has suffered from years of MTA mismanagement. Because of this neglect, approximately $11 million in capital improvements will be required for the buildings, and  an additional $5.5 million will be necessary to repair structural work on the bridge. The MTA  expects the master lessee to bear the considerable cost burden of these repairs even after the City  has given money to the MTA in the past to make repairs to this structure. The RFP also specifically  states that the stores will be delivered empty. Existing small mom and pop stores who have served  the community for over 20 years and are already hit hard by the pandemic—will be forced to close  under these conditions.  

In response to concerns about the lack of community input (there is no requirement for community  involvement in the MTA RFP) and the forced closure of the stores, Kew Gardens’ four state  representatives Senators Comrie and Addabbo, Assemblymen Rosenthal and Hevesi, and City  Councilwoman Koslowitz sent a letter to the MTA requesting that the RFP be pulled and  reformatted to reflect community input and to protect the existing store owners ability to continue  to operate. To date, their plea went unanswered.  

MHANY’s proposal to operate this property is an inclusive one, allowing for community  representation while giving long-time store owners a chance to thrive at affordable rents—rents  that for-profit organizations could not provide. A vital commercial strip would be an asset to the  neighborhood, providing needed jobs, and sales tax revenues to the State of New York." 

We are asking all in our community near and far to sign this petition asking the MTA to choose the MHANY Management Inc. team as the master lease holder of the Lefferts Boulevard Bridge properties, so that the integrity of the bridge, stores, tenants, and community are prioritized for years to come. 

Please share this petition in your networks and on social media, and keep an eye on your email inbox, as a telephone “call blast” to the MTA in support of this community proposal is in the works!