As a member of the City Council, James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) tarnished his reputation as an environmentalist by supporting a 1.4-million-square-foot shopping mall on the Citi Field parking lot, which is part of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, without requiring permission to alienate parkland and replace that which will be taken.
He ignored the combined votes of Community Boards 3 and 7 that resulted in 38 against and 23 in favor. Gennaro also closed his eyes to the fact that the Bloomberg administration, together with the developers, illegally bypassed Uniform Land Use Review Procedure requirements.
One hopes his appointment to the state Department of Environmental Conservation by Gov. Andrew Cuomo will upon reflection see the errors of his ways and recoup his commitment to legitimate environmental causes (“Cuomo appoints Gennaro to new state DEC position,” Jan. 17-23).
Benjamin M. Haber
Flushing
