NHS

Newtown Historical Society

Queens County, NY
NswrowNHrsronrceL
Socnry
1883Srocruor-u
Rrpcnwooo.
Srnsrr
NY 11385
erl)3663715
NEwrowNHrsroRy@cnarr,.corr,,

Aprif11, 24fi

City CouncilMemberElizabethCrowley
64-77Dry HarborRd.
MiddleVillage,NY 11379

StateSenatorJosephAddabbo
66-8573rd Place
MiddleVillage,NY 11379

AssemblyMemberMargeMarkey
55-1969thStreet
Maspeth,NY 11378

CongressMemberNydiaVelazquez
266 Broadway,Suite201
Brooklyn,
NY 11211

BoroughPresidentHelenMarshall
120-55QueensBlvd
KewGardens,NY 11424

Dearall,

NYCParksCommissioner AdrianBenepestatedin a December2010letterthat

Parkshad enoughmoneyon handto startULURP(UniversalLandUse Review
Procedure)for the St. Saviou/sparkproject.So why hasthe Citybeen
preoccupiedhagglingover pricewith the ownerswithoutfirst startingULURP,
especiallyknowingtitle to the propertycannotbe takenuntilthis lengthyprocess
is finalized?Accordingto the CityCharterand Parks'own policiesand
procedures,negotiations are supposedto be the LASTstepin the process,nof
the first.And a negotiatedagreementis not a prerequisite
for acquisitionof a site
by the City.Takea lookat this and notethatcondemnation is acluallywritteninto
the rules:
 website:
FromNYCParksDepartment's

HOWDO WE ACQUIRENEWLAND???

Everwonderedhow Parts acquiresnewland?The processis calledUniformLandUse

ReviewProcedure(ULURP).The entireprooess,whichinvolvessix steps,takesan estimated
two and a half years.Administeredby the Departmentof CityPlanning,Parksfiles
applica1onsfor changesto the city mapand authorization for the acquisitionof propertyfor
parftlandacrordingto Section197C of the City Charter'

The followingoutlinesthe stepsthat Parkstakesto acquirenewland:

- Step t: With an initiat amount of money for park acquisition, Par{tsor its consultants
prcpircs and submits a ULURPor mapping applicationand CEGIRdocumentsto the
befartment of Ctty Planning.(Therc is no mandatorytimeframein the Charterfor
review of ULURPapplications by the DepartmentoJ City Planning.)
- Step1a:CityPlanningconvenesan AllAgencyMappingConference to reviewParks'
applicationin relationto land usesunderthe jurisdictionof eachof the agencies.This can
involveutilitylines,proposedstreetimprovements and otheragencyoperationalrequirements.
A summary,pre=certification reportof the conferenceis issuedby City Planning.This report
includesotheragencyrequirements resultingfromthe mappingconferenceand instruc{s
parksto beginpreparationof the AlterationMap.(Step 1 and 1a-approximately 6 months).

- Step2: As required,ParksManagementServiceshiresa consultantto preparethe Alteration

Mapwhichoutlinesthe proposedparkacquisition andmapping.Thisis the documentwhich
servesa$the City'slegalandtechnicalguideforthe mappingto be certifiedby the
Departmentof City Planning(3-5months).
- Step3: Oncecomfleted,the consultant'smap,callcdthe "AlterationMap,"goesto City
Planningandthe BoroughPresidentfor review,andthen backto the consultantfor changes
(approximately
4-6 months).
- Step3.5: lf, at this slage,fundingforthe acquisitionis insufiicient(<75o/o value),
of expec'ted
Parksworkswith electedoffieialsto bridgethe gap'
- Step4: The AlterationMapis then certifiedfor reviewat threeand possiblyfour public
hearings.The chafterallowsfor a combinedtotalof 200 daysfor hearingsby the local
CommunityBoard,BoroughPresident,City Planning,and uponrequest,the CityCouncil.
Whenthe inputand reviewprocessis complete,Parksthen hasan "adoptedmap."
receivefinal adofiion fromthe
- Step 5: Once Parks'mappingand acquisitionapplications
C1y PlanningGommission, andwith appmximately 75Yoof the fundingforthe purchase
secure,Parksrequeststhatthe Officeof Management andBudgetissuea certificate
authorizing by purchaseor condemnation.
acquisition Thecertificateis knownas a GBX(3-6
months).

is issued,the Divisionof RealEstateServices(withinDCAS)

- Step6a: Oncethe certificate
seeksto acquirethe land by negotiated sale.lf the partiesagreeto termsof the negotiated
sale,the sale is and
completed, title is vested to Parks.(6 mo.- 1 yr.) Thetimeframeforthis
stepdependson resolvingcomplicatedlegalproceduresfortitle closing,namely:title search,
searchfor outstandingliens,and invesiigationof landconditions.
- Step6b: lf thetermsof the saleare notagreedupon,the LawDepartment acquiresthe
prospective parklandby condemnation, andtitleis vested.Thefinal awardpurchase
payment
amountthen goesto reviewby a condemnation judge.
Workersstarteddiggingfoundationsfor 4 smallwarehouseson T.of the
property,but have beenabsentfrom the site sinceWednesday,April 6th. The
permitswereapprovedby the DOBdespitefaultybuildingpermitapplications
and despitethere still beinga partialstopwork orderon the propertyfor the
partiallyillegallyremovedretainingwallthattheyneveraddressed.So whenthe
diggingcreatesvibrationsthere'sthe possibilitythatwhat'sleftof the wall may
collapse.

It shouldbe notedthat acquisitionof the entiresite can proceedregardlessof

whetheror not thereis somethingbuilton the property.But it will makethe
acquisitionmoreexpensiveandwill requiremoneydownthe roadfor demolition.
Obtainingthe sitevacantwouldbe idealand startingULURPmakesit lesslikely
that the ownerswill buildon the property.

We havethe moneyto startStep1 of the ULURPprocess.lt is nowup to you,

our electedofficials,to makesure that the ParksDepartmentdoes so. Thereis
no excusefor furtherdelay.

Whatwe are facedwith is a lack of enthusiasmfrom the Bloomberg

administration.Maspethis not a placetheyare accustomed to helping.Rather,
it's a placeconsideredto be a dumpinggroundfor cityfacilitiesthat the public
doesn'tuse.We havejust abouteverymunicipalagencytakingup spacein
Maspethand not contributingto the tax base.In returnfor hostingall their
vehiclesand facilitiesand beingsubjectto the pollutiontheycause,we get
nothing. And nowwe are gettinganotherMTAvehicledepot.

We needour electedofficialsto lobbythe ParksDepartment, CouncilSpeaker

and the Mayofs Officeto makesurethis projecthappens.Therereallyis no
acceptableanswerfor why this projectis stalled. lt's timeto holdthe
feet to the fire andforcethemto keeptheirpromiseto the people
administration's
of Maspeth.ULURPmustbe startedASAP.

Thankyou.

g*ffi-e//*e
ChristinaWilkinson
President
NewtownHistoricalSociety

CC: CouncilMemberJamesVan Bramer,StateSenatorMichaelGianaris,

AssemblyMemberCathyNolan,CongressMemberAnthonyWeiner,Congress
MemberJosephCrowley