14 DECEMBER 20, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Midville group honors outgoing Queens parks commish
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@CNGLOCAL.COM
With Queens Parks Commissioner
Dorothy Lewandowski
stepping down from the
city agency at the end of the year, the
Juniper Park Civic Association showed
its gratitude for her years of service
by presenting her with its Community
Service Award at the group’s Dec. 13
meeting in Middle Village.
Lewandowski, a Middle Village
resident, has been with the Parks
Department since 1979, starting with
a summer job; she has served as
the Queens borough commissioner
since 2004.
“As I went around the borough
over 14 years, I’ve needed a lot of
civic association groups. I’ve lived in
Middle Village and everyone would
say, ‘Why do the parks in Juniper
Valley look so much better than my
neighborhood?’ And I would say it’s
not because I live there, it’s because
there are community organizations
and volunteers who help take care of
it,” Lewandowski said.
Some of Lewandowski’s accomplishments
include the creation of Elmhurst
Park on the former site of the Elmhurst
Gas Tanks between 2007 and 2011 as
well as the restoration of the Rockaway
Beach Boardwalk following the
destruction of Hurricane Sandy.
Lewandowski and other city leaders
recently broke ground on a Vietnam
veterans’ memorial in Elmhurst Park
dedicated to the 370 men and women
killed in possibly one of the United
States’ most controversial confl icts.
It will include the names of people
involved in the war who died or are
suff ering from illness related to their
service in Vietnam.
In April, Parks began work on a $6
million rebuild of Queensbridge Park.
Lewandowski is also credited with
working alongside civic groups to rehabilitate
and protect the Ridgewood
Reservoir.
“Dotty will be leaving our parks
looking better than ever thanks to her
decades of hard work and dedication,”
JPCA President Tony Nunziato said.
Joanne Amagrande, also a Middle
Village resident, will serve as borough
commissioner in the interim
until a replacement for Lewandowski
is appointed aft er she leaves offi ce on
Dec. 31.
Photo: Mark Hallum/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
Outgoing Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski with
Juniper Park Civic Association President Tony Nunziato
CB 5 thinks Glendale supportive housing builders are ‘responsible’
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@CNGLOCAL.COM
A variance for a supportive
housing development in Glendale
received a nod of approval
from Community Board 5 for a variance
aft er information received at a
land use hearing swayed committee
members.
WellLife Network, a UG 3 non-profit,
hopes to demolish an abandoned
building at 80-97 Cypress Ave. to build
66 units of mix aff ordable housing,
supportive living for individuals and
families at risk as well as accommodating
the homeless, which Zoning and
Land Use Review Committee Chair
Walter Sanchez said would benefi t the
community.
The motion passed with an almost
unanimous advisory vote at the CB5’s
Dec. 12 meeting and the Board of Standards
and Appeals will make the fi nal
decision on the variance.
“We felt it was serving a good purpose.
We’re in favor of this facility — of
this application from WellLife — we
think that they’re responsible,” Sanchez
said. “We believe this facility’s
66 units are a part of our community
board’s commitment to doing its part
for homelessness or at-risk of homelessness
population in the City of New
York.”
The variance to build 66 units of supportive housing at 80-97 Cypress Ave. passed CB5 almost
unanimously.
The application requests the right
to build six stories with 20 units
reserved for homeless or at-risk individuals,
young adults or families with
children where one adult member of
the family has either a mental or physical
disability.
Another 20 units will be set aside
for seniors who are at risk of being
homeless and have disabilities while
the remaining 26 apartments will be for
low-income residents who are eligible
for aff ordable housing through a lottery.
The city Department of Buildings
website shows the structure will rise
57 feet and feature a community room,
a lounge in the cellar and a 19 space
parking lot.
Photo via Google Maps
Gary Giordano, the Board 5 district
manager, told QNS in November that
WellLife’s hopes of building a facility
at the site go back to 2000 when they
attempted to create a center for 18
psychiatric patients.
The mixed population housing
model is more feasible, according to
Giordano.
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