Corona synagogue ready for its rehab

From Crains:

Queens' oldest synagogue is about to get a $1.6 million facelift.

Work is scheduled to commence Wednesday at the landmarked, century-old building where Estee Lauder and her parents once worshipped. The wooden building is at 109-18 54th Ave. in Corona, Queens.

Congregation Tifereth Israel is a rare survivor of the earliest vernacular synagogues in the borough and has been revitalized in recent years by Bukharan Jewish immigrants from central Asia. The project will first strip away the building's stucco coating and then restore the original clapboard, as well as its wooden windows and doors. Also to be restored will be the building's Moorish-style metal domes and finials, as well as its paint colors.

The money for the project came from a variety of sources, starting with $1.1 million in New York City capital funding allocated by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. In addition, the project received a $200,000 restoration grant from the New York state Environmental Protection Fund.

Parks reopened at the expense of the environment

From NY1:

Dozens of shuttered state parks should reopen, just in time for the Memorial Day weekend.

Early this morning, the State Assembly passed a bill that would provide $11 million for park operations this year.

This afternoon, the State Senate voted this afternoon to approve the measure.

The agreement reached with Governor David Paterson yesterday takes about $80 million from the state's Environmental Protection Fund. Of that money, $6 million will go toward reopening the parks and the remaining $74 million will go toward closing the state's $9.2 billion budget deficit.

The Paterson administration had closed 41 parks and 14 historic sites, including Bayswater Point Park in Queens to try to save money.

Critics say taking money from the Environmental Protection Fund will lead to drastic cuts for the Bronx Zoo and Botanical Garden, but the Assembly speaker says those institutions will not be affected.

"These are important for tourism, for recreation, all the things that make New York great,” said Bill Ulfelder of the Nature Conservancy. “To reduce this spending is devastating. The EPF has been treated like a punching bag through the budget process."

The money shuffle may solve the problem for now, but there are no guarantees New Yorkers won't be locked out of their park again next year.

St. Saviour's park plan unveiled

From the Times Ledger:

Although state funding for the land acquisition is in doubt, a preservationist group has unveiled a new look for the former site of St. Saviour’s Church in Maspeth.

Christina Wilkinson, president of the Newtown Historical Society, unveiled a photo rendering of what the 1.5-acre property at 57-40 57th Road would look like if purchased by the city and transformed into a park.

“I met with the residents who live around the site and they listed the amenities they would like to have in the proposed park,” she said at a Community Board 5 meeting last week. “It looks very nice.”

The features they requested include a wrought iron fence, walking paths, benches, restrooms, a playground for young children, a flagpole, a landscaped hill with a statue, and a thick line of trees shielding the park from noise and pollution along Rust Street, a main thoroughfare for trucks.

From the Queens Chronicle:

Now Maspeth park advocates are urging state lawmakers to resist Paterson’s proposals as negotiations begin on the state’s 2010-11 budget.

Plans to convert the site had garnered strong support from local lawmakers and approval from the city Parks Department late last year — Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe expressed interest in buying the space if the acquisition was publicly funded by elected officials. But without money from the EPF, any efforts to obtain the property, which a developer purchased for nearly $6 million in 2006, would be difficult.

City wants to study Texaco map

From Ink Lake:

This past summer and autumn, volunteers under the aegis of the city Parks and Recreation Department, removed the vegetation that had sprouted (and was cracking the tiles apart). A layer of sand was then placed over the floor, and then a geotextile was placed on top, finally covered by a layer of gravel.

The city has applied to the state for an Environmental Protection Fund grant to conduct studies of the condition of the towers and other structures. If the funding is obtained, based on the results of those examinations, next steps can be decided.

At least things aren’t getting any worse.

Well, if the soon-to-be-ex-governor's cuts to the EPF stand, then it's not likely the funding will be obtained. The loss of the EPF fund is threatening zoos, botanical gardens and aquaria as well as proposed park projects.

Tell the State Legislature to Protect Our Environment

Protect Queens Environment
Op-Ed BY MARCIA BYSTRYN, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters
(Originally in the Queens Courier)

In this economic downturn, the necessity to exercise fiscal prudence could not be greater. However, when cuts to state programs are proposed, they must be done in an equitable manner. That is why Governor David Paterson’s proposal to disproportionately slash environmental funding is especially troubling and shortsighted.

For the next fiscal year, which starts in April, the governor has proposed a whopping 33 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) – that’s far larger than cuts proposed for other state programs and a move that will put the health and safety of both the environment and the public at risk.

The EPF pays for three main programs: protecting wildlife habitats, improving our parks and recreation, and tackling the state’s solid waste management challenges. Under a plan approved in 2007, this fund was supposed to receive $300 million in 2010. However, the Governor is proposing less than half that amount, just $143 million.

The Governor also wants an all-out ban on habitat purchases (at a time when prices are down by a quarter or even a third) along with a huge cut (40 percent) to our zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums. These institutions play a vital role in our urban environment by educating children and nurturing them as future stewards of our world.

The EPF also plays an important role in Queens’ economy, having funded over $5.3 million in work right here in recent years.

It has given more than $800,000 to Queens businesses and organizations, such as the Greater Jamaica Development Corp. and Long Island City Business Development Corp., to help institute recycling programs. The Community Environmental Center, based in Long Island City, received $250,000 to open a building materials reuse center that cuts down on waste that would otherwise end up in landfills.

Programs related to municipal parks in Queens, such as the development of the Alley Pond Nature Center, have received over $1.5 million. In addition, the borough’s extensive shoreline has benefited, with projects that give residents greater access to Jamaica Bay and improve the much-damaged wetlands near Flushing Creek.

This vital initiative – along with the green jobs it creates – is now in the hands of Queens’ legislators. The borough’s Senators and Assembly members play key leadership roles, and they have proven their environmental bona fides in the past. Let us hope we can count on them again in these tough times to protect the EPF, for our sake and for the sake of Queens’ long-term environmental health, too.

Use this form to contact them.