Pols question Belmont plan
Offi cials want traffi c study on impact of redevelopment
BY BILL PARRY
City Comptroller Scott
Stringer and City Councilman
Barry Grodenchik are blowing
the whistle over the state’s plan
to redevelop part of Belmont
Park and its potential impact
on traffic in the neighboring
area of Queens Village and
Cambria Heights.
The $1.18 billion plan
includes a 19,000-seat hockey
arena for the New York
Islanders, a 250-room hotel
and a 435,000 square foot retail
complex at Belmont Park,
adjacent to the racetrack’s
grandstand.
The Empire State
Development Corporation board
of directors voted unanimously
on Dec. 6 to adopt a 700-page
study on the development plan
last week that found even extra
Long Island Rail Road trains
to Belmont Park will do little
to increase causing congestion
in the area, particularly along
Jamaica and Hempstead
Avenues.
“A project of this magnitude
will have far ranging impacts
on these neighborhoods, with
the potential to significantly
increase congestion,” Stringer
and Grodenchik wrote in a
letter to city Department of
Transportation Commissioner
Polly Trottenberg, urging her
agency to undertake a proactive
study of potential impacts
and consider appropriate
mitigation expeditiously.
“The proposed development
A project of this magnitude
will have far ranging impacts
on these neighborhoods, with
the potential to significantly
increase congestion.
Scott Stringer and Barry Grodenchik
site already houses Belmont
Park, the largest Thoroughbred
racing facility in the
country,” they wrote. “While
average daily attendance is
approximately 3,000 visitors
during most of the year,
attendance can reach between
60,000 and 100,000 visitors in
peak periods. Additionally, the
proposal calls for a 19,000-seat
arena which will host between
44 and 60 New York Islanders
home games each year and 145
non-NHL events.”
Empire State Development
Corporation says it is
working on a transportation
management plan, but
Stringer and Grodenchik had
a warning for Trottenberg and
the de Blasio administration.
“While New York State is
controlling this process, it is
incumbent as a city that we
get prepared for the worstcase
development scenario,”
they wrote. “As such, we ask
that DOT review the DEIS’s
assumptions regarding peak
trip times, modal share
between mass transit and
vehicular usage, and analyzed
intersections to provide an
independent review of ESDC’s
methodologies.”
Stringer and Grodenchik
called on the DOT to consider
innovative traffic and
parking mitigation including
a Residential Parking
program, whereby curbside
parking is restricted to local
residents during appointed
hours of the day.
“DOT’s review of the
Nassau/Queens Interface
Transportation Study
includes Jamaica and
Hempstead Avenues, the
two corridors identified in
the original Environmental
Impact Assessment,” a DOT
spokesperson said. “While
the original study did not
specifically address the issues
raised in the comptroller’s
letter, we are adjusting the
scope to incorporate that
feedback for review.”
Photo via Flickr
Fair Fares doesn’t help
poor commuters: Stringer
BY MARK HALLUM
Since committing $106
million in the 2010 budget
to half-priced MetroCards
in June, the de Blasio
administration may have
overlooked important
rider demographics when
organizing the program,
according to New York City
Comptroller Scott Stringer.
Stringer believes that some
of the poorest commuters may
still be stuck paying $2.75
per swipe, as the Fair Fares
program only gives half
price to seven-day and 30-day
unlimited MetroCards.
With only 15 percent
of unlimited passes being
purchased by the those below
poverty level, according to
New York City Transit stats
cited by Stringer, half-priced
fares may still be just out of
reach for the demographics
the program was designed
for, Stringer noted in a letter
sent to city Human Resources
Commissioner Steven Banks.
“Given the high cost of
these unlimited passes, even
at half-price, I am concerned
that many New Yorkers
below the poverty line will
not be able to afford them,”
Stringer said in the letter.
“Clearly, low-income riders
are heavily dependent on
these lower cost options.
As you know, the existing
Reduced-Fare MetroCard
program allows seniors and
disabled riders to obtain
single-ride discounts, and
yet the current plan would
exclude low-income riders
eligible for Fair Fares from
the same option. That would
seem to make little sense if
the point of Fair fares is to
make transit more affordable
for all New Yorkers living
below the poverty line.”
The Fair Fares program
was set to open for enrollment
on Jan. 1.
About 35 percent of
all single-ride passes
are purchased for those
making below $25,000
per year, according to
NYC Transit’s statistics
referred to by Stringer.
Among Stringer’s other
concerns were accessibility
of the program for
immigrants, who will be
prioritized at the outset of
the program, how people not
already enrolled in the HRA’s
programs will be able to
apply as well as questioning
if adequate investment and
outreach about Fair Fares
had been conducted.
“We hear the concerns and
are taking them seriously,”
HRA spokesman Lourdes
Centeno said. “We’re prepared
to launch the program in
January and will have details
to announce soon.”
According to City-Data, 18.2
percent of Queens residents
lived below the poverty line in
2016 — which the U.S. Census
Bureau placed poverty in the
borough at 12.2 percent in
2018, but noted that this figure
may not be fully accurate
considering challenges to the
methodology.
Transit advocate groups
such as Riders Alliance and
other activist organizations
put pressure on the de
Blasio administration
starting in April to include
the program in the Fiscal
Year 2019 city budget before
it could be passed.
In June, Mayor Bill de
Blasio acquiesced to the
demands and included $106
million in the budget to fund
the program for applicants
who make below $25,000 per
year, a far cry from the $220
million members of the public
were calling for originally.
The redevelopment site at Belmont Park. Courtesy of Cuomo’s office
TIMESLEDGER,TIMESLEDGER.COM JAN. 4-10, 2019 5
/TIMESLEDGER,TIMESLEDGER.COM
