Alma’s Disastrous Plan

Dear Editor:

In last week’s edition of The Rockaway Times, there were several letters regarding the proposals that Alma Realty has presented for what they plan to do in the future to “improve” their Surfside property. As a longtime resident of Surfside, I was asked to attend a meeting held last fall at The Rockaway Hotel, at which time their architect would be presenting their proposal for the redevelopment of Surfside.

I don’t remember his name, but the architect brought a few colorful diagrams of what Surfside would look like after their additions.  In addition to the two totally out of place towers that would take away many people’s views of the ocean and the city, they want to move the pool from behind 105 and 106 and place it between 106 and 107 and do away with the parking and lawns that are there now. I raised my hand and asked where everyone was supposed to park, and his answer was that Alma was going to build a garage on the corner of the property at the Boulevard and Beach 105th Street. I then asked how people would get to the garage in bad weather since there are many seniors living here and his answer was that they would build “underground” walkways from the buildings to the garage. At that point I almost laughed in his face. What a stupid idea.

Another item on his diagram was stores to be built on the Boulevard from Beach 108th east. I asked if they were going to be like the stores in front of Dayton with their garbage in the back facing the apartments there. His answer was “no, it will be in the front.”  Can you just picture that?

The whole idea is fraught with disaster, but I have an idea that Alma is pushing in all these developments which are too much for the property in the first place in the hope that the city will not approve all of them, replan the new developments, eliminate some of them and then get an approval from the city. This is not a new idea; many companies make elaborate plans knowing that they all will not be approved but some of them might and I believe that is what Alma is trying to do.

I hope I’m wrong and that they don’t get any approvals from the city.

Sharon Gabriel