State Sen. Tony Avella (D-College Point, Whitestone, Bayside, Flushing, Jamaica Estates, Fresh Meadows, Bellerose, Floral Park, Jamaica, Douglaston, Little Neck, Auburndale, Kissena Park, Briarwood) and College Point residents stood outside an unfinished building on Tuesday to denounce construction of a potential hotel.
The project is a source of grave concern from residents as Super A Construction, the contractors of the six-story hotel, submitted a new application to the Department of Buildings (DOB) in February. Those opposed to the proposal say the community was not consulted and it could cause further traffic in the nearby area.
Avella echoed these worries by highlighting changes that include overdevelopment in the College Point neighborhood. He pointed out there existed a hotel about a block away.
“My question for the mayor, the city, and the Department of Buildings is how much can College Point endure?” he said.
Furthermore, Avella added he sent another letter on Tuesday to the DOB—the third one so far—listing local concerns and questions. He noted he did not receive a response for his last two.
The state senator understood there needed to be profit made from purchasing the property. Yet felt the developers of the project reneged on a previous agreement for a compromise that benefits all parties, he said.
“That’s the one thing that really irks me. When someone tells me that we’re going to work together, we’re going to find a solution, and then pretends he never said that,” Avella said.
Katheryn Servino, Vice President for the College Point Civic Association and College Point resident, said there was no need for the hotel and feared it could become a homeless shelter.
“This has been happening on a rapid basis all over the place. We don’t want to see it happen here. If you know there already is not a need, why do?,” she said.
Servino later explained there was initial sympathy from the owners of the land, but they haven’t stopped their plans for a hotel.
“There is no need for it. [This] is a residential and manufacturing community,” she said.
