December 1, 2011
Community Board 2 Monthly Meeting Minutes
Attendance
Terry Adams Sheila Lewandowski
Andrew Anzalone Gregory Matos
Sandra Bigitschke Taina Hernandez McShane
Kate Brennan Dorothy Morehead
Jean Carubia Patrick Murray
Bessie Cassaro Patrick O’Brien
Barbara Coleman Evan O’Neil
Joseph Conley, Chairman Elliot Park
Stephen Cooper Norberto Saldana
Emilia Crotty Moitre Savard
Mary English
Kenneth Greenberg Lauren Springer
Richard Gundlach Carol Terrano
Reverend Joseph Jerome Karolina Tosi
Mohammed Choudhury Jewel Al Volpe
Tom Kalamaras Robert Wilkanowski
Ellen Kang
Marie Konecko
Absentees
Diane Ballek
Bernard Callegari
David DeCicco
Lisa Deller
Don Dodelson
Brian Flynn
Ann Hart
Luis Jimenez
Dominic Lippolis
Guadalupe Marzana
Donald McCallian
Gertrude McDonald
David Shin
Nick Troya
Community Board 2 Staff
Debra Markell Kleinert, District Manager
MaryAnn Gurrado
Public Officials
Joe Kenton, Council Member Van Bramer’s Office
Claudia Filomena, CAU
Guests
Peter Katz
Michelle Liu J. Reyes
Judy Bowen Wiener A. Kando
Damien Pratt M. Son
Jason Banrey Sean Pierce
Holly Emma A. Longo
Anna Sanders M. Bach
Arthur Rosenfield D. Keehan-Smith
E. Petrik Harry Papazia
L. Gerdz
M. Collins
Ann Marie Carroll
Sam Goldman
Rebecca Olinger
Paula Neudorf
Rebecca Henely
Rose Tibaldi
Mary Tibaldi
Lisle Noll
Navina Shere
Dora Gaffaney
Mr. Conley, Chairman Community Board 2 welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Pledge of Allegiance
Ebony Young, YMCA was scheduled to present but was not present at the meeting.
Peter Katz, Chief Operating Officer at PS 1 provided an update on several initiatives and invited everyone to attend the museum and offered the space for community meetings.
Mr. Katz stated that free admission is being offered to
In response to a question about the concrete wall surrounding the museum, Mr. Katz said there is a new entrance kiosk on
Joann Amagrande and the Design Team of the Parks Department provided a presentation on
Ms. Amagrande thanked Community Board 2 as well as the residents of the community and stated that after this phase is complete, there will be one more portion to do and then the project will be finished. Ms. Amagrande thanked the Borough President who allocated 1.3 million dollars in funding for the project.
Tom Brown, Landscape Architect,
Mr. Brown presented diagrams and said they will extend the central planted area to which will be covered in natural turf with accessible entrances all along the north and south side. There will also be concrete seat walls as well as a performance space. Paths will be paved in rectangular concrete pavers. There will also be green space which will help water to drain.
Mr. Brown said they added four foot fencing in the playground and the exterior will have another four foot chain link fence which will match. The community garden and dog run currently has a four foot chain link fence and they will be refurbished. There are not enough funds to improve the fencing during this phase. Water service to the dog run will be added. The planting bed will have a low chain link metal fence.
A board member asked about natural turf and if there is any area that is not grass. Mr. Brown’s response said there is synthetic turf in the multi-use athletic field, but everything else will be grass.
A short discussion took place about synthetic turf and who will be responsible for cleaning the dog run.
Ms. Amagrande said they have met with dog owners of the community and said plans for the dog run will be a more formalized and that she is optimistic that everyone will work together to make it better.
Mr. Brown stated there will not be any electric service in the performance space.
Mr. Conley highlighted some of the areas that need improvement:
Ø Water access
Ø Electric Accessibility
Ø Maintenance issues
Ø Dog Run
Mr. Brown confirmed there will be arms on the benches and there will be a water fountain as well as a water fountain at the rest room.
Mr. Brown spoke about the Bigger Bird Sculpture which will be removed during this phase of work. This was a temporary piece of art that was installed approximately 24 years ago.
He also reported that on the border of the park, there will be a painted black steel fence four feet high. On the inside they want to maintain consistency with the dog run which will not be addressed during Phase IV and inside they will refurbish the existing fence.
Ms. Amagrande said they will have to lobby for money to refurbish the dog run. This will be the last piece of the project. Mr. Conley suggested putting grass seed in the area; however, Ms. Amagrande said this would be a problem when it rains.
Mr. Conley said CB 2 will send a letter of support to the Parks Department. A motion was made and seconded to send a letter of support, but would include the following:
· Water Accessbility for the community garden
· Electric for art performances
· Dog Run improvements
· Improvements to security fence around the area
The vote was: all were in favor by a show of hands, 0 Opposed and 0 Abstentions with the Chairman present and not voting.
Ms. Amagrande suggested that all should lobby the elected officials for the last phase of work to improve the dog run.
BSA Calendar 23-10
BSA application to seek a reversal of a DOB determination that the non-illuminated sign located a top the building on the site is not legal non-conforming advertising sign that may be maintained and altered.
Eric Palatnik, attorney, representing Atlantic Outdoors Billboard Company which owns the billboard that is mounted on the old
Mr. Palatnik said this was a 1930’s version of a billboard and they happened to own the building and it was a great to put up a billboard. This is similar to Fresh Direct which is an advertising sign.
Mr. Palatnik said they are asking permission from the BSA to allow the Lexus sign to continue to operate as a billboard.
Mr. Conley said this sign used to say “Perfection is not an Accident” by Eagle Electric and said that after a ten year battle, billboards will be coming down in the City. Mr. Conley said this started 12 years ago when Walter McCaffrey had the courage and conviction to write the legislation and this has been in the court system for 10 years under freedom of speech.
Mr. Conley said two billboards have come down in our community.
BSA Calendar
BSA Application for an application for an extension of term of a zoning variance permitting automobile repair (use group 16) and used car sales (use group 16) in an R7X/C2-3 District.
Eric Palatnik, attorney representing the applicant said this is for a gas station and automobile repair shop at the corner of
Mr. Palatnik said special approval is needed because automobile repair shops are not permitted in the C2 zoning district without BSA approval. The term has run out and the permit must be extended. The term runs for a 10 year period.
City Planning – (E) Designation Text Amendment – N 1200090 ZRY
E Designation Text Amendment – This program is to clarify the text and remove obsolete provisions from zoning resolution Section 11-15 (Environmental requirements) originally established in 1983 the proposed modifications would also streamline the administration of the (E) program, result in increased transparency and easier tracking of hazardous materials, air quality and noise environmental requirements, and enhance existing enforcement mechanisms.
Ms. Lee said the (E) Program was created in 1983 to establish and enforce environmental requirements related to specific tax lots that are part of a proposed rezoning of property that it didn’t control that might have potential for hazardous materials.
The E program was originally applied to properties that would have underground or any type of potential petroleum contamination and since 1983, the program has been expanded to encompass all types of hazardous materials. When they do area wide zoning changes such as Hunters Point,
When the developer goes to develop the property they then have to do the necessary research to determine if there is anything there and if there is, what they need to do to clean it up. Then they can get their building permit and they can proceed.
Ms. Lee said in 1983 banks were not as scrupulous as they are now about requiring their own due diligence to determine if properties were potentially contaminated. Banks are requiring a lot of the same research that City Planning is requiring through the (E) Program.
Ms. Lee said that over the years there have been problems with the administration of the program itself. The program used to be administered by Department of Environmental Protection and is now administered by the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation. If you are a property owner and you have an (E) on your property instead of going to DEP you would go to the Mayor’s office of Environmental Protection.
Ms. Lee spoke of the various problems that this text change is designed to address:
The property that wasn’t controlled by the applicant would get an E designation. Someone coming in to do an area wide zoning change, like the City of
What they are proposing to do with the text change is allow the (E) to be placed on properties that are owned by the applicant.
The (E) designations were only used for zoning map amendments, and not for special permits or zoning authorizations. Like classes of property were therefore treated differently.
The solution now if you are filing for an application for a special permit, an authorization or anything in addition to a land use map, the (E) program will apply.
Ms. Lee stated it wasn’t clear if the DOB was actually the enforcer of the (E). It was clear if you had to satisfy all of your clean up before getting a building permit. The solution will be to rewrite the zoning text to clearly state that compliance with all the requirements of the (E)’s is required prior to obtaining a DOB permit.
As new technology has come about in terms of ways to clean up soil, we have not been able to respond to it right now. As the (E) is developed it lists the potential soil contaminations and identifies the potential clean up efforts for those. The proposal for the text change is to allow it to be updated as long as the lead agency for the action agrees and the office of environmental remediation agree and as long as the public is protected.
The last problem they are trying to solve is that of outdated text in the zoning resolution. There is a lot of text that says it is administered by DEP when it’s administered by the Office of Environmental Remediation. The text change will remove old text that no longer applies and replace it with new text.
Questions were entertained.
Ms. Lee said she gave this presentation two times to the Land Use Committee in October and November. A recommendation was made to approve the application at the Land Use Committee Meeting.
Ms. Lee said the (E) is to alert the public and DOB and property owner. A survey and research of historical records that land use maps, fire maps, DEP permit records for air and noise, depending on what the production process is, you need certain air permits from DEP and DOT. Research all of those records; it is a rigorous historic research record as far as one can go back. When an (E) is put on property and someone is ready to develop, the property owner does the more detailed analysis to see if the soil is contaminated.
Ms. Lee said the text change is trying to make the existing program work better and work easier for property owners and the City to administer it.
Mr. Conley said whether the (E) is there or not, the person who is going to buy the property will have to go through the due diligence phase before they do a closing. If there is an (E) designation it will go away if it is cleaned up.
Ms. Lee said in order for them to do an area wide zoning change and satisfy the state and city environmental review laws with a property they don’t control, is to put the (E) designation on the property to guarantee that when the site is developed it will get cleaned up.
Ms. Lee said the (E) Designation has a benefit and you could not do zoning changes without this text.
Public Comment
Adrian Bordoni, Executive Director, Woodside on the Move gave a brief history of his background and invited everyone to the December 3, 2011 Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony at
Mr. Bordoni spoke of his plan is to start a
Michele Liu, Chinese American Planning Council spoke about Queens Smoke Free Partnership provided an update on an initiative for Smoke Free Housing and how tobacco companies target youth.
A representative spoke about how Ads from tobacco companies target young people and how their program is trying to get the tobacco industry to limit their ads.
Mr. Conley announced the passing of Millie Geldern a CB 2 Board Member who was dear to the community.
Judy Wiener spoke about the contributions Ms. Geldern made to the community. She was a person who started a petitioning process to make
Mr. Conley said we will find an appropriate way to celebrate Millie Geldern’s contributions to the community and it will be discussed at the Land Use Committee.
Denise Keehan Smith and Harry Papazia, Big
Ms. Smith spoke about
Ms. Smith also inquired about a follow up request regarding a speed hump on
Attendance
A motion was made to approve the minutes.
Chairman’s Report
Mr. Conley stated that at the LIC Partnership Luncheon, a Deputy Mayor said that Hunters Point South is 100% affordable. He meant to say the first building will be 100% affordable. Mr. Conley said he contacted HPD to make sure there wasn’t a change that we weren’t aware of. For the first building, more than 50% of the apartments will be in the range from 100,000 to 150,000 for a family of four. Because of the number of people sending emails about this matter, Mr. Conley said he’s asked HPD to come to a community meeting in January.
Mr. Conley said the
Mr. Conley said he attended the roast for Luke Adams.
Mr. Conley spoke about the Bike Share Program and that Council Member Van Bramer will be hosting a meeting on this and that we are very much in favor.
Mr. Conley spoke about the numerous complaints about filming in the community and that CB 2 has been logging the permits since August. He said CB 2 will be meeting with the Mayor’s Office on December 7, 2011 and that he wants to have a new set of rules. The film crews come through and businesses are negatively impacted. Production companies offer donations to organizations in the community, but this is not the answer. We want them to shop locally, and why not use the local businesses. We want coordination about how many permits are being issued, at any given time in a radius of an area and how many times does one Avenue have to be impacted in one year. Mr. Conley said during the summer there were 5 shows in one day.
He said there are a number of cars parked illegally and we are losing parking. This is too much for one community to bear and there has to be a better way to coordinate all the permits. Right now we have three production companies filming in LIC.
Mr. Conley said a one day shoot turns into a three day event as the parking signs go up in advance. Mr. Conley said we certainly want the jobs but not at the expense of the inconvenience.
Mr. Conley made the following announcements:
- 108th Community Council Christmas Party would take place on December 17, 2011.
- John Vincent Daniels Square Parks new trees were planted around the park and new plantings around the light pole would be planted, as the area is in disrepair.
- December 17, 2011, Breakfast with Santa in Hunters Point.
- CB 2 will be holding their annual toy drive for needy children.
Mr. Conley welcomed Claudia Filomena, of the Community Affairs Unit.
Ms. Filomena provided an update on the filming issues, however comments were inaudible.
Mr. Conley provided an update about locations that are selling flowers outside their stores. Consumer Affairs said they are legal because they have a stoop permit. Mr. Conley said he was under the impression that you could not sell flowers outside unless they were sold inside.
Marie Konecko requested an update about the "zero tolerance of wares" position for which the community board had advocated.
Mr. Conley spoke of the raids across
Mr. Conley said he submitted photos to CB 2 and DOT as he observed truck traffic such as waste transfer trucks, tractor trailers and tour buses going north on 48th Street coming from Maspeth, exiting off the BQE to get to Laurel Hill Boulevard and then turning left to get back onto the BQE.
Marie Konecko, CB 2 Board Member announced there would be a Holiday Boutique at Sunnyside Community Services on Sunday from 11- 4.
Terrie Adams announced there would be a Tree Lighting Ceremony in Hunters Point at 6:00 pm.
Ms. Konecko spoke about the numerous complaints concerning news boxes. Mr. Conley said the boxes are there due to the first amendment but suggested calling CB 2 with the exact location.
Mr. Conley reported he had a meeting with Council Member Van Bramer regarding the plans for the Beautification Project under the #7 Line at
Mr. Conley provided an update about food vendor carts, and that many people like them. He asked why there is a double set of standards. If you go to a restaurant, there is a letter rating, but none on food carts. The City Council has introduced legislation to try to have a rating for the food carts. These carts are supposed to go back to be cleaned at the end of the day. Mr. Conley said we are working with DOT to get bollards and chains so carts cannot get in to
In response to concerns raised by a board member regarding
Mr. Conley asked that all CB 2 members must read and sign the Equal Employment Opportunity Document.
City Planning Report
Ms. Lee announced that on December 12, 2011, the City Planning Commission will certify three applications in CB 2. Two of them are site selection and acquisition applications for city facilities that are already in existence.
- Headquarters for FDNY Technical Services Division on
- Vehicle Storage Facility – Sanitation Department Central Repair Division has been operating on
- Zoning Text Amendment that Jet Blue is proposing to allow roof top signs not for advertising signs but for business signs for zoning lots that front on
Questions were entertained.
Ms. Lee explained that a business sign advertises a business that is in the particular building. Jet Blue will be in the
Ms. Lee explained the public review process would begin December 12, 2011.
VOTES
BSA Calendar 23-10
BSA application to seek a reversal of a DOB determination that the non-illuminated sign located a top the building on the site is not legal non-conforming advertising sign that may be maintained and altered.
A motion was made and seconded to oppose this BSA application.
In Favor 29 Opposed: 0 Abstentions: 3
Chairman present and not voting.
BSA Calendar
BSA Application for an application for an extension of term of a zoning variance permitting automobile repair (use group 16) and used car sales (use group 16) in an R7X/C2-3 District.
A motion was made and seconded to support the application as long as the applicant provided they remove the flags and banners and makes improvements to the landscaping.
In favor: 29 Opposed: 2 Abstentions: 1
Chairman present and not voting.
City Planning – (E) Designation Text Amendment – N 1200090 ZRY
E Designation Text Amendment – This program is to clarify the text and removes obsolete provisions from zoning resolution Section 11-15 (environmental requirements) originally established in 1983 the proposed modifications would also streamline the administration of the (E) program, result in increased transparency and easier tracking of hazardous materials, air quality and noise environmental requirements, and enhance existing enforcement mechanisms.
A motion was made and seconded to approve the application.
In favor: 29 Opposed: 0 Abstentions: 1
Chairman present and not voting.
City Services & Public Safety Committee
Mr. O’Brien reported that we still do not have a hearing on the Gentlemen’s Club, Gypsy Rose at
Lapchi, at
The Oracle Club will come back to the City Services Public Safety Committee and are not seeking an On Premises Liquor License and will limit their hours.
Mr. O’Brien said the City Services Committee review approximately 19 applications a month.
Environment Committee
Ms. Morehead reported the Environment Committee did not meeting last month and would not meet in December. She provided an update on the hearings on hydro-fracking and comment period has been extended. There is lot of interest in this matter and the EPA is involved. There would be a meeting with the Newtown Creek Group on Monday at 6:00 pm
Health and Human Services
Ms. Terrano said the committee had a site visit at
Ms. Terrano said the committee will be looking at facilities in the area for people who do not have coverage to see what facilities are available to them. The Committee will not have a meeting in December but will meet in January and will provide a report in February.
Mr. Conley said health care is a top priority and we have experienced a population explosion especially in Hunters Point and one thing people don’t think about is where do you go for medical care. Mr. Conley said we have partnered with Queens Mt. Sinai to see how they will better serve that portion of the district. Mr. Conley said when Hunters Point South was announced we told HPD and EDC that we must develop space for medical facilities.
Transportation Committee
Mr. Conley reported on the following:
Transportation Committee meeting will take place in December.
Thanked Al Volpe who brought up the issue of parking regulations on
Mr. Conley said we are trying to get funding for the Woodside BID and are looking into next year to see if there is funding. Spoke to the Council Member.
Respectfully submitted by:
MA Gurrado
