By Alex Robinson
Flushing nonprofits appealed to the borough president last week to get their piece of the budget pie.
Community Board 7 asked for a reconstruction of roads, sewers and street lights in a section of Willets Point as one of its budget priorities this year.
“They have extensive flooding problems and the roadbed has sunk, making it impossible for drivers to navigate the area. It takes on the appearance of a third-world country,” CB 7 District Manager Marilyn Bitterman said in her testimony.
The area the board is hoping to reconstruct is in Phase 2 of the $3 billion redevelopment of Willets Point into a new commercial, retail and residential neighborhood.
The Iron Triangle’s lone resident, David Antonacci, also gave testimony on behalf of Willets Point United, and said he has been pushing for the reconstruction for years.
“We emphasize that the Willets Point development plan is not an excuse to refrain from spending to maintain and repair Willets Point streets,” he said in his testimony.
The city Department of Transportation surveyed the area in 2012 and determined it would cost approximately $15 million to reconstruct its streets. Antonacci, however, said a Willets Point contractor, St. John Enterprises, has offered to do it for a lesser cost.
Another budget application by the Kissena Corridor Park Conservancy was a proposal for a 3/4-acre meditation garden on the site of a former New York Queens Hospital parking lot across from the hospital’s Oncology Center.
“The purpose is to provide a respite and healing environment for cancer patients, other patients, seniors and the increasing demand of the general public in Flushing,” the conservancy’s president, Roland Wade, said in his testimony.
The conservancy has already funded a design and material list for the garden and is applying for $1 million to fund the construction of the park.
Queens Hospital Center applied for more than $4 million in funding to renovate a number of facilities in their hospital, including their pharmacy.
A number of other organizations applied for funding for renovations as well as operating costs.
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
