CD3 group opposes bill to take Kings Point parkland for parking lot

Daily Point

Group formed in wake of Santos election pushing back against parkland alienation bill

Alienating parkland so it can be used for development has been a hot topic in the State Legislature this year, particularly related to New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s desire to build a casino on the Citi Field parking lot — which legally speaking is parkland.

But now a pair of bills introduced by local lawmakers in the State Senate and Assembly to allow for the alienation of parkland in Kings Point are getting intense scrutiny and debate of their own.

State Sen. Jack Martins and Assemb. Daniel Norber, the bills’ sponsors, are seeking legislative approval for the alienation of about 2½ acres that are part of Kings Point Park, which is owned by the Village of Kings Point and leased by the Great Neck Park District.

According to the legislation, the land would be used for additional parking for a community center being built by the United Mashadi Jewish Community of America.

In exchange for the alienation, the legislation says the village would dedicate about 5.7 acres of other land as parkland. According to a statement from the Great Neck Park District, which supports the alienation, a deal between the village and the district would allow the district to add the new parkland by leasing the former site of the Wildwood Pool and Tennis Club, more than a mile away from Kings Point Park.

"The Park District will enthusiastically consent to amend the Kings Point Park Lease to seize this opportunity for our residents," the district said in a statement on its website.

So far, no one appears to have raised concerns about the future ownership of the proposed new parkland or the lack of specific plans for its use.

Martins told The Point that he agreed to carry the bill because it has the support of the village and, especially, the park district, which he said is dedicated to preserving recreational and open space.

"As far as I’m concerned, if the park district is looking to do something to expand its facilities, if they think it’s a good idea and if they’re able to trade two acres for six acres and expand their service to the community, then I’ll say yes," Martins said. "If they come back and say we would like to do this because we think it’s good for the entire community, that’s great, that’s awesome, and we’re going to support it."

But a civic group called Concerned Citizens of NY-03, formed in the wake of former Rep. George Santos’ election, is pushing back. In a letter to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the group said it is concerned that the parkland alienation involves "the filling of a freshwater wetland." The letter also posed questions regarding the environmental impacts of the proposed alienation, and whether an environmental review was necessary or completed.

The group’s founder, Jody Kass, who signed the letter, told The Point Tuesday that neither the promise of additional parkland nor the village and park district support for the deal assuage her concerns. She noted that parking for the community center was a concern when its initial plans were discussed and approved six years ago. According to a Newsday story from 2019, advocates for the center said they would use parking from other Mashadi facilities and a shuttle bus between them to supplement what was available on the site. Nothing was said at the time about using parkland.

"They knew this was going to be a problem for years," Kass said. "They’re just slowly trying to change the character of a community."

Kass said she hasn’t seen any effort to inform the public or engage the community on the alienation issue, saying area residents only learned a few days ago that legislation was proposed.

"This will actually open the door for no longer using this and maintaining it as a park, for them to use this as a parking lot for a private purpose," Kass said. "Let’s make sure we know what’s going on here. It’s certainly not in the spirit of the law and we would expect our state legislators to honor both the spirit and the letter of the law."

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Government trimmed

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Quick Points

Environmental what?

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• The Trump administration has been ordered by a federal judge to facilitate the return of a Guatemalan man deported to Mexico despite his having been subjected to violence there and fearing further persecution. Which likely makes him one more immigrant wrongly deported whom the administration will not bring back.
• The Federal Communications Commission is delaying plans for issuing multilingual emergency alerts for natural disasters. What could go wrong?
• President Donald Trump is angry at Russian President Vladimir Putin for continued Russian strikes on Ukraine. "I don’t know what the hell happened with Putin," Trump said. "I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him. But he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people and I don’t like it at all ... Something happened to this guy." News flash: Nothing happened to Putin.
• The U.S. Senate voted to block California’s rule banning sales of gas-powered cars by 2035, even as President Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress want to empower states to set their own policies on education and abortion. But either you favor states’ rights or you don’t.

— Michael Dobie michael.dobie@newsday.com

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