By Rebecca Henely
Sewer system improvements, a school expansion and refurbishment for two parks are among the capital items Community Board 2 put on its wishlist for fiscal year 2013.
The board, which encompasses the neighborhoods of Long Island City, Sunnyside and Woodside and parts of Maspeth, nominated 36 capital projects and 25 expense priorities overall at its monthly meeting held at Sunnyside Community Services, at 43-31 39th St. in Sunnyside last Thursday.
“These are where we want the money spent,” said Stephen Cooper, first vice chairman of CB 2.
Like all community board budget priorities, the list represents not what will be implemented in the coming year but what the board would like to see implemented. The capital budget covers projects meant for infrastructure and public use while the expense budget covers services.
The first capital budget priority was to redesign the sewer system and catch basins in Maspeth. The redesign would encompass 58th to 69th streets between Tyler and Maurice avenues and Laurel Hill and Queens boulevards.
“This has been on or near the top of our capital budget priorities for a long while,” Cooper said.
CB 2 put studying the sewer system from Newtown Creek to 44th Drive and the East River to Jackson Avenue in anticipation of the new Hunters Point South complex coming to the area as second on the list. Other recommendations called for reconstructing streets near Hunters Point, on 61st Street from 37th to 39th avenues and in the section of Woodside and Maspeth once known as Winfield.
The board also requested funding to expand IS 125, at 46-02 47th Ave. in Woodside, and recommended the city Parks Department refurbish the Veterans Memorial Square in Old Calvary Cemetery and the Hart Playground at 65th Street and Broadway, both also in Woodside. Another recommendation was that the city Departments of Buildings and Department of Housing seize and condemn an abandoned construction site on Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City.
The top priority for CB 2’s expense budget was to have the board’s district be tested to identify areas with poor air quality.
Many of CB 2’s other expense priorities were to increase funding for the development of a Beacon School, increased manpower at FDNY engine and ladder companies, meeting growing demand for senior daycare programs, hiring more DOB inspectors, providing senior transportation services, delivering Meals on Wheels, pruning trees and giving new books to the Queens Library system.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
