Up In Smoke

When our borough learned that a prime piece of beautiful waterfront property called Fort Totten would soon be given up ­ or excised ­ by the Federal government, a flurry of excitement and concern was set into motion that soon became a blizzard. Developers danced within the zoning regulations and saw a community of expensive private homes. Universities dreamed of a spacious dormitory community. Civic leaders set to work sketching out a sports complex. And the New York City Fire Department used its resources to put together a beautifully polished, all-inclusive plan and three dimensional artistís rendering of how they would curate the land and the buildings and utilize a portion of the space for their new Fire Academy, since they were going to have to relocate from Randallís Island. Hundreds of hours of community testimony and debate followed, and the Fire Department was granted their wish.

This week, a ceremony was held and a ribbon cut on Randallís Island. The ceremony marked a $44.8 million renovation project for the Fire Academy on Randallís Island, which will remain, despite all the plans and the artistís rendering. We call Borough Hall, and the Queens Borough Presidentís spokesperson didnít know there wasnít going to be an Academy at Fort Totten. We called Congressman Gary Ackerman who has been involved with the excise process since before it began, and his office didnít know.

And the Fire Department . . . well, when we reached them, they said that the Fort Totten plan would have been more expensive than their new Randallís Island plan.

It is deplorable that this City agency which asked for our trust to steward the Fort land has switched plans mid-stream without so much as informing our local legislators.

They indicated that they wish to continue their role as stewards of the Fort, and for that we are glad, but we demand that any future plans effecting this valuable piece of our neighborhood give more consideration to its neighbors and the common courtesy we would expect from anyone living next door.