Thanks to our fantastic partners at the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, Downtown Jamaica is in full bloom! Between the planted median and the landscaped planters at the soon-to-be temporary pedestrian plaza, Parsons Boulevard at Jamaica Avenue is looking truly spectacular.  Also, if you haven't been by to check out the public art installation, you don't want to miss it! 

Please take a look for yourself and let us know what you think! We are also working with our partners to pilot a pedestrian plaza adjacent to the artwork, complete with landscaping and bistro tables and chairs.  Stay tuned!

Here are some special deals we found in Downtown Jamaica to honor the dads in your life: Old Navy is offering men's wear up to 40% off until June 15th and Verizon is giving free Verizon Tablets to existing and new customers with a 2-yr contract available in stores only. Lifestyle Awards at the Jamaica Market is offering Jamaica Center BID ValueCard holders 10% off on Father's Day for engraved chess, dominoes, wine, pen, card and poker sets.  Although it's a little after Father's Day, Friday, June 20th is a special day at Zales on Jamaica Avenue.  The store is having a Signature Showcase Event with up to 50% off regular prices and a DJ and refreshments from 12pm to 5pm!

Opening in time for JCAL's First Friday on June 6th at 6pm is a new visual arts exhibit by Jacqueline Herranz-Brooks.  MALDITA PARED is an installation that features a large, projected wall piece that invites visitors to write "within" the projected courtyard of one of Herranz-Brooks' most provocative and beautiful photographs taken during her stay last summer in Cuba.  The Gallery will be filled with Havana street sounds to animate the visual impact of framed and free-hanging prints of varied sizes that in addition to recording the sidewalks, cafes, roads and beaches revisited by Herranz-Brooks after a seven-year absence, but also her ongoing project of preserving the street art life that populates the landscapes of New York City.

Jacqueline Herranz-Brooks, is best known as a published novelist in Spanish and is currently working on her doctorate in Hispanic Literature and Language at the Graduate Center, CUNY.  She is a York College alumnus (2005) and has been an adjunct professor in Spanish since 2007.  Herranz-Brooks, a graduate of Escuela Provincial de Fotograf�a, Havana, has been making photographs for over two decades. She is the author of Liquid Days (TribalSong, Argentina, 1997), Escenas Para Turistas (Campana, NY, 2003) and Mujeres Sin Trama (Campana, NY, 2011).