NEW YORK (TIP): The Jackson Heights Merchants Association (JHMA) announced the names of the new committee members including the President, Vice Presidents and Chairman. The new Executive was announced at a dinner held at Jackson Heights on Tuesday. April 2. Deepak Verma (Amba Jewelers) is the new President of JHMA. Other committee members are Jagir Singh (Sabzi Mandi) as Chairman, Saif Nagra (Dera Restaurant) as Senior Vice President; Suresh Gandhi (S.R. Travel) and Sunil Patel (Alankar Jewelers) as Vice Presidents, Sarabjit Tamber (Raja Foods) as Treasurer and Harshit Chugh (Arman Bridal) as Secretary.

The winners of board of directors elections announced last month are Amit Sharma aka Manu Rampal (JMD/ Black Wireles) , Amarjit Singh (Money Gram Agent) and Kamal Kumar (Sona Mandi). Shiv Dass, the pioneer and Chief Patron of JHMA blessed the new committee and wished them well to carry on the Association’s glory. “I am extremely happy with the names selected. I am sure that they will do very well in the long run.” On being asked about the diminishing numbers of the visitors at Jackson Heights, the newly elected President Deepak Verma said, “We are aware of this issue and our new committee’s focus is going to be to bring back business and visitors to Jackson Heights. But the economy is not too good also right now. Still this is our primary focus.

We are going to ensure safety and security of our customers. We already have regular patrolling of our street. We are also in the process to expand parking area for the customers.” Amit Sharma, better known as Manu, one of the Board of Directors of JHMA said that a lot more younger crowd has been included in the community to allow newer ideas to spread. “We have included several younger guys because we want fresher ideas and thoughts on how we can revive our street’s business,” he added. The event was largely attended by business owners of the 74th street and members of Jackson Heights Merchants Association besides a few guests that included Bobby Kumar, a long time friend of the Jackson Heights Merchants Association.