Astoria residents say nix to FedEx facility

Angered Astoria residents would like send packing a plan to build a FedEx compound on an Astoria property currently owned by Con Edison.
It is not a case of “not in my backyard,” said Rosemarie Poveromo, the President of the Astoria-based United Community Civic Association (UCCA), during the group’s annual “State of Astoria” meeting, but rather the “backyard is full.” Poveromo pointed to Riker’s Island, LaGuardia Airport and Con Edison facilities, which already occupy space in the northwest Queens neighborhood.
In addition, a FedEx Ground facility in Maspeth currently serves as the shipping giant’s Queens location, said Assemblymember Michael Gianaris, one of several politicians to attend the meeting and blast the plan.
“It’s already in existence,” Gianaris said.
However, the proposal as it stands would split business and residential deliveries between the Astoria and Maspeth locations respectively, said Tony Castaldo of FedEx, who explained that the plan could change depending on the economy and the company’s growth.
In the most recent proposal, the facility would occupy about 225,000 square feet of space, or 25 percent of that allowed to be built on the 21.5-acre lot according to its zoning, said Joseph Lostritto, President of Steel Equities, the Bethpage-based company that hopes to buy, develop and lease the 21.5-acre lot to FedEx for 20 years.
“We are not Con Edison. We are a private company,” Lostritto said, during a presentation on the facility, which has already been given an environmental OK as well as a review by the city Department of Transportation (DOT).
The DOT examined the plan and established certain roads as ones to be used by an estimated 80 FedEx trucks per day - generally 21st Street to the west, Astoria Boulevard to the south, Hazen Street to the east, and 20th Avenue to the north. The only entrance for the planned center would be on 19th Avenue near 36th Street.
However, the streets, said local residents like Maria Moundrakis, are already jammed, particularly during the times of day when FedEx trucks would be entering and leaving the facility - between 6 and 10 a.m. and 4 and 6 p.m. respectively. FedEx officials also estimated that as many as 20 tractor-trailers would enter or leave the facility over night.
In a letter to the Public Service Commission (PSC), Councilmember Peter Vallone, Jr., wrote, “A Federal Express distribution center, which will result in between 100 and 200 more trucks traveling through this quiet residential neighborhood every day, would exacerbate this situation.”
Angered by the plan, attendees stopped the meeting several times with shouts in opposition.
“We don’t care about your profits,” one woman yelled, adding later, “We are not stockholders.”
Lostritto also pledged to fund additional studies of the plan if community members selected a suitable conductor.
Officials touted the number of jobs, which would be created during construction and if the compound opens - 500 union construction positions and 150 jobs with FedEx. Parking for all employees would be provided onsite, Lostritto said.
The proposed facility, which could open as early as 2010, would cost $150 million, with $116 million going to land acquisition and $35 million for equipment, said a FedEx spokesperson Allison Sobczak.