CB 2 Claims Site Making 3rd Try For Liquor License
A Long Island City strip club’s third attempt for a liquor license and truck traffic on Skillman Avenue were both debated at Community Board 2′s Thursday, Oct. 4 meeting at Sunnyside Community Services
Club hopes 3rd time’s a charm
The group that owns the adult establishment at 42-50 21st St. is once again seeking a State Liquor Authority (SLA) license to sell alcohol, Patrick O’Brien of Board 2’s City Services Committee announced.
“They’re seeking to have the SLA reconsider their application,” O’Brien announced, adding that they went to the agency without coming to the community board.
The matter will be heard at the agency’s public hearing at 317 Lenox Ave. in Manhattan on Oct. 24.
Speeding on Skillman
Several Skillman Avenue residents came to the meeting complain ing of trucks racing down their street.
Martine Aerts-Middam, a local resident who had come to Board 2 earlier this year, warned members that “Skillman Avenue is definitely becoming a highway.”
“We have 16-wheelers zooming by,” she said. “It’s becoming a real quality-of-life issue in the neighborhood.”
“There are three schools [whose students] have to cross Skillman Avenue,” resident Joe Hendricks noted. “There are trucks that fly by there al- most every hour.”
Board 2 Chairperson Joseph Conley responded that the NYPD has issued 10 summonses over the past two weeks for illegal truck traffic.
“We’re looking at a number of different things with the DOT (Department of Transportation) right now,” he noted, adding that other locations such as 48th Avenue are also being looked at for its volume of truck traffic. “We’re trying to correct these things. “
Board 2’s Carol Terrano also asked Conley to keep an eye on traffic at 50th Avenue. New concession at ferry terminal?
Lisa Deller of Board 2’s Land Use Committee announced that the city Parks Department is seeking an operator for a vendor to operate a concession stand at Borden Avenue and 2nd Street, in the area near the East River Ferry stop in Hunters Point.
Deller noted that the Parks Department is seeking something similar to Madison Square Park, where Shake Shack operates a location, but the agency is seeking input from Board 2 before a request for proposals is formalized.
Conley noted that Board 2 hopes the project will grow “beyond just a food concession.”
“Perhaps there will be ice skating down there,” or some other seasonal attraction, he added.
FDNY ‘domino project’
The FDNY’s David Harney asked for the board to support a variance to the placement of a diesel-powered emergency generator in the rear yard of the home of Engine Co. 258/Ladder Co. 115 at 10-40 47th Ave. in Long Island City.
In addition, the agency sought an “Article 9 fair share letter” that would allow the amendment of a land use action related to their occupation of a space at 55-30 58th Ave. as part of a complex reorganization of FDNY warehouses and facilities Harney dubbed the “Domino Project.”
The project will include the moving of FDNY maintenance facilities, EMS supply facilities, technical service shops and a “disaster cache” of supplies necessary in case of a serious emergency throughout Maspeth, Woodside and Long Island City, as well as a Department of Environmental Protection fleet repair facility in Maspeth and a Woodside Department of Sanitation facility.
The FDNY already uses the lower floors of the 58th Avenue site; the Article 9 letter allows the agency to modify the agreement to occupy the rest of the building without going through a new land use process.
Board 2 would approve both FDNY requests.
The advisory body also approved a request by a homeowner at 39-58 48th St. in the Sunnyside Gardens Historic District for a Landmarks Preservation Commission permit to renovate their front porch.
Other news
Conley noted that the community board helped secure $9 million from the Port Authority toward the Hunters Point Library, which had its groundbreaking on Friday, Oct. 5.
He also announced that the board received money for a partial restoration of Soldiers Monument, a Civil War monument inside Calvary Cemetery. The board is looking for funding to restore the remainder of the area, which is a public park inside the private cemetery.
Local resident Jim Condes, as he has for the past few meetings of Board 2, alerted the board to the Department of Education’s plan to build a new school on 39th Avenue and 57th Street, claiming that with three schools located in the immediate vicinity, it would pose a hardship for nearby residents.
However, Board 2 member Dorothy Moorehead, who is a real estate attorney, informed Condes that the DOE has already acquired the property.
“It’s a done deal,” she told him.
Arthur Rosenfield of the Long Island City Chamber of Commerce announced that the city plans to bring a package of legislation into law that would help small businesses by eliminating obsolete violations and streamlining permit processes.
Community Board 2 usually meets on the first Thursday of the month at Sunnyside Community Services, located at 43-31 39th St.
