A No from Dayton
Dear Editor:
We are longtime Rockaway residents (over 40 years), presently residing in the Dayton Towers West buildings directly next to the Surfside apartments where Alma’s proposed project would be developed. I have a laundry list of reasons why we feel this project CANNOT be approved but I will limit them to three.
1) The construction project is slated to last seven years and will definitely impart our quality of life (and not for the better). One of the major concerns is in regard to the constant pounding that will be necessary to place the building pylons into the ground. This is a real concern as we just had a new three-story building built on a site, located at Beach 102nd Street and Rockaway Beach Boulevard. The noise was constant for the Dayton residents living across the street and what really concerns me is that this was just one three story building, not the proposed four buildings—each with TWENTY FOUR stories. I’m sorry, this is insane as the pounding here would definitely affect us as residents next door. Need I mention the problems with the various parking garages in Manhattan and building facades collapsing due to unlimited construction projects?
2) The proposed residents for these new buildings (estimated to be an additional 4,212 residents) will create massive traffic delays, with the biggest concern being our evacuation plans for the peninsula. Rockaway, being a beach community, will also be inundated with more people than it can handle, especially during the summer months (which now start in May and run through September). This new construction will also release possible toxic elements into the air. I haven’t even mentioned the fact that with the additional influx of people, the sparse auto parking will only become sparser (or non-existent).
3) Finally, Alma Realty, has the reputation of being a “Bad” landlord. According to our local paper, the mayor’s office sued Alma Realty for allowing thirteen buildings to fall into dangerous states of disrepair. If this is accurate, how can the Dept. of City Planning even consider signing off on this project. I only hope that our Community Board and elected officials will continue to fight this proposal.
Arthur L Zwolinski Jr.