14
QUEENS WEEKLY, MAY 26, 2019
BSA hearing for Elmhurst Target
for a short time before
threatening to arrest have
activists arrested.
Video footage depicted
police officers at the back
of the hearing evaluating
the situation.
“They union-bust a
lot, we don’t want that
in our community and
already have a Target
at Queens Circle,” one
speaker said. “This
corporation absolutely
wants to take our money.
That’s all they care about,
whether we consume.
They don’t care about
our community.”
The zoning in at 40-31
82nd St. prohibits variety
stores over 10,000 square
feet. This is known as
the “Special Limited
Commercial District”
adopted in 1969 and
amended through 2016 to
“protect public health,
safety, general welfare
and amenity.”
According to the city
Department of Buildings,
the building code gross
f loor area under the
plans are 88,859 and a
total zoning floor area
of 38,201.
“Seriously consider
our testimony,” another
speaker said. “It is
literally your job to
listen to us and not the
rich lawyers sitting
here texting and
playing solitaire.”
The development
– not yet completed
– already has a long
and bitter history in
the community.
What started as
primarily a housing
development, Sun Equity
Partners and Heskel
Group filed for a ULURP
application in early 2018
to expand the proposed
structure from 10 stories
– as of right under the
zoning – to 13 stories.
A r r a n g e m e n t s
had already been
made with Target to
lease a space at the
ground level.
Although the
affordability of the
apartments slated in
the original plan were
suited for families
making 61,000 per year,
the average income
for CB4 is $44,000 per
year. The developers
later dropped that
affordability level down
to accommodate more of
the local residents and
expanded the amount of
below market units to
40 percent.
Although the project
had a fair bit of support
from Borough President
Melinda Katz and
Councilman Francisco
Moya, the developers had
withdrawn their ULURP
application and opted
instead for only a retail
space in July.
Read more at
QNS.com
Reach reporter
Mark Hallum by
email at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4564.
Continued from Page 1
Burglary
convenience store, located
in the vicinity of 219th
Street and Horace Harding
Expressway, through
unknown means.
Once inside, the duo
made their way to the
rear entrance of the store,
where they took $767 from
a drawer as well as $300
and three credit cards
from a 32-year-old female
employee’s wallet.
The suspects fled the
scene in a red four-door
sedan eastbound on Horace
Harding Expressway
and onto the Long Island
Expressway. At this time,
police did not receive any
reports that the stolen
credit cards were used.
On May 20, the NYPD
released security camera
footage of the two suspects.
Police described the first
perpetrator as a Hispanic
man with a beard and
was last seen wearing a
black sweatshirt, black
pants, black baseball hat
and dark-colored sneakers.
The second suspect was
described as a black man
who wore a gray sweatshirt,
dark-colored baseball
hat, black pants and darkcolored
sneakers.
Anyone with
information in regard to
this commercial burglary
is asked to call the NYPD’s
Crime Stoppers Hotline
at 800-577-TIPS (8477) or
for Spanish, 888-57-PISTA
(74782). All calls are
kept confidential.
Continued from Page 1
Photo courtesy of the NYPD
/QNS.com
/schnepsmedia.com
