BY MAX PARROTT
Queens Community Board 7’s public
hearing over the Special Flushing
Waterfront District on Monday night
turned into a drawn-out, 4 ½-hour affair
as protestors against the rezoning fought
to have their voices heard within the
structure of the meeting.
Tensions boiled over as hundreds of
residents — the majority of whom opposed
the plan — packed into the Union
Plaza Care Center. In the middle of a twohour
presentation on the plan, protesters
and two community board leaders
clashed in such a manner that police had
to intervene.
Once things calmed down following
an interruption, the board resumed with
public testimony from all who signed up
— then cast an overwhelming 30-8 vote
(with one abstention) recommending approval
of the project. Nevertheless, even
those who supported the special waterfront
district raised some fundamental
concerns with the plan.
The plan would create a 29-acre waterfront
district that would lead to the
construction of 1,725 new apartments,
879 new hotel units, a new road system,
an open waterfront path, offices, retail
and community center space. The developers
say it would offer between 75 and
90 units of affordable housing.
TIMESLEDGER | 24 QNS.COM | FEB. 14-20, 2020
Procedural problems
The hearing began with a raucous
rally outside the nursing home where CB
7 meets, led by labor and tenant unions
32BJ and the Minkwon Center, among
other community groups. They urged
the board to vote against the plan and
consider alternatives on the basis of its
environmental impacts.
As the meeting got underway, members
of the crowd raised concerns that
the agenda only scheduled 15 minutes
of public testaimony, while community
board representatives and developers
were allotted two hours for presentations.
About 45 people had signed up to
speak — it’s estimated that 30 of them
opposed the district — and they worried
they wouldn’t have a chance to speak.
At one point, CB 7 Chairperson Eugene
Kelty confronted the agitated protestors
for making too much noise. This
led to a shouting match during which
Kelty reached to grab a phone of a protester
who was filming him. This led to
109th Precinct officers intervening to
make sure it didn’t escalate further.
Moments later, when Land Use Committee
Chair Joe Sweeney tried to diffuse
the situation, he and another pro-
Protesters face off with Community Board Chair Eugene Kelty. Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
Flushing’s CB 7 votes to
approve waterfront district
tester got too physically close. Cops had
to separate them as well.
After taking a brief moment to cool
off, CB 7 decided to alter the prescribed
agenda in order to allow community
members to talk right away.
Heated testimony
The testimony largely split between
community members associated with
the MinKwon Center, unions and environmentalists
who opposed the rezoning,
and local business owners who supported
it as an opportunity.
Though the developers framed the
vote as a choice between the public benefits
of a rezoning, and as-of-right development
with none, several of the opponents
said they would not support the project
without an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS), a detailed city report that
analyzes the effects of a rezoning.
“No rigorous study on its environmental
impact nor of its impact of gentrification
and racialized housing displacement
have been made,” said David Lee, a
staffer for Assemblyman Ron Kim.
Many of the MinKwon protesters, a
group composed to a great extent of local
teenagers from immigrant households,
spoke about how they felt that their communities
were not consulted by the developers
or community board.
“Community Board 7 does not represent
the 14,000-plus Chinese immigrants
living in Flushing. I’m here because the
Chinese working-class residents who
lack English proficiency, such as my
family, could not make it,” said Yuriko
Zhang, a 17-year-old protester.
On the other hand, several of the
developers small business owners
spoke about their own background as
immigrants.
Todd Leong of Leaf Cocktail Bar and
Lounge described the rezoning as an opportunity
for young Flushing residents.
“It’s a project like this that will create
jobs. I employ 20 people, all of them
Flushing residents – many of them very
young,” said Leong. “They are all able to
put themselves through college.”
Confl icted Community Board
When the community board began to
deliberate, several of its members echoed
the concerns of the opponents, which included
traffic congestion, the developer’s
lack of commitment to providing union
jobs, real estate speculation and lack of
community input.
“There really has been a serious lack
of input from organized community
stakeholders,” said Community Board
Vice Chair Lei Zhao.
Kelty responded that the Community
Board is always open to working with local
groups who approach them. Another
member, however, argued that the advisory
body should have proactive about
communicating with MinKwon Center.
After suffering a brief bout of indecision
and coming very close to tabling the
vote, the community board voted in favor
of approving the rezoning with an extensive
list of recommendations, which focus
on vehicular traffic, environmental
impacts and a school construction study.
The board’s advisory vote will next
go to acting Borough President Sharon
Lee, who has 30 days to submit a
recommendation.
Christ the King High School
68-02 Metropolitan Avenue, Middle Village, New York 11379
(718) 366-7400
Christ the King High School Honors Former Vice-Chair of Board of Trustees
Christ the King High School recently unveiled a plaque in memory, and in recognition of
Robert A. Normandia, who for over 40 years served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of
Trustees and who tirelessly advocated for Christ the King and its students.
Serphin R. Maltese, CK Board of Trustees Chairman, said, “We honor and memorialize
Robert Normandia, who for over 40 years, had selflessly served the students and the entire
Christ the King family. He will continue to be an inspiration to the Christ the King
Community for many years to come.”
Mr. Normandia served on the original committee to “Save Christ the King High School” and,
in 1962, he helped the Bishop with his appeal drive to build Christ the King High School. Bob
served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1977 until his death in 2019.
To honor Mr. Normandia, the plaque was unveiled at a recent CK Basketball game, which
was televised on ESPN. Mr. Normandia helped build Christ the King’s award winning athletic
programs and strengthened the school's reputation for academic excellence.
Christ the King has lost a great champion in Robert Normandia. He will be deeply missed by all. DONATE YOUR CAR
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