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Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce Releases New Community Guide

The Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce sponsors festivals throughout the year | Facebook

Aug. 30, 2019 By Ryanne Salzano

The Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce has released a 2019 guide for those looking to explore the neighborhood, shop at local businesses or learn about the area’s history.

The 40-page guidebook, released Aug. 22, features a directory of locally-owned businesses, organized by category, with everything from dentists to pet stores to tattoo parlors. The guide also contains a history of the neighborhood and a list of elected officials with their contact information.

Community organizations, schools, local law enforcement are also listed in the guidebook. It even includes places to park, fun facts and famous Forest Hills residents, such as Helen Keller, Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon.

“The Forest Hills Chamber offers the community the opportunity to network with over 150 Forest Hills based business owners and get to know the people living and working in our community,” wrote the President of the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce Leslie Brown in the introduction to the guide.
About 150 businesses are members of the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce.

The 2019 Forest Hills Chamber Community Guide is available online. Physical copies will be distributed on Sept. 8 at the Shop Forest Hills Fall Festival, a street fair on Austin Street between 69th Road and 72nd Road. Businesses that are members of the Chamber will also have copies of the guidebook.

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23 Comments

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REGO PARK

Take a look at what is happening in Rego Park which is a mess, absolute Pig Sty. It’s a vibrant shopping area yet the streets are filthy, Pidgeon droppings at 63rd Subway Entrance and the dilapidated Wiggles is beyond an eyesore, Starbucks has stained the sidewalk the color of coffee (their garbage stinks too) . Where is Council Member Karen Koslowitz ??

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Nel Amos

Forest Hills Chambers of Commerce, the worst in the borough, yes throwing a pamphlet is good, but they should be doing more to make the comercial streets more appealing, making sure all the trees and planters are care for, calling the city so they can fix the scarce lampposts that are always dark, making sure all shop owners are obligated to collaborate with the Christmas lights, keeping the sidewalks clean at all times, they should follow the example of the Astoria Chambers on Steinway.

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FedUpInFH

Is the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce aware that there is more to FH than Austin St? You would think FH is comprised of Austin St from Yellowstone to Ascan and nothing else. When will there be more coverage and discussion of ALL things this area has to offer?

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Yankswun98

Residents are FH who are unhappy with the current state of their community should go one stop west on an F train and see how poor the situation is in Jackson Heights right by the train station. 73rd street is filled with rats that run around in broad day light, Diversity Plaza is used as a garbage dump, the streets all over JH is littered with garbage. The situation is getting worse every year.

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FoHi

To tell you the truth, Jackson Heights has a lot going for it. I know different parts of it have totally different feels. The area around where the F stops seems to have a lot of Indian shops, Roosevelt seems to have mostly Hispanic places, but the avenue just north of Roosevelt that runs parallel (maybe 37th Ave) has some interesting shops- an organic supermarket, a new French bakery, hip looking restaurants; it looks like a more lively version of Austin St. That area is going to become trendy someday since it’s closer to Manhattan and more affordable than Forest Hills.

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Russell

37th Avenue is the name of the road you are talking about. We are lucky enough to have many family run restaurants without many corporations ruining the feel of the neighborhood on 37th at least when it comes to places to eat.

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C Russeau?

Or how about a guide to all the food delivery places that use illegal scooters to get the food to you fast, regardless of the new way streets or sidewalks! Or a guide to the companies that park tractor trailers reeking of garbage illegally along the GCP Service rd. OR a guide to understanding the blaring music that comes from the boathouse in FMP at all hours? Or a guide to the innefectual police force in the neighborhood Yup! Forest Hills. The more you know, the worse it is!

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Sara Ross

Or a guide as to why cars, with and without permits, including those with out of state plates, park by fire hydrants for days without getting a ticket – even though it’s illegal to park there no matter what?

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FoHi

Unfortunately I don’t think any high end stores are in the cards for us. Just look at that sad Target Express and that’s your future of Austin. Does anybody actually like that place? The prices are higher than a regular Target and the place is like 1/4 the size which basically makes it like a CVS that happens to sell some cheap clothing too. And then there’s that paid parking they offer also, ha! You have to be a total sucker to go there, pay higher prices, and have much less variety when you have a full sized Target right down the road in Elmhurst. Total waste of space. A step in the right direction would have been if Whole Foods moved into that space (or at least the 365 brand, smaller version of Whole Foods).

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geo

I sorely miss Barnes & Noble.
I used to warn the people lounging on the floor there, reading their books, then leaving, buying nothing, that the store wouldn’t be able to stay in business if they didn’t support it.

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Asyah

How about do away with the private streets and let people park. You can never find parking anywhere.

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Jean

Do you have any plans for the homeless population that has come to our area and are walking without shirts on, hollering at residents on Continental Ave? Plus, two homeless people live in the Continental train station and the other day one was actually smoking a cigarette. This behavior must be acceptable within the law as the police are not doing anything about it.

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Pamela Campbell

The night life in Forest Hills is becoming dull. Need to entice young people to stay in Forest Hills and enjoy Austin Street

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Regina Craig

If they put up another one of those cheesy dress shops on Austin Street, I’m going to scream. OMG, all those clothes look highly flammable (factory made fabrics). On top of that, they all look like they are designed for “Ladies of the night.” Even the mannequins in the windows look awful. And, the sidewalk vendors make the place look dirty. Gone is the quaint, clean looking 71st Continental/Austin Street of at least 20 years ago.

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Sara Ross

Will the community guide be in Russian for the people who come here and can’t be bothered learning the language but know how shop with a NYS benefit card and know about the SNAP programs and then go to their beyond ugly disgusting McMansions on Jewel Avenue? I miss when Forest Hills had small shops and not the overload of pharmacies and “kosher” catering places.

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Loretta Nauth

I second the abovementioned person….the sidewalks in front of the restaurants and businesss literally STINK STINK STINK and extremely DIRTY.
Foe the amount of rent we pay the streets.should be cleaner and.that.should be enforced!!!!!!!!

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Midtowngirl

Nice to have a new guide. Yes, The sidewalks in front of the stores on Austin smell terrible especially during the summer.

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T

How about enforcing store owners to clean up the storefronts, sidewalks in front of them. Clean the streets, lower rents so we bring back high end stores. New high rise bldgs must be mixed use and have retail space and a market!

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Lorie Chasijuan

Forest Hills was a beautiful place to leave in Austin St was incredible. Now there’s a mix of people homeless sitting on the side walks we never saw that before……Iam very sad about this

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Suhrita Das

100% agree with bringing back the high end shops. Forest Hills use to be known for high end curated shops and spas. BRING BACK HIGH STYLE!

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