It was a successful evening for the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association, which worked to further a vote against street changes they felt could negatively impact their neighborhood.
Community Board (CB) 9 voted unanimously against the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) proposed alterations, which could turn 84th Street into a southbound one-way street and make 89th Street one-way instead of two-way.
“It was a good feeling after two-and-a-half months of putting together e-mails, videos and flyers,” said Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association. “There was a lot of community involvement.”
Wendell, ecstatic about this vote, claimed that if these changes were to occur, there would be no way to get through the area except to take Woodhaven Boulevard.
These possible modifications were brought to his attention when a resident spotted a notice on her church’s bulletin board, alerting her that several local roadways would be altered. Feeling that these changes would negatively impact her neighborhood, she contacted CB 9, which passed the message along to Wendell.
A crowd of 175 gathered on Tuesday, March 13 to watch the proceedings over this vote. According to Wendell, most of Woodhaven’s residents were very against these street changes.
A vote for rezoning was strongly voted in favor of during the evening as well. According to Wendell, the zoning laws have not been reviewed and adjusted since 1961, rules he feels need to be reassessed due to Woodhaven’s overcrowding.
“You don’t want someone knocking down a nice one-family home and building condos for six families,” said Wendell. “[Rezoning laws] put the break on development in a community so you don’t get too densely populated.”
Now that the local community board has voted for rezoning, it will be passed along to the city.
