22 The QUENS Courier • may 7, 2015 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com YMCA questions its place in Flushing Commons project BY ROBERT POZARYCKI [email protected] @robbpoz A new recreational center is being built at Flushing Commons, but questions remain as to whether the Flushing YMCA will operate it. Paul Custer, senior vice president Local artist to donate ceramic tile installation to Astoria Heights Park Photo courtesy of Penelope Eleni Penelope Eleni, a sculptor and ceramist, will present a temporary installation of ten ceramic tiles at Astoria Heights Park. of government affairs for the YMCA of Greater New York, told The Courier in an exclusive interview that the nonprofit organization is looking for answers regarding the project in planned meetings with Flushing Commons’ developers, F&T Group, and the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC). The Flushing Y came on board with the Flushing Commons plan as the project’s “community benefit.” Original plans called for the new Flushing Y — which currently operates out of a 90-year-old building on Northern Boulevard — to be created on the second and third floors of a building erected during the project’s first phase. Those plans, however, were amended in 2009 as a result of economic issues related to the project, Custer said. As part of a redesign, the Flushing Y was relocated to the basement of a retail and commercial building called “The Elm” to be constructed at the corner of 39th Avenue and 138th Street. “It’s not a very viable place,” Custer said. “It’s kind of hard to make it a community center from the basement.” The changes, he noted, compromise the YMCA’s goals transforming its Flushing chapter into a 21stcentury community center, allowing it to offer new programs and existing initiatives while also removing any physical obstacles preventing people from participating in them. Michael Meyer of the F&T Group told The Courier that the group mutually agreed to explore “alternative locations or alternative buildings” at the Flushing Commons site for the Flushing Y. “We will explore that with them and hopefully we’ll find a way to get there,” Meyer said. “But that’s all on the drawing boards and there’s no certainty.” In future meetings with F&T Group and city representatives, Custer hopes the Flushing Y could find a more viable place at Flushing Commons. If that goal can’t be fulfilled, he noted, the Y will need to explore other alternatives while continuing to maintain an aging facility. It has reached out to local elected officials for assistance. Meyer said the Flushing Y “has a home in Flushing Commons” and the F&T Group will construct a recreational center in the project, as required in its deal with the city. Should the Flushing Y choose to no longer participate in the project, he said, the F&T Group would seek another organization to operate the recreational center. “We’re still building the facility,” he added. “That’s our agreement with the city. There’s no doubt about that.” One elected official involved in the process, Councilman Peter Koo, was optimistic that a deal could be reached. “The proposed YMCA in Flushing Commons would provide a tremendous boon to our community,” Koo said in a statement to The Courier. “I have encouraged both sides to come to the table to discuss how the project will move forward and remain optimistic that a mutually beneficial agreement will be reached between the two parties.” BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO [email protected] @aaltamirano28 A mother of three is making her way back into the art world by creating an art installation that will bloom at a local Astoria community park. Penelope Eleni, a sculptor and ceramist from Astoria, is coming together to with the city’s Parks Department and the Friends of Astoria Heights Park to present a temporary installation of ten ceramic tiles at the western Queens park. The installation, which will be on view through November, will be located at Astoria Heights Park’s Butterfly Garden at 30th Road and 46th Street. Last year, Eleni won a grant from the Queens Council on the Arts to create a public installation and she has decided to donate it to the group of neighbors that make up Friends of Astoria Heights Park. She said she wanted to make artwork that was accessible to the community and aimed at children, who would be able to touch and explore the tiles. “Friends of Astoria Heights Park were so friendly and willing to work for me and they’ve done so many great things for the park and I couldn’t have done it without them,” Eleni said. Along with helping beautify Astoria Heights Park, this art installation also serves as a way for Eleni to get back into creating art after having to put everything on hold while raising her son and twin daughters. Eleni is a former professor of art and elementary school art teacher with a Master of Fine Arts in ceramics. “They gave me a gift to get back into it,” Eleni said. “They gave me permission to become an artist again, it meant more to me at this point of my life than it would have coming out of graduate school.” The tiles that make up the installation illustrate the story written by Eleni about her visit to Socrates Sculpture Park during the Halloween Harvest Festival. Each tile depicts encounters with men in funny hats, dogs in costume, dancing, and her children playing with other kids. “The whole piece all around is all about the years I spent sitting on my living room floor changing diapers and taking long strolls through New York with my kids,” Eleni said. A celebration of Eleni’s installation is expected to take place on May 30 from 11 a.m. to noon at the park’s playground at 30th Road and 46th Street. For more information, visit www. facebook.com/PenelopeEleni. Photo courtesy Flushing YMCA A rendering of the Flushing Commons site. The new Flushing YMCA is scheduled to be constructed in the retail/commercial building located at lower left.
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