Tables Decision On Union Gripe For 2nd Month
Insisting that it needs more information before making a decision, Community Board 2 tabled a proposed resolution in support of a local union for the second straight month at its Thursday, May 3 meeting at Sunnyside Community Services.
Joe Eisman of SEIU 32BJ, the largest property service workers union in the nation, came with dozens of union members to again ask the advisory body to take their side in SEIU’s fight against Long Island City developer TF Cornerstone, who they claim has been denying workers “industry standard benefits.”
At Board 2’s April meeting, a proposed resolution drafted by SEIU 32BJ was tabled, with Board 2 claiming that they needed more time to examine the situation and possibly draft their own resolution.
Eisman told Board 2 that if TF Cornerstone has economic issues that prevent them from complying with what SEIU 32BJ refers to as industry standard benefits, “we should hear about this economic situation.”
“Looking at the rapid expansion along the waterfront,” he added, “I doubt this is the case.”
“We believe in responsible development,” Lenore Friedlaender, a vice president at SEIU 32BJ who claimed to be a Sunnyside resident, stated. “What is their responsibility to the larger community? What is thir responsibility to the workers they employ?”
However, according to Chairperson Joseph Conley and City Services Committee Chairperson Patrick O’Brien, Board 2 never received the requested from SEIU 32BJ (which Eisman later refuted) and TF Cornerstone’s information reportedly came in at 1:30 p.m. that Thursday, too late for Board 2 to properly review.
“We’re being asked to adopt a resolution- in effect, more than that; we’re being asked to cut and paste the words of a union in a resolution and really act as if we’re holding a hearing and taking a side in what is essentially a dispute between labor and management,” said O’Brien. “I’m not comfortable with that.”
“I’m not comfortable until I know a lot more about the facts,” he added.
“I totally disagree with you-this is so generic that I could have said this myself,” said board member Kate Brennan. “This is what we want in our community-people to have good wages.”
In the end, the matter was held over to Board 2’s Thursday, June 7 meeting, to be held at Sunnyside Community Services, located at 43-31 39th St. in Sunnyside.
Maloney visits
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who still represents portions of Sunnyside since the recent area redistricting was enacted, stopped by Board 2’s meeting to expound on some recent accomplishments.
Maloney noted that she had secured funding for a high-speed rail line between New York and Boston that would shave two hours on a train trip between the two cities.
She also claimed to have brought $59 million in federal funding for the recent move of JetBlue to Queens Plaza and the construction of a new park, Dutch Kills Green, in the area.
She also told the crowd that the technology campus slated for nearby Roosevelt Island is expected to have a large impact on Western Queens.
The campus is expected to incubate tech businesses, and “where they are going to expand is here in Queens,” she claimed suggesting that Board 2 take a tour of the proposed campus.
“I think this high tech facility is going to have a lot of positive ramifications for Queens,” she said.
Turning to legislation, Maloney announced that she is working on an update to the “credit card holders’ bill of rights,” a package signed into law in 2009. The addition will govern overdraft fees and offer better ways for citizens to manage their credit.
Maloney is also pushing “microloans”- small loans under $50,000 for local businesses-and is also seeking to keep student loan rates low.
Street fair snafus
Two residents came to Board 2 asking them to reevaluate summer street fairs on Skillman Avenue, claiming that they did not receive proper notice before the most recent fair started, and that the fair inconveniences residents and businesses.
Rita Lowery claimed that she had negotiated with Clearview, a private company that runs street fairs, to set up shop in front of her business, only to find that the space in front of her shop was taken up by a carnival game during the fair.
“Who is making money from this fair?” fellow resident Carol Vance asked Board 2. “The profits seem to be split between Clearview, the city of New York and possibly the Kiwanis Club of Sunnyside, whom Clearview lists as a sponsor.”
“We need to know who benefits and to what degree,” Vance added. “The chief beneficiary of this event might be Clearview.”
Conley responded that Board 2 does not know how the proceeds of the fair are spilt between the city, Clearview and the Sunnyside Kiwanis. He added that Clearview must physically visit the businesses before the fair begins.
Conley advised Vance and Lowery to obtain evidence-possibly in the form of a petition-that residents are inconvenienced by the fair.
School opposition
Jim Condes, a local resident who stated his opposition to a proposed school at 39th Avenue and 57th Street in Woodside at the May meeting, reiterated his opinion to Board 2, this time citing a news report that he claimed made the school sound like “a done deal.”
Conley would reply that “this is a preliminary process.”
“They still have to come back with a presentation,” she added.
Jean Carubia, who heads Board 2’s Education Committee, later told the crowd that “I’ll keep you informed when I have more information” on the school, which is being pushed to help alleviate overcrowding at P.S. 11 in Woodside.
Other news
The city Parks Department will be sprucing up the area around Vincent Daniels Square, at 52nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue, as well as the nearby 7 train station.
“It’s pretty sad,” he claimed, adding that “the sidewalk is white” from pigeon droppings.
Dorothy Moorehead noted that red-tailed hawks have been spotted in the area around the station.
O’Brien noted that the men behind Gypsy Rose, the strip club thwarted last year in Long Island City, attempted to obtain a catering license as a way to circumvent the State Liquor Authority’s denial of their liquor license application. In response, the agency has placed a block on their address, preventing them from applying for any license.
Kristin Kuehl, who works at the Sunnyside branch of the Queens Library, told Board 2 that a proposed $26.5 million cut to city libraries in the proposed FY2012 budget would result in 605 layoffs and the closing of 18 branches, while 30 more branches would be open only two or three days a week.
“If these cuts were to go through, it would mean six million less visits to Queens Library next year,” she stated.
Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer, the executive director of the Queens Council on the Arts, announced that the nonprofit arts organization is moving from its current Woodhaven home to a space near the Kaufman Astoria Studios complex in Astoria.
Board 2 approved two unenclosed sidewalk cafés-a 14-table, 42-seat café for Skinny’s Café, at 47-05 Center Blvd. in Hunters Point, and a 10- table, 20-seat café at The Dog & Duck, at 45-20 Skillman Ave. in Sunnyside Gardens.
