FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 13, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Fort Totten Conservancy founder responds to ‘false claims’ from Bayside community
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
Th e founder of the Fort Totten Park
Conservancy is calling out the “false
claims” made against her by Bayside residents
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and elected offi cials last month.
In August, Senator Tony Avella joined
Assemblyman Ed Braunstein and representatives
from the Friends of Fort
Totten Park, Bayside Historical Society
and Community Board 7 for a press conference
expressing their opposition to the
conservancy.
The group claimed that Sklar
approached them with the intention of
starting the 501(c)3 nonprofi t organization
and was asking for a $100,000
a year salary. Th ey also said that she
owned antique businesses in Harlem and
Maspeth where she intended to sell salvaged
parts from the historic Fort Totten
buildings.
But Sklar reached out to QNS and
charged that these claims are untrue,
remarking that she is “trying to do a good
thing.” Th e conservancy founder said that
she noticed a need for preservation and
rehabilitation eff orts at the park and started
to seek community input in late 2017.
“Th e mission of Th e Fort Totten
Conservancy is to restore and sustain
Fort Totten in partnership with the city
and local government, local corporations,
foundations and citizens to create and
enrich a community resource,” said Sklar
in a written statement.
She made clear that it is not her intention
to “come in and change anything”
but instead wishes to gain community
input to fi nd out their wants and needs.
Th e founder said that she has found support
in the community and other agencies
she has been working with but refused
to disclose any names to avoid political
backlash.
Sklar was inspired by the work of the
Central Park Conservancy, which has
a program that educates individuals on
how to start their own conservancies.
Sklar denied the claim that she asked for
a $100,000 salary for her work in the conservancy
and said that the actual salary
would be “close to poverty.”
In the year that she has been working
on the conservancy, Sklar said that she
had been reaching out to all the appropriate
groups and authorities, including the
groups present at the press conference and
the New York City Parks Department. In
June, Parks wrote a response to Avella
and other members of the group, stating
that the conservancy operated separately
from the Parks Department.
“Since Fort Totten Park was opened
to the public in 2005, we have worked
closely with community organizations
and various stakeholders to continually
improve the parkland and its amenities as
well as off er a variety of programs for the
public’s enjoyment,” said Queens Parks
Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski in
a statement. “We understand the concern
for the local community to remain
involved in the continued development
of Fort Totten, and we hope there may be
a way forward for such like-minded people
to work together for the betterment of
this park.”
At the August press conference, the
group noted that Sklar did not live in
Bayside and raised suspicions as to why
an outsider would take such a keen interest
in the park. Th e Westchester County
resident shared that she is connected
to Queens through her family, who has
“deep, historic roots” in Maspeth. She
said that prior to living in her current residence,
she lived in Manhattan and would
oft en visit Fort Totten Park for events
and leisure.
She said that although she does not live
in the immediate community, she is serving
as a “catalyst” for positive change to
happen in Fort Totten.
Avella and Th e Friends of Fort Totten
could not be reached for comment at
this time.
Photo via New York City Parks Department
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