By The TimesLEdger
We were saddened when the EDO Corp. closed its doors in College Point. The company was ideally suited for the area — or so we thought — and provided good paying jobs for Queens residents.
We are saddened once more to learn that Delta, the developers who bought the EDO building want to turn part of the site into apartments. College Point needs high-tech jobs much more than it needs more apartment units. Delta has designed a six-story building called Water View Plaza. The first floor is planned for a lobby and parking, the second floor will house office space for Delta and the top four floors will hold 47 apartments. The introduction of the new housing will only add to the overcrowding of the two public schools in College Point.
But we cannot fault Community Board 7 for giving a variance to the new owners that will allow them to build apartments at the site. The owners said they were having a hard time getting businesses to commit to leasing the property. They will not have difficulty finding people to move into apartments there, even if the rent runs a little high.
The variance must now be approved by the borough president and then by the Board of Standards and Appeals. There are also problems with dedicating the space to factory use. The roads in College Point are narrow and not well-suited for tractor-trailer traffic. The area is already zoned for commercial use. Although the area is zoned commercial, it borders residential area.
Since the apartment plan now appears inevitable, the best that College Pointers can hope for is a commitment from the city that it will make sure that the infrastructure will support such development. It is also fair to ask that the waterfront remain accessible to everyone.
Editorial: Not a hero
John Gotti is dead and buried, but the myth of the Dapper Don lives on. In life John Gotti was a murderous thug. Because of his life of crime, he died a miserable, lonely death in a federal prison far from his family and loved ones. His two brothers and son could not attend his funeral because they too are in jail or prison.
In life Gotti bought the affection of many in Howard Beach and Ozone Park with hot dogs and fireworks on the Fourth of July paid for with blood money. He has been described as some sort of modern-day Robin Hood. A columnist for one of the city's daily newspapers went so far as to suggest that Gotti did far less harm that the white-collar criminals at Enron who caused thousands of investors to lose their life savings.
What nonsense. The greed of the Gambinos and the four other organized crime families in New York has affected every aspect of life in the city. Drugs, prostitution, loan sharking, illegal gambling – the list goes on and on. The mob had its dirty fingers in almost everything. Along the way hundreds of people have been killed, some of them innocent bystanders. Thousands more died from the drugs sold by gangsters like Gotti.
Police believe that Gotti ordered the kidnapping and murder of a neighbor who killed his son in a tragic car accident. According to his top lieutenant turned informer, Sammy “the Bull” Gravano, Gotti was a ruthless, heartless killer, loyal to no one but himself. The fact that he wore expensive suits and had a flair for attracting media attention does not change the fact that Gotti was a man who wasted his intellect and talent on a life of crime and violence.
Gotti was no hero. Like his traditional Mafia wake and burial, Gotti and his jailed brothers and son are nothing more than an embarrassment to Queens.
