"Whether or not you have racing at Aqueduct, you have an enormous piece of land there that can and should be used for some other things," Spitzer told the Daily News Editorial Board. "That's a remarkably valuable piece of land from a public perspective."On last legs
Those are magic words to real estate developers, who may soon get a chance to submit fresh proposals for the rundown track, which sits on a parcel of land that could be worth $1 billion.
"The community is very nervous about what would go there if they close the track," said Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer (D-Queens). "But it seems like no one is listening because they must have this preconceived plan to bring in developers to take it over. All we hear is that it's a valuable piece of real estate."
10 comments:
And ,lucky for the Queenscrap-style developers, there is a Home Depot right next door!
Russ
H-m-m-m.....the Gov's magic words indeed, "....a valuable piece of land....." !
Now we know who bought him his office......the developers & real estate big boys !!!!!!
QC.....wouldn't it be more appropriate to say....."over development by a horse's ass"......referring to Spitzer, that is !!!!
Verdi: good one! You must have had an espresso this AM.
For years City Planning failed to rezone the track. Area residents have been warning of this happening for umpteen years.
The community is very nervous about what would go there if they close the track," said Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer (D-Queens). "But it seems like no one is listening because they must have this preconceived plan to bring in developers to take it over. All we hear is that it's a valuable piece of real estate."
ha ha ha ha
Can anyone imagine any civic leader saying this in western Queens? Team Gioia? CB1 the community board from hell?
he he he he
Can you imagine that the newspapers in western Queens reporting something like this and then intelligently discussing it pro and con?
ho ho ho ho
Can you imagine the residents of western Queens discussing the merits of this, or doing anything more than shrugging their shoulders, muttering dark thoughts under their breath, then carefully calculating how much their little piece of God's kingdom would be worth?
We get the political culture we deserve, don't we?
ooof; love the track & love the weirdness of that part of Ozone Park, including the psychics, old man bars & flea market... i personally don't play the horses but it's always been a pleasure to be around THE MIX of people who do (gambling addicts of the world unite, hah).
i've not done it myself but it'd be interesting to figure out the population density figures for Queens & Brooklyn; not total population version land mass but rather total population versus OPEN SPACE... if you have to close the track, why not turn it into a mixed use park, part "developed" w/playground/fields & part restored w/native plants, etc? i know-- stupid question.
some of today's low-density areas, like the still-razed parts of Rockaway, never should have been, but we're losing so much else on the margins...
Well the track is a dump. It really should be fixed up (not likely since horse racing lost its popularity years ago) or replaced with something nicer for the community.
Pheffer has been keeping civics in her area up to date as each of the cockamamie proposals have been tossed out by Spitzer & co. Can she, Serf, Tony Semenerio, & Michelle Titus keep the wolves at bay?
I once read about a development plan that would incorporate the racetrack oval as a street and preserve the park and ponds inside it.
Instead of a boring street grid and Fedders boxes, it's possible that Aqueduct's history could be taken into account by developers.
Personally, I'm hoping that Queens can lure back the Jets football team with an Aqueduct Arena. Being across the highway from the JFK Airport would give the football team a new meaning.
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