Thursday, May 1, 2008

Dutch Kills rezone a royal mess

City Councilmember Eric Gioia told the audience at St. Patrick's school that two deputy mayors had assured him certification of the proposed new zoning would be concluded in May. Joy Chen of the Department of City Planning added that an environmental impact statement for the proposed zoning area is 80 percent completed and can be expected in May; then, the public review process can begin. Eric Palatnik, a lawyer representing Dutch Kills small industrialists, said he knows that the process is unstoppable, yet he believes amendments to the new zoning can be made, to recover at least partially for his people the functional ability he believes they are losing with the new zoning proposals.

Dutch Kills Civic Association Debates Zoning Issues

Perhaps the most contentious moment of the evening came when Palatnik, who had earlier warned homeowners that they might have to conclude they'd won a dubious victory as they confronted restrictions they hadn't anticipated, specified that according to zoning regulations, they would have to provide eight feet of side yard space when rebuilding, which for some of them would require shrinking the already precious frontage on their houses. An infuriated George Stamatiades interrupted Palatnik to charge that what he said wasn't true and that he was irresponsible to say it. Joy Chen of City Planning was called upon to clarify the issue. She said a "small lot" needn't provide side yard space if it is not detached, but if it is, it must. Palatnik said he had been hearing confusing versions. By evening's end, confusion remained about what is required for detached and semi-detached houses. Gioia, who said it would be "a terrible thing to discover" that one's house might have to be shrunk in order to be repaired, said he should look for City Council funding to provide the Dutch Kills homeowners with a lawyer.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mighty John Young is at it again, eh?

Anonymous said...

Look everyone let this community down, from its leadership, its community board, its politicians and fellow civics.

Ah western Queens, the thought goes, they are so ignorant they believe anything they are told.

Folks, this is a bomb that will blow up in everyone's face. For the next 100 years, when you enter Queens from Manhattan, you will face wall after wall of 10+ story human barracks. Densly packed. A no-go zone of immigrant transients and Section 8 types.

A nice image that will stain what little rep is left of the borough for generations.

Sometimes, just sometimes, when you kick someone you kick yourself.

Anonymous said...

Lets see, Dutch Kills Barracks, the largest housing project in the country at Queensbridge Houses, the Riker Island drop off zone, the Walter McCrafrey Entertainment Zone (strip clubs from Times Sq to his district)

Yup, its a great investement to buy property in Hunters Point.

Losers

Anonymous said...

Wait till they get their 'downzone' zoning change and find 15 story monsters lining both sides of Northern all they way out to Steinway Street.

If you f*k something up, do a thorough job.