By AdamM Pincus
Students from the Hunter College Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, under the direction of professors Dr. Susan Meiklejohn, a Sunnyside resident, and Dr. Lynn McCormick are creating a Sunnyside Community Plan as part of their graduation requirements.This is the second project in Queens for the department in as many years. Last year students studied Corona.Graduate student Susan Robinson laid out seven preliminary recommendations during an hour-long presentation of the community plan before the board and community residents at the 43-31 39th St. center. She discussed ideas such as closing 46th Street from north of Queens Boulevard to Greenpoint Avenue, and opening a neighborhood drop-in center. Other suggestions included creating an open-air marketplace, converting school blacktop to greenspace and expanding retail resources. Several board members expressed concerns about the proposal but complaints were limited. Board member Wilton Sekzer criticized the drop-in center idea, saying that the board's committee and subcommittee efforts would be duplicated by such a proposal. “That's what we do here… I think you will see that we have touched on local concerns” in those committees, Sekzer said.Robinson defended the proposal, saying a drop-in center in a central location in the neighborhood would strengthen the community. She said many of the 112 residents interviewed by the Hunter students earlier this year were not aware of many of the social services available in Sunnyside. Even some social service agencies were not aware of other local agencies.Board chairman Joseph Conley spoke favorably of the drop-in recommendation, saying that one of the goals of the community board is to build community. He noted that, “There are groups in the community, and we don't know what they are doing. The idea of a coalition or bridge, is not a bad one … it's sharing ideas.”One board member, Gertrude McDonald, raised the issue of high-volume truck traffic in response to the recommendation for a pedestrian-only stretch of 46th Street.”[Food] Dynasty has trucks in there every hour,” she said. In response, Robinson suggested that some trucks could continue to use the street.Creating a car-free commercial space also responds to the lack of open space in the neighborhood, she said, which according to the plan is limited to fewer than six acres in Sunnyside.The board also considered a Department of Transportation proposal, opposed by residents of the area, to make a block of 51st Avenue one-way westbound between 60th and 61st Streets.Several people spoke in opposition to the westbound plan, including Ann Sexton, a long-time resident of 60th Street. “It's an accident waiting to happen,” she said, describing the triangle bounded by 51st Avenue, Tyler Avenue and 61st Street. “Police park there all the time. [51st Avenue] has to be eastbound.”Later that evening, however, the proposal for one-way travel eastbound passed unanimously.Reach reporter Adam Pincus by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
