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QC07112013

4 The Queens Courier • JUly 11, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com CITY COUNCIL WILL HONOR Rendering file photo HALLORAN’S PARTICIPATORY BUDGET BY MELISA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com The district represented by indicted Councilmember Dan Halloran will receive funding for all seven participatory budget items — and then some. Nearly $3.2 million in capital and expense projects will be honored by the City Council, according to the legislative body’s Queens delegation. “Northeast Queens is home to many of the borough’s great cultural institutions, not-for-profits and some of the best schools in the entire city,” said Councilmember Leroy Comrie, the deputy majority leader and chair of the delegation. “I was pleased to have had the opportunity to work with my colleagues in the delegation to ensure residents can continue to thrive, and the funds we provided will make sure the quality of life in these communities remains strong,” he added. The Council stripped Halloran of his committee assignments BE PREPARED FOR BRIDGE REPAIRS Weekends this summer could be a pain in the neck for drivers who depend on one local bridge. Starting Friday, July 12, several Queens-bounds lanes of the Throgs Neck Bridge will be closed from 10 p.m. on Friday through 5 a.m. on Monday for construction work over six weekends, according to the MTA. The work will take place over consecutive weekends, weather permitting. One Queens-bound lane will be closed from the Bronx toll plaza south of the Queens side of the bridge during the work. Two lanes to Queens will be open during the day and one lane will be open overnight. The construction will replace 67,000 square feet of asphalt overlay that has become uneven. “After reviewing all of the options, the least impact to the customer is to do the work on weekends and overnight when traffic is lighter,” said Throgs Neck Facility Engineer Edmond Knightly. and funding allocations in April when the lawmaker was charged in a conspiracy and bribery scheme. Power to distribute his district’s funds fell to Speaker Christine Quinn’s office and the borough delegation, which said they would dole out money for 23 community projects. Those include all seven the district voted on during its second annual participatory budget process. The initiative allows residents to choose at least five physical infrastructure projects they want to see in their neighborhood. Halloran’s constituents voted to create kayak and canoe launches, restore the Poppenhusen Institute and MacNeil Park, add special needs equipment to local playgrounds, renovate P.S. 98’s art room and secure school smart boards and NYPD security cameras throughout the district. Comrie said other projects that made the ballot, but not the ultimate cut, will also be funded. These include upgrading the Bayside Historical Society Officers’ Club, improving Fort Totten Park sidewalks and adding a bird watching platform at Osprey Landing. Educational youth programs like the Alley Pond Environmental Center Inc., health initiatives by Flushing Hospital Medical Center and events by business groups like the Bayside Village Business Improvement District, among many other programs, are also in the budget. Bill to preserve parkland BY MELISA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com A bill introduced in the State Senate would make it more difficult for private companies to get a hold of city parkland. “Parkland is sacred and should be preserved for generations to come, not given away to private developers, especially without just and equal parkland compensation,” said State Senator Tony Avella, who penned the legislation. The law would allow for a review process of proposals to change parkland use. It would also require replacement green space to be three times the size of the parcel being alienated and within one mile of that parcel. Three separate proposals around Flushing Meadows-Corona Park are at the root of bill’s target. Developers want to expand the US Tennis Association (USTA) stadium, transform Willets Point and build a Major League Soccer stadium there. “These projects threaten to take crucial parkland from Flushing Meadows- Corona Park and together constitute perhaps the biggest land grab for parkland not only in Queens, but also in the entire city,” Avella said. The USTA wants to lease 0.68 acres of city property to expand the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. That would allow them to shift the grandstand stadium and the southern tennis courts. In exchange, the association agreed to give the city back 1.56 acres it currently leases, though project opponents say a parcel of that land is already publicly accessible. The state legislature gave its end-of-session approval last month, passing a bill required when municipal parkland is sold or leased to a private entity. But Avella said the mandated bill is just a legal precedent based on previous court decisions. He added that it only recommends — and does not require — that parkland be replaced. Park advocates who support the bill say open space is a nonrenewable resource meant for the public and loopholes need to be closed. “We would like to see park alienation made even more difficult,” said Frederick Kress, founder of Queens Coalition for Parks and Green Spaces. “It needs to be really toughened up.” Alfredo Centola, founder of Save Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, a group opposed to private development in the park, said the law is “a good idea because it’s going to actually make it extremely difficult for the land to be stolen.” The Senate’s Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation Committee will have to decide whether to move the legislation forward to the full Senate after the summer recess is over. “Unfortunately, once lost, municipal parkland is difficult, if not impossible, to recover,” Avella said. MARSHALL OKS WILLETS WEST BY MELISA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com Borough President Helen Marshall approved a special permit that would pave the way for a mega mall near Citi Field. Marshall gave developers Sterling Equities and Related Companies the thumbs up on July 2 to move parking for Citi Field to Willets Point. The joint venture ultimately needed the permit to construct a 1.4 million-square-foot shopping center west of the baseball stadium. Community Board 7 gave its green light in May, but both the board and borough president had conditions for their endorsements. They said the joint venture must keep surrounding communities and leaders informed of the project’s progress and traffic problems that arise. The city and the facility’s developer must also fulfill written commitments they made, which include funding traffic mitigation measures, building a 1,000-seat K-8 public school, giving $1.87 million to the Willets Point Infrastructure and Traffic Mitigation Fund and hiring locally. Marshall said the $3 billion project would provide 7,100 permanent jobs and generate more than $310 million in tax revenue. Among the speakers at Marshall’s June 6 public hearing, 20 people opposed the project and two others were in favor of it. Community Board 3 voted 31-1 against the application on May 13. The project is still headed to the Department of City Planning, which held a public hearing July 10 but did not make a recommendation as of press time. The City Council is expected to meet August 21 to give the final vote.


QC07112013
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