Her Task: Revitalize Jamaica
New York Daily News, August 29, 2006 by Nicholas Hirshon

Melva Miller could not help but grin when she revealed the new title she acquired in January.

The 32-year-old Laurelton, Queens, resident, executive director of the Sutphin Blvd. Business Improvement District since its inception in 2004, said she is also the "project manager" in charge of giving Jamaica a brand identity and creating a cultural district of area institutions.

When told "project manager" has most recently been associated with the pavement-pounding contestants on Donald Trump's "The Apprentice," Miller smiled and laughed. But while The Donald is not offering her a job building casinos and skyscraper hotels in Atlantic City, the stakes here are almost as high.

If executed correctly, the plan could spur many positive economic changes in southeast Queens. If not, Miller will have lost out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help the neighborhood where she grew up.

"I'm willing to sacrifice and to deal with the stress for the course, because I think it's so, so important," she said. "The outcome will be really, really beneficial to the community, to downtown Jamaica."

The resources needed for the project were provided through a one-year grant from Deutsche Bank, which may extend it to two years if it feels Miller is on the right track.

The bank gave the money to the Greater Jamaica Development Corp., whose leaders agreed it should be used to try to increase tourism in the community.

Greater Jamaica figured the best way to do that would be by promoting local sites of interest - including the King Manor Museum and a performing arts center opening in a converted church next month - by forming a cultural district.

And it figured nobody was better suited for the job than Miller.

"She was the obvious person for this," said Andrew Manshel, the senior vice president for real estate development at the GJDC.

Mary Anne Mrozinski, executive director of the King Manor Museum, acknowledged that when she and others were first invited to take part in the cultural district effort, they approached the idea with skepticism.

But when Miller began discussing the project with them, Mrozinski said, all the participants were "sold very quickly on the whole concept."

"She's kept us on track and organized and coordinated a series of meetings throughout the summer," Mrozinski said.

"The realities of the daily grind and a tight budget and a small staff keep us [at King Manor] thinking in the same vein. This is allowing us to dream in ways that we haven't been able to before."