TIMES, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2015 • 18 CONSTRUCTION LLC Family Owned & Operated for 30 Years Free Estimates Violations Removed •Kitchens & Bathrooms •Dormers & Extensions •Brick Work •Paving Stones •All Types of Concrete •Custom Built Homes •Residential & Commercial •New Construction •We Do It All! CB 5 Blasts Creek Air Treatment Plan Magic Touch Cleaning & Maintenance provides quality service to all customers. ©Times Newsweekly - 2013 - MAGICTOUCH Cleaning & Maintenance Where perfection is not an accident! 718--894--0400 No jobs are too big or too small. Commercial and Residential Cleaning and Maintenance SSpeciialliists iin clleaniing allll types off awwniings and canopiies.. SERVICES INCLUDE: •Sidewalk Restoration •Gum Removal •Vinyl Floors Stripping •Vinyl Floors Waxing •Tile Floor Restoration •Grout Restoration •Graffiti Removal •Window Cleaning •Bird (Pigeon) Control •Construction Clean-up •House Detailing •Office Cleaning •Light Bulb Maintenance •Power Washing •Carpet Cleaning •Property Maintenance •Parking Lot Maintenance •Snow Plowing Ask for our Specials on Office Cleaning. ****10% Discount with this ad**** 6600---6688 MMEETTRROOPPOOLLIIITTAANN AAVVEE...,,, RRIIIDDGGEEWWOOOODD,,, NNYY ©Times Newsweekly - 2014 - SCLAFMORE (718) 845-9200 VISIT US AT... SclafmoreConstruction.Com NYC License #1314744 Nassau County License #HO445750000 Long Beach License #5944 Fully Insured ©Times Newsweekly - 2014 - VILLCASH The above map shows the location of the proposed aeration facility near the Newtown Creek in Maspeth. (courtesy DEP) by Kelly Marie Mancuso Revisions to the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) plans for a Newtown Creek aeration facility in Maspeth were panned by Community Board 5 members during the advisory body’s meeting last Wednesday, Feb. 11. The proposed aeration facility, located at 58-26 47th St. on the creek’s waterfront, would house a 70-foot by 40-foot aeration building equipped with two blowers, external transformers, ventilation and air conditioning units. Air would be diffused along the length of a pipe from the facility into the creek in an effort to increase dissolved oxygen levels in the surrounding water and reduce pollution levels. Ray Meshkati, accountable project manager for the Newtown Creek East Planned Aeration Project, was optimistic that the project would be approved. “We think that we should be able to place this online sometime in 2018,” he stated during last Wednesday’s meeting at Christ the King Regional High School in Middle Village. Meshkati’s optimism, however, was met with sharp criticism from board members after it was announced that public access to the waterfront space was omitted from the updated plans. “This board passed a resolution in 2013 asking the DEP to give us several options in terms of public waterfront access,” stated Board 5 Land Use Committee Chair Walter Sanchez. Board 5 Chair Vincent Arcuri also expressed outrage and concern over the changes. “I don’t like people, especially agency people, going back on what they said to us,” Arcuri stated, “Gary Giordano and I met with the commissioner and out of that meeting a sketch was produced showing future dedicated space to the promenade. Why this final document comes out without that future space shown or dedicated is an insult to me, this board and the community.” Tom Smith, a representative from the Department of City Planning, explained that the DEP was granted a mayoral override allowing for the omission of public access along the waterfront and proposed promenade area due to questions over public safety. “The concern from the agency was that this area may have a safety and security issue,” Smith explained. “This would not be a staffed facility at all hours of the day.” DEP Director of Community Affairs Ibrahim Abdul-Matin echoed these concerns: “The understanding is that as the larger area, which is mostly an industrial area, develops, there is going to be a larger plan for the entire waterfront. I can’t comment as to how public access will fit into a larger plan until there’s a much more comprehensive look at that waterfront as it develops and changes.” Board 5 member John Maier expressed similar concerns regarding the override of the original plan. “Public space will create energy and activity that’s not there now, but could be in the future,” he explained, “I think to deny the public access is to deny the potential. That’s sad and unfortunate.” The expansion plan also faced opposition from the local Newtown Creek Alliance. In a Feb. 11 letter, NCA Program Manager Willis Elkins petitioned the DEP and DEC for a delay in the project citing concerns over habitat, wildlife and quality of life issues. “We feel that the expansion should not advance without a serious re-evaluation of alternatives that can offer long term solutions to improving water quality,” Elkins wrote.
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