Genting is on the Right Track - Op/Ed by Anthony J. Gellineau -Leader-Observer

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When I hear so-called “LEADERS” of South Queens rail about the lack of job creation by companies like Genting, I think back to the days when quite a few people would prey upon the ignorance of those in earshot to bring attention to THEMSELVES. These are people who thrive in the midst of those who are less fortunate, taking advantage of their fears by casting something as the bogeyman that is out to get them. These same “leaders” do nothing to improve the life condition of the people they are talking at – they produce no results other than the temporary mental satisfaction of those who feel someone is standing up for them, only to have those same people leave in the same way in which they came.


True civic organizations fight daily to improve the quality of life of the residents in our communities. We meet with entities in our communities to address issues; we bring decision-makers to our meetings with our members to get their questions answered. We spend an inordinate amount of hours researching, communicating and disseminating information to our constituents. We teach our constituents to fish, and we don’t expect anyone to give us a fish.


My civic association, together with other civic associations that surround the Aqueduct racetrack have been fighting for close to 20 years, looking forward to the reconstruction and revitalization of the track. We have been in discussions with Community Board 10, Borough Presidents Schulman and Marshall, Assemblywoman Pheffer, deceased Assemblywoman Pauline Rhodd-Cumming, and Senators Maltese and Addabbo; we have worked on several different plans and we have lived through several different disappointing fits and starts. When Genting was awarded the right to build their casino, we all felt a sense of relief and optimism. And to their credit, Genting has been working with us in partnership, alerting our constituents to their opportunities, answering all of our questions – all the while becoming acclimated to our community. The relationship thus far could not be better.


Despite the feelings of optimism for many, there are some that believe that the selection of Genting brought disenfranchisement. You would think that it would be those who sought the rights to build the casino but were not selected. In this case however, it is a community of people who thought they were initially awarded the rights in a previous process, only to be disappointed when that process was deemed invalid. Some decided to own the previous process as if they were investors. They had built a sense of ownership with the belief that they were going to be intricately involved in the development of the project. Rightly or wrongly, the invalidation of that process left some people feeling as if they lost a significant stake in the development of the racetrack. These people, led astray by the supposed previous winners, are ripe for exploitation by the misguided and their cohorts who are more than eager to accommodate.


Before Genting was even chosen to develop the racetrack, a group of people, led by MISGUIDED LEADERS held a protest in front of the racetrack in June of 2010 to protest the bidding process. Illustrating a severe lack of understanding of the procurement process, THEY denounced the state’s RFP and it’s “lack of inclusion”. Since then, THEY have continued to lead people astray with poorly conceived assertions and sound bites. Those of us who live next to Aqueduct have been simply baffled by these tactics. They continue to antagonize our community without consulting those that live here – promulgating mistruths along the way. Simply put, it needs to stop.


The NAACP is this country’s foremost civil rights organization, and using its legacy to back a misguided campaign devalues its meaning to all of us. The redevelopment of Aqueduct means a lot to all of us, and inappropriately calling a company racist because it has not “consulted” any one self-appointed “leader” is unjust. While holding true to our values of fairness and community, have maintained a high level of communication with Genting and we have met their efforts to hire locally with vigor and anticipation, not cynicism. We have publicized their many opportunities and we have encouraged our constituents to respond. We will continue to reciprocate the same respect the Genting officials and representatives have shown to us. We will continue to urge those who have the community’s interest at heart to do the same. We ask those with PERSONAL agendas to go elsewhere.


Anthony J. Gellineau is president of the South Ozone Park Civic Association West.

Ozone Park Slated to Get New Skate Park by Stephen Geffon - Leader-Observer

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The forthcoming $1.6 million state-of-the-art addition to London Planetree Park, otherwise known as the 88th Street Park on Atlantic Avenue in Ozone Park, is sure to have a little something for everyone.

The proposed plan consists of a new skate park, two basketball courts, adult fitness equipment, a walking path, trees, shrubs and seating areas.

A Parks Department spokesperson said the skate park design features include two-, three- and five-stair sections, grind rails, hubba ledges, a stamped brick quarter pipe and a series of banks and slopes.

The skate park plans must be approved by the Design Commission before the design of the project can move forward. After the project is approved by the Design Commission, the plans will go out to bid.

Once construction starts, it will take approximately one year to complete.

Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski said the impetus for the skateboard park came after community concerns were voiced to Councilman Eric Ulrich about teens constantly skating in the shopping center parking lot at Atlantic Avenue and 92nd Street.

Lewandowski said that since there was a local park located nearby with a large open asphalt field, “we thought this would be the best mix where we add an element to the park that would encourage kids to skateboard and bike in a safe public area rather than in a pedestrian shopping area.”

Lewandowski said that after meeting with the community and Ulrich, they came up with what they thought would be a very creative design that would accommodate skating, seating areas and exercise locations as well.

“It’s a nice re-adaptive use of that large open field and makes it a much more active location for people to recreate,” she said.

The city is currently home to 13 city skate parks. A few new skate parks in Queens were recently unveiled, putting the borough on the map for avid skateboarders. The parks include Astoria Skate Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Skate Park, Forest Park Skate Park, and Rockaway Skate Park.

The requirements for use of the skate parks are a signed liability waiver, helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, and wristguards (for those under age 18).

“This is a plus for the Ozone Park Community and the youth who utilize this park,” said Andrea Crawford, chair of Community Board 9. “It will serve the multi-generational community’s needs.”

Parks Dept Plans Skateboard Park at 88th Street Park with Funding from Borough President Helen Marshall & City Council Member Eric Ulrich

The NYC Parks & Recreation Dept has plans to build a state-of-the-art skateboard park facility at London Planetree Park, which for all my many years living in the neighborhood I've always known as 88th Street Park...In addition, there will be two full court basketball court, a walking path with adult exercise equipment, sitting areas and plantings of trees and shrubs...It should prove to valuable amenity to Ozone Park and a tremendous improvement to the asphalt softball fields currently occupying the area... 

Click here to view these pictures larger

The funding stream for the new addition to the park comes from Borough President Helen Marshall ($1,000,000) and City Council Member Eric Ulrich ($600,000).

Longtime Community Board 12 Head Adjoa Gzifa Gets the Boot by Clare Trapasso - NY Daily News

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The controversial head of a southeast Queens community board has been tossed from her post by a local councilman.

Adjoa Gzifa, 64, of Jamaica, speculated that City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) decided to end her 16-year run on Community Board 12 due to disagreements on various board issues.

Comrie declined to comment on why she was booted. "I'm not airing that in the paper," he said.

Gzifa, who served as the chairwoman of the board for three years, made headlines when she refused to support renaming a Jamaica street after slain police officer John Scarangella. The board shot down the renaming, which the Council then overrode.

She was also one of only two board members who voted against renaming a swath of Liverpool St. after Sean Bell, a bridegroom killed in a hail of police bullets.

"It stinks," Gzifa said of not being reappointed to the board. "I believe I served my community well. The fact that [Comrie and I] can't agree to disagree is disturbing to me."

Gzifa was quick to point out that she was reelected as chairwoman by her peers in December.

She found out about Comrie's decision on April 8, she said, a day after Community Board 12 District Manager Yvonne Reddick was involved in a car accident. Reddick is recuperating from non-life threatening injuries at Jamaica Hospital.

Jacqueline Boyce, the interim chair, said Gzifa will be missed.

"I'm saddened by the fact that she was not reassigned to the community board," Boyce said. "She proved to be a good leader and a good organizer."

But Gzifa had her detractors.

Valerie Bell, 55, the mother of Sean Bell, said the board could benefit from more sympathetic leadership.

"I know you can't name a street after everyone who's done something in the community," she said. "But it's time to have a heart for these things."

Board members are volunteers who can influence local projects and city budgets. Half of the Queens members are appointed by Council members, while the others are picked by the Borough President.

Gzifa, who is the director of the Workforce Education Center at LaGuardia Community College, said she doesn't plan to fight Comrie's decision.

"Just because I'm not on the board doesn't mean I'm going to shut up," she said. "I'm going to continue to speak out against everything that's ill in our community."

At Budget Hearings, Marshall Believes Queens ‘Shortchanged’ by Thomas Cogan - www.qgazette.com | Queens Gazette

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Borough President Helen Marshall said she understands that during these difficult fiscal times cutbacks are necessary, in her borough as well as elsewhere. But, she said at the annual public hearing concerning capital and expense budgets held at Borough Hall February 23, she also believes Queens is being shortchanged.

Some 60 speakers, representing 14 community boards and nearly every college and community college, arts group, hospital and health group, social services agency and museum that the borough contains, along with Queens Borough Public Library officials, also testified at the hearings.

The borough president’s understanding of cutbacks encompasses a realization that thousands of teachers will be dismissed; several firehouses will close; the library will take a significant cut this fiscal year and a larger one next, and in the meantime has stopped buying books; programs for the aid of both children and the aged will be shrunk, and parks improvements will be lamented for their lack. Out of that partial list of funds reduction and from lists unmentioned she would like to take back some small amounts that she believes

Queens deserves.

It is the duty of their district managers to speak for community boards at budget meetings. At the February meeting, they came to the rostrum in numerical order, so the first was Lucille Hartmann of Community Board 1. She said that chief among the concerns of her board is the seawall along the East River, and anyone who has seen it slowly fall into the water beneath the Queensboro Bridge for years and years knows what she means. A parking lot at Astoria Boulevard and 35th Street is needed for everyone from commuters to 114th Precinct police officers, she said, and local curb reconstruction has been stalled as long as has seawall repair. Debbie Markell-Kleinert of Community Board 2 began by giving thanks that the Queens West Library is to be built on Parcel 8 in Hunters Point, but went on to say that repair of catch basins and sewers in her district has been delayed repeatedly. Construction of a new 108th Precinct headquarters building is certain to occur only in her dreams, but the problem of 44-02 Vernon Blvd. is of great urgency. This huge excavation next to the Con Edison Learning Center was abandoned when the developer went bankrupt, and now stands, filling with water. Markell-Kleinert said the Department of Housing Preservation and Development should seize it, with an eye to building affordable apartments there.

Giovanna Reid of Community Board 3 observed that her district (Jackson Heights, Corona, East Elmhurst), with a population of 200,000, has a large number of recent immigrants. As far as schools are concerned, “our chief objective is additional seats”, she said, adding her gratitude for the addition of I.S. 230 on Northern Boulevard, between 110th and 111th Streets. She said the local libraries are “totally overused”, and funds for the Jackson Heights branch must be restored. Richard Italiano of Community Board 4 said the problem of flooding and sewers inadequate to handle it is of grave importance in his district, as it is for Board 5’s Gary Giordano, who said they are collapsing in Maspeth, Glendale and Ridgewood. Giordano said he has toned down his fiscal requests lately but still insists that the 104th Precinct’s current strength of 152 officers should be more like 170. He added that closing a firehouse in a district full of wood frame houses is a dangerous way to save money. He described the Glendale Library as an underfunded “stepchild” lacking accessibility for the handicapped. Frank Gulliscio of Board 6, covering Kew Gardens, Forest Hills and Rego Park, said that the special study of Woodhaven Boulevard, a thoroughfare affecting five districts (Boards 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10) has been proceeding too long and should be completed. He said the new Bob’s Discount Furniture at 72-25 Woodhaven Blvd., where Woodhaven Lanes bowling used to be, is welcome as an enterprise but the consequent traffic increase needs better management.

Fear of fires and floods bothered several of the remaining district managers, especially when they considered their dilapidated sewers and shuttered firehouses. Libraries, they said, should be built or refurbished, not closed for half the week. Sea walls besides that in Board 1 are deteriorating; and in Board 14 on Beach Channel Drive, the bulkheads are gone and water from Jamaica Bay is getting under the roadway, while in Bayswater it is said to reach residential lawns when the moon is full. Susan Seinfeld of Board 11 mentioned a shore road in Douglaston that she said is “falling into the bay”. Work goes uncompleted on island malls in the middle of 111th Street, while island malls on Union Turnpike have rebars sticking out of them.

Who can pay to have these things completed or repaired? Regarding run down medians and a carousel in Forest Park, Board 9’s Mary Ann Carey said she has thought of turning to Donald Trump for help. She even suggested she might ask him to subsidize restoration of Frederick Macmonnies’s “Civic Virtue,” the marble statue beside Borough Hall in bad shape after 90 years outdoors. Councilmember Karen Koslowitz interrupted to say that restorations would cost $20 million. (Congressmember Anthony Weiner, not an admirer of the statue, on the following day suggested that it be sold on Craigslist and removed.)

Representatives of the many institutions that followed specified the amounts they needed and the related projects. Queensborough Community College needs $1.7 million toward repair of its Humanities Theater. CUNY Law School will move into a new home next year at 2 Court Square in Long Island City, but needs $864,000 to furnish all its classrooms with audio/visual equipment. Queens Theatre in the Park needs $400,000 to refurbish its lobby and other parts of the building. Queens Botanical Garden needs $1 million to repave its cobblestones and an unstated amount to replace its parking lot blacktop with permeable pavement. Mount Sinai Queens needs $177,206 to equip a state-of-the-art ultrasound suite. Peninsula Hospital needs $132,000 for a digital mammography system to supplement its older analog system. Make the Road New York needs $3 million toward moving into a Center for Immigrant Opportunity in an old church in Jackson Heights, near where immigrant laborers constantly gather in search of day work. Services Now for Adult Persons (SNAP) spokesperson Marian Lewek said that while SNAP provides “the best food in any senior center”, more than $130,000 is needed for three new vans to replace vehicles that date from another century. Tom Finkelpearl of the Queens Museum, like others, moderated requests his institution might otherwise have made in acknowledgment of the economic recession.