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Neighborhood Favorite Alpha Donuts Closing After Almost Half a Century in Business

A small one-story shop sits on a street in Sunnyside, Queens, connected to two other small buildings. The shop has a bright yellow sign with the words "ALPHA DONUTS" written on it in red.

The Alpha Donuts storefront.

By Carmo Moniz | news@queensledger.com

As a child, Jennifer Dembek, a Sunnyside resident of 48 years, would sometimes be greeted with donuts from her grandmother after school. The donuts came from Alpha Donuts, a community staple where Dembek said she could always find a good meal, a friendly face and great service. Dembek is one of many Sunnyside residents with fond memories of the shop, which is closing its doors after 48 years of serving the neighborhood.

“I grew up with this place which was great, it’s a staple in the neighborhood that we’re losing,” Dembek said. “I’m sad to hear that it’s closing.”

The beloved donut spot, which has been gutted of its insides and now sits empty on 45-16 Queens Blvd., is closing due to financial difficulties caused by inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to owner Patty Zorbas. Zorbas, who left the shop on Friday, has been running the business for the past 30 years.

“I gave so much of myself to this place,” Zorbas said. “It was a pleasure, all these years, it meant so much to me.”

Throughout its nearly 50 years in business, Alpha Donuts remained a family operation, according to Zorbas. She said that before she took over the shop, her sister-in-law had been in charge of the business, and before that her husband, who has since passed, was running it.

“This was my baby,” Zorbas said. “I have so many beautiful memories, it breaks my heart that I have to go.”

Yesnia Rumaldo, a friend of Zorbas’ who works in a nearby jewelry shop, said that she has gone to Alpha Donuts every morning for the past 24 years and is saddened to see it close.

“This is the only place that you could come, where you find somebody friendly, always with a smile on their face, doesn’t matter what,” Rumaldo said. “They were always ready for everybody. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got money or if you don’t have money.”

Alpha Donuts is not the only small business in Sunnyside to have been hit hard by the pandemic. Three years ago, KMIA Salon, once located in the building to the right of Alpha Donuts, also closed due to financial struggles brought on by COVID-19.

Food service and retail establishments were more affected by COVID-19 compared to other businesses, remaining below pre-pandemic levels even when many industries were beginning to bounce back, according to a report released by the New York City Comptroller last year.

Anne Smyth, who has lived in Sunnyside for 35 years and was a frequent customer of the donut shop, said that she has noticed businesses closing more frequently in the neighborhood.

“I’ve been here 35 years and it was the freshest coffee, food — everything,” Smyth said. “The whole neighborhood is so nice and Sunnyside has gone down so much. They’re taking away everything, rent is far too high, they’re bringing everything down. It’s not fair.”

Smyth added that Alpha Donuts was a common gathering spot for older Sunnyside residents, and said she is concerned about where they will go now that the shop is closed.

“They go in there, they have a cup of coffee, their cup of tea, they can sit there, they can have a toast or whatever they want,” Smyth said. “It’s gone, there’s nowhere else to go for them. It’s absolutely dreadful.”

Sunnyside Community Services wins national caregiving award

A senior center in Sunnyside received national recognition for the quality of care they provide to clients.

Sunnyside Community Services, an organization dedicated to providing support to caregivers of those who have Alzheimer’s or other dementias, was awarded a $20,000 grant through the Innovations in Alzheimer’s Caregiving Award.

The award is presented by The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Inc. and Family Caregiver Alliance, and is presented to three outstanding programs in the country.

SCS and their Care NYC program was recognized for its multicultural approach and services, and is the only New York City-based winner.

“We are thrilled to be recognized for our accomplishments, in particular, providing support to the Latino caregiver community,” Shyvonne Noboa, division director for senior services, said.

“Our Latino caregivers are exacerbated in terms of their needs, including social support, basic healthcare and mental health needs,” she continued. “What we do is empower with education and provide that emotional support and in-home care, and it’s wonderful to be recognized for the area of expertise that we’ve been able to craft. We’ve been providing services to family caregivers in western Queens and all of Queens for over 10 years.”

Care NYC offers services to caregivers and their loved ones which include education and caregiver skills workshops, peer support groups and long term care planning.

Edward Rosado, a caregiver support specialist at SCS, said that he enjoys being able to provide necessary services to the Latino community by making resources accessible to them and engaging with them in their native language.

“When we speak in their native tongue, we develop that trust in the beginning, which can lead to them asking for other services they normally wouldn’t know how to ask for,” Rosado said.“From that moment on, we try to provide a care plan that would implement services for them to help navigate dementia.”

He added that “caring for someone that you love that suffers from this devastating disease is not an easy thing, and so we provide the services to keep them intact.”
Anna Romero, a resident of Brownsville, cares for her 71-year-old husband whose cognitive function is declining.

She has participated in SCS’ programs for seven years, and described the organization’s assistance as “instrumental” during her husband’s journey with dementia.

“Their expertise and support system is incredible, because there’s so much knowledge and experience with the roundtable talks and the sense of community they provide,” Romero said.

“It helps me remember that I’m not going through this alone. SCS’ care is more individualized, more heartfelt than other places I’ve dealt with,” she continued. “We developed several relationships through the support group that have continued, and it’s very helpful to just be able to talk to someone who’s going through the same thing as you.”

In 2021 alone, the SCS staff provided over 2,000 caregivers with support services, and performed over 3,000 check-in calls.

The awarded funds will be used to further support and expand upon the organization’s programming.

“A lot of the time, the funding that this program gets is really tight and restricted to particular areas,” Noboa said. “This grant gives the program and the team an opportunity to get really creative, to develop and strengthen their professional skills to create opportunities for caregivers and the team in a way that we couldn’t before.”

Rosado said that the most rewarding part of his job is hearing the feedback from clients and knowing how much the work he does makes a positive difference in someone’s life.

“We’re in this work to help people. We’re not looking to pat ourselves on the back or put ourselves on a pedestal,” he said. “These clients, these caregivers are so appreciative that somebody knows that they’re alive, or that they need assistance. So what I get is not in the pocket, I get it in the heart when I hear ‘Thank you, you saved my life. God bless you.’ During this part of history, I can actually say I’m part of an organization that helped mankind out… How many people get to say that?”

St. Pat’s For All Parade strolls through Sunnyside

Photos By Walter Karling

 

Cyclist killed by truck in Sunnyside

A bicyclist was killed when he was struck by a box truck at the intersection of 47th Street and 47th Avenue in Sunnyside on Wednesday morning.
At about 8:30 in the morning, a truck, operated by a 33-year-old driver with a suspended license, was traveling westbound on 47th Avenue and attempted to make a right-hand turn onto 47th Street when the accident happend, police say.
The 58-year-old Forest Hills man, Qiang Tu, was riding west in a designated bike lane along 47th Avenue. He was transported to Elmhurst Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The operator of the vehicle, Shakai Waye of Newark, New Jersey, remained on scene and was later arrested and charged with aggravated unlicensed operator.
Juan Restrepo, a senior organizer at Transportation Alternatives, blamed the loss of life on the de Blasio administration.
“Qiang Tu’s life could have been saved if Mayor de Blasio prioritized people over parking,” he said in statement. “Instead, even though he was biking along a so-called ‘designated bike route,’ there is zero physical protection from deadly cars here, only painted sharrows on the road.
Restrepo called on the city to prioritize protected bike lans in the southern section of Sunnyside on routes like 47th Avenue that are popular with bicyclists headed to the Kosciuszko Bridge.
“Paint is not protection,” he said. “Instead of getting closer to Vision Zero, we are getting further away. But let’s be clear, Vision Zero isn’t failing, Mayor de Blasio is failing.”

Early morning fire tears through Queens Blvd. building

An early morning fire on Queens Boulevard on Thursday tore through a row of businesses in Sunnyside.
Hundreds of firefighters and emergency personnel responded to the four-alarm blaze on the south side of the boulevard between 43rd and 44th streets. Three suffered minor injuries.
The fire started in Taiyo Food on 44th Street, and quickly engulfed the four neighboring businesses, Mad for Chicken, Bajeko Sekuwa, Malingo and Mad Cafe. No employees were injured.
In December of 2018, a large fire destroyed several businesses just a few blocks east on the same side of Queens Boulevard. That property is still a large, graffiti-covered vacant lot.
As they did after that fire, the Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District has started a fund to help the five businesses. Donations can be made on GoFundMe or by emailing info@sunnysideshines.org.

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