By Courtney Dentch
When the Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas, the first tenant in the Jamaica Center, opened with a gala celebration last week, only one elected official from southeast Queens showed up.
While state senators and assembly people who were tied up in budget hearings in Albany and the area’s congressman sent representatives, City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) was the sole elected official who attended the widely anticipated opening last week. More than 1,000 people turned out for the event, including Borough President Helen Marshall and former City Councilman Archie Spigner.
The Jamaica Multiplex, a 15-screen theater, opened its doors to the public last Thursday in a move that marked the first time the downtown area had had a movie theater in more than 30 years.
The multiplex was the first business to open in the Jamaica Center at 159-02 Jamaica Ave. at Parsons Boulevard. Old Navy and The Gap stores followed close behind and officially welcomed shoppers Tuesday.
Managers at both stores said foot traffic Tuesday was good, but officials at the headquarters of the national retailer chains had no comment.
The 411,000-square-foot Jamaica Center will also have a 400-spot parking garage and other national retailers such as Walgreens, Bally Total Fitness, and a Subway sandwich shop. The stores were scheduled to open throughout May and into the summer.
Comrie was pleased with the arrival of the theater.
“They’re employing young people from the community in management positions,” he said at last week’s opening. “We have a unique opportunity to utilize the building for community needs.”
Although the Jamaica Center has been hailed as a sign of the rebirth of Jamaica, both state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) and state Assemblyman William Scarborough (D-St. Albans) were busy passing the state budget last week.
“They don’t tend to do these things around the schedules of state legislators,” Scarborough said.
But Scarborough has high hopes for the theater and the area, he said.
“I think it’s a fantastic addition to the area,” he said. “It shows that people are buying into the revitalization of Jamaica.”
Smith was also disappointed at missing the opening of the theater, said Celeste Morris, the senator’s chief of staff.
“I think he heralds the opening of the movie theater,” Morris said, speaking on behalf of Smith. “It’s a cornerstone of the development in the area.”
U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) had to attend a congressional session in Washington that day, said a spokeswoman. Although he sent a representative, Meeks is eager to see the center for himself, he said.
“I’ve passed by it, but I haven’t gotten to go inside yet,” Meeks said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “I intend to go and see a movie this weekend. It will be a holiday treat for me.”
Meeks, too, is optimistic about the center’s significance.
“It’s the first actual evidence of the rebirth of Jamaica,” he said. “It is the beginning of what is to come and it will create an economic environment in downtown Jamaica where people can continue to spend their money in the district and not go to Nassau of Suffolk to do so.”
Several other officials representing southeast Queens in the state Legislature were not at the opening and were believed to be in Albany working on the budget.
City Councilman Allan Jennings (D-Jamaica) said he did not receive an invitation to the gala. Jennings was indeed left off the invitee list by mistake, said Jennifer Hanson, a spokeswoman for National Amusements, the theater’s managers.
“That was a complete oversight on our part,” Hanson said. “We feel just terribly about inadvertently leaving Mr. Jennings off the list and we apologize for it.”
A number of other people also reported that they had not received invitations, Hanson said. Many invitations were resent, she said, but Jennings’ name was not on that list, she said.
Despite the mistake, Jennings is also excited about the prospects the center and the theater will bring to the area, he said.
“I think it’ll mean more development to downtown Jamaica,” he said. “It’s going to bring some jobs to the area.”
The center is expected to generate 350 new jobs in downtown Jamaica, and the center’s tenants have been trying to hire residents. Both Old Navy and Jamaica Multiplex held job fairs and although neither would say how many people they hired, the businesses said public response was overwhelming.
Councilman James Sanders Jr. (D-Laurelton) was on the invitation list, according to Hanson, but he could not be reached for comment about why he did not attend the opening.
Jamaica has not had a movie theater since the 1970s and as a result the downtown area has not been able to attract restaurants and other recreational outlets for evening entertainment. Tax dollars that should have been destined for Queens have been drawn across the border into Nassau County, where Green Acres and other malls have multiplexes and extensive shopping areas.
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 138.
