CB5 chair pens letter blasting DOB on Glendale shelter

The proposed homeless shelter in Glendae on Cooper Avenue
The proposed homeless shelter in Glendale on Cooper Avenue.

Community Board 5 is still not getting the answers it needs from city agencies about the planned homeless shelter at 78-16 Cooper Avenue in Glendale.

On Tuesday, CB5 Chair Vincent Arcuri Jr. penned a letter to Derek Lee, the Queens borough commissioner for the Department of Buildings, blasting his agency for not helping the board obtain amended documents.

“Once again, I must express my displeasure with how your Department is handling the review and filings for the above referenced job,” Arcuri wrote.

According to Arcuri, drawings inflatable water slide of the site indicate that the dormitory-style residence will have 210 beds in 22 rooms on two floors.

The CB5 chair asked Lee what has been approved for occupancy at the location, since the project appears to be creating a residence facility that doesn’t comply with the city’s Multiple Dwelling laws.

Arcuri also brought up questions about how the former manufacturing warehouse complies with the city’s zoning code, particularly as transient hotels are not permitted within M1 districts.

“We are completely confused with what has been filed for the above-referenced job,” he wrote, “and dismayed by the fact that the current approved documents are not available for us to review.”

The topic is sure to come up at CB5’s monthly meeting, which is set for Wednesday, February 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Christ the King High School. in Middle Village.

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CB5 chairman asks mayor to rescind shelter permits

Vincent Arcuri, Jr., the chairman of Queens Community Board 5 is calling on Mayor de Blasio to rescind the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) permits that were approved last year that would allow for 78-16 Cooper Avenue in Glendale to become transitional housing for homeless individuals r8C06_HomelessShelter12_12_copyun by Samaritan Village.

In the letter dated April 1, Arcuri applauds the de Blasio administration’s commitment to developing industrial properties in Queens and points out that 78-16 Cooper Avenue could be perfect as an incubator.

“This existing, approximately 50,000 square foot building that once housed aircraft manufacturers, cabinet makers and knitting mills could, with relatively little investment, become a major incubator site,” Arcuri writes.

In closing, Arcuri asks de Blasio to rescind the permits approved by the DOB last march and urge the New York City Economic Development Corporation to enter negotiations with the current owners to restore industrial usage to the property.

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