PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Barbara Larkin, Vice President of Queens Civic Congress
1:37:03
·
144 sec
Barbara Larkin, representing the Queens Civic Congress and 1300 homeowners, strongly opposes the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal. She cites concerns about infrastructure, school capacity, parking, and traffic congestion as reasons for opposition. Larkin argues that the proposal would lead to an exodus of hardworking New Yorkers from the city.
- Emphasizes that many Queens civic organizations are against the proposal
- Criticizes the proposal as a "top-down Robert Moses approach"
- Suggests that there are already enough empty housing units in existence, making the proposal unnecessary
- Urges council members to choose supporting the middle class over developers
Barbara Larkin
1:37:03
Yep.
1:37:03
I'm a volunteer.
1:37:04
I'm not representing a union or the city.
1:37:08
Many years of service dedicated to my community.
1:37:13
Good morning, all.
1:37:15
My name is Barbara Larkin.
1:37:17
I am a retired school teacher in the city of New York over 30 years.
1:37:22
I'm the past president of the Bellhopa Property Owners Association, and I am here representing 1300 homeowners.
1:37:30
I'm also the vice president of Queen's Civic Congress.
1:37:34
And during our Zoom meetings, I've had the opportunity to listen to representatives from Springfield Gardens, from Rosedale, from Forest Hills, from the Ponset, and many other queen's civics.
1:37:50
All of the speakers that I have heard are adamantly opposed to this proposal for a variety of reasons.
1:37:58
Objections include, but are not limited to, lack of infrastructure needed to absorb increased density, which I haven't heard from or read about in a newspaper lately.
1:38:08
Absence of enough classroom seats to accommodate mandates limiting class size.
1:38:14
If you think parking traffic in crowded streets are horrendous now, just imagine what increased density will do to our city.
1:38:21
The population is now below 8,000,000 due to hundreds of thousands of taxpayers moving to other states.
1:38:28
If this proposal, which is a top down Robert Moses approach is approved, hundreds of thousands of hardworking New Yorkers would pack up and leave for sure.
1:38:38
I thank God the city council members who understand that much goes into rezoning.
1:38:44
In 2008, dozens of civics work cooperatively with John Young.
1:38:49
And together over months reach consensus.
1:38:54
Recently, I have heard over Zoom meetings that one real estate fellow who's also an attorney said there are enough empty housing units already in existence and that passing this draconian proposal
Kevin C. Riley
1:39:10
Thank you very much.
Barbara Larkin
1:39:10
Totally unnecessary.
1:39:12
I would just like to say those of you who are familiar with choose your own adventure series, If you wanna leave a legacy to your children and grandchildren, choose 1.
Kevin C. Riley
1:39:22
Okay.
Barbara Larkin
1:39:23
The middle class, not 2 for developers.
Kevin C. Riley
1:39:26
Right.
Barbara Larkin
1:39:26
Thank you very much.
