FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com february 14, 2013 • THE QUEENS COURIER 9 UNIONS BACK MLS STADIUM Cite job opportunities BY TERENCE M. CULLEN tcullen@queenscourier.com Kicking in their support for hundreds of potential jobs, several construction unions have backed the proposed Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The Hotel Trades Council; the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York; and 32BJ SEIU all backed the project for its potential to give union workers jobs and provide nearly 1,000 full and part-time jobs after construction is completed. “A Major League Soccer stadium in Queens will be good for the working men and women of New York City; it will create good jobs and enhance the park,” said Hector Figueroa, president of 32BJ. “We are committed to continuing to work with MLS and the community to make sure this is done in a way to benefit the area as a whole.” The stadium building is expected to create more than 2,000 union construction according to MLS officials. Unions have already delivered messages of support to projects such as the development at neighboring Willets Point, which is expected to create an upwards of 12,000 union construction jobs. “The economy in Queens is still hurting,” said Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York. “The recession is still taking a toll on middle and lower income families, and it would be a shame for Queens to be shut out of such a tremendous opportunity for good jobs. That’s why we will fight to make sure this project is successful and benefits Queens’ working families.” MLS spokesperson Risa Heller said the league was thrilled to garner union backing on the project. The League is committed to creating jobs, she said, both directly at the stadium and spurring economic growth around the park. “We are thrilled to have the support of unions who represent hundreds of thousands of working men and women,” she said. “They understand, as we do, what an important economic engine this stadium will be. We look forward to working with them to make it a reality.” The stadium, and its economic promises, have been met with criticism from opponents to the project, however. NYC Park Advocates president Geoffrey Croft, who’s opposed to the project, said the union backing was part of a “checklist” of gaining support for an unfair project. While he understood there’s a need for jobs in the city, Croft said jobs should be made for bettering the park, and not building in it. “It’s really sad,” Croft said. “They’re following the standard playbook for supposed support for these projects.” Danny Zausner, managing director for the National Tennis Center, briefed Community Board 9 on the proposed expansions. THE COURIER/Photo by Terence M. Cullen Photo courtesy of Queens Public Library The Mitchell-Linden library is moving to a larger nearby space. ROOM TO LEARN Mitchell-Linden library to move, expand BY MELISSA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com The Mitchell-Linden library will be moving to a larger space down Union Street, officials said. The existing branch at 29-42 Union Street in Flushing is one of the busiest libraries in Queens, according to Queens Library spokesperson Joanne King. But the 5,900-square-foot building had become too crowded since its 1962 opening. Since the space cannot be expanded, King said Queens Library officials purchased the first floor of a nearby condominium at 31-32 Union Street to serve as the branch’s new home. The two locations are less than a two minute walk apart. The new library will be 25 percent larger, officials said, with an additional 720-square-feet of space to be later acquired. It will finally be fully handicap accessible, with a bigger meeting room inside, new décor, more computers, separate spaces for adults, children and teens and a window view reading lounge. The new space is expected to open this summer, officials said. Volley over stadium plans BY MELISSA CHAN & TERENCE M. CULLEN editorial@queenscourier.com While tennis reps continue lobbying for expansion in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, residents from around the borough came out in full force against the proposal Monday, February 11 at Community Board 7’s monthly meeting. “Our parks were developed for the use of the public. It’s where the citizens can gather with their families and their neighbors to enjoy the beauty of nature,” said John Kelly, a Flushing resident who lives by Kissena Park. “These people … look at the green spaces and have desires to make a buck for themselves at our expense.” Unites States Tennis Association (USTA) officials have proposed building a new stadium at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The project includes moving a connector road from the park within the center’s leased land and several courts south in order to ease foot traffic. It would also take away .068 acres more parkland than what is in USTA’s updated 1993 lease. Several local residents said the land grab would be a steal of taxpayer property and money. “There is no reason to be intimidated by the USTA,” said resident Ben Haber. “There is no justification for the USTA’s request other than they want to make more money.” Haber said sports arenas do little to boost the city’s economy. The taking, he said, would be as “worthless as a dead tennis ball.” The development would also add to the air and noise population that plagues the borough, residents said. “All this overbuilding is an unnecessary and unacceptable takeaway from the Flushing community,” said Elizabeth Lee of Flushing. “We need parks, not more stadiums, not more malls.” But USTA officials and union workers spoke to the benefits of the project at a recent Community Board 9 meeting. They said thousands of union construction jobs would be created and an additional 10,000 tennis fans a day would visit when the U.S. Open is in session. Jack Leone, a union electrical worker, said he has done work regularly at the Tennis Center for the past eight years. “We live in a tough economy,” Leone said. “So I am grateful for the regular work I get at the National Tennis Center, which has a long history of hiring local union workers.” Ted Newkirk, a project manager for union plumbers and steamfitters, said further expansions and maintenance thereafter would continue to provide jobs. “The National Tennis Center has a long history of hiring local union workers,” he said. Several community boards surrounding the park will vote on the project within the next month.
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