Documentary Filmmakers Put 'The Vanishing City' and New York's Urban Renewal in Spotlight by Joe Neumaier - NY Daily News

THE VANISHING CITY—The Documentary

Global trends in major cities around the world have changed rapidly in the last several decades. As cities become more interconnected, and less dependent on localized economic models, domestic issues of increased class inequality and sustainability have emerged as central components to city planning debates. These trends are perhaps best exemplified in the city of New York.

Told through the eyes of tenants, city planners, business owners, scholars, and politicians, The Vanishing City exposes the real politic behind the alarming disappearance of New York’s beloved neighborhoods, the truth about its finance-dominated economy, and the myth of “inevitable change.” Artfully documented through interviews, hearings, demonstrations, and archival footage, the film takes a sober look at the city’s “luxury” policies and high-end development, the power role of the elite, and accusations of corruption surrounding land use and rezoning. The film also links New York trends to other global cities where multinational corporations continue to victimize the middle and working classes. 

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Signs of urban renewal are everywhere in New York. Yet in "The Vanishing City," a gripping new documentary, filmmakers Fiore DeRosa and Jen Senko reveal ominous trends that could forever change the city's neighborhoods and communities, and not for the better.

The film, which screened earlier this week at the Harlem International Film Festival, will be shown Saturday, Sept. 25, at 10 p.m. in Brooklyn at The Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Ave.) as part of the Williamsburg Film Festival, which ends Sunday Sept. 26.

"At first, we wanted to document the changes in the city, coming at it really from a nostalgic point of view," says Senko. "But the more questions we asked, the film became more of a journalistic expose, a detective story.

"Essentially, we found that the city was using taxpayers' money to more and more finance luxury housing, pushing out people and businesses that had been there for generations. These developers got huge subsidies and tax breaks, while taxes on small landlords and co-ops were going up nearly 40 percent.

Jen Senko and Fiore Derosa, directors of the new documentary called Vanishing City, pose outside of Katz's Deli on Houston Street. Rosier/News

"The result is changing the whole culture of Manhattan, and the film took on that focus."

"In short, New York is losing communities, a vital part of what makes it special," add DeRosa. "People and families who've lived here for 20 or 30 years -- and small mom-and pop-stores that had existed for decades -- face steep hikes in rent. The small businesses can't afford to stay here, and middle-class people are getting priced out."

The directors have experienced several sides of New York since each moved here separately from New Jersey in the late 1970s and early '80s. DeRosa has supported himself as a construction worker while pursuing acting and directing in off-Broadway theater; Senko has worked as a presentation artist with financial companies. "The Vanishing City," exec-produced by Oscar-winner Ericka Hampson and narrated by actress Kathryn Erbe ("Law & Order; Criminal Intent"), reflects a love of the entire city and their mutual concern about local government's unspoken policy of what the film terms "luxurification."

"If you have these types of high-rent-only structures and pricey commercial locations that only flagship stores can occupy, you don't get to know your neighbors, and you don't have small businesses that have a stake in your community," says DeRosa. "We're not against development – a healthy city evolves, of course. What we're against is using taxpayer dollars to only subsidize luxury housing, and the rezoning of neighborhoods."

The prospect of rezoning, the pair say, afflicts every neighborhood, in every borough.

"The Lower East Side and Williamsburg are really under threat from rezoning," says Senko. "And developers are really trying to focus on Chinatown -- people often talk about the ‘malling' of the city, and if it continues to happen there, it could be revamped and there may be a handful of small shops, but it won't be Chinatown."

There is, however, one upside to the changes shown in "The Vanishing City": The potential for communities and neighborhoods to unite in ways they haven't done in decades.

"In the movie, you see communities getting together, calling on the Bloomberg administration to rezone things so they won't get pushed out. That's an ongoing phenomenon," says Senko. "People are coming together to bring changes to their neighborhoods, and fighting for things like height caps on new buildings on the Lower East Side and in the East Village. Certain buildings are even being landmarked before developers can get hip to the real estate."

"The Harlem Tenants Association has fought back and got some concessions," adds DeRosa. "Greenwich Village has fought back successfully, and the West Village, too. They have no protections there, and they're trying to get landmark status for certain areas. The area around the Bowery has been really fighting hard as well."

"A lot of damage has been done, but we can regroup, and stop it from getting worse," says Senko. "And maybe we can turn it around. I love this city. I'm not going to give up on New York."

St. Albans VA Hospital - Save this VA Hospital from Demolition - Watch the Video and Sign the Petition..!

QUEENS AND NASSAU COUNTY VETERANS NEED A LOCAL VA HOSPITAL

Please help save St Albans VA Hospital in Queens, NY for our Vets. Sign Petition...

"Protect Saint Albans" is a coalition of individuals/organizations who have joined forces to stop the development of non-veterans housing on the VA's St. Albans Primary and Extended Care Campus (St. Albans VA Campus). Recently, much of St. Albans was successfully "downzoned" in a larger St. Albans - Hollis rezoning effort led by New York City's Department of City Planning. (Click here for a link to the rezoning document.) That downzoning effort was undertaken to discourage population growth in two neighborhoods whose infrastructure -- schools, parks, utilities, transportation, and otherwise -- is already overburdened. Supporting the development of non-veterans housing on the VA's St. Albans campus would only work against the gains made by the neighborhood's recent downzoning. Our Mission The mission of "Protect Saint Albans", is to stop the development of non-veterans housing on the VA's St. Albans campus. "Protect Saint Albans" would prefer that any acreage deemed not necessary to meet the ongoing needs of veterans, be permanently converted back to park land. Prior to construction of The Naval Hospital in 1950, the grounds were occupied by the St. Albans Golf Club and Community Center.

While attending the Queens Civic Congress at the Al Oerter Sports Center, Addisleigh Park Civic Association President Renee Hill spoke passionately about this important issue for veterans and the community at large. 

She and her group, the United Coalition for Veterans and Community RIghts (UCVCR) are planning to continue their hard-fought fight for the veterans at the St. Albans facility and we hope anyone who can help will do so.

Click on image to enlarge...

Sign the Petition to save St. Albans VA Hospital from private developers...Click here..!

The demolition of our St. Albans VA Hospital is NOT a done deal. We Can STOP this EUL process NOW. Call your Congressional representative NOW regarding this Private Developer grabbing VA land through the VA's EUL program.

Queens Merchants Blast Plan To Sell, Develop Municipal Lot by CeFaan Kim - NY1.com

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Business owners in downtown Flushing held a rally Saturday over a plan to turn a municipal parking lot into a mega-million dollar mixed-use development. NY1's CeFaan Kim filed the following report.

Nearly a hundred small business owners marched on downtown Flushing's largest municipal parking lot Sunday. A proposal to sell the land to a private developer could be approved by the City Council in a few days. The plan is to transform the lot into an $850 million mixed-use development with residential and retail space. But merchants say losing the parking spaces will cripple their businesses.

"If there's no parking spaces, we're going to go out of business. I mean that's a simple fact. People from the city keep saying 'it's going to be okay, it's going to be okay.' No it's not going to be okay," said small business owner Ikhwan Rim.

Developers of the project say lack of parking will not be a problem. The current lot has space for 1,100 cars. Flushing Commons would hold 1,600 but would also add 620 condominiums.

"We do not need anymore gridlock. Flushing is congested enough, think about it, we have the third highest foot traffic and one of the busiest transportation hubs in our city," said SJ Jung of the MinKwon Center.

The project will also include a new home for the Flushing YMCA, a hotel and open green space. It's expected to create 2,000 construction jobs and 2,000 more permanent jobs. The plan is supported by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and by local Council member Peter Koo.

The other issue is how much parking will cost. Developers have agreed to a below market cap for the first five years. Merchants are worried the price will skyrocket in year six.

"Is anybody willing to spend $7 or $8 parking to spend lunch time in this area?" said small business owner Daniel Kung.

Developers say they will not raise parking fees that will drive away business, and that in order for the project to succeed it must attract customers.

The full City Council will vote on the plan Tuesday. Sources say the proposal will likely pass with an overwhelming margin.

Queens' New Borough Historian Jack Eichenbaum Has Plan to Connect Kids with Local History by Nicholas Hirshon - NY Daily News

Just what we need in this era of Bloomberg's over-development of our communities, a borough historian who doesn't feel the need for landmarking of Queens historical buildings...geez..!

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Queens' new borough historian swears he won't "hide behind books" - but he might hide a few himself to bring the past to youngsters.

Pledging to connect with the public instead of library shelves, Jack Eichenbaum said he will offer scavenger hunts to help students learn the under appreciated legacy of their neighborhoods.

It's among several novel methods Eichenbaum vows to embrace in the prestigious post he assumed last week - at a crucial time when overdevelopment threatens Queens history.

"Books are a way of hiding from people," said Eichenbaum, 67, of Flushing. "I love being outdoors. I love the direct communication with people face to face."

Eichenbaum said he will also undertake digital research to determine, for example, how much of Queens' green space has been paved over in recent years.

Borough President Helen Marshall told the Daily News that she has already lined up a project for Eichenbaum: starting a one-room Queens history museum at Borough Hall in Kew Gardens.

Marshall said the display could feature items from the eclectic collection of the Queens topographical unit, such as a 1686 Bible and teeth from a famous Woodhaven racehorse named Dexter.

Marshall also hailed Eichenbaum's passion for leading walking tours past significant sites. "When people see that history and get into it, they don't want it to be destroyed," she said.

Eichenbaum stressed he will embrace an "educator" role rather than becoming an advocate who leads landmarking rallies to save "just every old building."

Pressed on whether he would seek landmark status to protect historic sites, Eichenbaum replied, "I don't see myself championing those types of causes."

Instead, he said, he will refer preservationists who seek advice on landmarking causes to other experts or museums.

He even dismissed some calls for historic preservation as residents fearing change.

Eichenbaum also bemoaned the "frozen-in-time" approach to the city's historic districts, which protect select blocks from major alterations or demolitions.

"A lot of the historic districts are just so fussy: 'You can't change this, you can't change the colors,'" he said.

Eichenbaum added that he is planning an October meeting of the borough's historical societies to foster interaction and cooperation around Queens.

City Plans to Change Law on Streetscaping by Howard Koplowitz - YourNabe.com

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Tom Smith of the city Department of City Planning goes over the Residential Streetscape Preservation text amendment with Community Board 10. Photo by Howard Koplowitz

Community Board 10 was updated last week on the Department of City Planning’s Residential Streetscape Preservation text amendment that proposes new rules on curb cuts and front yard planting requirements for new housing.

Tom Smith of the DCP said the text amendment has six goals, including strengthening regulations on how much space must be designated for planting in front yards in R1 through R5 districts, applying stricter rules for curb cuts and front yard parking in R3, R4 and R5 single- and two-family districts and ensuring adequate parking for new dwelling units.

Under existing rules, narrow planting strips can count toward the minimum planting requirements for R1 through R5 districts, including strips on either side of a driveway.

R1 through R5 are types of zoning, with R5 allowing for larger buildings than an R1 zone.

Smith said such plantings are problematic.

“It doesn’t really alleviate the problem of storm-water runoff,” he said.

Under City Planning’s proposed rules, planting strips must be at least 1 foot wide. Planting areas on the sides of driveways will still be allowed, but they cannot be used to fulfill front yard planting requirements, Smith said.

City Planning sent out information about the text amendment to Queens community boards, the borough board and Borough President Helen Marshall Nov. 16. A public comment period runs until Jan. 25, after which time City Planning will hold a public hearing on the text amendment. The rules need to be approved by the City Council.

The board also heard from state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) and a representative for state Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway Beach) about Gov. David Paterson’s promise to select a winning bidder to operate video lottery terminals at Aqueduct Race Track.

Addabbo said the process has been so delayed that he does not care who the governor picks, as long as he picks a bidder.

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He said a staffer for Paterson called him about two weeks ago.

“I said to the gentlemen, pick somebody,” Addabbo said, noting the governor said one week ago that he would pick a bidder within the week. But that, like other deadlines, have come and gone.

Addabbo said “whoever will be chosen will be good for our area,” noting the community could use jobs associated with redeveloping Aqueduct.

Larry Love, an aide to Pheffer, said she had a similar conversation with the governor, but was pickier than Addabbo.

“She did tell them there were certain groups she preferred over others, but also the same thing: pick somebody.”

CB 10 Chairwoman Betty Braton said the process was “kind of ridiculous at this point.”

“Don’t everybody hold your breath waiting for [Friday’s] papers, because I don’t think [Aqueduct is] going to be in there.”

She was right.

NYC Confirms Dispatch Error During Deadly Queens Fire by AP - Newsday

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Authorities say an emergency dispatcher’s keystroke error sent fire trucks toward the wrong address during a blaze that killed three people in Queens.

Authorities say an emergency dispatcher’s keystroke error sent fire trucks toward the wrong address during a blaze that killed three people in Queens.

The mistake was quickly corrected while the trucks were en-route on Saturday. It’s not clear whether it was a factor in the deaths.

A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg acknowledged the dispatch error, but said other issues were more significant.

Jason Post said the basement windows were barred and the floors were illegally subdivided. He said the building also lacked working smoke detectors.

Some firefighters cited the incident as a sign that the city’s new dispatching system is not working. City officials defended the system, which was put in place over union objections.

Willets Point United Hires NY State’s Top Eminent Domain Attorney

Fred Michael Rikon of the law firm Goldstein, Goldstein, Rikon and Gottlieb, a nationally renowned expert in eminent domain law, to represent them during the upcoming eminent domain battle with the City of New York.

Michael Rikon has been practicing law in New York since being admitted to the State Bar in 1969. Before forming the firm of Goldstein, Goldstein & Rikon in 1994, Mr. Rikon had a successful private practice, founded in 1980, specializing in condemnation law, real estate and litigation in the Court of Claims. From 1973 to 1980, Mr. Rikon served as a law clerk to the Honorable Albert A. Blinder of the New York State Court of Claims. Mr. Rikon began his law career as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, a position he held from 1969 to 1973, where he was a senior trial attorney in the Condemnation Division.

Mr. Rikon also contributes to professional journals in subjects related to the practice of condemnation law. In 1973 and 1974, Mr. Rikon was a special consultant to the New York State Commission on Eminent Domain and assisted in drafting New York's Eminent Domain Procedure Law.

Goldstein, Goldstein, Rikon & Gottlieb, P.C. is a law firm which limits its practice to condemnation law.

“With Mr. Rikon at the helm, we feel confident about our future. He is familiar with the continued neglect the city has forced upon the Willets Point businesses and residents. He is also familiar with the city’s unfair and illegal rush to use eminent domain.”

On June 3, 2009, the City of New York announced that it would begin condemnation proceedings against the remaining property owners at Willets Point, despite the fact that only 2 acquisition deals have been made since the November 13, 2008 City Council vote that approved the Willets Point redevelopment project. The City Council made it clear that eminent domain was only to be used as a last resort.

Earlier this year, the City’s Economic Development Corporation made phone calls to many of the businesses and told them that negotiations were on hold until next year. Then earlier this month, these same property owners were notified that they would soon receive letters announcing a public hearing about the use of eminent domain – a signal that the City plans to use eminent domain to take the rest of the properties.

“The City promised that eminent domain would only be used to take property from ‘1 or 2 hold outs’ – which is a far cry from the 59 landowners, or 80% of those who are left ,” said Jake Bono, Spokesperson for Willets Point United.

“Thankfully, we have Mr. Rikon, who will vigorously represent us on all matters until we achieve victory. This will protect future generations from being subject to abusive New York City eminent domain practices.”

For up to date information about the Willets Point fight, please visit their blog: http://www.willetspoint.org.

You may also follow them on Twitter: WilletsPtUnited

Work Continues at the Richmond Hill Republican Club...

Work continues on the Richmond Hill Republican Club - March 25th

Proposed Downzoning Plan to Protect Mid-Queens by Ben Hogwood - Queens Chronicle

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Tom Smith, with the Department of City Planning, presented a proposal to downzone parts of three neighborhoods on Thursday to the Juniper Park Civic Association. (photo by Ben Hogwood)

Residents in middle Queens may soon get some relief from overdevelopment in the area.

The Department of City Planning is moving forward with a proposal to rezone sections of Middle Village, Maspeth and Glendale to protect them from out-of-character, and usually unwieldy, growth.

The Juniper Park Civic Association widely welcomed the proposal, presented by planner Tom Smith, during a meeting held Thursday in Our Lady of Hope School in Middle Village.

Residents have been calling for the rezoning for years in an attempt to thwart the breakneck pace of development taking advantage of the lax zoning in the neighborhoods.

That zoning, said Smith, is not limiting enough to protect their character and as a result, large, incongruous structures have gone into one- and two-family residential neighborhoods.

“Just ride around the neighborhood, you can see them,” said Bob Holden, president of the JPCA.

One of the main problems with the zoning is that it allows for infill — the use of land within a built-up area for further construction — which enables a developer to build a structure 1.5 times the size of what it should be.

The JPCA even took on Paul Graziano, an urban planning consultant, to help survey the area and draw up a common-sense proposal.

The zoning for the 300-block project area has remained unchanged since 1961. The new zoning, if implemented, would be far more area-specific, reflecting the type of development on each block, than the current zoning, which applies blanket restrictions to the district.

Most in attendance were pleased with the proposal, but some were concerned that about 40 blocks in the study area weren’t included.

Smith said the majority of that area is composed of rowhouses that don’t fit in to zones the city already has. He also doubted that further growth would take place in these neighborhoods.

“We don’t foresee much development there,” he said. “They are built out.”

But Graziano questioned the wisdom of such a decision. He said that if the included areas get rezoned, it would push further development onto the other blocks. Like several in attendance, he wants the city to create a single-family rowhouse district, something it doesn’t currently have.

Still, he was pleased with the planning department’s proposal and said it corresponds closely to the one he drew up. “At first glance it looks pretty good,” he said. “Hopefully they keep to it.”

The plan must now go through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure before it can be enacted. The planning department intends to go before Community Board 5, which oversees the three neighborhoods, sometime in the spring, starting the process.

The board will make a recommendation on the proposal, which will then move on to the Queens Borough President’s Office, the City Planning Commission and finally the City Council.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), who took up the project even prior to being seated this year, said she hopes to make it law by May, beating the current downzoning record held by Park Slope in Brooklyn.

The area included in the proposal has been divided into four sections.

The first section, in Maspeth, is bounded by 59th Street, Mount Olivet Cemetery, the Queens-Midtown Expressway and Admiral Avenue.

The second section, in Middle Village, is bounded by the Queens-Midtown Expressway, Woodhaven Boulevard, Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 80th Street, Juniper Boulevard and Lutheran Avenue.

The third section, in eastern Glendale, is bounded by Woodhaven Boulevard, 76th Avenue, 88th Street, 77th Avenue, 80th Street and Cooper Avenue.

The fourth section, in western Glendale, is bounded by the Long Island Railroad, 70th Avenue, 69th Place, Myrtle Avenue, 73rd Street and Mt. Carmel Cemetery.

Ousted Tenants Urge City to Landmark College Point's Schleicher House by Nicholas Hirshon - NY Daily News

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Photo: NY Times by Richard Perry

Vacated tenants of a 19th-century mansion in College Point pleaded with city officials Tuesday to landmark the stately building - a step they said would prevent its demolition and perhaps expedite their return home.

Choking back tears, two frustrated renters from the Schleicher House at 13th Ave. and 123rd St. urged the Landmarks Preservation Commission to designate the 2-1/2-story brick building - built in 1857 on a unique circular plot - a historic site.

"I hope you can save it," said Rita Douglas, 51. "I just want to go back home."

Douglas had lived in the mansion from March 2008 until July, when its seven tenant families were forced to vacate.

Ousted resident Kalvis Macs, 38, begged the city to "do a lot for the community" by landmarking the Italianate and Second Empire-style structure, which was converted to a hotel in the 1890s and apartments in 1923.

Tenants allege that landlord Eva Rohan was so intent on selling the mansion to a demolition-minded developer that she neglected wiring snafus - leading the city to declare conditions "perilous" and vacate tenants.

Rohan, who didn't return calls seeking comment Tuesday, has previously denied any demolition plans and slammed the tenants for not paying electric bills.

Preservationists predicted the commission will landmark the mansion - partly because local City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) supports the designation and can guide it through the Council.

The 11-member commission is expected to vote on the designation in coming months.

Meanwhile, the commission unanimously approved a historic district of 36 rowhouses in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn - the ninth non-Manhattan district created under Chairman Robert Tierney.

That is a record for districts outside of Manhattan created under one chairman.

Since Tierney took over in 2003, the commission has approved five districts in Brooklyn, two in Queens - in Douglaston Hill and Sunnyside Gardens - and one each in the Bronx and on Staten Island.

A commission spokeswoman pointed to Tierney's record as proof the agency does not unfairly favor sites in Manhattan, as critics often suggest.

Call for Urgent Action Against Overdevelopment by Albert Baldeo...

Over-development has radically altered the traditional appearance and character of our neighborhoods. Illegal construction, non-compliance with zoning rules, and poor quality construction-this scourge is compounded with our failure to landmark historic buildings.

The results are increased population density, overloading community resources, congestion, pollution, parking and mass transit service problems. Schools are overcrowded and public utilities and services are overburdened, including sewer systems and garbage removal. The beauty of our tranquil neighborhoods is being destroyed. This epidemic has reached such proportions that there are few issues that cry out for governmental action more than over-development in Queens.

The issues are encapsulated in this larger question: “How can we enforce and promulgate laws relating to zoning infractions, illegal conversions, McMansions, lack of land marking of historic districts, concreting over lawns, out-of-character structures, permanent fencing, tear-downs and self-certification by engineers and architects?”

Abuse after abuse, eye sore after eye sore, buildings of this nature crop up block after block, like a cancer destroying our communities. Some have been completed, and others have been absolutely abandoned, presenting additional security and sanitation problems of their own.

Down zoning, the solution to the problem, curbs over-development and stops out-of-character development in Queens' residential neighborhoods. Changes in zoning regulations will align new construction with the character of the borough's neighborhoods and will ensure that communities can gracefully accommodate new development.

City Planning, in consultation with the Queens Borough President's Zoning Task Force, is supposedly conducting neighborhood zoning studies throughout the borough of Queens with the goal of preventing further over-development in each neighborhood. But why, after four years, we are still waiting for City action? Do we have to wait until the monstrosities completely overwhelm our neighborhoods? Why has it been stalled by the Department of City Planning over the last several years?

We must get the rezoning process moving again, as real estate investors continue to break ground on large-scale construction projects, putting up condominiums and four and five-story buildings with increasing frequency.

Clearly, City Planning and the Department of Buildings have dropped the ball. The City needs to complete the Down zoning Phase II process, and add personnel who are better trained, properly inspect violation complaints and respond quickly and efficiently.

Historic landmarks must also be preserved. The City must carry out the mandate of its residents. Enough is enough!

Richmond Hill Preservationist Cataldi Dead at 55 by Nicholas Hirshon - NY Daily News

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Nancy Cataldi, an outspoken preservationist who launched unrelenting efforts to save Richmond Hill's quaint downtown and Victorian homes, died last week at her home in Queens. She was 55.

The cause was a brain aneurysm and hemorrhage, said her half-brother, Michael.

Through nearly a decade as president of the Richmond Hill Historical Society, Cataldi fought to maintain the charm of a neighborhood that was founded in 1867 and boasts elegant houses and churches.

In 2002, she capped a successful campaign to landmark the classical Richmond Hill Republican Club on Lefferts Blvd., which was built in 1908 and hosted Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

"If it had not been designated [a city landmark], it's an absolute that it would have been demolished," said Ivan Mrakovcic, who preceded Cataldi as the historical society's president.

Cataldi also led an ongoing push to turn Richmond Hill into a historic district, which would bar major renovations without city approval. Preservationists fear the movement may suffer without Cataldi in charge.

"No one wants to say, 'I can do a better job,' because no one could," said Carl Ballenas, a historian at the historical society.

Cataldi also ran events celebrating the history of Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens, and curated the recently opened Italian-American Museum in Little Italy.

A photographer by trade, she worked for the New York Rangers hockey club in the 1980s and freelanced for major newspapers and magazines in recent years. She also volunteered for a Queens-based no-kill animal shelter, Bobbi and the Strays.

In August, Cataldi admitted she was devastated by changes to Richmond Hill - like the removal of marquee lettering from a 1929 RKO Keith's movie theater on Hillside Ave.

She also disturbed by the closing of a neighboring ice cream parlor named Jahn's and the destruction of a 1887 funeral home on Lefferts Blvd. where the society had housed its archives. "Everything historical down there is gone, almost," Cataldi lamented.

Her funeral is set for 10 a.m. tomorrow at Holy Child Jesus Church on 86th Ave. in Richmond Hill.

Plan to Move Impound Lot Near JFK Airport Riles Residents by Lisa L. Colangelo - NY Daily News

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Area along Rockaway Blvd and Guy Lombardo around JFK Airport where the city plans cut down the trees and relocate some sites in Willets Point. District Manager of Community Board 13 Lawrence McClean, and Queens Chamber Alliance Barbara Brown rally with the community to stop the movement.

For many people who live in southeast Queens, the 13-acre parcel of trees and vacant land at the intersection of Guy R. Brewer Blvd. and Rockaway Blvd. is a vital buffer between their homes and Kennedy Airport.

City officials, however, see the site as the solution to an urgent problem.

It has been selected as the place to relocate more than 3,000 cars from the College Point impound lot so it can be cleared for a new, state-of-the-art police academy.

"We would rather not move 30 acres of cars," NYPD Inspector Thomas Pellegrino told borough officials last month. "But we are expected to break ground in mid-2009."

Community Board 13 was so unhappy with the plan to move the impound lot into their backyard that it unanimously voted down the proposal in September.

But Queens Borough President Helen Marshall told the Daily News that she has brokered a deal with the city to make the car pound a better neighbor. She intends to give the plan her seal of approval tomorrow.

"They went back to the drawing board and came back with concessions," Marshall said. "I'm very encouraged."

Under the new plan, cars will be stacked two-high instead three in the parts of the facility closest to Rockaway Blvd. to make it less visible.

The number of cars to be housed at the lot has been scaled down to 3,200 from 3,400. In addition, the NYPD promised to limit the types of vehicles brought into the new pound. And the exterior of the pound will be landscaped.

"With the trees and everything there, you won't really see it," said Marshall. "There will be no crushing of vehicles at the site."

As a sweetener, the city agreed to set aside 22 acres of land close to the pound, near Thurston Basin, as a park. Local residents have lobbied for years to get a park on the site.

"The community is happier now that there have been some concessions, but they aren't thrilled," said Richard Hellenbrecht, chairman of Community Board 13. "This had served as a buffer to the airport. It's a green area and it's going away."

There are about 700 trees at the site but only about 100 are considered "significant," city officials told Hellenbrecht. He said all greenery there is important.

"As far as I am concerned any tree with leaves on it cleans the air," he said.

Marshall said she secured a promise from the city to replace any trees uprooted to build the pound.

"Evidently, they were going to level the whole place," she said.

The move would have run counter to Mayor Bloomberg's sweeping PlaNYC 2030 initiative to plant 1 million trees by 2017.

City officials said they searched for other locations in the borough, ranging from the Aqueduct Racetrack parking lot to the Ridgewood Reservoir and near the Kosciuszko Bridge.

None of those worked out, leaving them with the site by the airport border, officials said.

Brooklyn was off limits, officials said, because it already houses three auto pounds.

Barbara Brown, a Community Board 13 member opposed to the plan, said the area is already saturated with traffic and industrial-type businesses.

"The air quality is not good in that part of Queens," she said. "They keep recommending things that pollute the air. That's an issue."

lcolangelo@nydailynews.com

Questions Answered At Town Hall by Lee Landor - Queens Chronicle

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Foreclosures, water bills, building violations, education, public safety, flooding and raccoons were among the issues discussed at a nearly two-hour town hall meeting in Woodhaven on Monday night.

About 100 community residents and leaders gathered in the meeting room of the Woodhaven-Richmond Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps, located at 78-15 Jamaica Ave., to ask questions of and get answers from their elected officials.

City Councilman Joseph Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) organized the meeting and invited City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. and state Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer (D-Ozone Park) to participate. The three were eager to respond to the complaints and concerns their constituents voiced, and each found the meeting to be successful.

“It’s the summer and people can be elsewhere, with their families or home, and instead they spent some time with us to discuss the issues and try to make our community better,” Addabbo said. “So, hopefully we can show the residents that their time there last night was worth it. And, I think it was.”

Click photo to enlarge

Thompson, who answered as many questions as he could and promised to research the answers to those he could not, agreed. “The town hall meeting played a valuable role,” he said. “Residents of Howard Beach, Ozone Park and Rockaway Park are facing many of the same quality-of-life issues that I’ve been working to address. ... This town hall gave us a chance to speak and hear from the more than 100 residents who attended and learn more about how we can help to improve services for New Yorkers.”

Pheffer also agreed and said residents demonstrated their contentment when Woodhaven resident Allan Smith raised the subject of inadequate performance by the Department of Buildings.

The audience burst into applause after Smith asked the officials his all-encompassing question: “How can we enforce laws relating to zoning infractions, illegal conversions, McMansions, lack of landmarking in Queens, historic districts, concreting over lawns, out-of-character structures, permanent fencing, teardowns, self-certification by engineers and architects?”

Thompson immediately took the opportunity to answer. “The Department of Buildings, to be honest about it, has dropped the ball,” he said. “In Queens, it’s usually the first or second issue that anybody brings up. ... There isn’t an issue I hear about more.”

What it comes down to, the comptroller said, is that the DOB needs to add personnel who are better trained. The buildings department fails to properly inspect violation complaints and to respond quickly and efficiently, he added.

Audience members nodded in agreement. “I think people felt very good about hearing about the Department of Buildings because everyone there really had an issue with them,” Pheffer said.

Other hot-button issues brought up during the meeting were water rate hikes, flooding, insurance claims related to flooding and the inaction of the Department of Environmental Protection.

“Make no mistake, we’re being ripped off,” Thompson said of increasing water rates. The water board and the DEP raised the rate by 11.5 percent last year and 14.5 percent this year, generating outrage from city residents and elected officials. “They are putting their hands in your pockets. ... They are charging us more than it takes to run the water system.”

In a move that further frustrates local residents, the DEP has attempted to absolve itself of responsibility for last summer’s flooding, calling it “an act of God,” according to Thompson. Numerous parts of Queens were devastated after torrential downpours in July and August 2007 destroyed some homes and caused many to lose valuable possessions.

The Comptroller’s Office depends on the DEP to determine who, if anyone, is liable for the flooding damage. In many cases, the DEP does not hold itself accountable, which is why one resident at the meeting called the agency a “zero” pulling a “con game.” Recognizing that the DEP’s negligence is unfair, Thompson is working with the agency to find solutions that are more equitable to homeowners.

This has caused a delay in the compensation owed by the city to those who filed claims with the Comptroller’s Office regarding their losses. Thompson apologized to those like area resident Pat, who did not give his full name, awaiting a response. Thompson is also trying to extend the final deadline for compensation, so that homeowners will not have to file lawsuits against the city.

Putting the issue in context, Addabbo said overdevelopment and building violations are causing the city to lose its natural drainage. Paving over lawns, illegally converting buildings and erecting three-family homes in areas designed to accommodate only single-family structures are actions that exacerbate flooding in the city’s antiquated sewer system, he noted.

It appears the inadequacies of one city agency contribute to those of another — and what contributes to them all? According to Ozone-Tudor Civic Association President Frank Dardani, 311.

Since Mayor Michael Bloomberg created the public information center several years ago, city agencies have gotten lazy, Dardani implied. He believes they do not take initiative. Instead, they must be prompted by repeated complaints. According to Thompson, 311 was designed as a supplement to, not a replacement for, city agency’s awareness of and response to problems.

Woodhaven resident Elaine Bauman said there is one issue of which the city is aware, but just does not care: raccoon infestations. Families of the so-called “masked bandits” have taken over the backyards of homeowners living near Forest Park, she said. And unless residents want to trap and remove the pests themselves, they are here to stay because there is no city agency with oversight on the matter.

Addabbo admitted that the city is reluctant to deal with raccoons unless they are rabid, and suggested residents call his office so he can refer them to private trappers.

Other residents complained about excessive graffiti in their neighborhoods and were assured by Addabbo that the City Council is attempting to increase penalties for graffiti. The councilman also urged audience members to call his office for help cleaning up defaced property.

The topic of education was discussed at length toward the end of the meeting. David Quintana of Ozone Park asked Thompson for his opinion on mayoral control of the city’s schools, to which the comptroller — who is a likely contender in the 2009 mayoral race — responded with a smile.

Thompson believes in mayoral control, but questioned who’s in charge. There is a flaw in the law that created mayoral control, which allows the Department of Education to remain an unaccountable entity, according to Thompson, who has been outspoken in his criticism of School’s Chancellor Joel Klein.

“Parents are more left out than ever,” he said, adding that the next mayor should create in the DOE a greater level of accountability, responsibility, openness and transparency.

One of the last subjects discussed at the town hall meeting was foreclosures. Vance Barbour of the Woodhaven Residents Block Association asked several questions regarding what is being done to repair the foreclosure crisis that has gripped the nation.

The state is taking various steps to help keep people in their homes, Thompson said. Pheffer, in particular, sponsored legislation earlier this year that created a $150 million mortgage assistance grant fund to assist borrowers in owner-occupied homes who are in default.

Residents raised several smaller issues that the elected officials addressed and people left the meeting with a sense of accomplishment or confidence that they’ve been heard, according to Pheffer.

But it was also advantageous for the elected officials. “It helps our leaders help us,” Dardani said, adding that it’s always beneficial when people gather to have dialogue about serious issues.

Star Of Queens - Andrea Crawford by Stephen J. Bronner - Queens Courier

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Andrea Crawford
Chair, Community Board 9

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Andrea Crawford is serving her second term as chairperson of Community Board 9, which covers the neighborhoods of Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven and Ozone Park One of the board’s top priorities is to fight for land use issues. “I’m not anti-development,” Crawford said. “I’m pro rational use of existing building stock before we just tear down and haphazardly put up structures that just don’t fit and serve the neighborhood.”

The board also attempts to save historical districts, which are prominent in Kew Gardens and Richmond Hill. Crawford is also concerned about rising rents, decreasing green space in the city, which impacts water drainage, and quality of life issues. “Quality of life is what makes you get up and go to work and come home every day,” she said.

PERSONAL: Crawford is 49 years old and has been married for 23 years. She first moved to Queens in 1982, but moved to Long Island after three years. Crawford then moved to Kew Gardens in 1997 for its proximity to Manhattan, where she works as an attorney. “I love Kew Gardens,” she said. “It very much has a small town feel to it, but we’re just a quick jump away to Midtown, and I love being able to come home to trees and birds.” Crawford is afraid that the area might lose its grass and trees, which is what got her involved in community activism. She was a member of the Kew Gardens Improvement Association before joining Board 9.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE: “Land use,” she said. “Helping to stem the flow of tearing down single-family homes and putting up these terrible apartment buildings that are built poorly.” She said this is an issue for CB 9, as well as the rest of Queens and Brooklyn. “Trying to maintain a balance, meaning let’s have development where development makes sense, and neighborhood preservation is one of the biggest things that we face,” she said.

PROUDEST MOMENT: Crawford is proud that she was able to go back to school and obtain a law degree at the age of 39. “I always wanted to go to law school,” she said. Due to numerous factors, she couldn’t attend school earlier. “Life takes you in different directions and you start along different paths,” she said. “Some paths work out and some don’t.”

INSPIRATION: “All the community activists and elected officials that I have come in contact with who give so selflessly of themselves,” she said. “Especially community activists. We all have day jobs and families. Somehow these people find the time and the energy to really run with something that is important to them.”

Letter - Tearing Up Queens by Patricia Dolan - Kew Gardens Civic Association - NYTimes.com

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To the Editor:

Original Article: Questions of Size and Taste for Queens Houses (July 5, 2008)

Re “Questions of Taste in Queens” (news article, July 5):

So much for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s much-ballyhooed efforts to preserve lower-density neighborhoods in the boroughs outside Manhattan.

Queens’s residential neighborhoods are still caught up in a building boom whose major accomplishment seems to be tearing down older homes and replacing them with the behemoths described in your article.

While the new houses may be legal, paving over every square inch of open space and walling in the product to create a fortress is not.

Residents of these neighborhoods have been fighting for a minor change in a zoning resolution that would save these graceful older neighborhoods — but the Department of City Planning has been too busy accommodating developers whose plans are closer to the mayor’s vision of an ever-growing city than the aspirations of longtime homeowners in Queens.

Patricia Dolan
President
Kew Gardens Hills Civic Association
Flushing, Queens, NY
July 6, 2008

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Club House Revamp Causes Concern by Lee Landor - Queens Chronicle

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A landmarked Richmond Hill building riddled with uncertainty since 2001 will have a new future, but this hasn’t eased the worries of those trying to preserve it.

What remains of the Richmond Hill Republican Club House, a 100-year-old structure that sits on Lefferts Boulevard facing the Richmond Hill Library, are four walls.

The building’s new owner began a $2 million renovation on the Colonial Revival-style building earlier this month by demolishing its interior. He has left its outer walls untouched, as required by the city Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Alex Yusupov, who placed a $740,000 winning bid on the building at an April 2007 auction, said he’s considering several ideas for the building’s use, but has not yet decided what it will become. One possibility for this building, which was abandoned for 27 years and in severe disrepair, is as a party or catering hall.

This is disappointing for Nancy Cataldi, president of the Richmond Hill Historical Society. She hoped that after nearly a decade of fighting to preserve the club house, it would be saved, repaired and turned into a community center.

“He’s got a good heart,” she said of Yusupov, but he’s a businessman looking to make a profit, which a community center would likely fail to generate. But Cataldi and other preservationists are glad the building is being refurbished because it was “a sore thumb in the neighborhood” for many years.

A leaking roof caused flooding inside the club house, which once served as a post office, and destroyed many relics that told of its past. The space was used as a dormitory for soldiers on leave during World Wars I and II. Later, Ronald Reagan’s local presidential campaigns operated out of the building, the basement of which had at one point contained a bowling alley. Banquets, parades, public lectures, picnics and dances were held inside the building, whose 18-foot oak pocket doors enhanced its grandiose stature.

“We have to keep alive the souls of the people that lived before us,” Cataldi said. And the historical society tried desperately to do so, but funding was limited and the group could not afford to pay tax liens on the building.

Salvation was close in March 2007, when a club supporter offered to hand over a $100,000 deposit to keep the building off the auction block. James Ortenzio, the former chairman of the New York Republican County Committee, had expressed a legitimate interest in saving the building and to preservationists he “seemed to be the dream,” Cataldi said. The dream died when Ortenzio was unable to gather funds in time and Yusupov’s bid was finalized by a Queens judge.

A conclusion to the saga of the club house’s problems is near, but Cataldi worries that more troubles will arise as a result. If the building is to become a catering hall, it will likely cause traffic congestion and parking issues in the neighborhood, she said.

After a stop-work order was placed on the demolition on Friday, alarm bells went off for several community residents, who feared the new owner would try to underhandedly demolish the building.

Construction taking place next door to the club house, formerly the Simonson Funeral Home, caused the old building to shake — likely a result of the contractor’s failure to properly shore up the foundation. Some community members speculated that this was done intentionally, at the request of the landmarked building’s new owner, so that the structure would come down and the property’s value would go up.

Yusupov denied this and said he plans to move forward with renovation work as soon as permitted.