With the status of parkland at the former site of St. Saviour’s church in west Maspeth in limbo, local leaders are pushing the city to begin the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), which is essential to purchase the site or seize it through eminent domain.
According to the Parks Department, the agency is ready to move forward with the ULURP process, once the funds to pay for it are secured.
State Senator Joe Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) recently sent a letter to the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) asking for $75,000 to cover the costs of the ULURP process. The DEC is currently sitting on $10 million to fund various green projects near the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. A park at St. Saviour’s is one of the finalists for the funding.
“Although a final decision on the funding has not been made, we respectfully ask that DEC release $75,000 for the required ULURP to the Parks Department as soon as possible,” Addabbo said in his letter, co-signed by 12 other legislators including Council Members Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and state Assemblymen Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) and Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven).
Addabbo said on Tuesday he had not heard back from DEC. A request for comment from the agency went unanswered by press time.
There is currently active construction of warehouses at the site, as the owner maintains the city has not offered a fair price for the property.
Addabbo said creating the park is a big priority and is looking towards any path that could help start the process.
“It’s not a question of wanting parkland, it’s needing it,” he said. “In the end, either through sale or other process, that area is in dire need of park space.”
Local activists have called on the city to start the ULURP process and take the land through eminent domain.
“If greedy landlords are not willing to sell, they should condemn the land. Eminent domain should be an important tool in this fight,” Geoffrey Croft, president of the New York City Park Advocates, said during a May rally supporting the park.
Christina Wilkinson, president of the Newtown Historical Society and one of the chief activists leading the fight for the property, has been campaigning for months to get the city to start ULURP and condemn the land.
“Pressuring the owner to sell is not really an option without [eminent domain] on the table,” Wilkinson said last May.
By Eric Yun
