R4B Letter to City Planners                     

                                                       

 

Date: June 25, 2009

 

Re: Zoning designation for Norwood Gardens: bounded by 35th, 36th and 37th Streets between 30th Avenue and 31st Avenue.

 

Dear Queens Department of City Planning, John Carusone, Chair of CB1Q Zoning Committee, Mayor Bloomberg and elected officials:

 

Norwood Neighborhood Association members and residents have been fighting for R4B zoning since 2002 after a four-story apartment building busted the continuity of a beautiful and architecturally significant row of attached 1-family homes on 36th Street in Astoria. Our fight made The Daily News and all the local papers. Please see our website:

http://norwoodneighborhoodassociation.blogspot.com/

 

Over the past seven years, NNA members have logged in hundreds of man-hours, working hard behind the scenes on zoning concerns. We've met with residents many times. We’ve also consulted with land use experts, urban planners, civic leaders, community organizations, preservationists as well as our elected officials. We have gone door to door on 35th, 36th and 37th Streets and found that the MAJORITY of property owners (and renters too!) want Norwood Gardens to be zoned R4B not R5B. Do City Planners incorporate the overwhelming needs and desires of the community that will be rezoned and the community’s vision for the future?

 

NNA applauds this long overdue rezoning initiative and proposal for Astoria. We appreciated Ian Haegerty’s meeting with NNA’s representatives and explaining how an R5B designation would protect Norwood Gardens from commercial overlays, curb cuts, front yard depth minimums and building line up. R5B works well for the residential blocks whose character reflects an R5B zone. We can’t emphasize enough how highly unique our 3 blocks are. Only R4B zoning will give Norwood Gardens adequate protection!! Let the signatures of over 100 property owners speak for themselves! We demand R4B zoning for our 3 unique blocks and the height restrictions (24’) and protection only R4B offers. We invested in the low-rise neighborhood of Norwood Gardens and want to protect our investment! Our Quality of Life is under attack by inappropriate development. Norwood Gardens has had 2 blows to its character. We need R4B protection now. Enough!

 

Zoning and visionary planning should go hand in hand. Norwood Gardens R4B designation will benefit more than the property owners. An attractive neighborhood with a discernable character (think of Greenwich Village) increases in value over time and offers a high return and many benefits to everyone, residents and businesses alike. 30th Avenue has a vibrant street life, much of this due to the special nature of Norwood Gardens’ attractions and contributions to our area. Astorians love 35th, 36th and 37th Streets’ leafy low-rise setting. It is this character that draws visitors from all over NYC. Let’s not have inappropriate zoning for the next 50 years!

 

Out of context development has ravaged so much of Queens and is taking its toll on our community. 38th Street between 31st Avenue and 30th Avenue is a sad street, ugly, lacking continuity and stripped of its character. 38th Street will never recover from the destruction and disgrace developers brought and which inappropriate zoning permitted. Shame! Please, we urge you, do no not make the same mistake for Norwood Gardens. R4B is the contextual zone which most closely reflects our community.

 

Norwood Neighborhood Association members met June 23rd in preparation for the upcoming CB1 zoning that will meet 6/30/09 at Astoria World Manor. Our chief topic of discussion was should Norwood Gardens (35th, 36th and 37th Streets between 30th Avenue and 31st Avenue) accept an R5B designation. The response was a resounding NO – we vote for R4B!

 

Respectfully yours,

Norwood Neighborhood Association

mailto:norwood.astoria@gmail.com

 

Norwood Neighborhood Association

PO Box #9102

Grand Avenue Station

Astoria NY 11103

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

             

 

             

PO Box #9102 Grand Avenue Station, Astoria NY 11103

                                     email:  norwood.Astoria@gmail.com

R4B Letter address to NYC Planners

Biggest Rezoning of Astoria Since 1961!

Peter Vallone, Sr. moderatesTown Hall Zoning Meeting

Town Hall Meeting on Astoria Rezoning Proposal.
Over 150 concerned Astoria residents showed up at the Town Meeting May 5th, as City Planners unveiled their Zoning Proposal for over 8,000 Astoria properties; the biggest zoning study in almost 40 years!

Director, Queens City Planning, John Young

Norwood Gardens has long been pushing for a zoning study. Local residents watched in disgust, the razing of 38th Street's 1 and 2 family homes. Beautiful, front gardens are now gone and so is 38th Street's leafy, homey character. Norwood Gardens homeowners and residents DO NOT want this to happen in the Norwood Gardens Community (35th, 36th and 37th Streets between 30th Avenue and 31st Avenue) and have been pushing for R4B a contextual zone that would protect the beauty and distinct character of our low rise neighborhood. Norwood Neighborhood Association had a strong presence at the Town Hall zoning meeting May 5th, and applauds Council Member Vallone's pushing for this zoning study and his support of contextual rezoning.

Council Member Peter Vallone speaks in support of the zoning Study.

During the zoning meeting, New York City Planners explained how "upzoning" will be guided to "appropriate" areas of Astoria and how "contextual zoning" of low rise communities will not allow them to be inappropriately and destructively developed. Contextual zoning will protect many of Astoria's low rise neighborhoods that Astoria residents appreciate. These low rise pockets bring benefits to all of Astoria's residents (home owners and renters alike), by providing variety, green spaces and a solid sense of community with an investment and love of their neighborhood.

Residents expressed concern that some very important planing issues were not addressed, e.g., more green spaces! Green spaces are disappearing at an alarming rate: front gardens are being replaced by built out-apartment buildings, community churches and surrounding green areas are being razed in order to develop the properties and front yards are cemented over to make room for parking slabs. Residents need more public parks and green spaces! Families near Broadway / 30th Avenue between Steinway and 31st Street rely on Sean's Place playground (38th Street). The playground is so overcrowded it's dangerous. In the Zoning Proposal, 30th Avenue and 31st Street and Broadway are zoned for high density. Are there any green spaces or parks included in new Zoning Proposal to accommodate more residents and families? It is our City Planners' responsibility to incorporate these important quality of life needs in the 2009 Zoning Proposal, as this MAJOR Astoria rezoning project will affect Astoria residents for many years to come.

Suggestion:

Are there incentives in the new Zoning Proposal to encourage developers to include green spaces and plantings in their development projects? Developers often build out as far as possible and are not concerned with adding quality of life benefits for the neighborhood at large. Developers do not live in our communities and their primary concern is not in creating or contributing to a better more livable community. Families and residents want and need beauty, quite spaces and green in their environment.


Norwood Neighborhood Association has been working on a rezoning study for many years.
When a 1 family home was razed breaking the architectural continuity of 30 planned, attached homes, the community went to the press and elected official in hopes of getting a zoning study initiated. Articles appeared in: Daily News (June 6, 2002), The Western Queens Gazette (June 5, 2002), Queens Chronicle, June 6, 2002 and Queens Chronicle, June 27, 2002 and more. It's taken 7 years to get a Zoning Study. Let's hope R4B is approved for Norwood Gardens and that the implementation takes place soon before more damage is done.

Please, mark this important date on your calendar!
The City Planning Dept. will explain the new
zoning proposal. It's important we show up!
The meeting is scheduled for 6/30 at 6:30 pm
at Astoria World Manor, 25-22 Astoria Blvd.

Agenda for Norwood Meeting June 23rd @ 7 PM!

Kids drinking in their car, yelling and disturbing sleeping
people at 2 AM, left their empty beer bottle and cups
on 36th Street before driving off.





Garden statue on 36th Street was smashed on the
sidewalk sometime after 2AM June 12th.


Beautiful shrub was ripped out of a 36th Street garden
and thrown on top of a parked car.

Drinking and high speed driving do not mix

as seen in photo of 36th Street car crash.

Residents are furious and FED UP!!!!

An Open Letter from Norwood Gardens Residents!

Queens Community Board 1 , HELP!!!

Re: Approval of outdoor cafe permits and liquor licenses for 30^th Avenue has brought vandalism, late night noise disturbances, drivers using excessive speed and aggression, trash and public urination.

Dear Queens Community Board Members:

As the Neighborhood Association has a meeting tonight to discuss the rezoningproject they cannot be present this evening. I am here as a representative of NNA and Norwood Gardens residents to request your help with serious quality of life issues our community is experiencing.

The new cafes and clubs on 30th Avenue bring a vibrant street life to our community. People from all over Queens and Manhattan flock to 30th Avenue to enjoy the social life provided by new cafes and clubs. Most residents welcome the variety and European flavor the cafés offer but the increase in liquor licenses and outdoor seating permits has also brought late night noise disturbances (3AM), vandalism (auto break-ins, property damage and graffiti), speeding cars (there have been a number of drunken late night crashes), litter (empty, broken beer bottles, trash) and public urination. Norwood members have been in contact Police Precinct #114 re these issues. Our precinct recommended contacting CB1, to request that a task force be assigned to 30th Avenue on the weekends, especially in the summer. If revenue is generated by approving liquor licenses and outdoor cafe permits, some of the income should go towards protecting Norwood Gardens’ residents, people who’s quality of life has been negatively and regularly impacted.
Of utmost concern to the residents (especially the children!) is exposure to the excessive speed and aggression by café patron’s vehicles. We need preventative measures in place before an unfortunate accident kills or maims someone. To curb excessive speed and reckless driving we recommend safety measures such as speed bumps, road or street signage or vibration bumps be put in place to slow cars down. A resident’s dog was run over and killed by a speeding SUV that never stopped. The enclosed photos document the tip of the iceberg what we experiencie daily.

If there is anything NNA can do to help with these quality of life concerns, we welcome the opportunity to help make our neighborhood better and safer.

Thank in advance for your help and support. Norwood Neighborhood Association

NYC Contracted Pruners Hack Back on 35th street

The purpose of City Tree's course:

Street trees enhance the quality of urban life by improving our environment, both physically and aesthetically.
Moreover, a street tree is the only representative of nature to many city dwellers, and thus helps them identify with such issues as habitat loss, destruction of the world's rain forests and the greenhouse effect.

Unfortunately, the harsh environment of New York City's streets greatly diminishes the life span of a tree. The first few years of a street tree's life after planting are the most critical and will often determine it's longevity. With modest amount of care, most of these trees will not only get through this tough period but will actually thrive. In this course, you learn many things about trees including:

*The importance of street trees in an urban environment
*The many problems facing street trees and how to identify and remedy them
*The basic structure and biology of a tree
*How to identify the different species of trees that grow on the streets of NYC
*The agencies to call if you need to report tree problems
*The methods for getting a tree planted in your neighborhood
*What you can do to improve our urban forest

By successfully completing the course and passing a Certification exam, you will be Licensed by the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation and Trees New York as a Citizen Pruner. You will have the knowledge and practical experience to help protect our city's street trees, and thereby provide a great service to our entire community.

Pruners on 35th, 36th and 37th Street are still careless and working too fast to do a proper job. They also don't have the right tools. Smaller trees should be pruned with a hand tools not a chain saw.




Reckless Pruners under contract to NYC!
Honorable Mayor Bloomberg Tree Pruning Program
By Contract For the City Of New York Parks & Recreation
Adrian Benepe, Commissioner.




Norwood's certified "City Tree" Pruner was on hand to help advise against excessive pruning of green branches and recommended removing dead wood. Work being done on 6/17/08 was not skillful. Upcutting on the small branches should have been done with a folding hand saw not a chain saw. This way the bark would have been spared the deep cuts made by the chain saw.

Brutal Tree Pruning Shocks, Angers and Saddens Astoria Locals

Astoria Locals angry and saddened over shoddy and unprofessional tree pruning.

Please see links (Links to City Tree Services, Grants and Maintenance) to city agencies for planting new trees, removing dead trees, pruning services, repair and restoration of sidewalk damaged by tree roots, and much more.

To see more photos of pruning damage, click on the images below to view online galleries.



What should have been pruned (dangerous branches) was left, what should have been left, hacked off!



Top of mature tree chopped off! The shock adds stress and risks health of tree.

Knowing how trees benefit the environment and quality of life, our city goes to great expense to plant trees in our community. To risk the health of a young tree with unprofessional and reckless pruning wastes taxpayer money, TWICE!

Stop Brutal Pruning: Mayor Bloomberg, Commissioner Benepe

Norwood Neighborhood Association is contacting NYC officials to lodge a complaint against hiring unprofessional, contracted pruners to handle a highly skilled job. Trees are valuable assets to our city and community and should be treated as such; not damaged by incompetent and unconscious persons with dull saws.