By Dustin Brown
When Julie Wager’s father was deciding whether or not to buy the Genius Specialty Shop on Steinway Street in 1934, he planted himself in front of the door and trained his eyes on the customers.
The only purchase made all day was a handkerchief.
But he bought the store nonetheless.
“His father saw something beyond that on Steinway Street,” said Bob Singleton, president of the Greater Astoria Historical Society.
What his father saw as potential, Wager brought to fruition. By 1960, he was running Genius and Chic Corsets — which he purchased from his uncle — and before long he was galvanizing Steinway Street merchants to unite for their common success.
Earlier this month, Wager was named honorary mayor of Long Island City in a mock election conducted by the Greater Astoria Historical Society, which recognized his lifelong contributions to the vitality of Steinway Street.
Wager, 72, has retired from the retail business and now serves as general manager for advertising at the Western Queens Gazette, but he is still active in the life of Steinway Street.
Although an uncertain economy threatens to cut into sales just as the street slides into holiday shopping mode, Wager is predicting a strong season with an increase of business between 2 percent and 5 percent from last year.
“People are coming out of Sept. 11 and holding their heads up high, and Christmas spirit will be a major source of help to the bad feelings,” Wager said. “So Christmas will be good on Steinway Street.”
The proprietor of a store called Genius proved to be a genius himself when it came to realizing the potential of Steinway Street, a commercial strip he and others describe as the longest department store in the world.
“When I got into the store and became active in the store, I saw that the merchants for the most part wanted other people to do for them,” Wager said, recalling his start as the proprietor of Genius Specialty Shops more than 40 years ago.
“Everybody was kind of out there for themselves.”
His efforts at bringing people together certainly did not win him any popularity contests, at least not in the beginning.
As the chairman of the Christmas lights committee, Wager was saddled with the thankless job of trudging from one store to the next, asking merchants to contribute money to a common pot funding holiday decorations for the street. They often were not receptive.
“You needed someone to go in there and beg and cajole and coerce,” he said.
Sometimes he was forced to resort to more desperate measures.
“At one point I remember I used to go in with five or six people at a particularly busy time and embarrass the merchant in front of his customers,” he said.
For many years efforts like the Christmas lights initiative were orchestrated by the Steinway Street Merchants Association, of which Wager was named president in 1975.
“You needed someone to pull it together, to give it direction, or else you’d have 300 merchants going off 300 different ways,” Wager said.
But Wager had a better idea. In the late 1980s he began crusading to create the Steinway Street Business Improvement District, which was founded in 1991 and provided amenities like security, sanitation, holiday lights and advertisements by imposing a fee on every business between 28th and 35th Avenues.
“I was the guy that was cursed by a lot of people for (imposing) an additional tax,” he said. “Nobody wants to pay additional money if they can get away with it, but it had to be done.”
In the end, however, the curses were replaced with praise and even a citation into the Congressional Record by U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria), all part of his inauguration as honorary mayor.
“Julie Wager was there front and center, leading the merchants of that street in trying to continuously evolve and develop this as a vibrant shopping area,” Singleton said.
“He really has been a force in this community in so many ways,” said former state Assemblyman Denis Butler at the ceremony. “We know that you’re going to have an excellent term of office.”
At the start of his first and only year as honorary mayor, Wager’s recommendations for holiday shopping were short and sweet.
“Shop often, and spend,” he said.
But most importantly, he stressed, “Shop Steinway Street.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
