You The Man, Bloomberg

  The Juniper Park Civic Association (JPCA) celebrated its grassroots campaign victory that prevented an energy company from selling its former gas site in Middle Village to developers with plans of erecting another cookie cutter strip mall, Thursday night.
The holiday celebration feted Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his intervention, which allowed the city to purchase the land as park space, circumventing the construction of a Home Depot. The JPCA also bestowed hizzoner with "man of the year" honors and placed his mug on the cover of the latest edition of JPCAs monthly glossy, The Juniper Berry.
"He saved our community from what would have been a blight," said Councilman Dennis Gallagher, who also played an instrumental role in saving the property from developers, as he introduced the mayor to a packed crowd in the auditorium of Our Lady of Hope. "The quality of life in our community would have been diminished."
The mayor thanked the crowd for their support and quipped that he brought Home Depot gift certificates for JPCA president Bob Holden and his son.
The communities of Maspeth, Middle Village and Elmhurst have battled for more than a year to stop KeySpan from selling its gas site to developers. Disgruntled by the prospects of another mall that would increase traffic to an already congested Grand Avenue, the communities, with the support of Gallagher, former Councilman Tom Ognibene and other elected officials took action. Last April, after Gallagher and fellow Councilmember Melinda Katz raised $3 million to purchase the property, the energy company agreed to give the western Queens community until the end of 2003 to come up with the $14 million price tag.
However, in August, word leaked that KeySpan had already inked a deal with The Mattone Group, real estate developers, with plans of building a Home Depot strip mall. At the time, KeySpan denied any skullduggery, noting that the deal would not be finalized unless the December 31st deadline passed without the community matching the offer.
Led by Holden, JPCA and the western Queens communities retaliated by holding countless rallies and protests.
In early November, the mayor interceded and negotiated a deal for KeySpan to sell the property to the city. Bloomberg has been quoted as saying the price, which is still being worked out, will be between $1 and $1 million and will be subject to approval by the Public Service Commission.
"We are just so grateful," Holden told The Queens Courier. "We are just so happy its not a Home Depot."
The mayor has also said environmental clean-up costs will be part of the negotiations for the land that will now become a six-acre park.
"We have a mayor who understands and appreciates parks," praised Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, who was also honored at the ceremony for his community service. The commissioner was excited to have the large amount of land to design a new park from scratch.
The Bloomberg bash culminated with the crowd singing "For Hes A Jolly Good Fellow."
Showing the statesmanship that earned him man of the year honors, Mayor Bloomberg reminded the crowd that a certain energy company should also be commended for its cooperation.
"Next time you pay your KeySpan bill you might want to write a little thank you note," he said.