Bigger problems at Quaker Meeting House

From the Queens Chronicle:

Problems at the Quaker Meeting House range beyond the below-ground utility pole base, reported by the Chronicle last week.

Ongoing issues with a neighboring construction site include shifting borders caused by a 28-foot-deep retaining wall supported by 10 large steel I-beams. The wood and cement barrier has effectively moved 80 feet of the Meeting House’s property line back 3 feet.

The planned apartment building at 136-33 37 Ave. has been in limbo after a stop-work order was issued following the invasion into the Quaker house’s property.

The incursion also included the destruction of a previous retaining wall, with the extent of the damage at the property’s western corner still unknown.

“They didn’t tell us about their plans to put this retaining wall on our property and get our permission, as they are required to do,” said Linda Shirley, member of a committee designed to address ongoing problems with the adjacent construction site. She added the retaining wall provided extra real estate to the project — on the cheap.

“This was unquestionably a planned intrusion, and it’s also undeniable that they purposefully ignored our property rights and their moral responsibility to respect the cemetery and the National Historic Landmark,” she said in an email exchange.