Twin Towers of Yes

 

 Queens Eagle

A major developer has plans to build two nearly 50-story towers in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Central Queens – but locals want no part of it.

Marx Development Group aims to construct a two-tower complex, which will be as high as 47-stories – or 572-feet tall – between Parsons Boulevard and Park Avenue in the generally low-density, suburban-eque community of Kew Gardens Hills.

While the project is still missing some needed permits, according to Department of Buildings documents, the dual-tower skyscraper is an as-of-right project and can be constructed without a potentially lengthy rezoning process.

However, locals and elected officials in the neighborhood nonetheless want the project halted.

The lot for the building is nestled amongst several low-density blocks, characterized by two- to three-story apartment buildings. It is directly between an assisted living facility, which the developer also owns; an office building, which houses the office of Assemblymember Sam Berger; and the NYPD’s 107th Precinct.

The majority of the area is listed as an R6 zone, according to the Department of City planning.

DCP said that the plans, as they were outlined as of Thursday, would not require the developer to undergo any kind of rezoning process, a potentially lengthy procedure that would require approval from the local community board, borough president and City Council.

The lot has long been owned by MDG subsidiary Atria Builders LLC, which is headed by CEO David Marx, and the company has been working to file permits for the building since 2019.

Currently, according to the Department of Buildings, the tower’s construction is not fully approved, and is missing a few documents. Mainly, the application is missing what is called a zoning diagram, a document that proves the builders plan to use the building solely for its allowed zoning use – in this case, residential use.

However, the developer has approved permits to do preliminary ground work at the site, which is currently ongoing.

But as work began on the lot, so too did local opposition.

Negative community response to the building began to pick up when housing outlet New York YIMBY published an article on Oct. 2, reporting that the owners are beginning the development process.

New York YIMBY also reported that the structure would bring 800 units over the property’s 1.1 million square feet, and around 27,000 square feet for community facility space.

It is currently unclear if – or how much – affordable housing the building would include.

It is scheduled to be completed by 2028.

“It will be a disaster,” said Sorolle Idels, a local Jewish leader and community board member. “It's a congested area, making it unbelievably more congested…This is a big fat mess.”

Idels said that even though the developers were not required to come before the community board to pitch the project, she believes they should have at least given them a heads up giving the project’s size and scale.

“This absolutely went under the radar with no input from the community board or the community,” she said. “No one discussed it with anybody, and that's not right. How do you build a skyscraper and not get the community input?”

City Councilmember Jim Gennaro said that while the project is still in its preliminary stages, he wants to work with the developer to make sure community concerns are addressed.

“My job is to bring the community and the developer together to work out common sense accommodations, common sense mitigations, work on people's concerns and expect some consideration and some acquiescence to the community's concern,” Gennaro told the Eagle.

“I think it's in the developer's best interest to be neighborly and be attentive to community concerns,” he added. “Nothing has been approved by the DOB as of this date, but we're not going to wait. We're going to get out there and we're going to mix it up.”

 

Summer Of Division

Queens is burning again: Ebike battery explosion torches a house with illegal daycare center

NY Daily News  

The Queens daycare where 18 children were injured after a fire broke out due to a faulty lithium-ion battery was unlicensed and illegally running out of a basement, the Daily News has learned.

The fire started in the basement of the two-story home on 72nd Drive near 147th St. in Kew Gardens Hills around 2:05 p.m., FDNY officials said.

Both the daycare and a dentist lab were operating in the basement, which had been converted without a Department of Buildings work permit, the DOB said.

The blaze spread through the cellar of the single-family home when a charging e-bike exploded, sources said.

When firefighters arrived, five adults, one teenager and 19 children ranging from 16 months to 5-years-old were inside, the sources added.

A 16-month-old toddler was critically injured in the fire. The other kids did not require treatment, FDNY officials and sources said.

The injured buy suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, where he was listed in serious but stable condition in the hospital’s intensive care unit Thursday, sources said.

The childcare center is unlicensed, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services told The News.

“The agency is conducting a thorough review to determine if it was, in fact, operating illegally,” an OCFS spokesperson said in a statement.

A childcare license is required by the state if a person or program is caring for more than two children who are not related to them, away from the child’s home and on a regular basis for three or more hours per day.

Officials are still investigating whether the 18 children in the house were related to the home owner operating the daycare.

The DOB issued the owner two violations for illegal construction work to the basement and for operating businesses out of the space. City records had listed the basement as a storage area, the agency said.

 

The last picture show on Main Street.

 

Queens Chronicle 

 When Kew Gardens Hills resident Richard Reif first attended Main Street Cinemas back in 1946, a day at the picture show cost only 25 cents.

“You could spend the whole afternoon there, which me and my friends did,” he remembered fondly. “You got two feature films, a cartoon, a newsreel and an episode of a serial — and you could bring your own food.”

So it’s not difficult to imagine his disappointment when, after seeing Idris Elba’s latest film, “The Beast,” last weekend, he found out that would be the last movie he ever saw at the theatre, which closed its doors earlier this week.

It is rumored that the theater is closing due to a rent increase; however, the Chronicle was unable to confirm that, as owner Rudy Toolasprashad did not respond to multiple queries. City property records show that the lot — which includes the movie theater and all the stores between it and the corner of 72nd Drive — was purchased by G & Y Main Street Plaza LLC in February of this year. It is not clear whether the purchase has any connection to Main Street Cinemas’ shuttering.

Like all theaters, Main Street Cinemas had previously closed during the earliest days of the pandemic. Though many other small film venues across the country never reopened, Main Street Cinemas welcomed movie-goers back in March 2021.

“I thought then it would close for good, but it didn’t,” Reif said. “This summer you know, I went to movies like ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ and ‘Elvis’ and ‘Thor,’ and there were big turnouts — people of all ages, parents brought their kids for things like the Sonic Hedgehog movie. So that really surprised me that it’s closing.”

The institution has been a staple in the community since it opened in 1941, when it was called the The Main Street Playhouse. It played the starring role in the lives of many young people over the years.

 Queens Chronicle

“You could spend the whole afternoon there, which me and my friends did,” he remembered fondly. “You got two feature films, a cartoon, a newsreel and an episode of a serial — and you could bring your own food.”

So it’s not difficult to imagine his disappointment when, after seeing Idris Elba’s latest film, “The Beast,” last weekend, he found out that would be the last movie he ever saw at the theatre, which closed its doors earlier this week.

It is rumored that the theater is closing due to a rent increase; however, the Chronicle was unable to confirm that, as owner Rudy Toolasprashad did not respond to multiple queries. City property records show that the lot — which includes the movie theater and all the stores between it and the corner of 72nd Drive — was purchased by G & Y Main Street Plaza LLC in February of this year. It is not clear whether the purchase has any connection to Main Street Cinemas’ shuttering.

Like all theaters, Main Street Cinemas had previously closed during the earliest days of the pandemic. Though many other small film venues across the country never reopened, Main Street Cinemas welcomed movie-goers back in March 2021.

“I thought then it would close for good, but it didn’t,” Reif said. “This summer you know, I went to movies like ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ and ‘Elvis’ and ‘Thor,’ and there were big turnouts — people of all ages, parents brought their kids for things like the Sonic Hedgehog movie. So that really surprised me that it’s closing.”

The institution has been a staple in the community since it opened in 1941, when it was called the The Main Street Playhouse. It played the starring role in the lives of many young people over the years.

 

Blighted box truck abandoned on Kew Gardens Hills corner

 

How many tickets can they write to an abandoned commercial truck at the south east corner of 166 street at 76 avenue in queens in the 107 precinct that has been dumped there over 7 months never moving.

 

Maybe the stolen catalytic converters get stored in back as they know nypd won't tow it.

 

Over 14 -311 complaints are disregarded and 2 emails were made to the nypd chief of transportation. Whatever cop or traffic agent is writing this gets their quota done daily with it.

Developer insists on building higher, raising the ire of Kew Gardens Hills community

 

 QNS

A large amount of Kew Gardens Hills residents tuned into a remote public hearing on land use to speak about a housing area being constructed in the lot bounded by Vleigh Place to the west, 78th Avenue to the south, the western boundary of Lot 1 to the east and 77th Road to the north.

Some within the community voiced their support for the project while others expressed their displeasure and concerns about how it may cause more harm than good.

Under the current proposal, the housing area would be six stories tall, contain 80-90 units, with 27 of them acting as income-restricted units and take up around 124,380 square feet for the total floor area. Each tenant would receive a parking spot in the parking garage underneath the building.

According to Jay Goldstein, who was at the meeting on behalf of the developer trying to get the housing area built, the original proposal called for an eight-story building with 119 units.

Managing director of environmental engineering Kevin Williams was tasked by the developer with studying the traffic patterns of the area to determine how the building may impact the community. While he spent a lot of time doing so, Williams emphasized that he does not live in the neighborhood and acknowledged the community’s concerns. According to Williams, the traffic flow “is relatively modest in comparison to many other projects I work throughout the city.”

Despite Williams’ results, one of the common complaints by community members was that traffic in the area was already really bad and adding so many more people to the neighborhood at once would only make things worse.

“We are overpopulated already,” said Alan Sherman, who has resided in Kew Gardens Hills since 1974. “There are already too many cars and too many people.”

The concern among the community about the potential increase in traffic also led many to point out the fact that this building would be across the street from Stepping Stone Day School. In addition to the fact many children would be walking around the area and creating more traffic, some expressed concern about what the harmful carbon emissions from the cars in traffic could do to these kids.

 

Kew Gardens Hills businesses destroyed by fire

From PIX11:

Three firefighters were injured and at least 14 businesses were destroyed when a massive blaze ripped through a row of stores in Queens Friday evening.

FDNY received a call about 6:30 p.m. of a fire in a store that is part of a one-story building on Vleigh Place between 77th Road and 78th Road. The fire spread to neighboring stores located in the building on the block.

By 7:30 p.m., the row of stores were up in flames, FDNY said. Fourteen stores and businesses were destroyed.

The fire has burned through the roof, causing part of it to collapse.

Three firefighters were injured. One suffered a sprain and another fainted, FDNY said.

West Nile spraying this week

From NBC:

To reduce mosquito populations and the risk of West Nile virus, the New York City Health Department plans to spray pesticide from trucks on Tuesday and Wednesday in parts of Queens.

The spraying is scheduled between 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday, weather permitting. In case of bad weather, application will begin Wednesday.

No human cases of West Nile virus have been reported this season.

The neighborhoods to be sprayed include parts of Auburndale, Corona, Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Kew Gardens Hills, Murray Hill, Pomonok, Queensboro Hill, Utopia, Bellaire, Bellerose, Douglaston, Floral Park, Floral Park Center, Glen Oaks, Hollis Hill, Little Neck, and Oakland Gardens.

Fear over rent hike in Kew Gardens Hills

From Crains:

Eight months after Manhattan-based Hudson Realty Capital sold the biggest residential portfolio in Queens in nearly two decades—a 65-year-old, 53-building Kew Gardens complex with 1,270 apartments—work to spruce up the property has begun. New lighting is being installed, front doors replaced and brickwork repointed, and two security guards have been hired to police the parcel, which sprawls over five city blocks.

Now residents await news of what will come next. Having paid $216 million for its asset and committed to undertaking well over $10 million in renovations, Manhattan-based A&E Realty will likely want to raise rents on the 1,270 one- and two-bedroom, mostly rent-regulated, apartments.

Although the new landlord declined to comment on its plans, residents note that rents in the three-and four-story redbrick and clapboard buildings—which stretch across a tree-studded landscape that runs from Kissena Boulevard to 150th Street and 72nd to 75th roads—have long been relatively inexpensive in keeping with the buildings' down-at-the-heels condition.

Based on the improvements, the landlord could increase rents several hundred dollars per unit, but tenants interviewed said they'd be willing to pay more for better maintenance. The landlord has not jacked up rents at other complexes after renovations it has made.

Has anyone else out there heard this?

Hey Crappy,

I almost forgot but was quickly reminded this past Saturday night of illegal parties happening near flushing meadows on every Saturday night of the summer. The parties go until the hours of the AM. I'm in Kew Gardens Hills but it sounds like its down the block from me. Curious if anyone in the surrounding areas hear it.

Crappy in KGH

Dedicated bus lane plan sent to the circular file

From the Queens Courier:

Facing community and political opposition, the MTA and the city Department of Transportation slammed the brakes on a proposed dedicated bus lane for the limited Q44 bus line on Main Street in Kew Gardens Hills.

The news came during Wednesday night’s meeting of the Kew Gardens Hills Civic Association. The MTA planned to take one lane in each direction of Main Street to convert the Q44 between Flushing and Jamaica into a Select Bus Service (SBS) route.

Civic leaders and elected officials protested the plans previously, claiming the lost lane of traffic would increase vehicular traffic on Main Street while also depriving both residents and shoppers of valued parking space.

The Queens Chronicle thinks the Woodhaven Blvd SBS plan should also be nixed.

City moving forward with Select Bus Service for Kew Gardens

From the Queens Courier:

With the backing of Mayor Bill de Blasio, the city is moving ahead with plans to develop an express bus service between Flushing and Jamaica.

Despite calls from community members and politicians in neighborhoods like Kew Gardens Hills, the transformation of the Q44 and Q25 into a Select Bus Service (SBS) line is set to begin as early as this fall, according to a Department of Transportation spokesman, but no official schedule has been announced. The transformed Q44 would continue along its path on Main Street. Residents in Kew Gardens Hills are worried that an express bus through their neighborhood would increase traffic or reduce parking along the route.

The city claims that an express bus line would help thousands of commuters going between the two neighborhoods every hour and allow people in areas without trains to quickly travel to Flushing for the 7 train. And in his State of the City Address, the mayor also pushed for express buses.

Today's sprayings

Synagogue looking to expand in Kew Gardens Hills

From the Queens Courier:

A fight between residents and a local synagogue may need a lot of prayer and reflection before it is resolved.

Kew Gardens Hills neighbors are hoping to stop the proposed expansion of a the temple’s school, which they say will further diminish their quality of life by increasing noise and garbage, while decreasing available parking spots and their property values.

The synagogue, the Sephardic Congregation located on 72nd Avenue between Main and 141st streets, plans to add another floor, which leaders say is necessary to cope with the school’s population increase.

Currently, the building has two floors and a basement level and towers over the houses on the block. Since the community is zoned for family homes, the temple requires Community Board 8’s approval for a variance to the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA).

“I’m worrying about one thing. I worry about the kids in the community,” said Rabbi Asaf Haimoff, who is also the principal of the school. “As an educator, I am responsible to make sure my kids get what they need. Neighbors have a different agenda … but the school is not closing down. It’s growing. It’s been growing and growing.”

Is there a blade of grass that the Buks won't pave over?

Hi Crappy,

I wrote to you some time ago about the trash problem in KGH, now I have this. This "construction" work started last week in the side yard of a semi attached in KGH. This beautiful work is being done by none other than....you guessed it, Bukharians. Other than that this probably illegal 2-family house stays up all night being loud and smoking cigarettes, but this work is beyond anything. Can this be legal? I thought the city put an end to this heinous look. The address is 137-10 70 Road. I haven't seen any construction signs anywhere.

Signed,
Pissed in KGH.

Well, if this is actually being used as a 2-family house, then it would be an illegal conversion, as DOB has it listed as a 1-family. The last complaint about that issue was closed in 1997. And paving over your front yard has been illegal since 2007, but as this appears to be a side yard, it's likely okay as per the zoning code.

I'll just sit back now and wait for one of the Buks to nastily write about how jealous we all are of them for beautifying the neighborhood and raising everyone else's property values.

Year-long work stoppage at Kew Gardens Hills Library

Dear Crappy,

It's been like a year since the Kew Gardens Hills public library branch on Main Street was closed down for renovation. Local residents have to either use the postage-stamp temporary library set up across the street or tool around Queens looking for a regular branch in which to nab a couple of books. No one has seen ANY construction workers, construction, any sign of work progress going on for MONTHS at the library. All they did was tear off the front of the building and leave it like that. Does anyone have any idea of what's going on? Or who to call about what's going on? I asked at other branches and they don't know. I asked at the temporary library across the street and they know nothing. I don't feel like wasting my time talking to one of the 311 "Dial-an-Imbecile" folks. Does anyone HERE have any idea of what's going on or who to call?

Thanks,

-Anonymous

A reasonable facsimile thereof

Independence Hall, Philadelphia

Queens County Savings Bank, 75-44 Main St

From Brownstoner Queens:

When the Queens County Savings Bank main branch, at Main Street and 76th Avenue, was constructed in 1953, it was meant to be a replica of … Independence Hall in Philadelphia. In fact, it has a Liberty Bell model in the lobby, minus the famed crack.

The Queens County Savings Bank at 75-44 Main Street was erected from 1952-1953 and opened February 15th, 1954. It was considered by locals to be the center of a then expanding village. In 1954, it won a building award by the Queens Chamber of Commerce as part of its annual competition.

Kew Gardens Hills has seen cleaner days

Hi Crappy,

I don't know what has been going on in Kew Gardens Hills but its disgusting. Garbage Is all over the place. I took these pics, they are not from a day close to pick up days. People don't care how gross the area has become.

- anonymous

Peacock corralled again

From NBC:

It's back to school for a Queens peacock that escaped earlier this summer from a local high school and was seen wandering the neighborhood.

The peacock is back at John Bowne High School in Kew Gardens Hills, where it is part of a menagerie of animals that live at the school.

An employee of the school told NBC 4 New York that the agricultural department at the high school keeps lizards, turtles, parrots and other birds at their campus, which is half a mile from where the bird was spotted in Kew Gardens Hills.

The elusive bird was finally nabbed by Animal Care and Control of New York City, which returned it to John Bowne, officials there confirmed Friday.

Parkway Village makes National Register

From the Queens Courier:

Parkway Village in Kew Gardens Hills — deemed worthy of preservation — has joined the nation’s official list of historic places.

“As a community struggling to survive and flourish in challenging economic times, it is gratifying for long-time Parkway residents like me to witness the official recognition of Parkway Village’s illustrious history,” said Judith Guttman, co-president of the Parkway Village Historical Society. “I’m proud to be a Villager.”

Parkway, a roughly 35-acre co-op community, was built in the late 1940s. The more than 60-year-old post-war garden complex was originally built to house UN staff members.

While proposals to designate Parkway as a landmark were rejected at least twice — in 1997 and 2000 — by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, it is now part of the National Register of Historic Places, a federal program aimed at protecting the country’s historic and archeological resources. Parkway also joins historic New York sites like Carnegie Hall, Central Park, the Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge on the state’s Historic Registry.

“We all know how much overdevelopment threatens the character of historic neighborhoods like Parkway Village,” said Assemblymember Rory Lancman, who held a press conference on May 24 to commemorate the recognition. “Listing Parkway Village on the State and National Historic Registries is both a tremendous honor for its residents, and a sigh of relief for families in this area who want to see their neighborhoods and their quality of life preserved for future generations.”