College Point tow pound was relocated from Maspeth

From the Queens Chronicle:

A meeting arranged by state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) with the NYPD on why the agency had moved its tow pound to the College Point Corporate Park without notice was canceled last week with no new information released.

Avella was not given a reason for the cancellation or told when another session could be held. He and Community Board 7 officials are puzzled and angered by the move.

The senator learned in September that the NYPD had moved its tow pound from under the Kosciuszko Bridge in Maspeth to a site at College Point Boulevard and 31st Avenue without notifying anyone. The corporate park is specially zoned and any change needs to go through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure process.

The location is owned by Ares Printing, which is subleasing the site to the police. Chuck Apelian, chairman of CB 7’s Zoning and Land Use Committee, said Monday he does not know if the subleasing is legal.

The city’s largest tow pound was originally located in the corporate park at a different site nearby, bounded by Ulmer Street, College Point Boulevard, 28th and 31st avenues.

The city took over the tow pound property in 2010 to build the new Police Academy. It is expected to be completed later this year.

The ousted tow pound was supposed to move to a location at Kennedy International Airport but that did not work out. The Maspeth site was then the only tow pound in Queens; now it’s in College Point.
Avella said Tuesday “the whole thing smells,” and noted that the original tow pound in the corporate park was supposed to be temporary and lasted 20 years.