A Flushing civic group has started a grassroots initiative to stand up to out-of-scale construction sites that residents say are destroying neighborhoods.
The Queensboro Hill Flushing Civic Association is asking its neighbors to “Fight the Blight” by compiling addresses and photos of egregious buildings, which will then be delivered to the City Planning Commission.
“Little by little, things are getting worse. There are more and more blights, and they are getting more egregious, both in quality and quantity,” said Don Capalbi, the civic’s president.
The worst example, local leaders say, is a roughly 2,300-square-foot row house being built at 146-15 56th Rd.
“It’s just a monster,” Capalbi said of the two-story home. “It’s destroying the entire block.”
Queens Civic Congress, a coalition of about 100 local groups, has been urging the city to establish a zoning district that would limit row house occupancies to single families.
“This particular house is a serious example of what can go wrong,” said Queens Civic Congress President Richard Hellenbrecht. “It just towers over everything. Every row house district in the city could eventually fall into the same rut.”
Oversized homes in low-density areas could also worsen congestion and inundate local schools, the local leaders said.
“It’s just a situation that can’t be set aside,” Capalbi said. “It’s a situation that affects much of our borough.”
Councilmember Peter Koo has also stepped in to help the group catalogue.
“If you see something out of context, say something by taking a photo and contacting the civic association,” said Koo’s spokesperson, Jonathan Chung. “Together, we will fight the blight.”
Residents can e-mail submissions to FightTheBlightQueens@gmail.com.
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