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Council Member Julie Won addresses concerns over demapping DOT-owned property in Long Island City

0:11:18

ยท

136 sec

Council Member Julie Won discusses an application to demap a DOT-owned property at 49-39 Van Dam Street in Long Island City, highlighting community concerns and potential implications of transferring public land to private ownership. She emphasizes the importance of ensuring public benefit and maintaining green spaces in the area.

  • Won outlines Community Board 2's objections, including the loss of potential green space and skepticism about the developer's intentions.
  • She questions whether private ownership is the best solution for maintenance issues and expresses concern about the precedent this could set for future public land transfers.
  • The council member calls for careful examination of the proposal's impact on both the local community and citywide land use policies.
Julie Won
0:11:18
Thank you so much, chair Riley.
0:11:20
Good morning, everyone.
0:11:22
This hearing focus also focuses on an application to demap a DOT owned property in Long Island City.
0:11:28
The address is 4939 Van Damme Street to allow the parcel to be transferred to private ownership.
0:11:34
Queen's Community Board, the chair is here, the executive board is here, and I believe other members are here to testify, has voted against this land use action citing the following concerns.
0:11:45
The first concern is the dwindling supply of city owned land and green space particularly in Long Island City and Sunnyside, which this area is in and has no remaining green space except for this specific parcel, which could be used for green infrastructure and stormwater management.
0:12:02
Second concern that they have raised is uncertainty about the developer's long term intentions for this site.
0:12:07
The applicant says that they plan to develop an outdoor dining space on the parcel.
0:12:12
The parcel is in an industrial area and is inside a curved curve of the curve of an expressway on ramp.
0:12:19
The community board skepticism is understandable given the location of the parcel and lack of commercial, restaurants in the area and foot traffic.
0:12:29
The applicant has expressed that the DOT has done a poor job of maintaining the site and says that private ownership would resolve this problem.
0:12:37
I share the community board's concern about the precedent that this would set.
0:12:40
While the circumstances are in which that they may make sense for the public land to be become private owned, I believe that the goal must be to public benefit, and it is not clear to me that this land use action would deliver the maximum public benefit.
0:12:55
And we want to make sure that we're also working with DOT to resolve the problem that the d the private owner has pointed out about poor maintenance.
0:13:04
Community board two has called for the DOT to ensure adequate site maintenance and security, which they it is under their jurisdiction, and I support them on this call.
0:13:13
The purpose of this hearing is to allow the council to examine this proposed land use action and consider the potential impacts on the community as well as the potential impacts beyond the direct community, given that the selling of the land public land to a private developer to solve the issue of public property neglect could set a precedent for future transactions involving all of our public land across the city.
0:13:34
Thank you so much.
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