By Nathan Duke
Northeastern Queens residents told Community Board 11 members at their monthly meeting Monday that they were concerned about two projects in the area, including a city proposal to repair boats at the Bayside Marina’s site and the construction of two hotels on a polluted lot in Fresh Meadows.
Residents said they were worried that a request for proposal to allow the repairing of boats at the current Bayside Marina site could cause potential safety hazards.
“The Bayside Marina is very unique,” resident Carol Marian said. “They’d be doing boat repair while bicyclists and pedestrians go by. I think it’s a major safety issue. It’s unsafe.”
Martin Munch, president of the marina, said he thought the Parks Department’s proposal would be “detrimental to the community.”
“We’re against it,” he said. “It’s not pleasing to the public and it’s not something that anybody’s going to benefit by. This is not a full−service marina.”
Munch said the marina plans to stay at its current locale and would have to rebid for a new lease.
Residents also said they were furious about a contaminated Horace Harding Expressway site in Fresh Meadows, where two hotels and as many as 18 homes are being developed as−of−right. State investigators had recently tested for toxic substances in the air and water near the site.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation had found tetrachloroethene, a dry cleaning fluid also known as PCE, in groundwater on the property, at 183−15 Horace Harding Expwy. But the department also tested the front lawns and homes of neighboring residents for toxicity in the air and soil.
Residents said they still had not been told whether they were at risk.
“They are testing our basements, but we have not been notified what we are being exposed to,” said Christine Haider, chairwoman of the board’s Zoning Committee. “We do not need a hotel in the area because it will affect the quality of life. The sewers are already overburdened and this will add to the strain. Traffic is already overwhelming and schools are overcrowded. The safety of residents is not being considered.”
Haider said the project, located at the site of a former dry cleaning business, is expected to be finished by 2012. But she said the city Department of Buildings had not yet approved it. The hotels would include a total 234 rooms and 70 parking spaces, she said.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e−mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 156.
