Delis Bids Farewell To 30-Plus Years With Bd. 1
BY LIZ GOFF

Imagine neighborhoods in Astoria and Long Island City without shady trees to take the swelter out of summer. Try to think of your neighborhood as a place with far fewer streetlights and traffic signals, with overburdened sewers, car-crunching potholes at the mercy of a city administration that turns a deaf ear to problems in the "outer boroughs".

That's the way things were in the early 1970s, before Queens awoke from its reputation as the "bedroom borough" to become the borough that used a blizzard to bury a mayor.

The city established its network of local community boards in 1975 to give areas dubbed by City Hall as the "outer boroughs" a voice, a direct line to municipal agencies.

Much like the hero in a Wild West novel, George Delis arrived at Community Board 1 in 1975, prepared to take on the municipal gunslingers that overlooked the needs of outer borough neighborhoods. He was catapulted to District Manager of Community Board 1 in August 1977- and nothing has been quite the same since then.

Like the children of so many Greek immigrant families, Delis was instilled with a sense of pride in the U.S., and with a deep respect for New York City and all it has to offer.

"We all moan and groan about our jobs," Delis said. "But I have never taken for granted the life lessons I learned while serving the people of Community Board 1."

Delis was a hands-on manager at the community board, where he became known for his ability to move mountains of municipal red tape that stood in the way of neighborhood improvements. While doing so, he established a place for himself in the history of Astoria and Long Island City.

Delis' list of accomplishments reads like a history of the Board 1 area. An avid history buff, Delis established the Greater Astoria Historical Society in September 1977. He founded the 30th Avenue Merchants Association in 1982 and reorganized the Broadway-Astoria Merchants and Professionals Association in 1982.

Delis lobbied for nearly a decade for the development of a marshy plot of land in Upper Astoria, bounded by Steinway and 45th Street and 21st Avenue and Berrian Boulevard. Major firms were threatening to abandon the area, taking countless jobs with them, unless the city installed sidewalks, sewers and other improvements. After years of prodding, in the early 1990s, Delis was able to convince the city to make the improvements, which transformed the area into the bustling business community now dubbed the Steinway Industrial Park.

Delis first called for funds for the Museum of the Moving Image (MMI) in the 1978 Board 1 Capital Budget after Sam Robert, a movie industry buff seeking a permanent place to preserve and display his collection of memorabilia, approached him with the idea. Delis said he looks on the birth of the MMI as one of his most gratifying accomplishments.

Under a chilly autumn sky in 1987, City Councilmember and Speaker of the City Council Peter Vallone Sr., joined Delis and Board 1 Member Denis Syntilas at 30th Avenue and 30th Street in Astoria, where Vallone donated $1 as a symbolic kickoff to fundraising efforts for Athens Square Park. "It was a dollar for a dream," Delis said. "With the help of the Greek-American community, the Astoria community and City Hall, we turned a handball court into an authentic Greek amphitheater that hosts a series of multicultural performances each summer. The Olympic flame passed through Athens Square in 1996."

Delis also proposed and lobbied for 25 years to permit commercial traffic on the eastbound Grand Central Parkway between the Triborough Bridge and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The move reduced traffic on Astoria Boulevard by 50 percent and improved traffic flow from side streets.

Delis said he is happy to have been a part of the development of Community Board 1 and "so much of the history of the best and greatest community in New York City".

As the sun sets on Delis' tenure with Community Board 1, he said he plans "to do what Harry Truman did - have a cup of coffee each morning and take a 5-mile walk". Spending time with his wife, Terri, his family and friends and working on his pet projects will fill his days, Delis said.

"I plan to relax with Terri over the summer," he said. "We have plans to travel to Alaska next year, and to see other parts of the country before we settle into a routine."

Delis said he hopes to continue his fundraising efforts for a variety of causes. "And who knows? I might sign up with a consulting firm or throw my hat into politics," he said.

Delis described Assistant District Manager Lucille Hartmann, his likely successor, as "the only person with the knowledge and personality to do the job".

"No one knows more about managing Community Board 1 than Lucille Hartmann," Delis said. "LuLu has been a major part of each of the board's accomplishments for the past 30 years."

Delis said he will miss working day-to-day with Hartmann, with Board 1 Chairman Vinicio Donato, the longest serving community board chairperson in Queens County- since 1975- and with Board 1 members he described as "the hardest working group of volunteers in the city".

Despite the stumbling blocks, hardships, budget pitfalls and long hours he battled for the past 30 years to make positive changes in Board 1, Delis said he has no real regrets and would gladly do it all again.

"If I was 28 years old again, and someone offered me the job, I wouldn't think twice before saying yes," Delis said. "It's hard, leaving a job you love and people who have shared so much of your life. I would like to thank the board members and people of Community Board 1 for their tireless efforts to prove that all things are possible. We won some and we lost some, and we showed the world that neighborhoods in Community Board 1 in Queens are the greatest places in New York City."