By Sarina Trangle
It may take state Supreme Court intervention, but the city said it is prepared to make good on three decades of pledging to improve sewers, streets and sidewalks in Ozone Park.
The city published a notice last week saying its lawyers planned to apply April 9 in the Queens branch of State Supreme Court to acquire 600 parcels in the southeast corner of Ozone Park. Once authorized, the court would determine how much property owners should be compensated and the city could begin the long-delayed infrastructure work.
In February, the city initiated court proceedings to condemn stretches of 95th, Centreville, Tahoe, Raleigh, Hawtree and Cohancy streets; Albert and 150th roads; Bristol Avenue; and 135th Drive.
The government is not seeking the entirety of any lots or habitable structures, but mostly roads, sidewalks and stretches of yard bordering the street, according to Craig Chin, a spokesman for the city Department of Design and Construction. He said the city wants to acquire some parcels to build new roads and connect dead ends to other streets.
Howard Kamph, president of the Ozone Park Civic Association, said the years of waiting left him lacking confidence in the city’s plan to kick off construction in the fall.
“They’ve been saying this for over 30 years now. How optimistic can I be?” Kamph said. “It’s a project that needs to be done. The streets and sidewalks are in terrible condition. With the sewers, there’s flooding with heavy rains.”
City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) and residents have said the city has been talking about the project for three decades, but the plans date back nearly 100 years. Court documents show the city Board of Estimate approved the acquisition of the property for “street purposes” Dec. 23, 1915.
Because of a paperwork processing error no one has title to a number of the streets included in the project. It is unclear in what circumstances the city plans to compensate residents for roadways adjacent to their property.
The project was assigned to the DDC in 1999, according to Chin. He said the preliminary design was completed in 2005 and that the process of acquiring close to 600 parcels was extremely time- consuming.
“Land acquisition is a lengthy legal process involving the preparation of property damage maps, conducting environmental reviews and public hearings, obtaining funding for land acquisition, title vesting, and making advance payments to property owners,” he wrote in an e-mail.
Kamph said the process was complicated by Bristol Street residents’ opposition to paying the higher rates that come with new sewers and by landowners’ encroachment on city property that previously sat neglected.
Chin said the city expects contractors to spend three years reconstructing 12 miles of roadway, including adding asphalt, building sidewalks and curbs, installing lighting and traffic signals and planting trees. The project also entails replacing 2 miles of combined sewers and 3 miles of water mains and adding new bioswales and drainage infrastructure.
DDC does not yet have an estimate for land acquisition, but believes bids for the project will come in at $45 million or more.
Reach reporter Sarina Trangle at 718-260-4546 or by e-mail at strangle@cnglocal.com.
