C RY D E R
P O I N T
FEBRUARY 17
City urged to ‘immediately abandon’
plans for Corrections facility in Bayside
WWW.QNS.COM | FEBRUARY 2018 | CRYDER POINT COURIER 17
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
SMONTEVERDI@QNS.COM /
@BSMONT76 ayside should not be the site of
a proposed Department of Corrections
(DOC) training facility,
according to two lawmakers.
Assemblyman Edward Braunstein and
Councilman Paul Vallone are the latest
local leaders to speak out against the DOC
plan to bring its training academy to Fort
Totten in the Bay Terrace section of the
neighborhood. The agency is currently
working with the Department of Design
and Construction (DDC) on a feasibility
study for the site.
Community Board 7 first raised concerns
with the proposal at a general
meeting in October 2017, where FDNY
officials stopped by to share plans to
construct a wind turbine in the southeast
portion of the fort. While board
members were initially open to the proposal,
the mood changed when board
member Chuck Apelian announced
he received word the DOC is actively
considering Fort Totten for its training
academy.
Remarks made by former DOC Commissioner
Joseph Ponte in May 2017 confirmed
the agency’s interest in the site. The
city has allocated $100 million for the new
training academy.
Braunstein called the city’s desire to further
develop Fort Totten “outrageous.”
“Recently, Community Board 7 notified
my office that DOC was considering
a facility at Fort Totten,” he said. “Upon
receiving this information, my requests to
various city agencies have failed to result
in any substantive information. This is
despite the fact that the city of New York
has been considering this proposal as far
back as 2015.”
The lawmaker also recently received
an anonymous mailer that included
a copy of the city Fire Department’s
“Agency Training Operations and
Planned Re-Development At Fort Totten,
Queens” report, dated Sept. 26.
Should the DOC plan move forward
at the Fort, two buildings near the the
soccer fields/old parade grounds would
have to undergo renovation and demolition
work to accommodate the new
facility, according to the document. Bus
parking for students and a 180-space,
below-grade parking facility for DOC
instructors and administrators would
also be built.
The city has “moved aggressively” over
the last two years to explore whether the
expansion is feasible, the report said.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that a proposal
of this magnitude was not shared
with elected officials and the community
board for over two years,” Braunstein said.
“Given the lack of transparency and absence
of public input, I call on Mayor de
Blasio to immediately abandon any plans
for a DOC facility at the Fort Totten campus.”
Vallone said the city’s move was “gravely
concerning.”
“Fort Totten’s location is nestled in a
small residential community that lacks
the infrastructure, public transportation
and accessibility for a development of this
magnitude,” he said.
Fort Totten was formally an active U.S.
Army installation and is currently used by
the U.S. Army Reserve, NYPD and FDNY.
Certain portions are designated public
park areas.
Earlier this month, state Senator Tony
Avella also raised concerns about the
city’s plans for the site. In a letter addressed
to Mayor Bill de Blasio, the lawmaker
called for increased transparency.
He also questioned whether DOC’s interest
in Fort Totten pertained to the city’s
move to create neighborhood-based jail
sites.
A DOC spokesperson told QNS the
Fort Totten feasibility study is still in the
works and “does not include plans for a
new jail.”
Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Ryan Joseph Daley of Bayside NY
A view from inside Fort Totten
