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Sunnyside Shines - Queens, NY

Sunnyside Shines - Queens, NY

Sunnyside in Queens, NY -  Cafes, Restaurants, Art, Bars, Best Community Events, Restaurant Week Guide and more.

One of the true joys of living in a city like New York is the opportunity to discover new neighborhoods. The borough of Queens, in particular, is made up of hundreds of small neighborhoods. Each of these communities has its own distinctive feel. Each one has a multitude of different stores, coffee bars, pubs and restaurants just waiting to be discovered and enjoyed by you. Supporting your neighborhood stores is a wonderful way to make an economic impact on your community. It’s a very personal way to shop, and of course, shopping local is so very convenient.

SUNNYSHIDE SHINE - QUEENS NY

One of Queen’s brightest hidden gems is the up and coming neighborhood of Sunnyside. Sunnyside has a very cozy, small-town atmosphere with a growing, vibrant, multi-ethnic community. It’s a place where neighbors actually know each other’s names and are not afraid to ask, “Hi, how are you?” Most of Sunnyside’s residential streets are quiet and the landscape is rich with trees and green hedges. Yet, despite the “slice of Americana” feel, Sunnyside is right next door to Long Island City and Astoria. It’s also only a few stops away from Midtown Manhattan if you hop on the #7 Train. A great destination-place to eat and shop, Sunnyside is like home to around 300 individual businesses of all types. You’re certain to find just what you are looking for when you visit Sunnyside.

SUNNYSHIDE SHINE - QUEENS NY

We recently had the pleasure of visiting with the dynamic woman who is the executive director of the Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement, Ms. Rachel Thieme. From her charming storefront office located just off Sunnyside's thriving business district, Rachel explained that the overall mission of Sunnyside Shines is to invigorate and enrich the economic life of the neighborhood by creating a safe, welcoming and dynamic commercial district in Sunnyside. Sunnyside Shines started up in April 2008, and the name and colorful logo was created to reflect the bright, optimistic hopes that the BID members have for their community. Rachel, who has a strong professional background in city planning and economic development, brought her expertise to Sunnyside Shines in November 2012. Rachel is not afraid to dream big when it comes to doing her challenging job and working her magic.

SUNNYSHIDE SHINE - QUEENS NY

Among Rachel's responsibilities are planning fun community events, marketing Sunnyside to prospective commercial tenants and making the neighborhood even more beautiful. One of her proudest accomplishments is the part that Sunnyside Shines played in opening 2 new public spaces: Lowery Plaza and Bliss Plaza. The positive response from local residents and small business owners has been tremendous. Both plazas were opened to the public in 2014. These public spaces include tables, chairs and decorative planters. Sunnyside Shines maintains Lowery and Bliss Plaza, where shoppers and commuters can meet, talk, relax or just admire the seasonal plants and flowers. Depending on the time of year, the large planters showcase Evergreens, Bulbs and Pine Bows along with foliage.

SUNNYSHIDE SHINE - QUEENS NY

Rachel and her colleagues at Sunnyside Shines submitted an application to the NYC Plaza Program in 2013. With the invaluable assistance of city council member Jimmy Van Bramer and the Department of Public Transportation, Rachel’s vision of new green outdoor spaces for the community began to take shape. Thus, a couple of dark, underutilized underpasses below the elevated #7 Train tracks were transformed into an oasis for pedestrians. In fact, during the June 2014 Make Music New York Festival, Lowery Plaza on 40th Street and Queens Blvd. was the scene of free musical performances. As part of her mission to beautify the neighborhood, Rachel and Sunnyside Shines have been extremely active when it comes to graffiti removal. Their graffiti removal program cleaned and painted over more than 250 instances of graffiti from Sunnyside storefronts, security gates and sidewalks. A professional graffiti removal contractor comes to the area once a month.

SUNNYSHIDE SHINE - QUEENS NY

Rachel is especially proud of her organization’s effort to revamp the “A Taste of Sunnyside” event, which brings local chefs, restaurants  & small business owners all under one roof, where the public can sample their food. This popular event used to be held in a community center. But, in 2014, due to increased demand, “A Taste of Sunnyside” found a new home in a huge tent, almost a city block in length. The picturesque tent setting lent a colorful, upscale ambience to the event. Glowing reviews are also par for the course when talking about another Sunnyside Shines sponsored event, Restaurant Week. The 2014 edition of Sunnyside Restaurant Week more than doubled in size from the previous year. Other successful community events include the Craft Fair, which is always a great time for parents, their little ones and the Holiday Window Contest.

SUNNYSHIDE SHINE - QUEENS NY

Rachel loves this contest because it encourages Sunnyside’s store owners to go all out when it comes to decorating their shops for the Holidays. Anyone can snap a photo of a Sunnyside business that has great Holiday window décor. Then the photographer simply uploads his or her photo to the Sunnyside Shines Facebook page. All Sunnyside residents can get in on the voting. Cash prizes are available to both the winning store and photographer. Rachel feels that this is a great way to build community spirit.

SUNNYSHIDE SHINE - QUEENS NY

A nonprofit organization, Sunnyside Shines is also involved in streetscape improvements, providing supplemental sanitation services and district marketing. Their website www.sunnysideshines.org even has a real estate page where retailers can check out commercial vacancies in the area. We enjoyed looking at their 2014 Shop-Local Gift Guide. This colorful guide gives consumers some great shopping ideas. What’s really good about this venture, Rachel explained, is that the gift guide was a collaborative effort between Sunnyside Shines and LaGuardia Community College. LaGuardia photography students took photos of all the gifts featured in the guide.

SUNNYSHIDE SHINE - QUEENS NY

Rachel also showed us the beautiful and informative Welcome-to-Sunnyside map and business directory brochure. Every neighborhood should have something like this for consumers. The artwork is first-rate. Everything you need to know about Sunnyside is right at your fingertips. It’s no wonder that this map and business directory looks so good. The illustrations were all done by a talented student at LaGuardia. This synergy between Sunnyside Shines and LaGuardia provides students with real-world marketing experience. The map and directory is paid for by local stores who take out advertisements each year. It comes as no surprise why New York magazine ranked Sunnyside as the #3 most livable neighborhood in NYC. From Greenpoint Avenue to Queens Blvd. down to Skillman, the stores and houses are at their very best when Sunnyside Shines.  

Sunnyside Shines

Rachel Theime, Executive Director
Address: 45-56 43rd Street, Sunnyside, NY 11104. Phone: (718) 606-1800

www.sunnysideshines.org 

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