Donestock Store

Yesterday, I met with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership & Virginia Port Authority representatives in Japan in Tokyo. This meeting came on the heels of a truly inspiring visit I had for my business to the Southeast Virginia region (Norfolk, Newport News, Williamsburg, Hampton Roads, Portsmouth), and let me tell you that Virginia is definitely not like New York in some interesting and positive ways. For starters, the Commonwealth of Virginia has made a long term commitment to encourage commerce between their state and Japan. They have a government team together that would be the envy of any comparable organizations in New York City. But, most of all, they have a vision for the future and they are taking concrete steps to make their state the place to do business, so much so, that I am actively considering expanding my own small business to the Southeast Virginia region. The reason my friends is simple: they are doing what we in New York merely say with words. Actions always count more in the end. Conversely, I am rather envious of Virginia, because with all of the resources New York City has, we fail to grasp the changes going on in our own nation. While we toil in endless debate and wallow in negativity, our brothers and sisters in other states are creating the small-business friendly environment that anyone given the state of affairs in our neck of the woods would seriously have to take into consideration in future planning. My friends, it is not always about how much money is thrown into something, or how much information you ply onto someone, it is that sense of engagement, commitment and energy you get from the people you are meeting. The economic development organizations in our borough and city would do themselves good by making links with their counterparts in other states. Broadly speaking, and I know this may be a shock in some quarters of our community, Northwest Queens, and for that matter, New York City, is not the center of the universe. We exist in this enormous sea, and while we pat ourselves on the back for being the gateway to that American dream, could it be that the other states and their governments are helping our people to realize that dream? I sure hope we are not on the waning days in New York, becoming nothing more than one gigantic condominium and playland for the upwardly mobile. That is why I hope, as a City Council Member, to give this knowledge to my colleagues in the Council and city government and move us back more towards specific actions we can take right now before New York becomes a buzzword for what life used to be in America, rather than setting the new standards for excellence in all areas great and small. Northwest Queens can be that engine, through our diversity, our shared experience and our latent desire to go beyond and think outside of convention.