Letter being distributed to all W12th Road Residents

WEST 12^TH ROAD BLOCK ASSOCIATION

HTTP://WWW.W12THRD.BLOGSPOT.COM 

October 2012 

TO:  All Residents of 12^th Road 

By now, you should have received a package containing the consent form from the DDC regarding the street raising project and a proposed description of what will be done to your property. Please review the details and be assured that DDC will correct any discrepancies or clarify what will be done, and you are encouraged to call the phone number at the bottom of the letter to address any concerns.

We urge you to please complete, sign and have notarized the consent form as soon as possible so as not to hold up construction.  Remember - each individual property owner on West 12^th Road must complete and return this consent form to the city in order for this project to move forward.

Please be advised that Queens DOT Commissioner, Maura McCarthy, worked with us in meeting after meeting to accommodate our need to preserve parking on both sides of the street, which resulted in the "shared street" design concept that requires the city to obtain access to each of our properties to make alterations to attain the “shared space” design in lieu of curbs, sidewalks and parking on only one side of the street.

After decades of dealing with our elected officials and city agencies in an attempt to address the long standing issue of tidal flooding on West 12^th Road, we are no longer in a position to “throw up our hands” in desperation assuming the city will never respond to our pleas for corrective action with little more than promises of action in the many years future.  The city has now obtained funding, completed design plans, set in motion the permit process and is in the process of preparing to publish this project to obtain contractor bids with construction to start hopefully next Spring!.

Thus, the onus for this problem no longer lies with the city.  It now lies squarely on the shoulders of each individual resident of West 12^th Road.  In order to attain the long sought after relief of continual and serious tidal street flooding, all that remains is for each West 12^th Road property owner to sign and return his or her consent form.

If only one West 12^th Road resident chooses not to sign and return his or her consent form the alternatives open to us are severely limited and flood mitigation efforts will once again become nothing more than a dream of future action.

Less than 100% submission of all West 12^th Road consent forms will leave us with the following options.

1.  The city will "purchase for $1" the part of your property needed for the shared street project construction to begin and would delay start of construction on West 12^th Road for more than 2 years.

2. The “shared street” design concept for West 12^th Road could be discarded and the city will revert to the original plan of a raised street with curbs and sidewalks and a requirement for parking on only side of the street. 

3.  If options 1 and 2 do not prove viable, there is also the possibility that West 12^th Road will be removed from this contract and the project will proceed with West 11^th and 13^th Roads without us.

If you did not mail them in, please do so as soon as possible.

If you have not gotten your package, have questions about the construction, or need help getting your signature notarized, we would be happy to help in any way we can; you can contact any one of the West 12^th Road residents listed below:

John Heaphy  917.863.4349

Sophia Vailakis-DeVirgilio  718.634.2797

Peter Mahon  718.945.0805

Remember, this is for our benefit and the city is now committed to this project. When this is all done, our cars as well as our homes will be safer from the tide.

Thanks!