Saturday, September 18, 2010

CB7 approves Flushing Commons - again

From the Times Ledger:

Community Board 7 took up Flushing Commons, an $800 million mixed-use development project planned in downtown Flushing, for the last time Monday evening and voted to conditionally recommend it to the Queens Borough Board.

The project was approved July 29 by the City Council and Mayor Michael Bloomberg and then headed back to CB 7, which had one final chance to weigh in on the project. CB 7 Chairman Eugene Kelty will take the board’s recommendation to the Borough Board, a body made up of Borough President Helen Marshall, all Queens City Council members and the chairs of all Queens community boards.

CB 7’s Land Use Committee voted Sept. 7 to recommend the Borough Board vote “no” on the transfer of the land where it will be built from the city Economic Development Corp. to the project’s developer, TDC Development. Committee members were upset that the city and developer did not consider some of their concerns about the project.

But last-minute negotiations between CB 7 Vice Chairman Chuck Apelian, the city and the developer led to some new solutions which Kelty insisted rendered the committee’s recommendation obsolete. Since time was running out to make a decision, he suggested an amendment to the recommendation.

The negotiations secured a commitment by the developer to be “100 percent on board and willing to continue working with the community board, business groups and residents” to address remaining concerns they have, according to Apelian. In the week after the Land Use hearing, CB 7 also received other assurances, including ones from city agencies pledging that parking issues with Municipal Lot 2 and police vehicles would be addressed.

James McClelland, a spokesman for City Councilman Peter Koo (R-Flushing), also said he is committed to addressing the remaining issues by bringing a new school or new schools to Flushing in order to accommodate the growing population.

CB 7 board members Joe Sweeney and Arnold Wagner argued that the board should accept the Land Use Committee’s recommendation because they believed the city and developer are not bound to honor their agreements and that they have leeway to back out of them, leaving area residents with the short end of the stick.

“What concerns me is this project is like Swiss cheese right now,” Sweeney said. “I don’t know if I can vote ‘yes’ on this because it’s very ambiguous.”

Kelty contended it is better to be able to suggest changes than to reject the project outright.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The "Commons" Will ultimately go through and get approved, but it will most likely suffer the same fate as "The Shops" at Atlas Park. Flushing will have a great big white elephant in the middle of the neighborhood that no one will know what to do with.

Snake Plissskin said...

Oh they will fill it alright.

Um, how are they going to move people in and out of Flushing? How are the yuppies at Hunters Point able to cram on the trains?

Anonymous said...

The negotiations secured a commitment by the developer to be “100 percent on board and willing to continue working with the community board, business groups and residents” to address remaining concerns they have, according to Apelian.
.............................................
Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Kelty contended it is better to be able to suggest changes than to reject the project outright.
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BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Anonymous said...

You can't compare flushing commons to atlas park. The location is much busier and better served by mass transit. Main st is the destination for many buses as well as the #7. Culturally the area is much different as well. The project will probably do well even though us old time flushing residents will probably never step foot inside.

Anonymous said...

That last comment has got to be from the developer!

Anonymous said...

The project will be very successful as a solely Chinese/Taiwanese colony.

Nobody else would want to shop or live here.

It was planned as such and FULLY APPROVED by CB# 7!

Anything to keep the darker skinned minorities from "taking over" and devaluing Flushing real estate.

Or, more simply put;

"BETTER YELLOW (Chinese) THAN BLACK (African American/Latino) HERE"!

Keep those "Ns' away from my hood....eh Gene & Chuck?

Anonymous said...

I think that both Gene Kelty & Chuck Apelian are suffering from classic "Stockholm Syndrome" symptoms.

When one is held for a long term in captivity (by developers in this case) you actually get to like your captors and believe they're not going to fuck you up.

Well, it's high time to flush the entire CB# 7 down the toilet!

Their "leadership" (what leaders?) have been around too damn long to be trusted anymore.

Kelty & Apelian are only looking out for what's good for the nabes in which they personally live.

They have been selling out the downtown hub to contain the overbuilding there and and not have it spread to contaminate their own fine residential neighborhoods!

But it will spread, in time, like the plague!

Appeasement and containment never works.

Anonymous said...

"You can't compare flushing commons to atlas park."

They're exactly the same, poorly planned, (In this case REALLY poorly planned), No One in the community wants them there except developers and their lackeys. and they're both going to end up ghost towns

Anonymous said...

Of course Kelty felt it better to approve the project. According to certain Councilmembers of the past he has been know to say his job is to secure development in order to increase tax revenue for the city.

Screw the Community.

Slick Chuck did it again, what a great negotiator he is.

What pieces of s_ _ _!.

Anonymous said...

(Circa 1978-80)
A look back in shame:

Ever since the Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church's pastor Norris intended to secure a home that was for sale on 29th (Bayside) Ave. as a parsonage...which was subsequent FIRE BOMBED TWICE..."white" folks have been very scared that the darker hued skins might expand into their nabes from the Bland & Latimer projects.

Note:
Chuck Apelian's house is located about two blocks from that fire bombed home.

No...we're not saying he had anything to do with it...only that Blacks were unwelcome there...even a respectable church leader!

So the next step was to introduce the Taiwanese to Flushing, rather like a species, to curtail xenphobes

It's been said that "Kent Realty" played an early role in this.

After all, aren't the Chinese more well behaved on the streets than those upitty dark folk that run around wild in Jamaica?

"Flushing Commons" is the final step in the creation of an exclusively mono cultural Asian colony that will soon displace any remaining people of color...along with the fears that Blacks might destroy the value of Flushing real estate.

Anonymous said...

Wow that last post is wrtten by a real moron.

Moby said...

Wow that last post is wrtten by a real moron.
------------------------------------------------

Evan! I told you not to play with the Queens Crap readers. Now go to your room!

Anonymous said...

Methinks that the telling of the truth regarding the Pastor Norris story has touched a nerve...a Parkside/CB# 7 nerve!

Nice to see that Queens crap needs to be scoped on a daily basis by Stavisky & Co.

We're really getting under your skin...eh Moby?

Anonymous said...

Yep....Moby Stavisky had to wipe her ass 5 times today and send 2 pairs of her shoes to the cobblers for cleaning....PHEW!