Mayor listens to residents’ problems

At a town hall meeting hosted by the Springfield/Rosedale Community Action Association, Mayor Michael Bloomberg attempted to allay residents’ concerns about local issues – from zoning laws to cell phone use in schools.
Overdevelopment was the hot button issue at the meeting held at IS 231, as resident after resident voiced their frustrations with developers building fast and furious – disturbing the equilibrium of the quiet, close-knit, communities.
“Developers are not respecting zoning laws,” said one attendee, only identifying herself as the writer of ten bi-weekly letters to the department of buildings.
Bloomberg characterized the overdevelopment as “the problems of success.” Projecting that the city’s population will increase by 227,000 next year, the Mayor said “everyone wants to live here.” “Unfortunately you can’t keep people from building just because you don’t like the aesthetics.” The goal, Bloomberg claims, is for communities to grow, but to grow slowly over time.
Queens Director of City Planning John Young assured the audience that the city was increasing outreach initiatives with community organizations to fight zoning violators. Bloomberg himself promised to increase the number of building inspectors and to lend those inspectors to local community organizers.
“My number one priority is education.” Bloomberg said, responding to concerns regarding the lack of after-school programs for the communities’ children. He stressed the importance of educating children for tomorrow’s highly skilled labor demands.
“The state has matched our six-and-a-half billion dollar increase in education.” With a total of $13 billion, the city is trying to find a balance on how much to spend on new schools and how much to spend on after-school programs.
Other concerns voiced at the meeting were the imminent building of a federal prison, the necessity of creating a second police precinct, and the restoration of Jamaica Bay.