Queens Tribune: Neighborhood leaders protest ICCC proposal

Community leaders came together in Bellerose to protest an ongoing proposed development on the Creedmoor campus. The organization behind the project, the Indian Cultural Community Center, was accused of lying about the project’s details to get permission to purchase the land.

When the ICCC purchased part of the Creedmoor Campusat a discounted rate, it was set to be a one-story, freestanding cultural center. Once it bought the land though, that project transformed into two nine-story buildings forsenior housing. Since then, due to community outrage and City pressure, the development shrunk to a four-story tower.State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) and several civic leaders from eastern Queens met outside the Creedmoor campus at 82nd Avenue and 242nd Street. Everyone in attendance who spoke noted that the ICCC had misled the City and community from the very beginning.

While the ICCC is looking for the Board of Standards and Appeals to give them a variance so they can start construction, Avella and civic leaders are calling for a complete rejection due to the misleading nature with which they got the land. They were also very concerned about the negative impact such a structure would have on the residential neighborhood of one- and two-family homes.

“From our point-of-view, this property was obtained under false pretenses,” Avella said. “It would be a travesty of justice if the [BSA] would allow the ICCC to build anything other than a one-story community center.”

The Senator added that even the senior housing that the ICCC said it was building was a fallacy, as it was asking about 80 to 85 investors to give $45,000 towards the project in exchange for an apartment. Senior housing is done through a lottery.

He added that the investors came to him, concerned about what was happening with their money.

“I think they used that money to purchase the property,” he said. “I don’t know if the investors even know this; we got a copy of one of the agreements. It says in it that $45,000 does not guarantee them an apartment. They have to then contribute towards the construction costs. The people behind this should be in jail. This is fraud.”

Besides the impact to the quality of life, some were worried that the ICCC would not be able to finish constructing the project even if it did get through the BSA. According to Bob Friedrich, president of the Glen Oaks Village Co-op, the ICCC’s latest tax filings show a zero net-worth.

“The last thing we need in this community is a rusted hulk of a building that doesn’t have the financial backing to be completed, sitting in a community for years and years,” he said. “The ICCC is an organization that has no history of construction, no history of development, no history of managing buildings.”

Jerry Wind, president of the Bellerose Hillside Civic Association, said that the ICCC approached him for his support when the project was starting. While he was all for a one-story recreation center, the representative asked him aboutsenior housing as well. He wanted more information on the scope of the project, but the rep said it was still in the developmental stage. Wind found out soon after that meeting that the ICCC had filed paperwork with the Dept. of Buildings six weeks before he sat down with the organization. He called it the first in a series of lies.

The civic leader added that the ICCC brought down a busload of people to an earlier BSA meeting and tried to paint the members of the Bellerose community as against senior housing and anti-Indian.

“All they could do is say the people in the community don’t support senior housing. I can direct your attention to the south end of the Creedmoor campus and you’ll find the Father Reder apartments. Father Reder Apartments are a senior development, which was put in by Catholic Charities,” he said. “We helped Senator Padavan find a location for that because we are open to senior housing and we do not oppose it.”

Frank Toner, president of the Rocky Hills Civic Association, backed up Wind in rejecting the ICCC’s argument that neighborhood residents were against the Indian community.

“Over a year ago, we had well over 1,000 petitions signed by members of this community against this development. Many of those were from the Indian community. For them to say they represent the Indian community is a complete falsehood,” he said.

Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens) also expressed his disapproval of the project.

“While the ICCC has modified its plans to make the development smaller, the most recent proposal still does not conform to the project that was approved by the State Legislature,” he said in a statement.

The ICCC’s paperwork for the variance is due Oct. 28 and the next BSA hearing is on Nov. 25.

During the entirety of the press conference, an ICCC representative filmed Avella and the civic leaders as they talked about all of the issues they had with the project. When asked to comment afterwards, the representative said no and walked away.

Read the full story here.