News and Events
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August 26, 2008
Strumming his guitar, Joel Landy, a resident of the Hampton House co-op building at 123-35 82nd Road, summed up the feelings of fellow residents who gathered on August 21 to protest a proposal for a 20-story building to be built practically in their back yard.
"No 20-story building! Think of our children, think of our neighborhood," he sang amid waving placards, as protesters, many pushing baby carriages and holding toddlers, assembled up the street from the Pasta Lovers restaurant on Queens Boulevard. They called for a halt to a project that they say endangers their building and will devastate not only their quality of life but also that of the whole Kew Gardens community.
The owners of Pasta Lovers want to develop the site, formerly the restaurant's parking lot, under the corporate name Forge Realty Group. One of the placards read "Boycott Pasta Lovers."
Specifically, the developer wants to build an almost 100,000-square-foot structure, 284 feet high, containing 98 hotel rooms on seven lower levels in addition to 41 apartments on the upper 10 stories. The address would be 123-32 82nd Avenue. Health care facilities and possibly a restaurant would be part of the mix, occupying the lower three floors. There would be a total of only 47 parking spaces in an underground garage for the entire building.
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The neighbors also oppose the idea of transient hotel guests in a residential neighborhood historically known for its mix of single-family houses on large lots, modest low rise apartment buildings and small local stores clustered in an area known as "the village." P.S. 99, the only public elementary school in Kew Gardens, is located around the corner from the proposed building. The new building would have some precedents. About a block away are the 25-story Silver Tower and the 32-story Court Plaza.
The site has C4-4 zoning, which permits the proposed use. Construction, which began June 30, is currently on hold until the developer remedies violations that include everything from inadequate fencing around the site to safety violations by workmen.
The Kew Gardens Civic Association said the zoning allows the project to be built as of right, but has from the start raised concerns over inadequate parking and traffic issues, and has called for a traffic study.
"We raised the issues of inadequate parking and traffic ramifications virtually from Day One with the Queens Commissioner of Traffic, Maura McCarthy, with Queens Department of Buildings Commissioner, Derek Lee, and with Jennifer Manley, of the Mayor’s Community Assistance Unit, who followed up by requesting Derek Lee to audit the application," said Murray H. Berger, the Civic Association Executive Chairman. "I hope this helps clear up any uncertainty about KGCA’s involvement."
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Paul Graziano, President of the Historic Districts Council, has also voiced his opposition to the project on the grounds that it will impact the historic ambiance of the neighborhood.
"Tony Avella and Paul Graziano are trying to find a loophole somewhere to stop or limit the project," Mr. Berger said, "I hope they succeed."
August 2, 2008
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| Click on the image above to begin a slide show of the July 31st ribbon cutting ceremoney at the Union Turnpike / Kew Gardens subway station opening the new elevator. |
With the slice of a scissors, City Council Member Melinda R. Katz and Lee Sander, Executive director and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, cut the blue ribbon that sealed off the new elevator leading down to the mezzanine floor of the E and F trains at the Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike subway stop in Kew Gardens, and officially opened elevator service at the station.
The project, almost two years in the making, promises hope to the handicapped who otherwise would have no opportunity to use the station, and help for weary mothers with small children in strollers, who otherwise would have to toil up and down the stairs with their loads. Ms. Katz, a new mother who brought her infant son to the event, joked that she was looking forward to being able to roll him into the elevator and down to the platform.
The ribbon cutting attracted many other dignitaries including Borough President Helen M. Marshall, State Senator Shirley L. Huntley, and Howard Roberts Jr., president of the NYC Transit Authority.
Mr. Sander noted with some pride that the program to equip 67 additional subway stations throughout New York City with elevators was ahead of schedule by two years. Kew Gardens was the final station on the completed list. The street elevator was originally designed to rise across Kew Gardens Road, in the triangle park area known as Newcombe Square. When the Kew Gardens Civic Association and the Kew Gardens Improvement Association convinced the Transit Authority that crossing the well-traveled street was not an acceptable option, the TA agreed and, at considerable extra cost, placed it at its present position on the sidewalk in front of the 80-02 Kew Gardens Road office building.
The street elevator leads down to the mezzanine level of the station. From there passengers walk through a well-lit passageway running parallel to Union Turnpike toward the mezzanine’s ticket booth. A ramp allows easy passage for wheelchairs and wheeled luggage. A new tollgate (which accepts handicapped MetroCards only) is located across from the ticket booth. When the proper MetroCard is inserted, the automatic gate swings open. From the mezzanine, passengers can take elevators down to the eastbound and westbound train platforms.
For the elevator’s first ride, Mr. Sander escorted two beaming women in wheelchairs. After the throng of officials, dignitaries, members of the press and onlookers was gone, regular passengers began using the new amenity, including one woman loaded down with shopping bags and wheeling a young child in a stroller.
By DIANA SHAMAN
July 27, 2008
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The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's executive director and chief operating officer, Lee Sander, and the New York City Transit Authority's president, Howard Roberts, Jr., will be on hand for the ceremony, which is scheduled for 10 a.m.
The street elevator will lead down to the mezzanine level of the subway. From there, two additional elevators will lead down to the west-bound and east-bound train tracks. The facility will be a boon especially to the elderly and the handicapped, to mothers with small children and to riders with luggage including those who want to catch the AirTrain in Jamaica.
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The Kew Gardens station becomes the 67th station in the subway system to receive elevator service under a pledge by the Transit Authority to construct 67 new elevators in key stations around the city by the year 2010, which means the agency is two years ahead of schedule.
Making subways more accessible is part of the MTA's mandate to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Priority is being given to stations with high ridership, that serve as transfer points and that service major hubs of activity -- in the case of Kew Gardens, the court houses and Borough Hall.
In a recent story, The New York Times reported that hundreds of subway riders are trapped in elevators every year with 286 such incidents last year. But for now Kew Gardens' shiny new lift is scheduled for a ceremonial sendoff and the optimism that there will be no such glitches in its future.
Earlier Special Feature Articles:
• A Community Discovers its Village Roots
• Spirits Alive! (2007) at Maple Grove Cemetery
• Day of Remembrance at Maple Grove Honors the Dead with a Celebration of Life
• Summer in the City
• Concerns Over P.S.99, Post Office, And Impact Of Potential Landmarking Draw Large Crowd To Town Hall Meeting
• Kew Gardens Community Day (2007)
• A Parking Lot Becomes a Flea Market
• A Touch of Soho on Austin Street
• Kew Gardens Merchants - The Bliss Café
• Kew Gardens Lights Up for the Holidays
• Queens Borough Hall Garage in Kew Gardens
• The House on 116th Street
• New Development in Kew Gardens
• Autumn Scenes in Kew Gardens
• Lantern Festival at Maple Grove Cemetery (2006)
• They Lift Up their Voices Every Friday