Letter to editor cites Forest Hills development tragedy

by Admin · July 23, 2016

In a letter to the editor of the Forest Hills Times this week Joanna Friedman, of 72 Road in Forest Hills calls out legislators to stop endless development in town.

She expresses her views on how some new development is leading to the rising commercial rents and Austin Street is looking more like a ‘strip mall’ than ever before. She writes that her view of Our Lady Queens of Martyrs Church in Forest Hills makes it feel more like Paris. She is calling on legislators to see that the idea of job growth and new housing brought on by development might just have a downside if there is no end in sight.

She warns that having more people live here through endless development will lead to the destruction of Forest Hills altogether.

……… That loss is my tragedy; it’s too late for me. But it’s not too late for others. Forest Hills is characterized by trees and sky and light. Just a few more tall buildings will change that. Forest Hills is quiet. Just a few hundred more residents will change that.

In the Austin Street area in particular, we are maxed out. Rush-hour traffic now resembles Manhattan. Rents are so wild it’s almost impossible to sustain an independent business here. Austin Street is beginning to look like a strip mall. Is this what we want? ……..

Read the entire letter here:

http://www.queensledger.com/view/full_story/27233145/article-Save-Forest-Hills?instance=home_news_right