PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Phil Wong, Resident of Elmhurst, Queens on City of Yes Proposal
11:18:43
·
129 sec
Phil Wong, a long-time resident of Elmhurst, Queens, testifies against the City of Yes proposal, citing infrastructure problems and transportation issues in his neighborhood. He argues that the proposal fails to address existing challenges and could exacerbate them by encouraging development without necessary upgrades.
- Wong details recurring issues with power outages, transformer fires, and flooding in his area
- He emphasizes that his neighborhood is a "transportation desert" with limited public transit options
- Wong urges the City Council to vote against the City of Yes proposal, viewing it as a "one size fits all" solution unsuitable for areas like his
Phil Wong
11:18:43
Hi.
11:18:43
Good evening.
11:18:44
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak.
11:18:46
Thank you for being here listening to us.
11:18:49
My name is Phil Wong.
11:18:50
I've been a resident of Elmhurst Queens right at the border with Maspith since 1976.
11:18:57
I'm here to represent myself to talk about my community and why City of Yes.
11:19:03
It's such a bad idea or such a bad one size fits all solution to transportation deserts such as my district.
11:19:12
First, I would like to start by saying our power lines our sewer lines and our water lines have been in place since the 19 fifties, and they have been very little upgrades.
11:19:23
So we're still dealing with problems with that given the 1 and 2 family homes that they are right now.
11:19:31
The problems are simple.
11:19:32
Every time when the winds gusts of 30 miles per hour higher, we lose power in some parts of our district.
11:19:40
Number 2, every time when the temperature hits 100 degrees, we see transformer fires.
11:19:46
Hanging, transformers hanging on poles.
11:19:48
They're on fire, and that very little of that has been fixed.
11:19:52
We're still dealing with it this past summer.
11:19:55
And finally, every time there's a major storm, we have bus basements that are flooded.
11:20:00
And I know that because I see my neighbor neighbors bringing out their stuff in the basement, storage boxes, furnitures, and even water heaters that were damaged and had to be thrown out.
11:20:12
This is what we're dealing with right now, and The city of yes, fails to address these infrastructure problems and is giving the green lights to developers, telling them to come in and build.
11:20:23
And that is wrong.
11:20:24
That is wrong.
11:20:26
Right?
11:20:26
And other other than that, we have a transportation desert.
11:20:30
With dealing with MTA right now.
11:20:32
They're saying they want to eliminate bus lines because of some overlapping of the green bus line or the tribal road bus line that was merged into MTA many years ago.
11:20:42
So we're losing bus lines.
11:20:44
We we're not near bus so therefore, the city council should vote no to the city of yes vote no.
11:20:51
Thank you.
