By Alexander Dworkowitz
Tony Tondo received a letter last month telling him that what he believed to be his property was being sold out from under him.
Tondo, commodore of the College Point Yacht Club at 3-04 126th St., was informed by Community Board 7 that a small parcel of land surrounded by the yacht club was set to be auctioned off by the city.
“We thought we owned it,” Tondo told Community Board 7 meeting Monday. “We’ve had this property fenced in for 42 years.”
Tondo was not alone in his confusion. At the meeting, 15 residents of College Point came to express their concerns about six separate pieces of property in the neighborhood.
After a debate, the board agreed that the city had not given it enough information to make a fair decision and opted to recommend that the city not auction the six properties or two other pieces of land in Flushing.
“I think we should all vote against everything,” said board member Joseph LaPatin before the vote. “I think we need more research, more input.”
Most of the parcels listed were ones that residents had assumed were privately owned but were itemized as separate, distinct lots owned by the city, which created great confusion.
Instead of approving the sales, the board decided to compose a letter to the City Council explaining the concerns about the property.
Residents were concerned that if a lot on 120th Street between 12th and 14th avenues were sold, a developer would have room to add a house to the property and be able to build right up to the side of neighboring homes.
“We won’t be able to move,” said Peggy Vanessian, who lives next to that particular parcel. “We won’t be able to get to our garage.”
Joan Vogt, representing the Northeastern Queens Nature and Historical Preserve Commission, spoke about three properties in question considered wetlands and located off Powell’s Cove Boulevard between Tallman Island Sewage Treatment Plant and Powell’s Cove Park.
Vogt said the area should be transferred to the city Parks Department and read a letter from state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) about the potential development of the site.
“If the owners of lots adjacent to the above referenced lots are successful in acquiring this property, the population could escalate by another 1,500,” Padavan wrote.
Board member Isaac Sasson recommended approving the auction of the properties. He argued that the irregularly shaped properties would most likely end up in the hands of neighbors who had no plans to build on them.
“These properties are at the bottom of the totem poll,” he said. “No one is going to find oil on them.”
In an attempted compromise, Frank Macchio, third chair of the board, proposed an amendment recommending the sale of the properties only to neighbors. Both ideas were shot down in the vote to deny recommending the sale.
After the vote, Board Chairman Eugene Kelty urged those interested in the potential sales to contact the Department of Citywide Administrative Services to try to acquire the properties themselves.
The board then took on two other variances for College Point requested as separate items.
The board voted to deny recommending a variance to a proposed home at 135-16 11th Ave.
Nelly Bravo of the Augusta Group attempted to obtain a variance to build a home on a narrow lot at 135-16 11th Ave. But nearby residents said the proposed 24-foot home would ruin the character of the variance.
The board voted to recommend denying the variance.
The board then approved an application to expand the Waterview Nursing Care Center at 119-15 27th Ave., which needs to update its facility to keep up with modern health codes.
Before the property discussion, the board voted to approve two other items brought by the 109th Precinct.
The board agreed to recommend putting signs on 37th Avenue between Union and Bowne Streets reading “Officer Thomas M. Langone and Officer Paul Talty Way.”
The signs honor two police officers from Emergency Services Unit 10, stationed in the precinct house. Langone and Talty rushed down to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 and were killed in the collapse of the towers.
In addition, the board voted to recommend installing signs which read “No Standing from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.” on the short block of 168th Street between 26th Avenue and Francis Lewis Boulevard. The measure aimed at discouraging teenagers from hanging out in the area late at night.
“Channel 5 News asks where are your children at 10 o’clock,” said nearby resident Helen Czernick, referring to the Fox Five 10 o’clock News. “Every night they are at 168th Street and 26th Avenue!”
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 141.
