Senator Onorato Urges Nextel To Fully Respond To Concerns Of Community, Local Parents Regarding Cell Phone Towers

State Senator George Onorato (D-Queens), who wrote to the Nextel communications company in mid-December to protest the company’s placement of 12 cell phone towers near P.S. 122 in Long Island City, today said that, despite some recent concessions, “Nextel should quite simply remove this base station and respect the very valid concerns of our community.”

The Senator noted that efforts by City Councilmember Peter Vallone, Jr., Assemblymember Michael Gianaris, Community Education Council #30, the Astoria Neighborhood Coalition, Community Board #1, P.S. 122 Principal Mary Kojes, and other public officials and community members to have the towers removed have met with a lukewarm response from Nextel, which initially called the placement of the base station an “appropriate” business decision. More recently, the company agreed to alter the site at 32-42 33rd Street by removing four antennas that directly face the school, while converting the remaining structures to “stealth” antennas.

“While it’s nice that Nextel agreed to this step, the location of the towers near P.S. 122 is still a serious problem,” Senator Onorato said. Nextel was recently informed that a special needs class currently meets on the third floor of P.S. 122, and that communication equipment used by the students could be affected by cell tower emissions. “If these antennas have the potential for disrupting this equipment, which is essential to the students’ educational experience, they must be removed, period,” he added.

“Like many other members of our community, I believe that it is completely inappropriate to place these towers adjacent to a school with 1200 students, particularly since the potential health effects of these antennas have yet to be fully determined,” said Senator Onorato. “When it comes to our kids, there’s no question in my mind that it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

The Queens lawmaker noted that legislation has been introduced in recent years by Assemblymember Gianaris and others to regulate the placement of these towers, and to specifically impose a 120-day moratorium on the construction of wireless facilities in New York City. “I hope that this is the year New York State steps in to place curbs on cell phone tower placement,” Senator Onorato said. “Should this legislation come up for consideration, I will certainly give it my unqualified support.”

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