Astoria's Small Businesses: A Family Bakery's Struggle

Are you a resident of Astoria?

Yes, my family has lived here since the 1950s.

Wow so you have seen the neighborhood change a lot since then?

Yes definitely, now is the time where I have seen the most change.

What do you think has changed for better or worse?

For better maybe the amount of people, but the old businesses are all closing and a lot of the original people have gone away.

Touching on the small business part, how do you think rising rents have impacted smaller businesses in the area?

Well my family owns a bakery here so we have kind of seen it from our own eyes. A lot of stores near us have shut down because of higher rents, and we would too if we didn't own the building.

What do you think of the big chain stores on Ditmars?

I mean they are convenient sure, but they are too expensive. The rents it makes all the other owners in the area drive up the prices for the businesses because they want more. Ditmars is not the same and I think if more stores like those keep opening it will become a mess, more of a mess than it is now. Crime, homelessness and people who cannot afford to live in this area.