Canarsie Wants "As of Right" Protection
07/08/2007
Many in Canarsie fear ‘We’re under attack’
By Helen Klein
During a late June meeting convened by State Senator John Sampson at the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club, 77 Conklin Avenue, civic leaders enumerated a variety of problems that the community is dealing with.
A major issue, contended Mary Ann Sallustro, the president of the South Canarsie Civic Association (SCCA) is the “abuse of as-of-right” development.
“Just because you can do something,” she asserted, “doesn’t make it right. I come to Canarsie, I don’t recognize it. The old houses are out of character. They (new homes) have taken over. We’re under attack. All the blocks have signs — sell your house, cash for land.” While rezoning is in the works, she added, nothing has happened yet.
Among the issues that Sallustro brought up were the medical waste transfer station that is likely to open at East 100th Street and Farragut Road, and the housing development proposed for East 105th Street and Farragut Road by Common Ground, working in partnership with the Christian Cultural Center.
“Rezoning is only half the solution,” noted Ira Kluger, the president of the Canarsie Historical Society. “The other half would be landmark designation of specific sites and for specific areas within Canarsie. Canarsie was settled in 1636. It is one of the oldest settled areas in the tri-state region. The New York City Landmarks Commission has consistently turned its back on Canarsie time after time. That is something that has to change.”
Among buildings that have been proposed by local residents for landmarking are the Midget Squadron, the American Legion Hall, at East 92nd Street and Conklin Avenue and the firehouse, at 1361 Rockaway Parkway.
Steven Kaye, the vice president of SCCA, brought up a variety of problems.
One was the closing of the local Waldbaum’s, with “not so much as a peep from the elected officials,” a stark contrast with what happened, he said, when a supermarket closed in Sheepshead Bay, and there were, “elected officials jumping up and down in front of the store.”
The second was the condition of the roadway on East 77th Street — “like driving on a roller coaster. Nothing in Canarsie has been repaired,” Kaye asserted.
Kaye also wanted to know why elected officials objected strenuously when Lowe’s proposed to build a big-box store on Avenue U in Mill Basin, but, when Home Depot announced plans to open in a new development on Avenue D in Canarsie, those who represent the neighborhood, “Welcomed them here. Why are we being treated in a different way?” he wanted to know.
In fact, said Sampson, “That’s why we are having a meeting like this tonight.” And, he noted, when the elected officials believed that they could have influence, they did get involved, such as in trying to fight to help Canarsie High School keep its principal.
“We have to be vigilant in exercising our rights as elected officials and as a community,” he stressed. “It is the level of involvement. We all know that the squeaky wheel gets the oil.”
Knowing the community’s concerns is an important first step to dealing with them, stressed Sampson. “I’m only as strong as the community leaders are strong,” he told his listeners. “The best way to come up with solutions,” he added, is to reach out to, “Those people in the trenches working on day-to-day issues.”
“Working together,” added Assemblymember Alan Maisel, “we know we can do a better job.”
However, noted American Legion Post Commander Carlton Richardson, getting civic leaders together is only the first step.
“We have all these civic leaders here and on one knows who everyone is,” Richardson remarked. “No one is talking to each other. All the civic leaders and the representatives for the politicians should show up once a month at a neutral spot and iron out our problems.”
©Courier-Life Publications 2007