After construction workers were spotted on Tuesday destroying parts of the facade of the Elks Lodge, a building that Long Island City residents are trying to landmark, many gathered at its steps on Wednesday to protest the destruction.
The Elks Lodge, located at 21-42 44th Dr., is slated for demolition to make way for luxury condos. But developers were not granted permits from the Department of Buildings to do any demolition work yet.
“Everything that happened here yesterday was illegal,” Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer said. “All of it was criminal.”
Construction workers removed only pieces of the building that deem it worthy of landmark status like the elk head sculpture, he said. Van Bramer sent a letter to the Landmarks Preservation Committee last week calling on the agency to consider the designation for the building. Shortly after, the altering began.
Residents shouted “We will win” and “landmark” as others held signs with messages like “Don’t blast away our past” and “Save us some sky.”
Richard Mazda, a Long Island City resident and owner of The Secret Theatre, saw construction workers on scaffolds and without harnesses or protective gear on Tuesday destroying the brick work on the building. They refused to show him any permits and “smirked” at Mazda when he announced said he would be alerting officials, he said.
“This is the kind of developer we need to be extra vigilant about and maybe put out a warning to all the new developers coming that this is a community that is unified and if we see illegal work we need to report it…and if we see people going about this in a kind of wanton destruction we need to protest,” Mazda said.
Residents also called for a more comprehensive plan for new developments in the area. Orestes Gonzalez pointed out the tower being constructed across the street from the Elks Lodge as an example of thoughtless development in the area.
“[There are] no provisions for what’s going to happen to the 7 train when those 750 units are faced with the prospect of no services. Developers don’t think as urban planners,” Gonzalez said. “They create street-level usage where nobody can go in; there is no commercial activity. One more chunk of the block is converted into no pedestrian activity whatsoever.”
Van Bramer announced that the developers, Alwest Equities and Planet Partners, were slapped with multiple fines after he called the Mayor’s Office and Department of Buildings to issue a stop work order. As a result of this issue, Van Bramer said he has introduced two new pieces of legislation to discourage developers from illegally altering structures.
The first piece of legislation would impose significant fines and penalties to any landowner that intentionally destroys the facade or any part of a building that is in the process of being landmarked. The second piece would authorize the city to increase the fines if a developer does illegal construction without a permit.
Van Bramer is also calling on the landowners to restore every part of the facade that was destroyed. Bob Singleton, executive director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, added that it is possible to completely restore the building’s facade to its original form.
“It’s a dirty trick by some creepy people and we have to push back and make sure they don’t get away with it,” Van Bramer said.
