FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com MARCH 24, 2016 • THE QUEENS COURIER 35 for breaking news visit www.qns.com MARCH 24, 2016 • times 13 oped QUEENS SET UP TO BE FORGOTTEN IN THE NEXT BIG BLIZZARD BY COUNCILMAN RORY LANCMAN Queens residents watching the City Council’s recent Sanitation Department budget hearing saw an administration living in an alternate reality. As Sanitation C o m m i s s i o n e r Kathryn Garcia testifi ed, she spoke about trash removal, about electronics recycling and various other concerns. Yet she failed to acknowledge her agency’s complete failure to plow the streets of many Queens neighborhoods during the January blizzard, including several in my district. After decades of Queens being neglected, many of us hoped that the city had learned its lesson and would fi nally present a budget that would make sure Queens streets are cleared after a snowstorm. Instead, Commissioner Garcia said she was “satisfi ed with the performance” and stated that the response was “pretty impressive.” This completely ignores the reality that Queens residents experienced. In my district, as reported in this paper, dozens of streets went unplowed. The commissioner said that “Queens was very challenging” because of its narrow streets. Were these narrow streets new? Substantial problems with PlowNYC, the city’s snow plow tracker app, were also completely glossed over by the commissioner. The app showed streets as being plowed that were clearly untouched. Commissioner Garcia blamed this on problems with GPS in canyon areas (where skyscrapers can throw off GPS). We don’t have skyscrapers in eastern Queens. Technology may have shortcomings, but we can’t fi x them if the problem isn’t even acknowledged. Going into the hearing, I had hoped to hear a new approach from this administration on how Queens was, fi nally, going to get the city’s attention after blizzards. Instead, I’m forced to report that I have no confi dence that my district is going to see cleared streets the next time it snows. The Sanitation Department, and Commissioner Garcia, failed to even accept that there was a problem and clearly saw no reason to improve their abysmal performance. This is disappointing, but unfortunately not surprising. Again and again, our neighborhoods are forgotten after snowstorms, a reality that won’t be changing under this sanitation commissioner. Councilman Rory I. Lancman represents the 24th District in the City Council. FOR MORE NEWS VISIT QNS.COM oped A LOOK BACK News broke this week that the MTA plans to letters & comments WHY WHY RENOVATE RENOVATE A LIBRARY WHEN YOU YOU CAN BUILD A NEW ONE? The Little Neck - Douglaston Library will soon be undergoing facility upgrade renovations. Long term, there are plans for a new library. Why waste funds on renovations when there are two available vacant sites just down the block? Three years later there are still no tenants at the old Scobee’s Grill site. The new building is still without a tenant. The same is true for the old Staples next door, which has been vacant for two years. Both sites have ample off-street parking, which the current library lacks. It would be far easier to move to either location than construct a new library from scratch. Diogenes is searching for a brave elected offi cial to come forward and allocate funding in the upcoming July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2017 budget to fi nance this investment. Larry Penner, Great Neck UNLICENSED MASSAGE THERAPY IS CHEAP — AND DANGEROUS I am a licensed massage therapist and I spent the money, passed the tests, and jumped through every hoop NYS held so I could legitimately practice something I’m passionate about. Why not let anyone practice medicine because they know what say they know what they’re doing and can tell when someone has a cold? How about getting rid of licenses to practice law because the person says they can read and write a contract? Or, let’s get rid of licenses to drive because I know how to put a car in gear and go down the road? You think because someone knows how to give a massage, they understand all the repercussions of giving someone a massage that shouldn’t have one? Do you think if you get hurt from someone who hasn’t studied to work on you, you have any course of action to address your injuries? Cheaper isn’t better, it’s just cheaper and it’s not legal. If it’s that important to your health to get a massage, spend the money and go to someone who’s licensed. QNS user Licensed THE CASE FOR CITY’S AFFORDABLE HOUSING PLAN Mayor de Blasio’s two zoning text amendments, Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) and Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) close down part of the Myrtle Avenue Line between Middle Village and Bushwick for many months in 2017 for necessary improvements. We thought this would be a good time to show you a picture of the elevated line as it appeared while it was under construction more than 100 years ago. This 1914 picture shows the metal girders above Forest Avenue looking eastbound near Putnam Avenue in Ridgewood. Note that the girders are absent of any railroad ties or tracks. The Myrtle Avenue Line would open a few years later; today, it connects riders to midtown Manhattan via the M train. We want your historic photos of Queens! Share them on our Facebook and Twitter pages, email them to [email protected], or write to The Queens Courier, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All mailed pictures will be carefully returned to you. seek to address two signifi cant issues confronting the City, namely, the lack of affordable housing and the height, shape, and parking space requirements for buildings containing affordable units. However, it is important to understand that this housing and rezoning plan will not a ect much of my Queens district, which is comprised mainly of one- to two-family homes. But even still, over the past several months, I have relayed both my own concerns as well as the concerns raised by my district’s Community Boards (2, 5 and 9). After taking serious time to consider these issues, my Council colleagues and I were able to secure amendments to the original proposals that address the valid concerns that the Community Boards raised. It is because of these amendments that I decided to vote in favor of these zoning text amendments. The Council was able to amend ZQA to encourage the development of affordable senior housing and long term care facilities, such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities. For development within the Transit Zone, as designated by the Department of City Planning, parking spaces will no longer be required for new affordable apartments and affordable senior housing. For areas outside of the Transit Zone, ZQA would reduce the requirement for affordable senior housing to one parking spot for every 10 apartments. ZQA creates special permits that developers could apply for in order to reduce parking requirements for existing and new buildings that have affordable apartments. The Council has signifi cantly deepened the affordability provided in MIH by adding a new option that would require an affordable housing set-aside of 20% of the building provided for families making an average of 40% AMI, and a new set-aside to require 10% of the building for families at 40% AMI within the original 60% AMI option. The Council also modifi ed the workforce option by lowering the overall average AMI requirements for affordable units to 115% AMI and adding two new set-asides at 90% and 70% AMI. Future rezonings for which MIH would apply will be subject to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) process. Through this process, Community Boards and all interested stakeholders will have an opportunity to address how a rezoning would impact the affected area’s infrastructure, including mass transit, schools, sanitation, parks, and medical facilities. Note that the City plans to rezone the following areas: East NY, Flushing West, Long Island City, East Harlem, Inwood, Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, and Bay Street in Staten Island. City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley QUEENS SET UP TO BE FORGOTTEN IN THE NEXT BIG BLIZZARD UNLICENSED MASSAGE THERAPY IS CHEAP—AND DANGEROUS THE CASE FOR CITY’S AFFORDABLE HOUSING PLAN
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