20 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 12, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Large storm box sewers installed in
SE Queens to help reduce fl ooding
Billionaire reportedly buying majority stake in the Mets
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e New York Mets are about to have a
new owner.
Billionaire Steve Cohen has fi nished
negotiations with Sterling Partners to
increase his investment in the team by
80 percent, or $2.6 billion, according to
Bloomberg.
Sterling Partners includes the team’s
father-and-son chairman and COO team,
Fred and Jeff Wilpon, but both of them
aren’t leaving Citi Field for a while. Th e
deal allows them to remain in place with
the organization for the next fi ve years,
with Fred Wilpon remaining “control person”
and CEO, and Jeff Wilpon on board
as chief operating offi cer.
“Steve Cohen will continue as CEO and
president of Point72 Asset Management
and his stake in the Mets will continue to be
managed by his family offi ce, Cohen Private
Ventures,” a statement from the Mets said.
Th is indicates a shift for billionaire
Cohen from minority owner to majority.
Neither Mark Herr from Cohen Private
Ventures nor Harold Kaufman from
Sterling Partners would expand on any
details beyond the joint statement issued.
Fred Wilpon and his real estate investment
company, Sterling Equities, partnered
with Nelson Doubleday of
Doubleday Publishing in 1980 to purchase
the Mets from the Payson family,
the team’s original owners, for a then-record
price of $21 million. With changes
in management and a roster revamp,
the Mets captured their second World
Championship in 1986.
Th e partnership remained in place until
2002, when Sterling Equities bought out
Doubleday’s stake and became the franchise’s
sole owner. Over the next decade,
while there weren’t many wins to be had
for the Mets, Sterling Equities developed
Citi Field, which replaced Shea Stadium
as the Mets’ home fi eld in 2009, and
helped form the team’s owner broadcasting
network, SportsNet New York.
In 2008, the Wilpons became mired in
the Bernie Madoff investment scandal,
and were sued by a group of investors. Th e
lawsuit was eventually settled for $162 million,
though fans questioned the long-lasting
fi nancial impact it had on the team.
Cohen was one of several investors who
purchased a minority stake in the Mets
from the Wilpons in the wake of the scandal
. With reporting from Robert Pozarycki
Photo by Christina Santucci
Citi Field
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Aft er breaking ground in the community
of Brookville in southeast Queens
earlier this year marking the beginning
of an $84 million infrastructure upgrade
project, the New York City Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP)
announced on Nov. 26 the installation
of new storm box sewers to help alleviate
fl ooding.
DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza
joined with the Department of Design
and Construction’s (DDC) Deputy
Commissioner for Infrastructure Eric
Macfarlane and Councilman Donovan
Richards to review the progress of the
project that includes the installation of
9-foot-by-5-foot storm box sewers.
“To date, 1,650 feet of storm sewers,
2,500 feet of sanitary sewers and 11,800
feet of water mains have been installed,”
the DDC said in a statement to QNS.
“Additionally, 25 hydrants were replaced
and seven additional fi re hydrants were
installed as well.”
Th e project, which is funded by DEP
and managed by DDC, is anticipated to
be completed in the summer 2021. Th e
large box sewer will form one of the major
spines for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $1.9
billion buildout of the drainage system
throughout southeast Queens.
It was a much-needed development for
the area which has historically fl ooded
even with the slightest bit of rain,
Richards said.
“Th is is one of 55 projects that are slated
for southeast Queens over the course
of the next decade or two, and these are
projects that have been on the books for
a very long time, like many other projects
in southeast Queens,” said Richards,
former chairman of the Environmental
Protection Committee, who lobbied for
infrastructure investment in the community.
According to the DEP, the new storm
sewers will help drain not only the neighborhood
of Brookville, but also eventually
other areas in southeast Queens that
are north of Idlewild Park and will receive
new sewers as well under the southeast
Queens initiative.
As part of the fi nal stress restoration,
5,900 feet of curbs will be replaced, 65,000
square feet of sidewalks will be reconstructed
and 21,000 square yards of new
asphalt will be laid down over a concrete
base. Th e new curbs and sidewalks will be
graded to help guide stormwater to the
area’s new catch basins to ensure adequate
street drainage during storms.
Th rough the remainder of the project,
6,550 feet of storm sewers and 3,700
feet of combined sewers will be newly
installed, and 5,100 feet of sanitary sewers
will be replaced, while four additional
fi re hydrants will be installed, the
DDC said.
Richards commended the DEP and
DDC for the work they’ve done thus far.
“DEP has done a layman job with the
DDC and expediting a lot of other projects
that have been on the books for
decades,” Richards said. “Progress is obviously
being made and it was a milestone
in this project when we broke ground last
year. I’m sure homeowners are not too
thrilled coming home and losing parking,
but at the end of the day this is going to
ensure that residents of southeast Queens
— in Brookville especially — really have a
quality of life that they deserve and it’s a
shame that it’s taken so long for these specifi
c projects to move along.”
Photo courtesy of NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC)
(From l. to r.) Council Member Donovan Richards, Community Liaison Tiff any Eason, DDC Deputy
Commissioner for Infrastructure Eric McFarlane, DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza, DDC Assistant
Commissioner for Infrastructure Donald Granger, DDC Director of Infrastructure Leslie Devilme and
Resident Engineer Muhammad Amray celebrated the progress of the $84 million infrastructure
upgrade in Brookville.
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