Queens Chamber Businesses of the Week
Dear Friends of the Queens Chamber of Commerce;
After working hard from the confines of our home offices and fielding so many calls from all over Queens, the Staff of the Queen Chamber decided to choose 5 businesses to feature each week who are all doing great things during this surreal time. If you know of a business going above and beyond that you want considered, kindly email us at info@queenschamber.org for consideration. Thanks!
St. Mary’s Healthcare System: Chamber member St. Mary’s Healthcare System is New York’s largest and most experienced provider of long-term care to children with medically complex conditions and New York City’s only post-acute care facility for children. At St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children, they aim to give their kids and their families more than they had dreamed possible.
When COVID-19 hit New York City, St. Mary's took extraordinary measures to ensure the safety of their 130 patients, including suspending visitation. But while their doors shut they did make a unique offer to some of the patient’s families; the hospital decided to allow one parent per child to move in with them. Since then, 20 mothers and two fathers have moved into the hospital in Bayside to be with their children as they go through treatment. Their incredible stories were recently featured in the New York Times and can be found here.
Learn more about St. Mary’s at https://www.stmaryskids.org/
Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corp: Since their inception in 1978, Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation’s major priority has been to serve as a catalyst for the community’s revitalization by initiating community development activities, which remove barriers to economic growth, stimulate the local economy, and create jobs.
The RDRC has continued to serve their community during Covid19. There efforts have included giving out masks as well as settings up an E-Help Desk. The E-Help Desk, funded by the NYC Department of Small Business Services Neighborhood 360 grant, to provides remote assistance to local businesses impacted by COVID-19 and operates online Monday – Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm. The desk is available to businesses located in the Rockaways and surrounding southeast Queens region.
For more info on RDRC go to https://www.rdrc.org/
Soter Technologies: Chamber member Soter Technologies uses advanced sensor and software technology to develop and deliver innovative solutions for environmental and social intelligence – to make the world a safer place.
Since Covid19 hit the United States, Soter technologies has developed a health detection scanner known as the SymptomSense Medical Evaluation Gateway that may help minimize the threat of COVID-19 through early detection of symptoms.
https://www.newsday.com/business/coronavirus/soter-technologies-symptomsense-covid-19-1.44272623
Learn more about Soter Tech at https://www.sotertechnologies.com/
Espresso 77: Through darkness comes light. That is the inspiration behind a colorful mural proclaiming “Jackson Heights Strong” outside Espresso 77, a cafe and wine bar in Jackson Heights.
Afzal Hossain, the owner of the popular cafe, created the vibrant artwork after they were forced to board up their original glass window display. On the night of Tuesday, May 26, Hossain said two individuals tried to break into the cafe by smashing the windows with a brick.
The incident occurred days before the Black Lives Matter demonstrations for George Floyd began in New York City.
When Hossain and his wife posted about their shattered window on social media, David Heatley, a cartoonist who lives in the neighborhood, immediately volunteered to help create the artwork and suggested they make it a community project. They began painting the next day and were joined by a small group of kids, teens and adults from the neighborhood.
Hossain said the artwork “came organically” in a “flow of angriness and happiness,” as they drew outlines of trees, fish and more abstract figures with a red, green, blue and yellow color palette.
Espresso 77 has hosted live music, art shows, poetry and a space community members can use as their “living room,” as Hossain puts it, for 12 years now.
Hossain, who emigrated from Bangladesh more than two decades ago, said. “People are already coming and taking photographs. It sends a good message.”
3557 77th St Jackson Heights 11372
www.espresso77.com https://www.facebook.com/Espresso-77-177116102317/
Maxi’s Noodle: Maxi Lau, Flushing's "Maxi’s Noodle” owner insisted on opening her restaurant during the pandemic and giving meals to hospitals and front line workers to express her gratitude and support. She said that she will continue to give meals until the end of the pandemic, and called on businesses in Queens to help each other while also helping the economy recover.
Maxi Lau operates a Hong Kong-style Wonton noodle soup, “Maxi's Noodle" on 38th Ave in Flushing. At the end of March, she temporarily closed the store due to the impact of Covid19. However, after seeing fellow restaurant owners stay open and donate food to frontline workers, she reopened in just one week.
With a dose of optimism she hopes the pandemic will pass so businesses can reopen and the economy can recover. In the meantime “Maxi’s Noodle” is taking order by e-mail and social media.
135-11 38th Ave
Flushing, NY 11354 (917) 908-0808