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Holliswood says ‘no’
to hospital development
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Some Holliswood residents
are denouncing plans
of a new development proposal
to construct 20 homes
on the former site of Holliswood
Hospital.
When Steven Cheung,
the owner and real estate
developer of the site, located
at 87-37 Palermo St.,
purchased the property in
July 2015 for $10.8 million
through a mortgage foreclosure,
the Holliswood
Civic Association raised
concerns about land use
and overdevelopment in
the neighborhood.
In a statement presented
to the Community Board 8
Zoning Committee at a public
hearing held on March
11, Linda Valentino, president
of the Holliswood Civic
Association, said they’ve
met with Cheung and his
architect, Michael Kang, at
several meetings held with
elected officials.
“We made it clear at
these meetings that the
Civic Association did not
oppose the development of
this property by the construction
of one-family
residences compliant with
R-1-2 zoning,” said Valentino.
“Our position is not
one where a neighborhood
objects to a builder coming
in and developing property
that the neighborhood had
always viewed as an unimproved
area.”
However, Valentino said,
during a meeting in May
2017 held with three elected
officials and the developer,
their initial concern was
raised that the square footage
of the property would
not permit the construction
of 20 new residential premises
that met the requirement
of R1-2 zoning.
According to Valentino,
the Civic Association along
with Land Use Expert Paul
Graziano, presented an
analysis demonstrating
that for the construction of
20 homes to be consistent
with r1-2 zoning, the existing
hospital building would
have to be demolished —
which they have no objections
to, she said.
“If the hospital building
is demolished and the project
redeveloped, the developer
would have no need for
waivers, variances of zoning
changes,” said Graziano.
Additionally, Cheung
took part of the square footage
from Lot 52 (the hospital
building) to support his
attempt to construct the
homes, said Valentino.
“If he takes the hospital
down, we have no problem,
he’ll have plenty of land to
do what he needs to do,”
said Valentino. “He’s also
advertising in China that
he’s building 20 homes and
a high-rise with a sports
complex and library. He
can’t do that.”
According to Valentino,
at the March 13 Community
Board 8 meeting, Cheung
filed a request by his
lawyer, Sheldon Lobel, for
a waiver of certain provisions
of the General City
Law Sections 35 and 36 to
permit development of six
two-story, single-family detached
residences.
Two of the houses are
partially within the bed of
mapped but un-built portion
of Clover Place, which
runs through the premises
and four of which do not,
but will be accessed by a
30-foot-wide access driveway
connecting Palermo
Street to Clover Hill Road,
said Valentino.
When the board voted
unanimously to reject the
developer’s request, concerns
were raised about
who would bear the responsibility
for the maintenance
of the driveway.
“When asked by members
of the committee as to
the plans for the hospital
building, the developer’s
architect responded by saying
that no decision had
been made as to its future
use,” said Valentino. “He
was also asked how much
they planned as a selling
price for the homes. He said
they hadn’t decided. Yet in
the Chinese media, it states
very clearly that they plan
to sell them for $2,180,000.
Councilman Barry Grodenchik,
who has worked
with Holliswood since the
beginning of the project in
2015, said the development
has been a pressing matter
in the neighborhood.
“The hospital building
really doesn’t conform with
the zoning. It was a leftover
kind of thing,” said Grodenchik.
“We asked for many
things. Promises were
made and they were really
never completed. We have
people living there, it’s a
residential neighborhood
and people are vandalizing
the building because it’s
not sealed up and those are
just some of the concerns.
We still don’t know what
they want to do with the
building itself.”
According to the association,
a review of the
Department of Finance
real estate tax payments
for block 10509 lot 52 (the
Hospital site), shows that
the current tax balance
owed as of March 22, 2019,
is $1,065,490.88. When the
property was subdivided
originally by the establishment
of tentative tax
lots, the developer was not
current in his real estate
tax payment.
“The Holliswood Civic
Association represents homeowners
who strive to remain
current in their real
estate tax payments for
their homes; we don’t understand
how the developer
is allowed to proceed with
the project,” the association
said in a statement.
The group has released a
petition against the proposal
for the site of the former
rehabilitation center for
individuals dealing with
substance abuse.
“Any hardship the developer
is claiming is selfcreated
and due to a flawed
design,” said Marc Bresky,
the Holliswood Civic Association
lawyer. “This is not
a reasonable development.
It is just a case of squeezing
in houses to make
more money.”