WAREHOUSES WILL RISE AT CHURCH SITE

St. Saviour’s Church is shown in this 2008 photo prior to being dismantled at its former home on a 1.5 acre block near the corner of Rust Street and 57th Road. The owners of the now-vacant lot, Maspeth Development LLC, have submitted plans to the New York City Buildings Department seeking to build four warehouses on part of the site. The Juniper Park Civic Association plans to rebuild the dismantled church, which is currently in storage. Following a tug-of-war with community activists that lasted several years, the owners of the former site of St. Saviour’s Church in Maspeth are seeking to build several warehouses on part of the one-acre property.

Maspeth Development LLC has reportedly submitted plans to the New York City Department of Buildings to construct four warehouses on the eastern half of the block near the intersection of 57th Drive and 58th Street. Each of the one-story struc- tures will occupy between 3,500 and 4,500 sq. ft. of land. There are no plans presently to develop the remainder of the site.

Despite originally proposing to build housing units on the site after purchasing the defunct church in October 2005, there are no plans to build any residential buildings on the site, according to Scott Kushnick of Maspeth Development. He told the Times Newsweekly in an interview that there will be “no residential component” to the site based on the protests of local residents in previous years and the sluggish real estate market.

Community activists who have long advocated for the creation of public park at the site repeated their calls for city officials to step in and take over the property, either through purchase or the use of eminent domain. In addition to being an important part of Maspeth’s history, they claim that the property itself would provide much needed greenspace to an area which is more than a halfmile away from their nearest park.

History of the battle

After the more than 150-year-old church was sold in october 2005 by it’s last occupant, San Sung Korean Methodist Church, Maspeth Development LLC presented Community Board 5’s Land Use Committee with plans to build up to 71 housing units on the 65,000-sq. ft. property.

Though located in a manufacturing zone, the development company sought board approval to rezone the site for residential use.

The plans set off a battle engaged by many community activists and residents who wanted to preserve the church and surrounding land as community center and park, respectively. Among the groups which spearheaded the effort was the Juniper Park Civic Association, which filed a lawsuit against the developers over questions regarding the validity of restrictions in the property’s original deed.

Although the suit led to injunctions that prevented contractors from working on the site for several months, the litigation was eventually dismissed in July 2006 by a Queens Supreme Court judge, who ruled that the deed restrictions were voided once the church’s original congregation was disbanded following the church’s sale to San Sung Church in 1995.

Nevertheless, the JPCA and local residents continued to fight for the church to be preserved and for the property to be purchased by the city for the creation of a new community park. Eventually, the owner of the property in 2008 allowed the civic group to dismantle the historic church and remove it from the site.

At the same time, then-City Council Member Dennis Gallagher attempted to negotiate a deal with Maspeth Development to preserve the church and part of the land while allowing for homes to be built on the remaining property. This led to a rift between Gallagher and preservationists who sought to protect the entire site.

The JPCA is currently raising funds to restore and rebuild the church on a parcel of land in Middle Village donated by All Faiths Cemetery. Negotiations between numerous elected officials continued in the hope of convincing the city to purchase the Maspeth property as parkland.

Even though Borough President Helen Marshall and City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley allocated funds to buy the property, more money was needed to make the deal a reality.

The ‘worst case scenario’

Having been unable to build houses on the site or sell the property to the city or a private entity, Kushnick noted that the company decided to move forward with developing warehouses “as-of-right” within the existing zoning regulations.

“I got dragged along the rezoning process for a number of years. That cost me a fortune,” he said, going on to note that “We said from the beginning that ... if [the community] wanted to stop the rezoning, the alternative for the site is an as-of-right development.”

“This (warehouses) was not what I wanted to build. It’s my worst case scenario. And I imagine that, from a community standpoint, it’s their worst case scenario, too,” Kushnick observed.

Regarding a potential deal with the city, he stated that “we’ve had some very informal conversations” about selling part of or the entire property, but no formal offer had ever been presented.

“We carved off a piece of the property and offered it to the city for sale. They had no interest in the property as it was,” Kushnick said. But “my ears are open. I’m not opposed to anything. But the numbers are just nowhere close to a realistic figure that can get something done.”

Christina Wilkinson, president of the Newtown Historical Society which has been advocating for the creation of a park at St. Saviour’s former site for several years, doubted the owner’s willingness to sell the property to the city.

“Actually, the city has not made him an offer at all. This is because Mr. Kushnick has refused to put his asking price in writing, as required by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, in order to start negotiations,” Wilkinson said in a statement sent to the Times Newsweekly. “He verbally told Elizabeth Crowley that he wanted $8 million for the entire 1.5 acre site. That is unreasonable, but would have been his initial asking price, and he likely would have negotiated down from there.”

In speaking with the Times Newsweekly on Monday, Kushnick declined to provide an asking price for the St. Saviour’s site. Though admitting that he was willing to sell the site at a loss both in value and money previously invested in the property, he stated, “a loss that I deem reasonable would still be above the market value.”

A difficult situation

The St. Saviour’s site now lies undeveloped with the church dismantled and in storage and the scores of trees which once surrounded it cut down several years ago. Though its fate was the subject of great controversy, Community Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano observed that “it was inevitable that the owner would try to do something with that property.”

“It’s a difficult situation,” he told the Times Newsweekly. “Although it’s zoned for manufacturing, there are houses all around it on three sides.” Giordano noted that the board would need to consider numerous potential impacts the warehouses could bring, such as increased truck traffic.

The $1.5 million in funding allocated by Crowley and Marshall would serve as “a decent down payment” for the site, Wilkinson said.

“Now we need [Representatives] Nydia Velázquez, Anthony Weiner [and] Joe Crowley, [State Sen.] Joe Addabbo and [Assemblywoman] Marge Markey to come through with additional funding on their respective governmental levels and the mayor to pitch in as well,” she added.

In a statement, Crowley remarked, “Maspeth has been under served when it comes to park space and we need to seize on this opportunity to invest in open space for the residents of Maspeth. That is why Borough President Marshall and I secured $1.5 million to acquire park space in this area of Maspeth. I hope the owners of the property see this commitment and begin negotiations to sell the property to the city as soon as possible.”

Robert Holden, JPCA president, added that the city and Mayor Michael Bloomberg should intervene to acquire the property in order to “make good on [Bloomberg’s] promise of building more parks, especially for the neighborhoods that desper- ately need more greenspace like Maspeth.”

Willing to sacrifice

The JPCA was allocated $2 million in funding from Borough President Marshall and Council Member Crowley to rebuild the dismantled church at All Faiths Cemetery, but Holden indicated that the group was open to the idea of shifting the money toward purchasing the church’s former home.

“It has always been our goal to save the church and property,” the civic president told the Times Newsweekly in an e-mail. “If we could help save the property and then rebuild the church later, preferably at that location, Maspeth and Queens County would have a big part of their history saved for future generations to enjoy. Although time is running out, we’re still hopeful that Mayor Bloomberg will do the right thing and save the St. Saviour’s property for a park like he did at the Elmhurst Gas Tanks site.”

Wilkinson also suggested that the city could help itself in acquiring the property by moving to condemn it, noting that they have used this practice “countless times in the past for park projects.”

“[I]t would give them the opportunity to acquire the site at a reasonable price, and under state law, they would have three years to pay the rest of the acquisition money before taking title to the property,” she stated. “The city has thus far resisted using eminent domain for this project, and the mayor has not matched the funds that the elected officials have allocated, as he has for other park projects.”

While generally opposing the use of eminent domain, Holden said that “in this case I would definitely be in favor of it since this property is historic land and should be saved for future generations.”

Though the St. Saviour’s location “could make for a beautiful site for a park or a community center,” Giordano conceded that “the city’s got to be willing to purchase and develop it.”

“In this difficult economic situation, that has not been easy,” the district manager said. “When the capital budget is being cut in many different ways, and we’re waiting for projects that should have begun several years ago, the financial situation of the city does not make it easy for them to acquire the site for a park and/or community center.”