14 The Courier sun • march 20, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com FIGHT FOR LIQUOR LICENSE BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com @liamlaguerre The Knockdown Center won’t get its liquor license without a fight. The center, located on Flushing Avenue in Maspeth, recently applied for a cabaret liquor license from the State Liquor Authority (SLA), despite heavy opposition from residents and elected officials. The cabaret class license will allow the center to host events that have musical entertaiment with liquor for 600 or more people. The community board wrote a letter to SLA opposing the application, outlining fears of negative impacts the center could have on the neighborhood. “This is an accident waiting to happen,” said Bob Holden, a member of the board and president of the Juniper Park Civic Association. “This is a blueprint for disaster right here.” The center, a former glass and door factory turned arts hall, has hosted everything from weddings, Tiki Disco parties, a minigolf art exhibition, and most recently a flea market. Owners also want to host art classes and large exhibits in the future. In the letter, the board cited various reasons why they don’t want the center to have the liquor license, including the The Knockdown Center has applied for a liquor license from the State Liquor Authority again, but the community board is once again in opposition. extra pressure it will put on the 104th Precinct during events, the possible influx of vehicular traffic and problems it could bring to the immediate residences. “All too typical with young people partying at raves and other events, which this could certainly house there, is extensive alcohol abuse, but also abuse of prescription drugs and drugs,” the letter read. “There is a residential community very nearby, just on the opposite side of Flushing Avenue from the site in question. Problems with intoxication, fights, calls for ambulances and noise from loud music will hurt the residential community.” Members are also worried about the impact on industrial jobs, as the site of the center is zoned for manufacturing. The center has been working on obtaining its Place of Photo courtesy The Knockdown Center Assembly and Certificate of Occupancy, and has maintained it will not harm the community. “We are excited that the community is getting involved and expressing their concerns,” said Tyler Myers, manager of the Knockdown Center. “We know that our direct neighbors are excited about it. The concerns of the larger community weren’t true last summer, and won’t be true.” Some residents oppose new Ridgewood development BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com @liamlaguerre Some Ridgewood residents are opposing a planned upscale building with a roof-top dog run because it may be limited to renters of a certain pedigree. Developers appeared at a public hearing at the Community Board 5 meeting on March 12 to introduce their proposed zoning change of the planned building’s site, 176 Woodward Avenue. But the meeting became feisty. Residents who oppose the upscale building fear that it will gentrify the neighborhood. “What are we going to get that comes with this to make sure that our neighborhood could handle this and that it’s not a complete rift from the incomes that are in that neighborhood, so that when this wonderful looking project shows up all the folks that can’t afford wonderful looking projects in New York City don’t get kicked out,” Manny Jalonschi, a lifelong Ridgewood resident, asked. The structure planned is a 90,000-square-foot building with 88 housing units, commercial retail space on the ground floor and 118 spots of underground parking. Owners are seeking a zoning change from manufacturing to residential. The building, which is being designed by Aufgang Architects, is This upscale residential building is planned to be completed in Ridgewood by the end of the year, but some residents fear it will gentrify the community. estimated for $18 million. More than 6,700-square-feet of the building will be dedicated to retail space on the ground floor, and a 3,115-squarefoot community facility will be built to accommodate artists in Ridgewood and nearby Bushwick, Brooklyn. Preliminary room renting prices are $1,100-$1,200 for a studio, $1,400- $1,600 for a one-bedroom and $1,700- $1,800 for a two-bedroom apartment, according to the developer, who also said these estimates could change. Some Ridgewood residents at the meeting voiced support, citing that the Photo courtesy Aufgang Architects community has already changed. “I support the zoning law, because it’s going to have a good impact on the community,” Ridgewood resident Joe Pergolese said. “People are trying to come into the community, so what we need is a building to happen there.” The community board’s Land-Use Committee plans to meet and discuss the feedback of the project at the next meeting on April 7, before making a decision to support or oppose the rezoning. Councilmember Antonio Reynoso is also collecting feedback about the issue before voicing his support for either side. ROAD WORK Report: Queens has five of nine worst highways BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA ctumola@queenscourier.com @CristabelleT Queens is facing some bumpy infrastructure challenges, according to a recent report. The Center for an Urban Future found the borough has five of the nine worst-maintained highways in the city. Based on a 10-point scale of pavement conditions from state Department of Transportation inspections, where 1 to 5 is considered “poor,” and 6 is “fair,” in 2012, the Jackie Robinson Parkway received a surface rating of 5.8, and the Shore Front Parkway, Cross Bay Parkway, Route 25A and Route 24 each earned a 6.0. Overall, highway conditions in the borough have been deteriorating, the report said. In 2008, 38 percent of Queens highways were rated “fair” or “poor.” Four years later, that figure increased to 52 percent. The report additionally found that about 30 percent of borough streets were in “fair” or “poor” condition. Those ratings are also based on pavement quality. “It’s unacceptable that over half of the worst-surfaced highways in New York City are in Queens,” said Congressmember Steve Israel, who has been an advocate for fixing the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. “We need to invest in our borough’s infrastructure--not only to improve the safety of our roads, but to spur growth in our local economy and create jobs.” Other findings showed that Queens, as well as the rest of the city, had infrastructure issues that stretched well beyond the roadways. The report calculated that New York City needs $47 billion over the next four to five years to bring its “aging infrastructure to a state of good repair.” It showed that a “significant portion” of the city’s bridges, water mains, sewer pipes, school buildings and other important infrastructure is more than 50 years old and “badly” in need of repair. The aging infrastructure includes 1,000 miles of water mains more than 100 years old; more than 160 bridges across the five boroughs that were built over a century ago; and 6,300 miles of gas mains that are on average, 56 years old. The report suggests creating new dedicated revenue sources to pay for repairing and modernizing infrastructure.
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