Vision for St. Saviour's Parkland is Unveiled

By Conor Greene

While funding for the project is still up in the air, the Newtown Historical Society has unveiled its vision for public parkland at the former St. Saviour’s Site in Maspeth.

Based on input from area residents, Christina Wilkinson of the historical society has created a rendering for the 57th Road property, which currently sits vacant. “I met with the residents who live around the site, and they listed amenities they would like in the proposed park,” she said at last month’s Community Board 5 meeting.

Among the items suggested are a wrought iron fence around the property perimeter, a landscaped hill featuring a statue and flag poll, walking paths and benches, open space, restrooms, a children’s playground, gardens and flowers and trees, especially along the Rust Street side to buffer the greenspace from noise and pollution from passing trucks.

However, due to questions regarding funding for the property acquisition, the plan remains up in the air. The city Parks Department agreed last year to buy the land if local officials can come up the funds needed for acquisition, and the owner is asking for about $10 million for the property.

Wilkinson was hoping that the state’s Environmental Protection Fund would be the key to securing funding for the land, but that is in jeopardy due to the state’s budget deficit. In a letter to Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) last month, State Parks Commissioner Carol Ash said the governor’s current plan to close the budget gap would result in suspension of the property acquisition program.

“Governor Paterson has proposed a budget that will place an indefinite moratorium on land acquisition under EPF, starting in the state fiscal year commencing April 1,” wrote Ash in a February letter to Crowley. “If the budget is enacted by the state legislature accordingly, State Parks’ land acquisition activities will be put on hiatus.”

There has since been a push to restore the funding for land acquisition, with local State Assembly members including Marge Markey (D-Maspeth) and Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven) signing on to a letter being circulated by Robert Sweeny (D-Lindenhurst), who chairs the Assembly Environmental Protection Committee.

The city has refused to release the results of a recent appraisal conducted of the property, according to Wilkinson. However, according to the city Department of Finance, the two lots that create the square-block site have a market value of about $2.5 million, and the owner purchased the site for about $6 million in 2005.

The property was home to a historic 1847 until it was set to be demolished to make way for residential development. Local preservationists, including members of the Juniper Park Civic Association were given permission to dismantle the structure so that it can eventually be rebuilt on land in Middle Village. While the development plans never panned out, the site – which is zoned for manufacturing uses - was recently cleared and leveled for construction.

“It really would be a travesty to see this site developed, because it is historic,” said Wilkinson at the community board meeting.

Newtown Historical Society Presents Flushing Avenue Photo Exhibit

The Newtown Historical Society is proud to present our first exhibit, “A Walk Down Flushing Avenue, 1929” at Maspeth Federal Savings, located at 58-15 69th Street in Maspeth, starting Monday, December 21st. This photo series is presented to create awareness and foster appreciation of the history of western Queens communities. The exhibit will be displayed in the windows of the recently renovated and upgraded bank building through the end of February and will be viewable from the street.

The photos represent a snapshot of life in Maspeth and Ridgewood on Nov. 1, 1929, just days after the “Black Tuesday” stock market crash that many associate with the beginning of the Great Depression. Several of the buildings featured in the series are still standing, with different uses today. The photos also offer a fascinating glimpse into how people from our communities went about their daily activities 80 years ago.

“Maspeth Federal Savings is pleased to host this photo series highlighting the history of Flushing Avenue and we look forward to working with the Newtown Historical Society to bring more educational exhibits to the public in the future,” said David Daraio, Assistant Vice President of Maspeth Federal Savings.

The Newtown Historical Society will be presenting more photo exhibits, as well as slideshows, lectures and walking tours throughout the upcoming year. Winter 2010 slideshows will include topics such as the development of western Queens neighborhoods, the story of the Newtown Pippin apple and the history of the Ridgewood Reservoir.

For more information about the Flushing Avenue photo exhibit or to join the Newtown Historical Society, visit newtownhistorical.org or call 718-366-3715.

Renewed Hope for Parkland at St. Saviour's Site

By Conor Greene

Maspeth residents and activists are hopeful that years of lobbying for parkland at the former St. Saviour’s will eventually pay off, now that several local officials have thrown their support behind the effort.

Borough President Helen Marshall and City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley are pursing the possibility of securing funding thorough the state Environmental Protection Fund to help pay for an acquisition of the lot near the corner of Rust Street and 57th Road. The property is currently empty, but is being prepared for future development should the owner, Maspeth Development, LLC, find an interested buyer.

The land was formerly home to historic 1847 St. Saviour’s church, which was designed by noted architect Richard Upjohn. In 2005, a Korean Methodist congre-gation sold the property to Maspeth Development for $4 million. The community fought the plan for residential development, and the owner allowed the Juniper Park Civic Association and other volunteers to dismantle the church building so that it can eventually be rebuilt on land donated by All Faiths Cemetery in Middle Village.

In the meantime, residents and activists including Christina Wilkinson of the Newtown Historical Society, haven’t given up the battle to have the land preserved for much-needed greenspace in that portion of West Maspeth. Wilkinson informed Marshall and Crowley of the Environmental Protection Fund opportunity, and the officials are responding with a letter the state Department of Parks and Recreation urging support for the endeavor.

“We’re looking to see if we qualify to get money from that state fund to acquire the land as parkland,” confirmed the borough president’s spokesman, Dan Andrews. In addition, Marshall has requested that the city Parks Department - which recently expressed a willingness to take title of the land if funds are secured to buy it - have a formal appraisal of the land conducted. While the city Parks Department is willing to take the land over, officials made it clear that funding for a purchase will have to come from other sources. “There is no city money to do it right now, but there is support for acquiring it as parkland, so obviously it is a question of money,” said Andrews.

The property is currently being listed by Manhattan-based Berko & Associates for $8.5million. This week, Joe Berko said the property owner would be willing to discuss a sale to the city at the right price. “Obviously, I don’t think anyone is looking to build right now, that is a well known fact,” said Berko. The owner acquired the land with the intention of developing the site, but “that is not happening right now,” said Berko.

Berko said there has been “some interest” in the site, including from firms seeking to lease the land to store equipment. “I think we have had communication with some members of the community, and if there is interest in the land, then absolutely” the owner would be willing to listen to offers.

Wilkinson said that while word that the Parks Department would take title of the land was encouraging, it set off an uphill battle to secure the funds. She first tried to arrange a land swap using land owned by the city elsewhere, but says the Bloomberg administration immediately ruled out that plan. She then came across the Environmental Protection Fund, through which money is provided to purchase space in neighborhoods that are underserved by parks, such as Maspeth.

“It sounded like a promising avenue to explore, and I contacted Councilmember Crowley and the borough president and they took it from there,” said Wilkinson. “A new park for Maspeth is something that the community has been looking forward to for a long time without much hope that it would happen because our elected officials in the past were not on board with the proposal,” she said. “It took the recent infusion of new political blood over the past year to give it some momentum.”

In her letter to the state, Crowley said the site “represents centuries of local history” dating back to when it was part of a Native American settlement along the Newtown Creek. It was part of the first European settlement in Queens when Maspeth was founded in 1642 by the Dutch and English. Then, 162 years ago, local congressman James Maurice founded St. Saviour’s Protestant Episcopal Church and donated the 1.5 acre property for the churchyard. Until last year, the site was home to 185 trees that helped buffer the residential blocks from the nearby industrial properties.

Crowley notes that while the mayor’s plan calls for every New Yorker to live within a ten minute walk of a park, Maspeth only has 12 acres of greenspace for more than 36,000 residents. The city calculates the ideal amount of open space to be 2.5 acres per 1,000 residents, meaning the neighborhood is vastly underserved, according to Crowley, who hopes to have other local officials sign on in support of the letter.

“The community very much would like to see this space opened back up to them,” she wrote. “Community members and groups already secured donations of trees, flowers and clean fill, but this working class neighborhood needs money in order to acquire the property.” She adds that there likely isn’t enough time for officials to raise the needed funds before the real estate market improves and the land is developed. “Should we miss this chance to create public parkland, another opportunity such as this will not likely present itself in our lifetime,” she added.

Newtown Pippin Apple Trees Planted Around Town

The Newtown Historical Society, in conjunction with The Newtown Pippin Project, identified 3 locations at which to plant his- toric Newtown Pippin apple trees, bringing the fruit back to its place of origin. The fruit trees were planted today at Maspeth Federal Savings, the Middle Village 75th Street Block Association’s community garden and at Ridgewood’s Onderdonk House.

The Newtown Pippin variety of apple was named after the western area of Queens, once known as Newtown Township. The original apple tree was located on the Gershom Moore farm along a tributary of Newtown Creek in the 1700s. From it, cuttings were taken and planted in orchards throughout the world. The apples were cultivated by some of our country’s founding fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

As part of a history and environmental project, the Newtown Pippin Project is offering free Pippin trees for planting throughout the city, with added emphasis on locations in western Queens, where the Pippin once grew and was first discovered by colonial Americans. Thanks to a sponsorship from Green Apple Cleaners, care and guidance from the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, and pioneering local orchard replenishment by Slow Food NYC, a distributed orchard is being created among the city’s open spaces.

The Newtown Historical Society scouted out locations suitable for the trees and volunteers planted them in Maspeth and Middle Village on Monday, October 5th. The planting consists of a Newtown Pippin tree and a pollinator tree. The Onderdonk House received an Elstar apple tree as a pollinator, which is a Dutch variety, planted by the Ridgewood Historical Society. The other two locations received St. Edmund's Russet trees.

“The Newtown Pippin represents an important part of our agricultural history which is often overlooked,” said Christina Wilkinson, President of the Newtown Historical Society. “We hope by bringing a little bit of it back, we can use it as a teaching tool to help people understand the rural past of this area and the once-pristine condition of Newtown Creek.”

Erik Baard, Outreach Coordinator for the Newtown Pippin Project, said, “Let the abundance of these trees, and those to come, remind us of how lush and fertile the Newtown Creek and the surrounding city once were, and inspire our actions.”

"I commend Christina Wilkinson for her leadership in bringing back Maspeth's own Newtown Pippin tree," said Council Member Elizabeth Crowley. "As a member of the Environmental Protection committee, I am working with my colleagues to restore the growth of these beautiful trees through New York City and to declare the Newtown Pippin the official apple of the Big Apple!"

The trees may bear their first fruits by 2011. For the next planting in Spring 2010, Newtown Historical Society will focus on bringing the trees to area schools, houses of worship and cemeteries. For more information about the Newtown Pippin Project, please visit newtown- pippin.org or newtownhistorical.org.