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Locals have continually voiced concerns about Alma Realty\u2019s Surfside project, which includes the addition of four high-rise towers, as well as numerous townhouses, commercial space, and community facilities.
Rendering Courtesy of Studio V<\/p>\n
With new developments on the ho\u00adrizon for the Rockaway peninsula, Community Board 14\u2019s (CB14) Land Use Committee met at the Knights of Columbus at 333 Beach 90th Street on Wednesday, April 1, in hopes of addressing concerns about these projects before they are final\u00adized.\n<\/p>\n
One development project that re\u00admains on the forefront of these con\u00adversations is the 106-10 Shore Front Parkway Rezoning & Large-Scale General Development (LSGD) pro\u00adposal, also known locally as Alma Realty\u2019s Surfside Housing develop\u00adment proposal. As it currently ex\u00adists, the proposal aims to build four additional high-rise towers up to 24 stories each, as well as numer\u00adous townhouses, commercial space, and community facilities, around the property\u2019s existing three build\u00adings between Beach 105th Street and Beach 108th Street along Shore Front Parkway.\n<\/p>\n
Members of the Surfside Housing Association For Tenants (SHAFT) have opposed the development from its onset. Citing Alma Realty\u2019s ne\u00adglect of the original three 12-story apartment buildings that encompass the lot, residents of the complex can\u2019t fathom how Alma Realty, the third-place contender for NYC\u2019s \u201cworst landlords,\u201d can get away with a proj\u00adect of this magnitude.\n<\/p>\n
The complex has received numer\u00adous summonses over the years from the FDNY for elevator breakdowns and other hazardous conditions. Common complaints filed have also mentioned inadequate heating dur\u00ading the cold winter months and de\u00adcrepit parking lot conditions.\n<\/p>\n
In addition to this, the future de\u00advelopment has had some notable con\u00adcerns that SHAFT Leader Barbara Buffolino was quick to point out dur\u00ading last week\u2019s meeting.\n<\/p>\n
During the initial scoping meeting for the project on April 4, 2024, docu\u00adments provided from the city\u2019s Envi\u00adronmental Quality Review revealed that 15 out of the 19 categories as\u00adsessed indicated \u201csignificant adverse effects to the community.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u201cRight off the bat, I thought this would mean it was dead on arrival, but no\u2026 They wanted to go further,\u201d said Buffolino. \u201cThis is very concern\u00ading.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
In response, Buffolino sent an email to the Department of Com\u00admunity Planning (DCP) and the various agencies responsible. While highlighting the above concerns, she also asked that the agencies repeat an analysis of the site to address is\u00adsues that may have been missed or, as Buffolino claimed, were intention\u00adally omitted.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe looked and noticed there were things left out,\u201d Buffolino noted. \u201cWe also gave them information regarding the daily life and flow of the community to ensure that the parameters used for the future en\u00advironmental impact study include schools, traffic, etc.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Buffolino further added that SHAFT had also contracted its own third-party agency to come in and assess the risks at the site.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to speak up and hold the city government accountable when they make bad decisions,\u201d Buffolino added. \u201cTo ignore risks for a project and jeopardize thousands of resi\u00addents is just foolish to me.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Aside from Surfside, also on the ra\u00addar for locals is the planned rezoning of 2-28 Beach 87th Street. According to the application on file, the develop\u00aders hope to convert the property into a 10-story residential area that could have 58 units and an open space.\n<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
SHAFT Leader Barbara
Buffolino (above) and
CB14 Land Use Committee
Chair John Cori (left). Photos by Katie Larkin<\/p>\n
CB14 President Dolores Orr stated that the project will further con\u00adstrain an area with an already tight street, potentially removing parking altogether. She also wondered if the developers were aware of existing regulations, which state that build\u00ading height must work in conjunction with the limits of nearby roads.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if they can build ten stories,\u201d said Orr. \u201cI\u2019m kinda hoping they won\u2019t be able to.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Part of the CB14 Land Use Com\u00admittee\u2019s purpose for having a meet\u00ading last week was to discuss concerns surrounding these development pro\u00adposals, but another significant part was aimed at addressing how the community board or local electeds can respond to these projects if they should make progress.\n<\/p>\n
During last week\u2019s meeting, CB14 Land Use Committee Chair John Cori noted that mem\u00adber deference had been virtu\u00adally eliminated from the City Council since the \u201cCity of Yes\u201d is now in full effect. That power, which allowed City Council members to veto projects they believed were a harm to their community, no longer exists since a newly created appeals panel can now overturn these deci\u00adsions and allow projects to resume as planned even if the City Council and\/or the area\u2019s local representative votes it down.\n<\/p>\n
Adding to this urgent need for action is the fact that community boards are only given a 60-day re\u00adview period for proposed projects, a small window that Cori said has cre\u00adated immeasurable strain on CB14\u2019s ability to adequately challenge proj\u00adects on their merits and deficits.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThey time it so it\u2019s right after the community board meets,\u201d explained Cori. \u201cWe end up running around trying to find out what it is the com\u00admunity actually wants,\u201d he added. \u201cOver the years, we\u2019ve always had a gun to our head\u2026It\u2019s crazy what\u2019s going on, [so] we\u2019re trying to alert the community.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Cori also stated that the opposition to this project, or others like it, does not stem from an anti-affordable housing stance but rather it\u2019s about making sure that the projects are done the right way.\n<\/p>\n
What this means, he explained, is taking into account what the com\u00admunity experiences and the added resources it needs to thrive since adding too much too soon could over\u00adload an already strained community.\n<\/p>\n
Both Cori and Orr acknowledged the success of previous affordable housing projects, which were sup\u00adported by NYC Councilwoman Selve\u00adna Brooks-Powers, who rep\u00adresents the eastern half of the peninsula in Council District 31. Through these new developments, Brooks-Powers created an area with 100% affordable homeownership that also incorporated much-needed parking in its design, demonstrating the importance of collaboration and community input.\n<\/p>\n
Regarding the development pro\u00adposals on the horizon for Rockaway, Col. (Ret.) Tom Sullivan, the GOP candidate for outgoing NYS Assem\u00adblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato\u2019s District 23 seat, voiced his own con\u00adcerns, adding that these proposed developments would mean an addi\u00adtional tax on other properties across the peninsula.\n<\/p>\n
Since affordable units permit tax abatements for developers, the costs of the project and its upkeep after completion are directly passed onto market-rate dwellings. Sullivan also claimed that one such building on the other end of the peninsula had also received \u201cpreferred financing.\u201d While other properties in the area were paying 5-6% Annual Percent\u00adage Rate (APR), the new affordable units were paying 0%.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should all be aware of this when questioning this process,\u201d Sul\u00adlivan added.\n<\/p>\n
Going forward, CB14 plans on fighting these projects tooth and nail, challenging the projects based on current zoning laws throughout the peninsula.\n<\/p>\n
Buffolino, however, voiced con\u00adcerns that this tactic would not be enough, suggesting that it was time for Rockaway to form one united co\u00adalition to challenge the developers.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been talking to leaders, the neighborhood\u2026 everybody to fight this!\u201d Buffolino said. \u201cWe need to come together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Locals have continually voiced concerns about Alma Realty\u2019s Surfside project, which includes the addition of four high-rise towers,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-191634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}