Neighbors Angered That Medical Office Set To Replace Forest Hills Cafe

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — In a part of Forest Hills replete with dentist and doctor's offices, many neighbors were unhappy to learn that a medical office is slated to replace a children's playspace.

The as-yet unspecified medical office is supposed to open at 100-26 Queens Boulevard, work permits filed with the Department of Buildings show. The storefront previously housed Little Bear Play Cafe, a cafe for kids that shuttered at the end of last year.

Located on Queens Boulevard between 67th Avenue and 67th Road, neighbors were quick to point out that the medical office will be one of many in the surrounding blocks — orthodontist and cardiologist offices alike abound in both directions, a Northwell urgent care is down the street and Long Island Jewish Forest Hills hospital is nearby.

"Oh geez, yet ANOTHER medical office?!" wrote one neighbor on a Facebook thread about the soon-to-open office. "This area is nothing but pharmacies and medical offices now... Ugh! Ugh! Ugh-ly!"

"Why not convert the entire area into a hospital zone," commented another aggrieved neighbor. "Since there is little parking, just have ambulance drop offs."

In response to several neighbors' comments that a restaurant (or specifically, diner) would be a better fit for the storefront, a third — more measured — commenter said he was also disappointed by news of the medical office.

"Unfortunately it's not the most exciting or diverse business we would hope for," he wrote.

At least one local, though, said that the medical office could be an asset to the community.

"In this area we have one hospital. It seems to me we should be grateful for another place where we can go when we’re not feeling well," wrote one neighbor.

Queens is infamously the most underserved per-capita of the city's five boroughs in terms of hospital beds following a series of hospital closures in the early aughts.

In Forest Hills specifically, Parkway Hospital closed in 2008 and St. Vincent Hospital, which served central Queens, shuttered the year after (the former has remained empty ever since amid years of stalled proposals).

" I know it’s not glamorous, but people have needs," the neighbor supportive of the new office added.

The medical office work permit, which was issued as of last week, doesn't specify when renovations on the office will be complete.