Changes on Jamaica Avenue

Saturday, August 15th

A little update here on what's been changing on Jamaica Avenue.  In these rough economic times, you would expect a lot of closures -- and, no doubt, Jamaica Avenue has seen its' share of those.  But there have also been a number of businesses stepping into their place, keeping our business district alive and thriving.  Here are a few of the recent changes we noticed:

To start us off, we bid farewell to Sun's Cafe on 79th Street.  We were inside Sun's on two occasions, and it seemed like a nice little shop.  It's been replaced by a shop called "J&J Gold Filled & Perfumes Plus."  

Next up, we bid farewell to Valerie's, a clothing store on 80th Street (across from where The Haven used to be).  A few weeks back we noticed that the awning had come down, leaving this bare front.  Looking at the remnants of the sign on the right, we can read "Innovation Office Products."  Does anyone remember this shop, when it operated?  Drop us a line and let us know.

This week, we noticed them starting work on the store and they are doing something real interesting with the front.  Instead of an awing, these guys have built up a sign made out of wood and they've spent a few days staining it.  It's looking very nice.  We're not sure what's going to open there, but we applaud the effort they've put into their appearance.  We'll keep you posted.

On a down note, it looks like Sebastain Meat Inc. (across from Scaturro's) has closed up shop.  There's a real shortage of good butchers around and we'd always found the quality here to be good and dependable.  We hope they're just closed for renovations but the scene below seems to say something different.  That being said, it's clear that something is going on there, so even if Sebastain is gone, perhaps it will have a new tenant soon.  And when it does, we'll let you know.

Over on 90th Street, across from Jason's, La Casa Del Pandebono has closed down, the location's gotten a facelift, and re-opened as La Abundancia.

On Jamaica Avenue and 92nd Street (near Smiley's) the long-defunct Wish Goods has finally been redone as Modelo's Salon & Spa.  For many years, this was a Fish Store. 

At the corner of 94th and Jamaica, the Real Estate office has given way to Tony's Hair Salon & Barber Shop. 

And our last change in this report, 3 Choices Rotisserie Grill has closed -- and judging by the condition of the sign, it did not appear to have been in business very long.  It has been replaced by Fogon Costeño #2, where they serve Columbian Food.  With all of the International Foods we have in Woodhaven, we could have our very own Epcot Center.

A few final notes:

(1) There are a few stores and businesses on Jamaica Avenue whose gates have been down a while, but we're reluctant to say that they are closed until we know for sure.  Until we see a "For Rent" or "For Sale" sign, we figure it's still got a pulse.  And as it's turned out, there have been a few stores that we saw inactive for weeks at a time, only to reopen (quite possibly under new management but using the same name). 

(2) If you're interested in the evolving face of Jamaica Avenue, you might want to poke around our Wiki.  We're trying to build a history of Jamaica Avenue.  We have a long way to go -- it's far from comprehensive; a work in progress.  If we found enough interest, we'd start a study group -- similar to the Woodhaven Historical Society -- and we'd be able to put this history together in a group setting.  Might be fun.   If anyone out there is interested, drop us a line.

If you have any comments, or would like to suggest other projects, drop us a line at info@projectwoodhaven.com or projectwoodhaven@aol.com.  

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