And on the seventh day, they waited.
Local leaders are ratcheting up their efforts to get the former Saint Saviour’s Church property in Maspeth turned into parkland, but it may be a while before this happens.
Borough President Helen Marshall is one of the politicians trying to secure funds to purchase the land from Maspeth Development, LLC. She needs a grant from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund to purchase the 1.5-acre property at 57th Road and 58th Street.
“What we need is acquisition money,” said Marshall.
But before any funds can be granted, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) must conduct an appraisal to see if the site meets park criteria. And that will only happen if the Parks Department makes a request for the evaluation.
Marshall is working in tandem with City Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley, who drafted a letter to the Parks Department in the hopes that they will consider requesting funding for the site.
In the letter, Crowley suggested that the community needs to secure this land for public use before it is used for development.
“We respectfully ask for funds to secure this last sizable open space left in this community,” Crowley wrote in the letter. “Should we miss this chance to create public parkland, another opportunity such as this will not likely present itself in our lifetime.”
Crowley sent the letter to Senator Joseph Addabbo and Assemblymembers Margaret Markey and Catherine Nolan in the hopes that they will join together in calling for this new green space.
While officials try to clear red tape, residents have been inundating the city’s 3-1-1 hotline with complaints about dangerous conditions at the site.
The land had been home to an Episcopalian Church until the mid-1990s, when poor attendance caused the congregation to disband and sell the property to a Korean Methodist Church. The Methodists worshipped on the land until 2005, when they sold the property to a development company that intended to demolish the church and build housing on the site. Residents rallied against this plan and through an agreement with the developer, the church was dismantled and placed in storage in 2008 for future reassembly.
When the economy crashed, the development company put the site on the market. It has remained vacant ever since.
Civic leader and president of the Newtown Historical Society Christina Wilkinson alleges that construction workers were using heavy equipment near a crumbling retaining wall and swinging a backhoe over the sidewalk with no protection for the public or the cars parked just a few feet away.
It wasn’t until she posted videos and pictures of these accusations on the Internet that the city took action and slapped Maspeth Development with violations and a partial work stop order.
Maspeth Development did not respond to repeated phone calls as of press time.
“This story is like a broken record,” said Wilkinson. “I have the feeling that a lot of complaints to the city are disregarded because they don’t have the staff.”
As for what she would like to see done with the land, Wilkinson’s first choice would have been to see the church remain. But, with that no longer an option, she thinks a park is the next best thing.
“I would like to see it converted into a public park and what’s in that park be left up to the residents,” she said. “There’s no space left to develop here and, anyhow, we’re underserved by parks in Maspeth.”
