On March 13, I attended the Community Board 7 meeting dealing with the application of the Broadway Flushing Homeowners’ Association for NYC historic landmark designation.
We were exhorted to favor landmark designation, that is, allow decisions regarding the exterior appearance of our homes, i.e. the repair of roofs, walkways, siding, windows, and exterior paint color to be made by a government agency staffed by bureaucrats who do not live in nor work in the community and most importantly, are not elected by the affected community.
Requesting landmark designation is clearly a request for regulation but questions regarding the regulation of the regulators have not been answered satisfactorily. Landmark designation will require new and approved building permits, approved contractors, and approved materials, along with new layers of bureaucracy with new costs and fees creating new opportunities for corruption.
Before I relinquish any more of my property rights to well-meaning self-proclaimed benevolent bureaucrats with a terrible track record and who claim they have my best interests at heart, I would like to be apprised of my rights, like a Miranda warning.
What kind of input, if any, do the actual residents of the designated neighborhood have in the process? What kind of safeguards will be in place to prevent abuse of the process? What recourse do the homeowners have in cases of abuse? To whom is this new bureaucracy accountable?
Henry David Thoreau wrote, “If I knew for certain someone was coming to my house to do me good, I would run for my life.”
A concerned homeowner.
Ed Konecnik
Flushing
