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City holds off on several College Pt. auctions

By Alexander Dworkowitz

Tracy Shannon recently breathed a sign of relief.

On May 29, she attended a Department of City Planning public hearing on the fate of her College Point street known as Boker Court. Afraid that the city would auction the road and block access to her home, Shannon and her family took the day off to attend the hearing.

Just before she was about to speak, Shannon got word that the city had removed Boker Court from the auction rolls.

“We were surprised, especially since we were at the meeting and were getting ready to start,” said Shannon.

Over the past two weeks, the city has decided to suspend the auctioning of several contested pieces of property in College Point while continuing with the sale of others. The city’s decision has left some overjoyed, while many remain anxious.

Boker Court has been temporarily removed from the auction rolls and its fate is in the hands of the City Council, said Warner Johnston, spokesman for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.

Three adjacent parcels of wetlands sitting across Silver Point Estates along Powell’s Cove will also be taken off the auction block and are now in the process of being transferred to another city agency, said Johnston.

Meanwhile, the city intends to go ahead with its auction of a small parcel in the College Point Yacht Club but with the specification that it can only be used by adjacent property owners, Johnston said.

The city also decided to allow the auction of 5-33 115th St. in College Point as well as two small properties in Flushing to continue with the provision to sell only to adjacent property owners, Johnston said.

Shannon said her household was relieved by the news from the city. The family has established “Friends of Boker Court,” which is asking the city to pave the street, as Queens Borough President Helen Marshall has recommended.

But Shannon said she still has worries about the street. The City Council could decide to put the property back up for auction.

“We were given no guarantees,” she said.

Residents who were concerned about the fate of the one-acre wetland just south of the Tallman Island Sewage Treatment Plant along Powell’s Cove, on the other hand, see the city’s decision as a victory.

“I am most definitely relieved,” said Joan Vogt, whose state organization, the Northeastern Queens Natural and Historical Preserve Commission, has fought to keep the wetland from being auctioned for possible development. “I am delighted, to tell you the truth.”

The city Parks Department and Department of Environmental Protection are hoping to acquire the property, a city source said, though neither organization could confirm the fact.

With Powell’s Cove Park situated just south of the property, Vogt was confident that part of the wetlands would fall under the control of the Parks Department.

“I have no doubt in my mind that they are going to get that property,” she said.

But Tony Tondo, commodore of the College Point Yacht Club, is still anxious about the fate of his property.

A parcel of land surrounded on all four side by the yacht club is slated for a city auction.

The auction will be open to any interested properties. The city plans to sell the land, however, with the restriction that only adjacent property owners can use it, effectively making the land useless to anyone besides the College Point Yacht Club.

“They are going to have to give it to us anyway,” said Tondo. “I would like it to be over with.”

Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at [email protected] or call 229-0300, Ext. 141.