Development not necessarily good

An open letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg:

Thank you for your recent letter regarding North Flushing rezoning. It is true the city has experienced unprecedented growth, but encouraging all this development in Queens is wrong. Most neighborhoods, especially in eastern Queens, are not accessible to all modes of transportation. Residents there have many cars, so encouraging builders to convert dwellings from one-family to multi-family is wrong. It is adversely affecting the quality of life in those neighborhoods.

You stated in your letter that you are discussing these issues with City Planning Commission Chairwoman Amanda Burden, and I am glad you are doing so. We would like to discuss them with her, as well. The residents here would like you both to come and take a tour of Flushing and other Queens neighborhoods to see how City Planning's inaction has negatively affected our communities. If "City Planning works to ensure that development is responsible and benefits all New Yorkers", then why am I still trying to figure out how I benefit from a builder ruining my street so he can make a profit?

I look forward to your response on this increasingly pressing matter.

Rose Forkan
Flushing