Green Shores NYC, a non-profit community group that works to enliven the Astoria and Long Island City waterfront from Newtown Creek in the south to Bowery Bay in the north, and the Trust for Public Land, a national, nonprofit, land conservation organization, have entered into a partnership to create a plan for the Astoria and Long Island City waterfront, members of the Astoria Homeowners Tenants and Business Civic Association (AHTBCA) were told at AHTBCA headquarters 21-20 49th St., Astoria, recently.

Working with urban planners from Jonathan Rose Companies, Green Shores NYC and the Trust for Public Land hope to identify new public space and improve connections along the East River shoreline. Green Shores NYC President Katie Ellman told AHTBCA Chair Luigi Farina, AHTBCA members and area residents who attended the June 24 meeting that a series of open community meetings and planning workshops at sites throughout Astoria and Long Island City are to take place soon. Ellman strongly encouraged neighborhood residents to attend the workshops and seize the opportunity to share their ideas about new parkland and ways to shape the waterfront in the future. Ultimately, the community driven ideas will be issued as a plan that Green Shores NYC intends to publish both as a handout and online, summarizing the community’s recommendations. One idea concerns the 21 acres of land along the Astoria waterfront that belong to Con Ed, but are no longer used. Strong opposition by the AHTBCA, as well as other local civic organizations, helped to fend off a proposal to sell the land to a developer who intended to turn it into a Fed Ex distribution center. That plan was scrapped in December 2008.

Assemblymember Michael Gianaris (DAstoria) has said that any development of the Con Ed property must provide waterfront access for the community.

For three consecutive Sundays, August 1, 8 and 15, Green Shores NYC will sponsor Astoria Water Walk, a celebration along Shore Boulevard in Astoria Park. Live music, free food and cultural events will be featured from 1 to 6 p.m., rain or shine. For more information, visit www.greenshoresnyc.org.

Jose Davila, director of community organizing and constituent services for the New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, also spoke.

“We are the ombudsman for all New Yorkers and in many ways we are the last resort,” Davila said. “311 takes your complaint and logs it. Our job is to take your complaint and work with agencies to resolve [it], whatever the issue may be.”

Davila said the Public Advocate receives between 100 and 200 telephone calls a day. According to Davila, the Office of the Public Advocate can help with issues concerning landlords, transit, schools, police, housing, welfare offices, child support, roads and utilities, as well as many others.

“The Public Advocate is basically your backup,” he said.

For more information, call 212-669-7200 during the hours of 9 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The AHTBCA was created in 1996 to promote, advance and stimulate business and commercial interests in Astoria. For more information, visit www.astoriahtbca.com.