NYPA Progress On Vernon Site Spells Bleak End For LIC Residents

And Mayor Giulianis recent intervention in the matter has forced Silvercup Studios, which sued the NYPA for encroaching on the Vernon Blvd. site, to fork over an additional $15 million to the $5 million bond they already couldnt come up with to halt construction.
A resolution was in sight for the Power Authority and Silvercup last Wednesday and Thursday, when the NYPA proposed to buy from the movie production company the land adjacent to the studio and build a park for children in the area. Although the compromise has not been agreed upon and will be given another shot in court Mar. 5, there is still hope Silvercup will leave this fight without moving its businesswhich includes over 2,000 jobsout of Queens.
To residents and local politicians in the area, who protested the generators a few hundred feet from the NYPA settlement talks on Thursday, Silvercups jobs are only one of Long Island Citys entities worth saving. To many living in the area, children in northwestern Queens need clean air, not just a park.
"The public and affected local communities can only support new power plants if they are sited with proper environmental review and community involvement," Anthony Giantiello, president of the western Queens environmental group C.H.O.K.E., told The Queens Courier. "No one has listened to the people and every environmental group has been denied an adequate explanation for why the NYPA needs to build on this site."
The NYPA plans to say its peace in court March 15, where it will talk about its plans and why they chose the site while under oath.
Queens business and community leaders were envisioning the construction of a glorious waterfront along Long Island Citys shores before the NYPA announced it was locating a plant in the area almost four months ago. Plans were formulated for 6,000 homes, two million square feet of office space and 21 acres of waterfront promenade.
Now the community says that after the plant is erected there will be nothing attractive to look at, asthma rates among children in the area will increase, and plans to build a sound economy for the waterfront will be shattered.
But the Power Authority says it has no choice, citing a need for additional power to be generated within New York City before June 1.
"If these generators arent built, the city will face a power crisis similar to the one in California," said Louis Rodriguez, NYPA spokesman. "We have every right to build. All permits are currently in place and we are striving to meet the power needs of New Yorkers."