By John Tozzi
“We're very upset that the city has failed to move ahead with the community's request to make the land behind me a community park,” Avella said last Thursday, standing in front of the plot at the intersection of 39th Avenue and 234th Street in Douglaston. He said the neighborhood has no parkland, and building a park there would advance the mayor's plan of having a park within walking distance of every New Yorker by 2030.But the St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church, which abuts the property, wants to buy it and build a day-care center – a plan that has the backing of State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose), who has often clashed with Avella.Padavan and a church official said the city should open the nearby playground at PS 98 beyond normal school hours to fill the need for a park. The playground, which belongs to the school, closes shortly after the school day ends.”Mr. Avella should exercise his authority within the city government to get it open all the time,” Padavan said last Thursday, the same day the senator sent a letter to Schools Chancellor Joel Klein outlining the request.Padavan added that the sale would require a land use review process that goes through the community board and the City Council.The city condemned the piece of land decades earlier when it planned to extend 39th Avenue through the block. That project was cancelled, and the property has been fallow since. A spokesman for the city's Housing Preservation and Development said the agency was in talks with the church about the sale, but no decision would be made before the community board, local residents and elected officials were consulted.Aram Cazazian, chairman of the board of St. Sarkis, said the day-care center would benefit the neighborhood, particularly the many people who commute from the nearby Long Island Rail Road stop.”The day-care center, I think it's an asset to the community,” he said, suggesting that the PS 98 playground could serve as a park. Cazazian also questioned why the plan got such opposition.”Is anything wrong that we are Armenians and we want to have a day-care center?” he said.Neither Avella nor anyone else suggested that. But several people did note that most people who attend the church do not live in the neighborhood, a factor they said makes parking difficult on Sundays and when St. Sarkis has events.But Avella said selling the land would undermine the goals of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's highly touted long-term plan for the city.”I know I was astonished to see that the mayor is doing exactly the opposite of what his plan says he intends to do,” he said.Reach reporter John Tozzi by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 Ext. 174.
