More Battle lines drawn in Sunnyside Gardens
From the Queens Tribune:
First Step Made In Hot Landmark Case
By JENNIFER POLLAND
Delegates on both sides of the landmarking debate are consistently butting heads. In response to the Sunnyside Gardens Preservation Alliance, a community organization seeking landmark designation, several residents created the Preserve Sunnyside Gardens Coalition, a coalition that protests landmark designation. It seems that everyone in the community has an opinion and is unafraid to voice it.
Landmarking is a highly polarizing issue, and like the residents of Sunnyside Gardens, the politicians who represent the neighborhood are also divided. Assemblywomen Catherine Nolan (D-Ridgewood) and Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth) are proponents of landmark designation, while Sen. George Onorato (D-Long Island City) and Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Glendale) are against designation.
Ultimately, the City Council is responsible for voting on landmark designation, placing Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) in a difficult predicament. Not only does Gioia represent Sunnyside, he currently resides in Sunnyside Gardens with his wife and daughter. Gioia has not yet taken a definitive position on the issue.