Nothing Can Stand In The Way Of The Mighty Airport Village
Losing an alcohol license didn’t kill Club Kalua, but eminent domain might:
The strip club Sean Bell visited the night he was killed in Jamaica could be demolished as part of a larger redevelopment plan for that area of Queens.
The Greater Jamaica Development Corp. is moving forward with plans to turn Jamaica into a transit-oriented development center and is assembling sites on which to build new hotel, “affordable” housing to lure some of the 35,000 employees who work at nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport, and additional parking.
The development corporation has already targeted a number of nightclubs for demolition, and sources with knowledge of the plans have suggested Club Kalua could be next on the chopping block.
The president of the development corporation, Carlisle Towery, said the area’s positioning as a nexus of the Long Island Rail Road, the AirTrain to JFK airport, three subway lines, and dozens of bus lines makes Jamaica an ideal place to build an airport village.
“It is highly accessible. A lot can get to it and a lot goes through it and we are tying to make it a destination, not just a transfer point,” he said.
Mr. Towery said there are no fixed plans to condemn Club Kalua, but he made his feelings about the establishment clear.
“It’s been a social blight for years,” he said. “What its future is, I don’t know. But it certainly doesn’t belong here.”
And Mayor Bloomberg kills two birds with one stone, eliminating the source of Sean Bell and solidifying his legacy in one fell swoop. Funny how that works out sometimes.
Posted: May 19th, 2008 | Filed under: Queens, There Goes The Neighborhood