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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Nicole Labatis, Lifelong Flushing Resident and Director of a Community Center
0:59:49
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121 sec
Nicole Labatis, a lifelong Flushing resident and director of a community center, testifies in support of the Queen's Future/Metropolitan Park proposal. She argues that the current area is unsafe and lacks facilities for community members, while the proposed development would provide much-needed opportunities for jobs, socialization, and recreation.
- Labatis emphasizes that the area in question has always been a parking lot, not a usable park, and is currently crime-ridden.
- She highlights the potential benefits for youth, seniors, and the diverse community in Flushing, Corona, and Jackson Heights.
- As a community center director, she expresses concern about the lack of safe places for activities and sees the project as a positive change for the area.
Nicole L.
0:59:49
Thank you for having me.
0:59:50
A little nervous my first time.
0:59:51
My name is Nicole Labatis.
0:59:53
I am a lifelong Flushing resident.
0:59:56
I also attended school in Corona and Jackson Heights, so I know both areas very well.
1:00:02
I have the fortunate experience of knowing Flushing when it was Flushing, when there were a lot of things going on for youth, for seniors, for everyone that came to the area.
1:00:18
Right now, there is nothing going on.
1:00:20
For people to say, and everybody has their own opinion, for us to just have they keep saying parkland.
1:00:27
It has never been a park.
1:00:29
It has always been a parking lot.
1:00:34
You know?
1:00:34
And I I understand those are just words, but there has never been a park that you can go to and sit and enjoy.
1:00:41
It was just been asphalt.
1:00:43
Right now, it is not safe.
1:00:45
It is crime riddled.
1:00:47
If you look up on the news, Roosevelt Avenue is full of prostitution.
1:00:50
They constantly close it down, and it is constant.
1:00:54
What they propose is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our youth, for our seniors, for the whole community to have jobs, to have a place to to be able to socialize.
1:01:07
Right now, people don't have money.
1:01:09
Everything is uncertain.
1:01:10
To be able to have some place you can walk to and just get a breath of fresh fresh air would be a comfort to most people.
1:01:17
There is no place for people to bring their children.
1:01:20
I'm a director of a community center.
1:01:23
Right now, we're getting ready to plan summer trips.
1:01:26
I'm afraid I do not know where to take my participants.
1:01:30
I would not be able to even walk there right now with them.
1:01:34
If this comes through, this would be an opportunity for everyone, not just one demographic.
1:01:40
Flushing has Jackson Heights, Corona.
1:01:44
There's a lot of different people that live there, that come there.
1:01:48
We need a change.
1:01:50
Thank you.