PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Saaif Alam, Resident of Jamaica Hills, Queens
9:31:31
·
122 sec
Saaif Alam, a resident of Jamaica Hills, Queens, testified against the City of Yes proposal, arguing that it would ruin the character of his neighborhood and lead to overcrowding. He emphasized the community's history of advocating for residential zoning and the unanimous vote against the proposal by Queens Community Board 8.
- Alam suggested creating a task force with various stakeholders to revise the City of Yes proposal before reconsideration.
- He highlighted the potential negative impact on residential areas that have previously fought to maintain their character.
- The testimony reflects concerns about preserving neighborhood character and the importance of community input in zoning decisions.
Saaif Alam
9:31:31
YES, GOOD AFTERNOON.
9:31:33
GOOD AFTERNOON.
9:31:34
GOOD EVENING.
9:31:34
COUNT'S MEMBER BRU AND EVERYONE ELSE.
9:31:38
MY NAME IS SAME ALARM AND I'M A RESIDENT IN Jim Making Hills Queens.
9:31:44
So I'm part of multiple organizations, but I'm testifying we have as just only a resident today.
9:31:50
I live in my in the neighborhood for 22 years.
9:31:53
Our neighborhood is mostly residential and is peaceful.
9:31:57
Our community leaders for years advocated to keep a residential.
9:32:00
As an example, in 2004, our community and civic leaders advocated for the zoning laws to prevent residents from converting it to R2 or are for to prevent people from building buildings.
9:32:14
This plan prevented overcrowding neighbors in Jamaican health screens in 2024.
9:32:20
And so this year, our city government wants to implement the city of yes.
9:32:24
Which enables homeowners to build buildings in residential neighborhoods, including Jamaica Hills.
9:32:31
The city of yes can ruin the character of the neighborhood with overcrowding of residents occupying the neighborhood, Queen's community board aide unanimously voted against the city of yes since this plan does not reflect the desire of our fellow residents in the area, including Jamaica Hills.
9:32:49
So I asked the city council to vote against the city of yes since this proposal needs to revision.
9:32:54
The city of of yes being reconsidered for approval.
9:32:58
And one of my suggestion I will suggest is once, you know, for the city council to consider creating a task force out of city of yes with community board members, civic leaders, nonprofit organizations, community leaders, elected leaders, and possibly very active residents create a task force where there is will be input from various stakeholders and put this into play, then that can be voted again in the future.
9:33:31
That is they'll make more sense.
Shaun Abreu
9:33:33
Thank you for your testimony, Syf.
