Would Affect Woodhaven, Oz. Pk.
After months of meetings, Community Board 9 finally made a decision against two proposed street changes in Woodhaven and Ozone Park at its Tuesday, Mar. 13 meeting at the Woodhaven-Richmond Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
The advisory body has debated the changes to traffic flow since the start of the year. The proposals were to convert 89th Avenue between Woodhaven Boulevard and 97th Street from a two-way road to a oneway eastbound road, and to change 84th Street between Liberty and Atlantic avenues from a northbound to a southbound street.
Woodhaven resident Margaret Finnegan told the board that “at the present, 89th Avenue goes in three different directions “between 78th and 96th streets.”
She claimed that residents would make “an illegal turn on 96th Street” to get to her block. “How many accidents will occur?”
“I can sum it up in one word: safety,” added resident Diane Yodice. “The only safe route coming northbound … is 84th Street.”
Charles Jensen, a member of the Ozone Park-based Our Neighbors Civic Association, noted that several streets in the area have direction changes.
“What I find objectionable,” he claimed, “is the idea that Woodhaven and some of the people in Woodhaven are trying to influence what happens in Ozone Park.”
“Home rule should prevail,” he told Board 9.
WRBA President Ed Wendell responded by stating “you can build a brick wall in front of someone’s driveway and claim it doesn’t effect the driveway. It does.”
“I’d like to hear someone talk in favor of this proposal and tell us why it needed to be done, and I haven’t heard that once,” he added.
Janet Pellegrino, an Ozone Park resident, answered his challenge, noting that only 80th Street and 88th Street are southbound routes available for residents.
“Basically, our side of Atlantic Avenue looks like a jigsaw puzzle that was never put together correctly,” she said. “We need 84th Street so we can get out of our neighborhoods correctly also.”
“There is a major lack of communication between the community boards, the DOT and the people who these changes are going to affect,” on resident charged, claiming that the WRBA was primarily responsible for the evening’s turnout.
In response, Crawford stated that Board 9 disseminates the information to civic groups, who have the responsibility to tell the public.
“The bottom line is the system worked,” she claimed.
Board 9 voted to disapprove both those conversions based on the recommendation from the Transportation Committee.
BSA appeals
Board 9 voted to disapprove a proposed Board of Standards and Appeals variance to 95-36 115th St. in Richmond Hill. The developer requested that parking requirements on the site be waived.
They did approve a variance for a building on 114-01 95th Ave. in Richmond Hill, where a developer had built a cellar illegally, had it selfcertified and later sold the home. The self-certification was audited four years later and found wanting, but the new owner is bearing the brunt of the Department of Buildings’ wrath.
Sylvia Hack, the chairperson of the Land Use Committee, called the variance “a necessity,” noting that the illegal condition “was not of her making.”
“This proposed variance would enable the present owner-innocent of any violation and who we are told is already occupying the house-to continue living there,” she explained.
Some residents worried that the vote was setting a precedent for allowing illegal construction after the fact.
Other news
Chairperson Andrea Crawford spoke about the “very daunting” borough budget negotiations, noting that Staten Island gets more money per capita per person than Queens.
Kate Mooney, who represents City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, claimed that Engine Co. 294 in Richmond Hill “is back on the chopping block.”
“This is a very serious cut,” she added, and the lawmaker will be fighting against the closing of 20 firehouses throughout the city.
Several representatives of lawmakers spoke out the redistricting proposal that was approved by the state legislature as part of a package deal.
Board member Maria Thomson noted that Woodhaven is attached to portions of Brooklyn and Manhattan in a new congressional district.
“It ruins the integrity of our community,” she claimed.
State Sen. Joseph Addabbo updated Board 9 on the new district lines, claiming that he was going to lose portions of the area.
“In my opinion, our legislative leaders dropped the ball,” he stated, claiming that lawmakers reneged on a pledge for an independent commission on redistricting in favor of a bipartisan commission whose work was highly criticized. “It’s a wrong process.”
Other votes
Board 9 approved a proposed group home at 94-19 127th St. in Richmond Hill to be run by the Center for Family Support that will house five Queens residents with intellectual disabilities.
They also denied two liquor licenses:
– Shots Pool Hall, located at 87- 50 Lefferts Blvd. in Richmond Hill, was denied due to the board’s longstanding opposition to full liquor licenses at pool halls.
– Rinom’s Deli and Grocery, at 114-01 Atlantic Avenue in Richmond Hill, did not get its request for a renewal of its wine and beer license due to reports of selling to minors.
Montanez NY, at 126-19 Jamaica Ave. in Richmond Hill, was given an endorsement of a new liquor license.
Election snafu
Board 9 voted in its new slate of officers at the meeting’s conclusion.
At the meeting, it was announced that Joan DeCamp was voted in as the new chairperson, defeating the incumbent Crawford by one vote. However, a release issued the next day claimed that Crawford was the victor.
A source with knowledge of the situation told the Times Newsweekly that the votes were recounted after the meeting because two votes went uncounted. These two votes allegedly both went in Crawford’s favor, giving her a one-vote victory.
A second source claimed that some board members are pushing for a revote at Board 9’s next meeting (scheduled for Apr. 10 at Villa Russo IL Palazzo, located at 101-12 Lefferts Blvd. in Richmond Hill); however, there are concerns that such a vote would prove problematic.
Rabbi Daniel Pollack was named first vice chairperson, Ivan Mrakovcic was named second vice chairperson and Clark Whitsett was named executive secretary.
