We applaud the decision by the Department for City Planning (DCP) for proposing changes to the zoning laws that would require new houses to have a minimum percentage of landscaping in all front yards.
The Queens Courier has long advocated for just such a change in the city and especially in Queens. Too many houses have been built in the last several decades whose owners or builders have paved over front and back yards in concrete.
We called it the “Concreting of Queens” and pointed out that the ever-increasing reduction of available lawns, flowerbeds, hedges etc. has drastically affected many neighborhoods by adding to the volume of run off rainwater into our clogged catch basins and inadequate storm drains.
Homeowners all over the boroughs have suffered severe flooding following every heavy rainstorm this year. This proposal, that would also prohibit steeply pitched driveways and tall fences in front yards, is a great beginning to making our borough a beautiful place to live.
DCP Director Amanda Burden was dead on when she said, “Ensuring that residential developments throughout the five boroughs have adequate yards and green space is critical to creating a livable, sustainable city with a healthy environment and an improved quality of life.”
“Landscaped surfaces will absorb storm water, cool the air and make neighborhoods more attractive places to live and raise a family,” Burden added.
We call on the Community Boards and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall to approve the proposals as quickly as possible so that by this time next year they will be laws.
Enter our Queens Parks photo contest
With the coming of fall, the days are getting shorter and so is the remaining time to enter our “A Salute to Queens Parks Photography Contest 2007.”
Amateur photographers of any age are invited to submit photos, prints or digital photos via email or on disc - without any fees or charges - to the Parks & Recreation and The Queens Courier’s photography contest through 5 p.m. on October 8. Winning entries will be announced on October 22 and exhibited at the Queens Museum of Art and the Arsenal Gallery, as well as published in The Queens Courier and in a photo book.
All photos must be taken in a Queens park or playground, at a Parks-operated facility, or a Parks-sponsored event. A panel of experts in photography, art and parks will judge entries in all the categories, which include People, Nature/Landscape, and Places/Landmarks.
For more information on contest details, rules and entry forms, visit Parks & Recreation online at www.nyc.gov/parks.
