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10 Reasons to Vote No on USTA ExpansionUSTA Taking Valuable
Parkland WithoutReplacement. Seeking to evade a long held
legal precedent, the USTA will not replace anyof the parkland
that will be lost and thenpermanently turned over to USTA
control.(Crains Tennis expansion in Queens nets locals a royal
headache by Annie Karni 12/16/12)
2) Power Plant in the Park? The plan calls for building a dirty
dieselfuel power plant to be built inside the park. Hidden inside
the mostrecent DEIS report, the USTA seeks to build a 8 Megawatt,
20 foot highdiesel-fueled power plant. Surrounding communities
already suffer from
air quality and asthma rates at epidemic levels. This power
plant willemit a massive amount of air pollution into the park and
surroundingcommunities. (page 11-17 DEIS Jan 2013)
3) USTA Moves Jobs to Westchester County. NYCtaxpayers have
provided $322,025,000 in City Bondsfor USTA construction - why
hasnt the BloombergAdministration guaranteed that USTA base
itsheadquarters in Queens? The full-time, high salary jobs
for USTA executives are all based in Westchester. Whyare we
giving taxpayer funds and more parkland to aprivate corporation
that wont even keep jobs in ourcommunity? (Internal Revenue Service
Form 990 2010)
4: Destroying Precious Green Space. The USTA destroys entire
sections of the park byencouraging cars to drive and park on grass.
Can you imagine cars parking on the Great Lawnin Central Park?
(page 10-5 DEIS Jan 2013) The USTA proposal will result in
destroying 400 maturetrees including state-listed endangered
species willow oak trees. (Page S-8 DEIS Jan 2013; Page S-23DEIS
Jan 2013)
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10 Reasons to Vote No on USTA Expansion5: The USTA is a Bad
Neighbor. USTA blocks communitysoccer leagues from playing during
the US Open. (El Diario Fuerade Juego 8/17/12) The USTA dominates
the park with car and
truck traffic which restricts community access and enjoyment.The
courts are overpriced and there is very little communityoutreach
and involvement. The expansion will result in the
removal of a bike lane that is a critical link for cyclists to
enterthe park. (Figure S-6 DEIS Jan 2013)
6: USTA expansion plan would add 10,000 Spectators everyday
during the US Open. This will induce significantly more
trafficcongestion, overwhelm local parking, and strain subways with
moreovercrowding. (Page S-4 DEIS Jan 2013)
7: The USTA is not open to the public. It has 8 foothigh steel
gates around the perimeter that arepadlocked to keep the community
out of the facility.There is no signage indicating that the USTA
site is free
and open to the public. The hourly court rental rates aremore
expensive than any public courts in NYC. TheUSTA has not provided
the local neighborhoods with anygrants in recent years. And
finally, USTA seeks to buildeven more retail space on site which
will negativelyimpact local small businesses by
preventingspectators from going into the community. (Capital New
York
Tennis Expansion Requires Tricky Definition of Public by Dana
Rubenstein1/22/13; Page S-5 DEIS Jan 2013)
8: Just One of Three Major Proposals. The
BloombergAdministration does not have a plan for Flushing
Meadows-CoronaPark. They are three separate development projects,
which are indirect conflict with each other, and each will destroy
parkland andreduce property values in Queens. This administration
has failed toproperly maintain the park and has abandoned even
trying toadequate resources for it. (Figure S-7 DEIS Jan 2013)9:
Labor Violations. The New York Times reports a class action
lawsuit in Federal Court against the USTA forlabor violations
andfailure to pay overtime to workers. (New York Times For
Courtside Officials, a PayFight Resonates by John Martin
1/17/13)
10: Flooding Problems. The park is a natural wetlands that
shouldbe protected and enhanced to restore its ability to absorb
flooding fromstorms. If more parkland is lost here, it will result
in more flooding in
the surrounding residential communities. (page 7-8 DEIS Jan
2013; Figure S-7DEIS Jan 2013)
