NEW YORK | MID/LOW RISES | General Developments Updates/Compilation

[chris08876]

Project: 61-25 186th Street

A new hotel in Fresh Meadows is positioning itself to be the 21st-century Ellis Island of Queens.

The hotel will serve as a stepping stone for Chinese immigrants and students looking to stay in the country or study here, according to several people close to the planning. The 11-story Hilton hotel on 186th Street is set to open in May 2016 and the developers, Mayflower Business Group of Great Neck, are positioning their hotel to serve a mixture of Chinese businesspeople, students and immigrants who can use the hotel as a base while house hunting.

“There’s something happening with the Asian community and, specifically, something happening in China. There’s something going on,” said George Frangoulis, a spokesman for the developer. “They’re bringing in a lot of wealth. They’re enhancing and stimulating the Queens economy. It’s good for America.”

The announcement of the hotel stirred controversy in 2014. Residents complained that the 11-story building is too tall for a neighborhood of mostly one- and two-family homes. They also said that the hotel would cause traffic on local streets and overload the sewer system. But the hotel does not violate any building or zoning codes, which left residents unable to block the project from going forward.

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http://queenscourier.com/new-fresh-m...ts-from-china/