From the Times Newsweekly:Christina Wilkinson, the president of the Newtown Historical Society, informed residents that efforts to create a public park at the former site of St. Saviour’s Church in Maspeth continue to hit a brick wall.
According to Wilkinson, the mayor’s office recently informed the organization that it will not agree to a proposed land swap with the current owner that would allow the city to take control of the former church site.
“Apparently, previous protests are the reason they don’t want to work with us there,” she said. If the city does not get involved, the society president said, the community would need to raise the $8 million needed to purchase the site on its own.
“We saved the church. It’s going to a different neighborhood,” she said, referring to the Juniper Park Civic Association’s plan to rebuild St. Saviour’s Church at All Faiths Cemetery. “But we want something for Maspeth.”
There's life under Bloomberg in a nutshell: Choose between your first amendment rights and getting city services. (If you live in Queens it won't matter, anyway, because your money is going to Manhattan, so you might as well protest.)
Also got word that DOB is allowing the owner to dig up the property with a backhoe despite a shabby construction fence and falling-apart retaining wall for which violations were served. Documented contamination and possible graves are also not considered to be problems by NYC (at least not when the property is owned by a developer).
Oh, and the stalled construction site program is a joke.
26 comments:
so, so sad what has become of this city under bloomberg. after the republican national convention, however, i am not surprised.
The whole thing makes me nauseous
Actually, the story is not completely accurate. The mayor's office didn't inform the historical society. I stopped calling the mayor's office years ago after they refused to return my phone calls. I can't reveal how the info was found out but it is definitely accurate. I can say that yes, the mayor's office has confirmed with my contacts that they have completely cut off all help to Maspeth (including implementing the Grand Ave Truck Bypass plan, revising the Solid Waste Management plan, and the rejection of new parkland) because of protests held at the St. Saviour's site. Apparently, the people of Maspeth were expected to rise up and defend the mayor against the protesters.
I'm not kidding.
And for the record, I don't think this edict is coming from Bloomberg himself but from his "protectors" who masquerade as commissioners.
It also concerns me that Tom Ognibene is going around praising and cross-endorsing Bloomberg.
The mayor continues to punish the people by insisting on buying a third term. We fought to save St. Ann's at 120 East 12th Street. If you are in the East Village walk past the facade from 1847 attached to yet another hideous NYU mega dorm. NYU mega dormed the East Village to death with the help of Mike the developer's mayor and socialite mega millionaire city planner Amanda the people's Burden. (Thanks to anonymous commentor on Queens Crap who wrote Amanda the people's Burden!) Brilliant and true.
St. Ann's from 1847 survived everything all these years but NYU's need and greed to build yet another mega dorm and the USPS's greedy shady air sale over St. Ann's. The USPS was suppose to notify the State of New York before they sold the air space but just like blocking the fire hydrant in front of my now ex-building next door where I lived for 20 years, the USPS was confident they were and are above the law.
Bloomberg is the real estate wheel dealers mayor not the people's mayor.
Hey, no problem, we have the Queens Presevation Council and our luminaries Paulie G and Jimmy T and the irredoubtable QCC.
They will run to the rescue!!
A few comments here.
It is only to become much worse for many people living in Queens.... Unfortunately, much of the middle class has been rendered as an archaic reminder of a long gone world by the current regime, which seems determined to upturn neighborhoods in their grand vision of a "new" New York--whatever that means in the long run.
Also, while on a rant, Gramsci's concept of hegemony springs to mind as well--imagine having the residents of Maspeth rising up against the St. Saviors protesters in order to slit their own throats in the long run...after all, what's good for the upper class has to be good for the lower and middle classes (sarcasm).
Mayor likley wants that property to flip to one of his friends.
Perhaps he also has a huge vendetta against the people involved with that church fiasco.
I quite suprised he hasnt come after this blog
If you go to the Onderdonk House now you can rage against them all - WM, Bloomberg, local pols, the whole wretched crew... It's a big phoney fundraising event...
Not dealing with organizations that criticize you is the new standard. See: Bloomberg vs. Maspeth; Obama vs Fox
www.forgotten-ny.com
YOU WANT TO BLAME BLOOMBERG? WOW. THERE IS PLENTY OF BLAME TO GO AROUND. BLAME SOME OF THE RABID, (MY WAY OR NO WAY), COMMUNITY LEADERS & PHONEY POLITICIANS, WHO BULLSH@#TED THE PUBLIC AND WANTED TO TELL SOMEONE, WHO LEGALLY PURCHASED A RAT INFESTED LOT WITH A RUN DOWN CHURCH IN MASPETH, IN THE HOPES OF TURNING IT INTO A WONDERFUL DEVELOPMENT, WHAT TO DO WITH THE PROPERTY. SO, THAT'S HOW IT WORKS.
THE PROFESSIONAL PROTESTERS WERE BROUGHT IN TO RALLY. WITH DROOL DRIPPING FROM THEIR LIPS,"SAVE SAINT SAVIORS, NO! NO! NO! WE WANT A PARK. A PARK! WE NEED A PARK!" TREES, TREES, PLEASE!
LOOK WHAT YOU HAVE NOW. WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BUILT WOULD OF RAISED THE PROPERTY VALUES OF THE RUN DOWN SHACKS THAT SURROUND IT AND MADE THAT S@#THOLE SECTION OF MASPETH ATTRACTIVE. THIS IS THE CITY OF NEW YORK. THE USA. WE HAVE A FREE MARKET AND THIS DEVELOPER WAS STOPPED BECAUSE DOWN DEEP INSIDE THE BIG GREEN MONSTER DIDN'T WANT TO SEE PROGRESS. LOOK AT THE PEOPLE AND CAREERS IT HURT AND DESTROYED. THE SURROUNDING HOMEOWNERS, WHO STOOD A CHANCE IN INCREASING THEIR PROPERTY VALUES. THE SLANDER. THE NOOSES. THE WITCH HUNT.
IF I WERE THE PROPERTY OWNER I'D OPEN A RECYLING PLANT. AND IF I WERE THE BILLIONAIRE MAYOR, I THINK QUEENS NEEDS A INCINERATOR. THERE NOT ME. SO YOUR VERY LUCKY.
Ah, I love it when the trolls come out. Badmouthing the people who tried to save their green space and history is a really obvious troll move. "Rat-infested lot with a run down church"? Now there's a couple of lies. The church had just been renovated months before the secret 'legal' purchase and no one ever complained about rats until after the demolition.
Whose career was destroyed other than Dennis Gallagher, who destroyed his own career by molesting a grandmother in his office?
And as for building a recycling plant or an incinerator, you can't - not big enough for the first and definitely not the right zoning for the second. Funny how these are the exact things that were threatened by Gallagher back when he was pushing for a zoning change. Out-of-city flyby-night developers who foolishly overpaid by millions of dollars for a 1.5 acre parcel not zoned for residential is the real reason there's no houses there now. (Let's not let that secret get out, ok?)
What's there now? An empty lot. One which could easily have a park on it and raise people's property values.
War ain't over yet. And since you so eloquently mentioned that "this is America" you should be familiar with "freedom of speech" as well as the free market. It was practiced here. Deal with it.
Why is te slumlord digging and empty lot if nothing going to be built ?
They must have some kind of a deal going on and must make sure whats left of any graves is gone.
It wouldnt take much. Simple pine boxes 200 years ago. What ever is left is would be fragments if anything.
Most of it likley went in the dumpster with all the trees.
That "WAS" an amazing property, shame on that rapist criminal for selling out.
Why isnt he in jail ?
NO THIRD TERM! NO THIRD TERM! NO THIRD TERM! NO THIRD TERM! NO THIRD TERM! NO THIRD TERM! NO THIRD TERM! NO THIRD TERM!
DUMP BLOOMBERG!!
There's still a fight going on. The electeds have committed to allocating money for a public park just like all other parks were built. The community board listed a park here as priority #12, and as many of the other priorities above it are already funded, it will get boosted up the list.
It's going to happen. Keep focused.
He's leveling it to make it more attractive to sell.
Does anyone really believe they would have gotten a park there had they played nice? I'm sure they started out that way, I mean he was their man of the year twice.
The truth is that Bloomberg hates spending money on outer borough parks. Take a look: all the "new parks" he created consist of opening playgrounds at night, taking old parks, fixing them up and calling them new parks (like Dreier-Offerman) or closing streets and pretending they are parks.
Then he allows developers to destroy centuries old trees but he replants new street trees which will die from neglect in a few years.
His green initiatives are all bullshit.
Christina Wilkinson said: The community board listed a park here as priority #12.
Wrong, it was listed at #21, the Times Newsweekly got it wrong. Check with the Mr. Giordano.
Rebuilding the church in Middle Village was #21.
Whether it was #12 or #21, the fact is that the elected are raising the cash.
Please don't get distracted by those silly rankings. First of all, the CB is advisory. It's made up of a bunch of people who kissed someone's ass and think they are important. Second, the electeds fund what they want to fund. It seems like they are all on board with a park for Maspeth, which is good. There have been things at the top of that list for years that have gotten no action whatsoever.
Bloomberg is a vindictive little queen!
He's also punishing Broadway/Flushing by stonewalling their landmark district.
That's his payback for Tony Avella standing up to him.
I say shove it up his ass sideways at the polls!
"Paulie G. & Jimmy T"?
It looks like Bobby S. has been released from treatment.
Maspeth Mom says...
Like the Gas Tanks park - another year of neglect and still not opened. What a colossal waste of money - Can't the Park Dept do anything right the FIRST time?
The triangle park at 65th Place and LIE Service Road is the new Maspeth homeless shelter. Shopping carts from the homeless are in plain site with the homeless sleeping on the benches.
And I'm paying taxes for this shit.
Yeah I don't understand why they had the Gas Tank Park looking all nice and almost ready to open then they started digging up what they just finished.
Anyway, to the troll who is trying to convince the world that 99% of the people who live in a 2 block radius of the former church site don't give a shit what is built there, please be consistent with your trolling. About 99% of the people who came to the protests lived within 2 blocks of the church.
It's hard to believe that someone would take time out of their weekend to troll about people who supposedly don't really care what goes there.
All those people who don't care about what goes there are still having meetings and planning strategies and 7 of them came with me to the Onderdonk House fundraiser to meet other elected officials.
I think Dennis needs to get a life. I mean really, pal, it's been more than a year since you lost your job.
Hey I remember this b.s. Dennis and pals were trying to convince us that 95 units of housing crammed into that tiny block would be good for the neighborhood. Which is really ludicrus if you think about it.
He must be pissed that he didn't get the cut of the profits he was promised so he is posting here.
Post a Comment