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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jim Burke, Member of the Public, on Metropolitan Park Development
2:15:40
ยท
128 sec
Jim Burke, a Queens resident since 1990, testified in support of the Metropolitan Park development project. He emphasized the infrastructure improvements and accessibility enhancements that the project would bring to the area, particularly focusing on subway station upgrades and new park spaces.
- Burke highlighted the project's commitment to creating a fully accessible subway station, contrasting it with the current state of some stations in the city.
- He praised the planned 25-acre public park, including a sensory park for people with autism, as a significant benefit to the community.
- Burke argued that the private funding of these improvements makes the project particularly attractive, as it would provide benefits to the community without public cost.
Jim Burke
2:15:40
Hi.
2:15:41
My name is Jim Burke.
2:15:42
I grew up in The Bronx, but I've been in Queens since 1990.
2:15:49
And and since then, we just recently got our 80 Second Street subway fixed in The Bronx with no elevator.
2:15:57
After waiting all these years to finally get it fixed, and you still can't access it.
2:16:02
My mom is 81, can't access it.
2:16:05
What Metropolitan Park is gonna do is gonna bring a lot of these infrastructure projects that we wait and have waited for for ten or twenty years, and they're gonna happen quickly.
2:16:17
So we're gonna have a fully accessible subway station that instead of being an embarrassment and old and grimy for many people.
2:16:25
It's the only time they take the subway is to go to the Mets game or a tennis game.
2:16:30
They might not take the subway any other time.
2:16:31
It's an opportunity to catch them.
2:16:33
And what do we show them?
2:16:35
A maze up and down sideways, stairs here, stairs there, ramps to nowhere.
2:16:42
The other thing we're gonna get open space.
2:16:44
We fight.
2:16:45
I'm in Danny Drum's district.
2:16:47
That fight for a tiny piece of Traverse Park took forever.
2:16:52
And to get 25 acres of a public park, including, one that's set aside for for, people with autism and a sensory park, that's just incredible.
2:17:04
And, who's paying for it?
2:17:06
Is it us?
2:17:07
No.
2:17:08
They're going to pay for all of this infrastructure that we desperately need and that we can use to go to Flushing.
2:17:16
You never even have to step foot in the casino.
2:17:18
You never have to even step in in Citi Field.
2:17:21
But if you walk and bike, and take the subway, you will benefit from this project.
2:17:28
Really happy about the lighting along Roosevelt.
2:17:31
It's really nice to walk on a summer day after a game, but not on a pockmarked street with cars whizzing by and no overhead lighting.
2:17:40
They've addressed that.
2:17:41
It's gonna make it pleasant.
2:17:43
And I think that when someone else's foot in the bill, let's let's take them up on that, please.
2:17:48
Thank you.