FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com march 21, 2013 • THE QUEENS COURIER 25 ‘New Deal’ to improve Roosevelt Avenue BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO [email protected] In order to revitalize one of the busiest strips in New York City, Councilmember Julissa Ferreras has announced a seven-point plan known as the “New Deal for Roosevelt Avenue.” “My community thought that anything nice didn’t belong to them, anything clean must not be for them and that is what this ‘New Deal’ is about, that our community deserves better and they’re getting better,” said Ferreras. Ferreras gathered with elected officials, representatives from various city agencies and members of the community to give details on her “New Deal” on Tuesday, March 19. The seven points of the plan focus on improvements involving increased sanitation services, new lighting and painting, a better business environment, community-focused public safety, updated zoning, a car-free Corona Plaza and instituting a Roosevelt Avenue Task Force. “Brighter, cleaner, safer will be the foundation for Roosevelt Avenue,” said Robert Walsh, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services. Ferreras announced that as part of the New Deal, she has allocated $500,000 to the DOT to increase lighting on Roosevelt Avenue and to the NYPD for the installation of cameras this year starting from 82nd Street through 114th Street. “For a safer community we need to have a well-lit space to deter criminals and cameras to keep a watchful eye on crime, should it occur,” said Ferreras. To address the other issues including prostitution and illegal vending, Ferreras announced the Roosevelt Avenue Task Force. Comprising agencies from consumer affairs to the Health Department, the task force will tackle the community’s issues with help from Elected officials, representatives from various city agencies and members of the community gathered Tuesday, March 19 to announce the New Deal for Roosevelt Avenue. residents. “This is a very vibrant community. Roosevelt Avenue is not just about the things that go wrong here, but THE COURIER/Photo by Angy Altamirano if we are able to improve the quality of life, I think that’s how we’ll be able to squeeze out the crime,” said Ferreras. Trying to save ‘history’ Residents rally against changes to historic home BY MELISSA CHAN [email protected] Neighboring residents of a historic Douglaston house rallied last Friday to save the 19th century remnant from proposed changes. The new owner of the 38-60 Douglaston Parkway site has submitted plans to the city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) to significantly alter the house. The department issued a “partial job” permit to property owner Xiu Jun Zhai on March 4 to change the number of stories in the building, according to an application the DOB approved in February. The plans were not specific but called for “vertical and horizontal enlargement” of the 1,800-square-foot structure and partial demolition that “affects the exterior building envelope,” the application said. “We’re talking about saving a tiny bit of history,” said Paul Di Benedetto, president of the Bayside Historical Society. “Once it’s gone, it never ever will be replaced. If you erase the history of an area, then you take away its character and its soul.” The house, which sits on about 9,000-square-feet of land, dates back to the 1860s. It is located within the proposed Douglaston Historic District Extension, which was calendared for landmark designation in 2008. The approximate 20 homes in the extension mark the area’s transition from its rural origins to smaller farms and suburban estates, preservationists said. Elisabeth de Bourbon, spokesperson for the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), said the agency is still “actively considering” giving landmark designation to the extension. Zhai bought the property last October for $660,000, according to State Senator Tony Avella. The building has been vacant for five years. According to a source who did not want to be named, the property owner plans on making changes only to the inside of the home to make it “livable.” He does not want to alter the building’s exterior, the source said. But the city allowing the new homeowner to alter the historic home sets a precedent, Avella said. “It’s like a domino effect,” the legislator said. Before you know it, you’ve lost the character and the historic nature of this very wonderful neighborhood.” THE COURIER/Photo by Melissa Chan Residents and preservationists rallied to save a historic Douglaston house from proposed changes.
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