By Howard Koplowitz
Contending there would be no benefits to the community and that city projects are consistently being dumped in southeast Queens, Community Board 13 unanimously voted down a plan to relocate the Police Department's tow pound from College Point to Springfield Gardens.
The move is being proposed so the city can use the property in College Point to build a new police academy, according to Inspector Tom Pellegrino, the commanding officer of the NYPD's Facility Management Division.
“That's the only 30-acre parcel of land that the city and the Police Department were able to come up with as an ideal location for the new academy,” Pellegrino told the public hearing held by CB 13.
The public hearing is part of a multi-step process to review the plan for the impound lot, which includes a vote by the City Council.
Pellegrino said a state-of-the-art academy is “sorely needed” because the Manhattan facility is outdated and recruits have to go to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn for driving training and the Bronx for gun training. The proposed College Point facility would be a college-like campus where all training can be conducted, Pellegrino said.
The impound lot, where cars are held from 15 days to years, would then be relocated to a 13-acre parcel bounded by Rockaway, Guy R. Brewer and Farmers boulevards and North Conduit Avenue in Springfield Gardens. About 385 vehicles stacked 30 feet high are expected to be stored in Springfield Gardens if the plan is approved.
Pellegrino said Springfield Gardens was not an “ideal location” to move the pound, but “it's the only location” the city can use.
“We searched far and wide,” he said. “We searched every outer borough. This is what we came up with.”
The inspector said the impound lot has to be close to highways and accessible by tow trucks.
In attempting to allay concerns from residents about traffic created by a tow pound being located in Springfield Gardens, Pellegrino said the pound differs from a “violation tow pound,” which creates a lot of traffic because 90 percent to 95 percent of vehicles are returned the same day.
“These cars are impounded for a variety of reasons and are held for various periods of time,” he said.
On a “bad day,” Pellegrino said, there would be about two tow trucks entering the auto pound every hour, or about 30 to 40 trucks a day.
He said the plans include planting trees, bushes and shrubbery around the perimeter of the lot to obstruct its view from nearby residents.
“Hopefully, you'll drive past it and not know it's there,” Pellegrino said.
But CB 13 members and southeast Queens elected officials were united in their opposition to the plan. The board voted 32-0 against the proposal.
“Why are you dumping in our community something like a pound?” asked CB 13 member Paul Rubenfeld. “I don't understand. In the five boroughs that we have, why did you pick our nice community?”
State Assemblyman William Scarborough (D-St. Albans) said he was “extremely concerned and very much opposed to this plan” because it was full of “adverse impacts” to the community.
He said other city projects, such as the GEO prison in Springfield Gardens and the waste transfer station “always seem to end up in southeast Queens.”
CB 13 member Peter Richards agreed.
“Why don't you put the [new] police academy in our district and keep the pound in College Point where it belongs?” he asked.
A representative from the mayor's office said there are height restrictions for the Springfield Gardens site because of its proximity to John F. Kennedy International Airport, so the academy could not be moved there.
CB 13 member Jack Friedman suggested the Springfield Gardens site would be better used to create business opportunities because the pound would not have an economic impact to the community.
“They don't need a pound that doesn't employ people,” he said. “This is a neighborhood that needs jobs.”
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
