Thursday, July 11, 2013

Lots of pols responsible for the sad state of St. Saviour's site


Here are photos from nutrichris on Flickr that show the current condition of the St. Saviour's site. Currently, 1/4 of the site is occupied by 4 warehouses, one of which is for sale (although strangely, that's not a photo of it at the link for it).

The others have already been sold, with involvement by the Empire State Development Corporation and the U.S. Small Business Administration. (Because news of being screwed out of a park by the local government got around, so the state and feds decided to join the fun.)

Recently, applications were put in for 4 more warehouses on the undeveloped portion. The architect? CB1's Gerald Caliendo.

Now, as you can see from the photos, the site is still being used as a dump inside and out, the construction fence is falling down and part is still sidewalk-free.

Of course, the lion's share of responsibility for this lands squarely in the lap of no-talent Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, who totally bungled an amazing chance to develop a park at the site. However, there's plenty more blame to go around. What involvement did the BP candidates have (or not have)? Here's what I have gathered from activists:

Council Member Peter Vallone said he couldn't get involved because it wasn't in his district, yet he had no problem showing up at rallies for Brinckerhoff Cemetery as far back as 2008. I guess since Caliendo gave $12,275 in donations to him, he decided it was a convenient excuse.

Former Council Member and Chair of Land Use Melinda Katz sided with Dennis Gallagher and wanted to see the church torn down and replaced with 75 housing units. Had the zoning change ever come in front of her, it surely would have passed. As Land Use Chair, Melinda had the power to influence the Landmarks Preservation Commission when the site was suggested for designation. She refused to do so. (We won't even go into what she did to landmark-worthy sites in her own district.)

Council Member and current Land Use Chair Leroy Comrie has been head of the Queens delegation now for years. The county delegation chairs get a pot of money every year during budget time to spread around their boroughs. Comrie had no interest in securing the extra $50K or so that was necessary to begin the ULURP and get the acquisition process started when everyone was on board and it was actually possible.

And of course, we don't have to remind you that the only BP candidate that ever showed up and tried to help was Tony Avella.

If this shitshow can happen in Maspeth, it can happen in everyone else's community as well. Vote for a borough president candidate wisely.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is criminal how Crowley spoon-fed all them Maspeth people a crock of sh*t to keep them calm and quiet. This allowing the real intended dirty plan to hatch.
It all reeks of Green money in paper bags.

Jerry Rotondi said...

That's why I'm supporting (and gave a donation ) to Tony Avella for Borough president!

ANYONE ELSE CAN'T BE TRUSTED NOT TO SCREW US!

My deep down opinion of Peter "junior" Vallone isn't fit to post. Then I've got his ambitious brother, Paul Vallone, running for city council in my nabe.

Let's just say that they're both dynastic political pond scum and leave it at that!


Joe Moretti said...

That is why I say, what happens in Jamaica can also effect or happen in other parts of Queens too. Which is when you look at other parts of Queens, the crap has already started. Chose wisely with the next Borough President.

Shit spreads out.

Missing Foundation said...

But Crap like this IS happening in every community and all we can do is cower when they walk into the room and by the time we vote, just send them back for more of the same because the process has made it all but pointless.

Only a few percent of the 20 year olds vote. That is the future. Something has to give.

Now the good news. Social media is the key.

The days of governing that were honed in the buggy-whip era are drawing to a close.

Its collapse, like most entrenched empires, will be traumatic (at least for members of the gravy train) and sudden.

Crappy will be remembered in the future as a watershed in Queens politics.

St. Saviours will be a Pyrric Victory for those that destroyed it.

Anonymous said...

This is a big loss to the community. However, those living around the site said that if they had to choose between warehouses and 75 housing units, they would choose the warehouses. So at least they got the lesser of 2 evils.

Anonymous said...

Financial assistance to build warehouses in Maspeth? Take a look around. Maspeth is full of empty warehouses because Queens as a center of industry has been in decline since the end of Word War II.

Of course, they will be unleasable, so expect some hardship pleas for re-zoning the block.

Anonymous said...

The people who voted for that brainless, no talent Liz Crowley got what they deserved, ugly warehouses instead of a beautiful park.

Keep electing hacks Queens and the borough will continue down to third world status.

Anonymous said...

Thank you to the granny rapist Dennis Gallagher, the empty-headed Elizabeth Crowley, the clueless Helen Marshall and the rest of the Queens pols who sat by and did nothing.

VOTE FOR TONY AVELLA FOR BOROUGH PRESIDENT and maybe Queens will have a fighting chance for a change.

Queens Crapper said...

"The people who voted for that brainless, no talent Liz Crowley got what they deserved, ugly warehouses instead of a beautiful park."

Easy to say until you remember that the alternative to Liz Crowley was Anthony Como.

Joe said...

"fighting chance"
No shit ! In my opinion Avella is the ONLY and last call for Queens.
Places like Ridgewood, Maspeth MV, Whitestone and especially Little Neck can not survive anymore damage.
I can not sell my nice house in Ridgewood. Decent buyers get scared to death for the children's education as soon as they see PS-68 or 77 getting out. The rest interested are shady real estate agents with "diverse" clients who want to make it a bordello.

Anonymous said...

WTF RU trying to say, "Missing Foundation"?

Speak plainly. You're talking to dumb Queensites
who need instructions printed on their toilet paper rolls, so they know how to use it properly.