More Civic Mindedness in Whitestone

Also from Whitestone Times: http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2011/05/19/whitestone/whitestone_times/news/wt_devon_vs_avella_20110519.txt

Whitestone’s civic leaders are clashing and local politicians are taking sides.


The Greater Whitestone Taxpayers Association will likely soon be facing new competition from the Welcome to Whitestone Commercial and Residential Civic Association proposed last month by Devon O’Connor, founder of the year-old Welcome to Whitestone community group.

The possibility of a new game in town has instigated divisive reactions by Whitestone’s local legislators and its other, smaller civic, the Malba Gardens Civic Association, which was reactivated several years ago by Al Centola after more than a decade of inactivity.

City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) has said he supports the creation of any new groups that will advocate for his constituents, while state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) has argued emphatically that the creation of a new civic would divide Whitestone.

“It’s unfortunate there will be another civic that is in competition with the Taxpayers,” Avella said earlier this month.

Marlene Cody, a vice president for the Taxpayers, and Avella did not return repeated requests for comment.

Avella ruffled O’Connor’s feathers earlier this month when he contended that the 20-year-old may find himself in legal trouble by raising money for the Welcome to Whitestone community group while it is still under consideration for official nonprofit status, according to Avella spokesman Ed Fleming and O’Connor.

“Tony Avella told my grandparents that someone should look into Devon’s finances, that maybe [I] was doing the organization wrong,” O’Connor said. “I haven’t done anything wrong, my lawyer says I haven’t done anything wrong, so I have no idea what the problem is.”

O’Connor said he wants to start the civic to help the community, which he says is not being fully represented by the Taxpayers.

“To say the Taxpayers represent the community, I’m not saying they don’t, but I’m not saying they do either,” he said. “A lot of people I’ve spoken to don’t even know who the Taxpayers are.”

Cody has not commented publicly on the new civic, but she has taken a chilly tone toward Centola’s group. Both O’Connor and Centola have expressed dissatisfaction with the efficacy of the Taxpayers.

An e-mail Cody sent Centola May 11 about a community issue revealed a new contempt for the community, according to Centola.


“We received your e-mail. You are not a member of our civic. If our members have questions, they can contact us,” the e-mail began before failing to respond to his concerns. ( Cody's email was posted on a previous post)

Centola believes that the group feels it is under assault by new blood.

“They’ve had a lock with the politicians and now there are other groups making a stink and mixing things up and they’re worried,” Centola said. “Anything that’s going to come out for the betterment of the community and is going to open dialogue and discussion I think is good. The Whitestone Taxpayers have had a stranglehold on the community for too long, and they’ve become complacent.”

O’Connor and Centola planned to meet Tuesday to discuss ways they can work together.

Halloran said he supports the creation of new civics.

“We want to preserve and protect the neighborhoods, but at the same time we need to represent the small-business owners in the community,” Halloran said. “It’s a big enough community, there certainly could be more than one civic association here.”

Annual "Reassessment" increase from the Department of Finances

It is official, the Whitestone Jewels property just received a 70.6% "Reassessment" decrease while all of our residential Homeowners just got in the mail their "Reassessment" increase of on average 25%.

As many of you are aware our organization in a pre-emptive move informed our Councilman that the Whitestone Jewels tax break seemed excessive and unfair. The Councilman informed our group that they did not get a "Tax Break" but a "Reassessment". Well, a "Reassessment" has direct impact on our annual Real Estate Taxes, and now that we all received our "Reassessments" in the mail, why did the small individual residential homeowner get an increased "Reassessment"?

This does not seem fair to us at Malba Gardens Civic, Why do the Homeowners have to foot the bill once again? The small local working class family who actually live in the community, why did they get an increase?



CALL YOUR LOCAL COUNCILMAN, ASSEMBLYMAN, SENATOR, AND ANYONE ELSE YOU CAN THINK OF AND DEMAND THIS BE REMEDIED IMMEDIATELY. ENOUGH OF UNFAIR TAXES. WHY DO YOU HAVE TO CARRY THE LOAD WHILE THE DEVELOPERS GET THE RIDICULOUS DISCOUNTS? THIS IS OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

The following is a letter Councilman Halloran wrote to D.O.T. regarding our Safety Issue on 5th and 4th avenues. There is much that needs to be done on this issue and we thank the Councilman for acknowledging the fact that this is a Public Safety Issue that needs to be remedied.



THE COUNCIL
O F
THE CITY OF NEW YORK
Daniel J. Halloran, III
Council Member, 19th District, Queens







April 29, 2010

Hon. Maura McCarthy
Queens Borough Commissioner
Department of Transportation
120-55 Queens Boulevard – 2nd Floor
Kew Gardens, NY 11424

Commissioner McCarthy,

As you are aware, on April 27, 2010 Community Board 7 voted to table the traffic flow issue on 4th and 5th Avenue. While the issue may have been tabled for now, it is clear to me that the residents of 4th and 5th Avenue still have very valid concerns regarding safety.

I believe at a minimum the following must be done:

1. At the entrances to 4th and 5th Avenue negative truck signage needs to be placed. I have personally observed trucks violating the “No Commercial Vehicle” rules on a regular basis. While it may be Department of Transportation policy not to place negative truck signage, in this situation public safety demands it.

2. Additionally, the speed transition from the Whitestone Expressway, through 4th and 5th Avenue, into a residential neighborhood must be addressed. While I understand placing a stop sign on the exit ramp would cause traffic congestion on the Expressway, I believe the best solution for the time being is to place a stop sign on the service road at 5th avenue. As can be seen on the enclosed map, a stop sign would force vehicles exiting the Expressway to lower their speeds and would reduce the number of high speed vehicles coming from the Expressway and service road onto 4th Avenue.

I appreciate your attention to this matter and working with our community to resolve this public safety issue. Should you have any questions during your review, please do not hesitate to contact me at my District Office at (718)631-6703.

In Liberty,


Dan Halloran
Council Member,
District 19

DJH:mm

CC: Community Board 7