Thursday, February 21, 2013

WPU requests road repairs at Queens Borough President's budget hearing

Budget Hearing Testimony 2/20/2013 by


WPU member Joseph Ardizzone read the attached statement at the Queens Borough President's annual budget hearing. When the following passage was read, CB7 Chair Gene Kelty went ballistic, stating that it was inappropriate to bring up his board's role in the neglect of Willets Point over the years:
WPU is appalled that Queens Community Board 7 ("CB7") has not included any funding request for the repair of Willets Point roadways within its formal Budget Priorities and Requests for 2014 – despite CB7 having been clearly informed multiple times of the very obvious and dire need for roadway repairs via oral and written presentations by WPU during every CB7 meeting held between May, 2012 and February, 2013, inclusive. Instead, CB7 chose to prioritize such items as a "Horticultural Design Study" for some historic sites in downtown Flushing. With all due respect to horticultural designers, there should have been a place for desperately needed Willets Point improvements within CB7's 2014 budget priorities.
Perhaps next year, Mr. Kelty and his board will see fit to include new streets for Willets Point among their list of 25 priorities for the following fiscal year.