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Seaview Villagers Protest Development Construction
A construction crew has already torn down a home that was the upbeat, one-family style of that section of Canarsie, which takes in the streets from Avenue J to Seaview Avenue and Rockaway Parkway to East 108th Street. Residents fear developers will ruin the character of the neighborhood by, turning it into a series of brick "row houses." "We want to stop this thing before it goes any further," said one source who asked his name not be published. "It's going to change the look of the area." He was told that it's too late. The land has been sold and the City Department of Buildings has already issued permits to a construction company to knock down the house. Dorothy Turano, district manager of Community Board 18 (CB 18), was surprised when she was told last week about the project, noting that the owners of the property do not have to go through CB 18 for permission to sell, as long as they are not changing the zoning to do so. "Unfortunately for the people in the section in question, it becomes a 'Catch 22'," she said. "People will complain and carry on about the overdevelopment, but when push comes to shove, and when they are offered enough money for their house, then…it becomes a different story. It's understandable, of course, and, in the long run, no one blames them, but everybody wants to maximize their investment." The protesters contacted City Councilman Lew Fidler, who has been working with them and with the City Planning Commission on trying to keep out developers who would want to change the character of the area. "As it stands right now, it appears City Planning is on course to stipulate that there be some stoppage on the overdevelopment of Canarsie, and that includes the Seaview Village area," he said, noting that officials said they targeted "sometime around the end of June." In a meeting among home owners and residents "about a month ago," Fidler said, "We talked about restricting the overdevelopment and I advised the people who attended that we wish that restriction could be in effect while they (the Buildings Department) are making their decision, but that's not the case." The councilman praised local residents, saying they "did the right thing" by contacting him and/or other elected and administrative officials regarding the case. "We're on top of it," he said. "We all want Canarsie to retain its traditional character." Ironically, the home on East 100th Street belonged to the late Harold Mondschein, who was an outspoken community activist. He died late last year. As a former CB18 member, he fought for years for the betterment of Canarsie, preferring to see that it retained its "small town flavor," so to speak. He referred to Seaview Village, with its quaint rows of one-family homes and wide streets, as lending a relatively modern view to the turn of the 20th century houses surrounding it.
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