St. Michael's Cementery?

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Does St. Michael's Cemetery have land to swap for parkland?

This was passed on by a reader:

BILL NUMBER:S581

TITLE OF BILL: An act to authorize the city of New York to discontinue use of and convey certain park land

PURPOSE: To authorize the city of New York to discontinue use of certain park land and convey it to the St. Michael's cemetery.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1. Authorizes the city of New York to discontinue use as park land and to convey, in fee simple, the land described in section three of this act to Saint Michael's Cemetery.

Section 2. Provides that the authorization of this act shall be subject to the requirement that the city of New York shall use any proceeds and/or land received in exchange for the conveyance authorized by this act to acquire land, to be dedicated for park purposes in an amount equal to or greater than the fair market value of the land being conveyed.

Section 3. Describes the land authorized to be discontinued as park land and conveyed as the property bounded by Astoria Boulevard to the north, 30th Avenue to the south, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the east, and St, Michael's Cemetery to the west, in the Astoria section of Queens, City and State of New York. The property consists of a 3.77 acre highly irregularly shaped parcel of vacant land know as St. Michael's Park.

JUSTIFICATION: This legislation would allow St. Michael's Cemetery, located in Astoria, Queens to acquire a small strip of park land that is underutilized and in disrepair located adjacent to the cemetery.

St. Michael's Cemetery has agreed to transfer a replacement parcel of land to the City of New York in order to replace the park land acquired and ensure that the western Queens community does not lose valuable green space.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2012: Senate Bill 2513 (Gianaris) - Died in Senate Cities Committee 2012: Assembly Bill 4874 (Simotas) - Died in Assembly Rules Committee 2010: Senate Bill 2768-B (Onorato) - Died in Senate Cities Committee 2010: Assembly Bill 4317-B (Gianaris) - Died in Assembly Cities Committee

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.

VOTE: COMMITTEE VOTE: - Cities - May 30, 2013
Ayes (5): Lanza, DeFrancisco, Grisanti, Avella, Breslin
Ayes W/R (1): Ball

So, where is the replacement parkland?

Cemetery eyeing East Elmhurst park space

From the Daily News:

A PROPOSAL to sell a hard-to-access 4-acre parcel of parkland in East Elmhurst to a cemetery has stalled - despite strong community support.

Elected officials said the proceeds from the sale of the triangular plot - bounded by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and 30th Ave. - would go toward purchasing park land in another location. And the sale would allow the nearby St. Michael's Cemetery to expand.

But the city Parks Department won't sign off on the plan until a comparable plot of land is lined up, officials said.

"The reason why we're opposing the transfer of the land is because we don't have replacement parkland," said agency spokeswoman Trish Bertuccio. "Green space in New York City is scarce, and we want to make sure that we preserve as much of it as possible."

The parcel is open space along the highway, without any playgrounds or play equipment.

Cheryl Huber, deputy director of New Yorkers for Parks, said she has heard the land is also used by BMX bikers. She said she was upset when she learned that Community Board 1 and the City Council had supported the sale.

"It's always better to replace parkland with parkland instead of money, to guarantee that the community will still have open space," she said.

But Assemblyman Michael Gianaris isn't so sure that the land is worth saving.

"It's decrepit. It's unkempt. There's rats and vermin in there," the Astoria Democrat said. "We have the opportunity to actually create acreage of good parkland in a different location and put this land to productive use."

He was approached by cemetery officials with the idea last year, he said. In February 2009, he introduced a bill in the Assembly to authorize the sale - since city parkland can't be bought or sold without legislative approval.

Cemetery officials declined comment on the potential sale.

But City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) said it will allow St. Michael's, established in 1852, to survive for a least another 20 years.

"They were out of plot land," Vallone said.

His office is now looking into potential sites for new parks in northwestern Queens.

St. Michael's "will keep that land in much better condition than it is now," Vallone said. "It's going to make the piece of property much more beautiful to the public."

How stupid do these 2 electeds sound since the park is in their districts and its lack of upkeep is partially their fault?

Not only that, but Vallone's family lobbied hard for the sale. Now we know why Mike & Pete are so adamantly for it.

A scary cemetery find

There's some shady business going on under cover of darkness at St. Michael's Cemetery. Visit Newtown Pentacle for the lowdown.