You Told Us is a regular feature in which we highlight comments from users in the communities DNAinfo covers.
QUEENS — Recent changes to several businesses in Forest Hills got locals talking.
A number of popular stores and restaurants have recently closed or are about to close in the area, including both mom-and-pop shops and bigger chain stores, prompting some residents to worry that their neighborhood may be losing its character.
Several readers agreed and said that they were upset to lose some of the stores, such as Barnes & Noble on Austin Street, which will be replaced by Target next year. But many said that Forest Hills lost its character a long time ago.
► "Austin Street in the '70s-'80s was far more characteristic; however, the recent down hill slide which started in 2007 has not stopped. The loss of character and the march towards a "mall strip" feel will only continue. We have lost all uniqueness in the area, and, with that will come the more negative aspects of society. Greed for higher rents has won. Too bad the area was not declared a historical site in the past. Now, the next worry is Forest Hills Gardens. Do we really want to see McMansions built there? 110th Street has been totally transformed by these faux-belle art monstrosities. What's next?"
- Neighborhood Square user gfmjff
► "There has been very little reason to bother to shop in Forest Hills for years, now even less with the closing of Barnes & [Noble]. Granted that was a big corporate chain and not an independent book store which was part of the problem and why it was so callously and casually closed. It did however serve a purpose for people of all ages a lot more than anything else the neighborhood has to offer. There is less reason than ever now to walk down the street. Why anyone would bother with a mini Target when a regular size one is right down the boulevard far more accessible for car parking is something only a greedy real estate developer making a quick bonus would understand. Exorbitant rents have already transformed Austin street into a cheap soulless outdoor mall and now to a failed one. Bring on more drug superstores !"
- Neighborhood Square user RichG86
Several readers pointed out that some of the businesses that closed were chains, and did not contribute to the Forest Hills character anyway.
► "...Barnes & Noble, Uno and Strawberry are hardly "unique," nor were the steakhouse and pasta place. Enough with the character/mom-and-pop canard. No one shops at these little down-at-the-heel dumps because that's what they are..."
- Neighborhood Square user laurie
► "Most of the business that closed were chains, which will be replaced either by new chains or new small businesses..."
- Facebook user Matt Livits
#ForestHills @DNAinfoQNS @EwaKJ When B&N opened, people said it would ruin the neighborhood. #context
— Brian Rafferty (@bmrafferty) October 5, 2015Still others went even further and said that some of the businesses that closed can only blame themselves because they did not do enough to attract customers.
► "I'm sorry to say, but several of the stores no longer in business had rude, even surly, employees. Perhaps it's a cultural thing, but thanking a customer and going the extra mile seems to have died a quick death. I stopped frequenting these stores a while ago and it looks as though other did too"
- Neighborhood Square user lindasim
