Plan Kills Hunters Point
To The Editor:

My friend, Sal Anzalone, was a prophet. God rest his soul. Looking east from Hunters Point you can see the heat caused by frustration rising from his grave site. Sal predicted that the city of New York via the Department of City Planning aided by the folks at Economic Development were creating a wall about the community of Hunters Point. Either knowingly or by accident they are smothering a small village that has survived for several hundred years. The latest addition to the wall is called Hunters Point South. It should be called Queensbridge 2.

Middle income housing will follow the path that reduced property value and brought back to the East River Roosevelt Island, or as it was, a Welfare Island. Those living in Queens West should consider what this development will do to their property values and neighborhood security. In this age of overstated mortgages, failure to protect your property value will allow mortgage costs to exceed property value.

Looking at the census tract, note that after build out the Queens West-HP South conglomerate will qualify as a new, possibly a minority, Community Board. Say goodbye, Board 2.

The Housing Plan for Hunters Point dated Aug. 16, 2007 is inconsistent and yet to be thought out. The plan calls for the integration into the existing community. The same document states that retail will be housed on the ground floor of the new buildings. Why integrate with the existing community when the new development is self-sufficient?

The document speaks with a forked tongue.

5,500 new families will smother the Number 7 Subway station at Vernon/Jackson. No need for your Metrocard, you can walk train to train through the tunnel to Manhattan. The MTA will create new bus routes. The routes will carry the new residents beyond the existing community. The integration will be with Astoria, Sunnyside and possibly Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Once again, the village of Hunters Point gets screwed.

Parking in the area has always been a problem. The city penalizes current residents by placing meters not only on the main streets but also on the side streets. Discrimination against residents is flagrant. The Police Precinct staff have "Park Anywhere" placards. They tie up parking in the area. Add to this the new Queens West residents and you find that you have two or more cars for every legal space. How many autos will 5,500 families bring? Oh, I forgot the parking needed for the Water Taxi, parks and shopping. In terms of parking needs, the state legislature did Hunters Point a favor by defeating Congestion Pricing, the $8 fee to drive below 60th Street. The plan's success would have smothered Hunters Point.

I suggest that all residents in Western Queens get involved. What is happening in Hunters Point will happen to Dutch Kills, Blissville, Astoria, etc. Obtain a copy of the Plan. Read it and realize that as Sal Anzalone predicted, the community and Western Queens are being screwed to reach the Mayor's new housing goals. Thomas V. Sobczak Chair of the Community Board 2 Land Use and Zoning Committee for 10 years during the 1980s and 1990s.

PS: This letter could be a book if every shortcoming located in the City Report was discussed.