Disgraceful field conditions at FMCP

Dear Queens residents,

I have been involved and against the Flushing Meadows Park theft for several years. I am a founding member of Save Flushing Meadows Corona Park, I was featured on a radio call in show and in a video against the theft, I was a litigant alongside senator Avella and several other community activists in a winning lawsuit.

So you can imagine my disappointment when knowing, what I know about this park, and knowing that the Wilpons, and the USTA, make millions of dollars a year off of our parkland! I see the fields in this condition.

This is “field 6”. There are a few other fields in the same condition. This is appalling. Where is all the money going? We as a community deserve better, we expect better, we demand better.

Alfredo Centola
Community Activist

Whitestone asks FAA to reroute helicopters

From PIX11:

Neighbors in Queens are sounding an alarm after a helicopter with two people inside made a water landing off the south shore of Long Island on Wednesday.

"We Love Whitestone" is a group created a number of years ago. Members joined with some other neighborhoods and people in Astoria, Queens to bring attention to the air traffic above their homes.

Alfredo Centola is a founding member of the Whitestone group. He has shared videos with PIX11 of helicopters flying over their homes. They run a website where neighbors can file reports and they also say they have set up sensors that track aircraft.

They're asking the Federal Aviation Administration to review the official flight plan that brings choppers and sea-planes over northwestern Queens. The neighbors point out the same path requires aircraft to fly along the water farther south in certain parts of Long Island's North Shore.

The Whitestone Bridge is leaking big time

CRAPPY,

THIS STORY MIGHT INTEREST YOU AND YOUR READERS.

Back in the beginning of April we sent an email to MTABT and DOT regarding a serious flooding issue on the side of the Whitestone Bridge. Ever since they completed construction, the flooding has become much worse.

The DOT referred it to DEP. The MTABT stated that there was no issue and that ONE home along the route has drainage holes (AT LEAST 12 INCHES ABOVE THE GROUND) may be the cause.

So We sent pictures of the water marks and dirt marks from the runoff. NO RESPONSE.

Then this morning with a little rain we took more photos and video of the water runoff and the amount that now falls onto the road. In our opinion this has extremely exasperated the severe flooding issue.

The Whitestone Bridge is a proud representation of our community. To have the managers not take responsibility is an insult to the community. NOT TO MENTION THE LACK OF MAINTENANCE OF THEIR GRASSY AREA AS OF LATE. We take pride in our community and expect our neighbor the MTABT to do the same.

And of course let us not forget the mosquitoes and West Nile issues this brings.

Thank you.

Alfredo Centola
President
Founding Member

Whitestone rally features defensive architect

Vallone makes some grandiose statement of how he "negotiated with the architect and developer" but never would have let the people at the rally know that architect Joe Sultana was even there, except for the fact that he freaked out and verbally attacked Paul Graziano. Fun times!

Stop speeding on 147th Street!

The following pics are of yet another accident that occurred in the corner of 147 street an 5th avenue in Whitestone. This area has been besieged by speeding cars and reckless driving for years.

The local boys driving the Cadillac are said to have been driving at a high rate of speed (normal for this corner). They are fortunate they did not flip over and or injure themselves or some poor innocent pedestrian.

We have been trying to get traffic devices that would improve safety for years. All of which has fallen on dead ears. We have requested a 4 way stop sign and were denied. We requested an one way west bound on fifth avenue (this would limit the amount of cars and trucks as well as curtail the highway speed most drivers continue on the block). We have repeatedly requested speed humps on 147 street in order to curtail speeding. What have we gotten instead? Nothing! Why must we continue to wait until someone gets seriously hurt?

Remedy this now please.

For our elected officials receiving this email, your help is desperately needed.

Alfredo Centola
Community Activist

Little Bay Park soccer fields need work

Dear Parks Department,

Attached are photos of the Little Bay soccer fields. As you are aware, the CYO uses these fields for soccer programs that benefit the children of the surrounding communities. We have been trying for years to get these fields repaired and or replaced, let alone maintained.

Several years ago the fields were plagued with contaminated soil (placed there by the Parks Department in an attempt to raise the level of the field) which contained dirty diapers, used syringes, as well as other contaminants. Last year, we had to deal with large rocks and pockets of holes all over the fields. Now this! We understand their is money to replace at least one field if not both. In the interim, this is what our community and our children have to deal with. Your assistance in re-mediating this field ASAP would be greatly appreciated. As you are aware soccer season is fast approaching and practices have already been scheduled.

Mind you, this is a soccer field that is scheduled to be used by over 600 community children beginning this week. The wood chips and the tire groves that are over 6 inches deep should not be here.

Thank you,
Alfredo Centola
Malba Gardens Civic Association
Community Activist

Avella, activists, file lawsuit to stop shopping mall at Flushing Meadows

Notice of Petition & Petition

From Save FMCP:

State Senator Tony Avella of Whitestone, Queens, The City Club of New York, park advocacy groups, and an array of residents and business people neighboring the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, filed suit today to cut off the threat of construction of a 1.4 million square foot shopping mall within the Park.

The complaint alleges that the project cannot proceed without approval by the State Legislature under the “public trust” doctrine that protects all parkland throughout the State against any form of transfer or introduction of non-park uses without consent of the Legislature. It does not appear that any such approval for the shopping center use has been requested or obtained.

The complaint also alleges violations of the City’s Zoning Resolution and Charter, and seeks annulment of approvals granted by the City to date for the related Willets Point plan.

The site is 30.7 acres near the northerly end of the Park. From 1964 to 2006, the site was occupied by Shea Stadium. When Shea was demolished and replaced in 2009 by Citi Field at a location slightly east of the Shea site, the project site became a parking field for visitors to Citi Field. The site has also been used for a variety of public recreational events including foot races, circus performances, an annual wheelchair baseball game, and concerts.

In 2012, Sterling Equities and the Related Companies, both well-known developers, convinced the Bloomberg administration to allow the shopping mall on Park property, although the City Council had approved a plan in 2008 to place the intended retail development in the neighboring Willets Point development project along with affordable housing.

The project has moved forward without the customary public review. There have been no hearings on it before community boards, the Planning Commission, the City Council, or the State Legislature. The Bloomberg administration appears to have acted on the assumption that no public review is required because in 1961 the State Legislature approved construction of Shea Stadium and provision for parking, with wording broad enough, say proponents of the project, to allow replacement with a shopping center. The Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the project on the parking field declares that the parcel is on designated parkland and that legislation permits the shopping mall project. It lists approvals that the City and developers expect to seek, but State legislative approval is not among them.

The contention that the 1961 law exempts this transaction from the public trust doctrine, says John Low-Beer, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, is wrong. “The 1961 law was intended to allow a stadium and uses directly related to a stadium, such as parking, concessions, and other commercial activity typically incidental to a professional sports arena.”

Low-Beer adds that the 1961 law “says nothing about a shopping center. In fact, the Legislature explicitly prohibited any purely commercial uses other than ones strictly related to the stadium, such as concession stands. The public trust doctrine requires that any legislative consent be very specific about what it will allow. If it doesn’t specify a use, then that use is not permitted.”

Senator Tony Avella stated that “Parks are intended to serve the people, to provide open space, landscaping, opportunities for recreation, playgrounds for children, and escape from the hordes and noise of a busy commercial city. The only commercial uses that belong in them are those, such as snack stands, that enhance the park experience. A shopping center is not one of them. We have a wonderful law that is supposed to assure all of this, known as the ‘public trust doctrine.’ I’m outraged when the people who are supposed to administer parks for everyone turn them over to private interests without seeking the State Legislature's consent as the public trust doctrine requires. So, I am very pleased to be a party to this action.”

The plaintiffs include Paul Graziano, Al Centola and Ben Haber who have prominently opposed a spate of recent proposals for new or enlarged sports venues in the Park, as well as the shopping center. The efforts of “Save Flushing Meadows Park,” a coalition of many Queens civic groups put together by Graziano, Centola, Haber and others, thwarted the proposed professional soccer stadium, though it was unable to stop a half-acre expansion of the Tennis Center. They have also led opposition to the shopping center.

Suffering for the sake of Long Islanders

From the Daily News:

The skies above northeast Queens have become deafening as helicopters comply with new routes designed to decrease the ear-splitting noise — for residents of Long Island.

Local leaders are calling on city and federal agencies to give residents a bit of peace and quiet and suspend the loudest routes.

“The noise and the vibration are unbearable,” said Alfredo Centola, president of the Malba Gardens Civic Association, which represents the wealthy, Queens community.

“It starts between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. and continues well past midnight,” Centola said of the noise, which is worst on weekends. “The houses shake. Things are falling off your shelves.”

The roar got louder last year after the Federal Aviation Administration mandated that choppers traveling between middle of Long Island and the Hamptons fly over water instead long-suffering dry-land residents.

As a result, many Hamptons-bound pilots fly over northeast Queens to reach the new Long Island route, a faster, cheaper and, for Queens residents, more annoying, way to go.

Now there are helicopters also making noise

From WPIX:

The FAA changed the flight path around LaGuardia last summer.

Neighbors have been trying to get the agency to reconsider the decision.

Now, they are noticing increased helicopter traffic.

Whitestoners still concerned about traffic near park

From the Queens Courier:

Getting to and from a Whitestone playground is no walk in the park, some residents say.

The lack of a crosswalk or traffic controls at the 3rd Avenue and 147th Street entrance to Francis Lewis Park is dangerous to pedestrians, said Malba Civic Association president Alfredo Centola.

“It’s a beautiful park,” Centola said. “These poor kids, with their parents, whenever they come to the park to play, they have to take their lives in their hands.”

Most residents must cross three-way traffic to enter and leave the park, located at the edge of the East River, since the majority of homes in the area lie across 147th Street.

Irene Rama of Whitestone said sometimes she and her kids are forced to stop in the middle of the street to avoid an oncoming car even after stopping to look in every direction beforehand.

Residents say a piece of property, bordered by jutting construction boards, that is being developed directly next to the park impairs the vision of pedestrians trying to cross.

Centola said he has sent the DOT a letter of complaint every 18 months since 2005.

Queens Borough Commissioner Maura McCarthy mailed the civic leader a response in 2011 saying the department completed an analysis and determined “Multi-Way Stop controls are not recommended at this time.”

“Factors such as vehicular and pedestrian volumes, vehicular speeds, visibility and signal spacing were all taken into consideration in making our determination,” the correspondence reads.

Shortly after the letter, the city installed one pedestrian crossing sign in front of the park, but it only faces one direction of traffic. Centola said the sign is also too high for drivers to see.

“At this point, I’m speechless and dumbfounded,” he said. “The DOT is once again being negligent and refusing to take care of the issues.”

Return of the mosquito breeding ground

From WPIX:

Two cases of west nile virus have been confirmed in mosquitoes, the NYC Health Department has announced. Standing water and vacant lots are breeding grounds for the pests.

The city advises neighbors to call 311 to report standing water and vacant lots.

Neighbors involved with the Malba Gardens Civic Association are trying to take care of both issues on their block along 5th Avenue in Whitestone, Queens.

Why did CB3 try to meet in secret about the USTA project?

From the Queens Chronicle:

Community Board 3’s March 13 public hearing featured the expected theatrics of a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure applicant presenting a contentious plan for Flushing Meadows Corona Park: angry statements, slideshow presentations and the odd round of applause.

But there was a second show going on. In the idealistic world of open meetings, laws and light being shone on public documents, CB 3 has been the oddball.

The all-volunteer board has a history of thwarting press attempts for access to documents, and even for taking photos at meetings.

During its vote on the United States Tennis Association’s expansion within the park, Chairwoman Marta Lebreton took to hiding behind a sheet of paper when a camera lens faced her direction.

Fair game. But Lebreton also rebuffed a Chronicle editor who asked to obtain a copy of the motion voted on that evening by the board.

The state Open Meetings Law says all documents discussed at open meetings must be available, though a board can charge a “reasonable” fee for copies.

The board’s attempts to limit public access allegedly go beyond holding back records. Two parks advocates have filed a complaint against the board for allegedly acting unlawfully.

A letter from Robert LoScalzo and Alfredo Centola, addressed to Queens Community Board Director Barry Grodenchik, claims the board did not properly alert the public or press about a committee meeting on the USTA proposal held March 5.



A review of the board’s website shows no record of the meeting.

Geoffrey Croft, the president of NYC Park Advocates, plans to file a complaint later this week.

“If they have a website and it’s easy to post, and they do not, then that would be failure to comply with the law,” said Robert Freeman, executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government.

The letter goes on to say that a CB 3 staff member told LoScalzo and Centola, “There is not a meeting.” When they followed up, a staff member said “[I’m] not allowed to say anything.”

CB3 Telephone Transcript EXCERPTS

The Open Meetings Law’s provisions on meeting notification are threefold — community boards must give notice of meetings to media outlets, designated public locations and, if possible, put them online.

Additionally, the complaint alleges the board did not give documents to the public and attempted to prevent photography.

LoScalzo and Centola ask in their letter that Lebreton be removed from the board and District Manager Giovanna Reid be formally disciplined.

The letter has been referred to the borough president’s board and a response has been requested from CB 3, Queens borough president spokesman Dan Andrews said.

“We got a seven-page letter alleging certain things. We are doing what we should be doing. We reached out to our legal person. These are allegations,” Andrews said.

The borough president’s board has authority over Lebreton, but not Reid, who is an employee of CB 3.



This is a photo of Barry Grodenchik talking over the situation with Giovanna Reid and Marta Lebreton, who couldn't hide from the camera this time. Barry, you better do something about this. You're currently in charge of community boards and running for borough president, after all, and you don't want potential voters to think you support dishonest practices. We're certainly going to be staying on top of this one.

Remember, folks, the government has the responsibility to let the sunshine in, but since they can't be trusted, it falls on us to make sure they do. Did the CB's marching orders come from Julissa or Barry? We'll get to the bottom of it. Everybody sing!