By James DeWeese
During a March 30 public meeting at the Salvation Army on 35th Avenue, Board Chairman Richard Cecere unveiled portions of a multimedia presentation that will track airport usage, population density and geographic respiratory disease rates, among other things.
The goal, Cecere said, is to make the case that CB 3, as the board most directly affected by Queens' airports, deserves a significant amount of the improvement funds included in the lease deal that would run through 2050.
CB 3 covers Jackson Heights, North Corona and East Elmhurst, which directly abuts LaGuardia Airport.
“My contention is that Community Board 3 is the most affected because 'LaGuardia 'R Us,'” Cecere said. “As far as I'm concerned we should get the lion's share” of the money.
As the lease deal stands, the Port Authority would pay the city a rent of $93.5 million a year to operate Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, which sit on city-owned land. The Port Authority would also be required to pay $10 million a year for five years for capital improvement projects in seven board areas, including areas covered by Community Boards 1, 3 and 7.
Cecere stressed the importance of creating an airport trust fund to ensure that the money, which will only come in for five years, will last for the 46-year life of the lease.
CB 3 organizers presented the meeting, the first of many over the upcoming weeks, as a way to solicit input into how the $50 million could be best divided and spent.
Ideas ranged from funding more comprehensive air and noise pollution monitoring equipment and traffic abatement projects along the often-gridlocked Grand Central Parkway to remediation efforts for houses stained by soot and inundated by jet fumes and compensatory parks projects.
Federal and state funds, however, have already been secured to address many of the residents' concerns and board member Pat Beckels stressed the importance of not allowing the money to be diverted to already funded projects.
Board members said they were still uncertain as to who will actually hold the purse strings for the money.
“As far as we know, the mayor's going to control this,” Cecere told one of the attendees.
The lease deal calls for the formation of an airport advisory board made up of city and PA appointees as well as Marshall to help direct airport operations.
The airport advisory board would in turn be overseen by a community advisory board made up of city council representatives from seven Queens council districts, including Hiram Monserrate's District 21.
“The boards most affected have to be one heart, one soul,” said Rosemarie Poveromo, a member of Community Board 1 who attended the meeting. “A divided community falls.”
Reach reporter James DeWeese by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
