Overdeveloped Jackson Heights wants to convert street to a park

From CBS 2:

More than 100 people gathered at Travers Park in Jackson Heights calling on the city to keep promises they say were made about expanding a pedestrian plaza, reports CBS2’s Aundrea Cline-Thomas.

“We are here today yet again to demand that Howard Koeppel and his car dealership get this service road out of our park,” said one protestor.

Koeppel Mazda opened a location last fall along Northern Boulevard.

The $1 million construction project included creating a service entrance on 78th Street, an area the protestors say the city promised would become a pedestrian plaza.

Why demand an actual new park when the government has you begging for crumbs...

$6M Jackson Heights park deal is done

From the Daily News:

The city has reached a long-awaited deal to purchase the yard of a cash-strapped private school to expand a popular Jackson Heights park.

The Garden School sold its more than 26,000-square-foot yard to the city for roughly $6 million, sources close to the deal told the Daily News on Wednesday.

The property will be used to expand Travers Park.

“It’s a deal that’s a win-win for everyone involved,” said City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), who has been pushing for the acquisition. “Jackson Heights has needed this open space for years and finally this dream has come true.”

The yard is to be connected to Travers Park by turning 78th St., between 34th Ave. and Northern Blvd., into a permanent pedestrian plaza, Dromm said.

The road, which runs between the two properties, is already closed to traffic in the summer.

Dromm delivers new park for Jackson Heights

From the Daily News:

A long-anticipated deal to acquire new park land in Jackson Heights is imminent, officials close to the talks told the Daily News.

The city has been negotiating with the Garden School for more than a year to buy the private school’s roughly 29,000-square-foot yard to expand Travers Park.

The park is one of the few open spaces in the congested area.

Joshua Laird, an assistant commissioner at the city Parks Department, said this has been a complicated multi-million dollar agreement to reach.

It involves a provision to allow Garden to use the yard exclusively during school hours, he said.

The land would be open to the public after 4 p.m. on weekdays, on weekends and in the summer.

It also involves a non-city loan to tide the school over until the city hands over a check, he said.

Before money changes hands, the property must first undergo a land-use review, which is expected to take about a year.

Hmmm...it seems that the City will move mountains to get parkland in Queens for the right communities and for the right elected officials. I guess the excuses given by Crowley in Maspeth (St. Saviour's) and Halloran in Whitestone (CYO fields) as well as the Parks Dept, that these deals would be "too costly" or "too complicated" are just flat out bullshit excuses. Thank you, Danny Dromm, for revealing the truth. I may not agree with your politics most of the time, but you delivered for your community, didn't back down, and didn't take an easy way out and try to pass it off as a victory.

There is no excuse for an elected official to do anything less than fight for what their communities need and there is no excuse when they give up. Well, that is, unless they're corrupt and/or totally inept, which may just be the case in Maspeth and Whitestone.

Last ditch effort to expand Travers Park

From the Wall Street Journal:

Residents of Jackson Heights are making an 11th-hour attempt to prevent an athletic field owned by a private school from being taken over by a developer.

The Garden School, which runs from nursery school through 12th grade, has been struggling financially and was in talks with the city to sell its 29,000-square-foot athletic field situated across from Travers Park on 78th Street.

However, trustees of the 87-year-old Queens school voted last week to reject the city's offer, choosing instead to consider bids from developers. The city wasn't offered the opportunity to make a counterbid.

According to local City Council Member Daniel Dromm, who was facilitating sale talks with the city, the Department of Parks & Recreation made an offer of $4.7 million for 20,000 square feet of land or $4.8 million for the entire field, with a clause allowing the Garden School to use the property during school hours.

At an emergency community meeting Wednesday night attended by about 150 residents, school officials said they wanted to work with the city but they were facing financial pressures to move quickly.

"Our first choice has always been a deal with the city with a park, but we don't want to put the Garden School at risk," said Arthur Gruen, president of the school's board of trustees.

Mr. Gruen said the school had received a bid of $5.4 million for a plan to build apartments on the field. He didn't identify the bidder, but said there was no deal yet. Other developers are also interested, he said.

The Wednesday meeting concluded with community members saying they would approach banks and foundations in an attempt to forestall an immediate sale of the property.

City drops ball on Travers expansion

From the Daily News:

The city has low-balled itself out of the running to buy a rare half-acre parcel of open space in Jackson Heights that could have expanded a popular park, the Daily News has learned.

The cash-strapped Garden School was in talks to sell its yard to expand nearby Travers Park. But the school's board of trustees voted down the city's offer at a meeting last week, fearing a lengthy city acquisition process, officials said.

The decision paves the way for developers to move in.

Michael Rakosi, vice president of the 87-year-old private school's board of trustees, said the city was always Garden's first choice. But the cash-strapped school can't afford to wait for the city's check to clear.

"If the city would come with a check today, we would sell today to the city," he said. But "it would be a year or 18 months before we'd get any money [from the city] - if we can get any money."

The nursery-through-12th-grade school is in tough financial straits after enrollment dropped, he said. It needs the money immediately to pay off loans and stay open, he said.

The city offered $4.7 million for 20,000 square feet of land or $4.8 million for 29,000 square feet with a clause allowing Garden to use the property during school hours, according to Dromm's office. The city made the offer on Jan. 14.

But it could take up to two years for the city to acquire the property, said Parks Department spokeswoman Trish Bertuccio.

Rakosi said the city's bid was about 15% less than offers from four developers interested in putting residential projects on the site - and there was no guarantee a city deal would go through. No contracts have been signed.

It's interesting how this city moves mountains to acquire property when it benefits developers but when communities need open space they play the old game of "oh well, we tried our best." If the city can rip land out from under unwilling sellers and pay legal costs for years when they take them to court, then the city can pay a little more to acquire property from a willing seller for a public purpose. If we didn't have a billionaire despot in charge, that's what would happen.

Schoolyard may become Travers Park extension

From the Daily News:

The city is looking into purchasing the yard of a Jackson Heights private school that just happens to sit across the street from Travers Park.

But officials are worried the city won't be able to come up with the $5.25 million needed to secure the Garden School's 20,000-square-foot property before a developer snatches up the prime real estate.

Dromm secured $4 million in Council funds to buy the property. Queens Borough President Helen Marshall is ready to kick in an additional $1 million.

The price of the property is still under negotiation, said Mark Daly, a spokesman for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Even once that's settled, it could take up to two more years to go through the steps to acquire the property, he said.

But the Garden School is in financial straits, said Marshall's spokesman Dan Andrews, and is looking to unload the land as soon as possible.

One proposal that might sweeten the pot is a playground-sharing deal the city is looking into, a Parks Department official said. This would allow the school to use the land during the day and then open it up to the public once classes are over.

But if all else fails, city officials said they haven't ruled out eminent domain.

Jackson Heights play street

Jackson Heights has been so overdeveloped that the residents were forced to close a street in order to have a place for their kids to play. Parks? This borough doesn't need no stinking parks! My favorite part is where a Spanish guy says it reminds him of Colombia. We have some high standards here, don't we? City planning at its finest.

Please do NOT settle for this and call it a victory.

2 Queens parks reopen

From NYC Parks:

"The Jackson Heights community has very little green space compared to most neighborhoods, and Travers Park is an extremely heavily used by a very diverse and supportive community. We are grateful the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg allocated almost $2 million to improve the play equipment and expand its features to allow more children to enjoy the park," said Parks Commissioner Benepe. "We added a beautiful leaf and vine spray shower, made the playground ADA compliant, installed a bike rack and new benches, and greened the park through the addition of attractive new plantings."

Also from NYC Parks:

Currently, Parks' Natural Resource Group is restoring Willow Lake so access is limited, pending the project's completion. The restoration project of Willow Lake began in Spring 2009, and includes the removal of phragmites and other invasive plants, amending soil, and planting almost 13,000 native trees, shrubs and wildflowers to improve biodiversity, hydrology, and ecosystem function around the lake. The Willow Lake Reforestation project is being done in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Protection and the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The project is scheduled for completion at the end of 2011.