Rego Park

Report -Trylon Theater and Preservation Hearing April 4th 2006

Hello To My Fellow Rego Parkers and Those Who Care

I really must say a few things about the recent Landmarks Preservation meeting of April 4th, 2006.

I did show up and I did testify on behalf of the Trylon Theatre, against some pretty strong and discriminatory resistance. I'm glad I did, but really and truly guys, we're up against some stiff resistance, true forces of evil. We put up a pretty strong fight and had some support from our affiliated communities, but, it's become apparent to me that Rego Park will ALWAYS come last unless we push ourselves to the forefront. Okay, let me start at the beginning.

First of all, thanks to Ava and Michael for alerting me about this hearing. It was NOT well publicized. It was deliberately scheduled for the middle of a work day. And, every attempt to handle the Trylon Theatre Landmarking issue met with resistance. They literally had a hearing as a smoke-screen, to say that they had had one, but not really to give anyone a fair hearing.

When I got to the meeting, the first thing that struck me was that our beloved City Council Members were about 20 minutes late. The 1PM meeting did not start until 1:30. Then, due to time limitations, our speaking times were cut from 3 minutes to 2 minutes. There were something like 30 people (by my reckoning, I could be off, there may actually have been more, I wasn't doing a true head count) who spoke after Commissioner Tierney of the Landmarks Committee spoke. The Tierney thing was interesting in that basically, if he doesn't want something to be landmarked, that's it, it doesn't see the light of a public hearing. At least he and his staff did show up and were on time, but it seems like they really couldn't care less about landmarking buildings in Queens. They say that they do care, but the disparity between what gets consideration in Manhattan and what gets looked at it Queens, let alone Landmarked, is laughable.

The thing that really got me was that the stated purpose of the meeting was changed once the meeting started. They literally said "Folks, I'm not sure if you know this, but this hearing is to talk about Landmark Districts, NOT individual landmarks, so if you're here to talk about an individual landmark, you CANNOT speak." Well, that had me furious, until I struck upon on idea. I talked about the "Rego Park and Western Forest Hills Historical District". Lots of reasons why not, because outside of the Trylon (which is techically in Forest Hills) and Lost Battalion Hall, I was very hard-pressed to think of anything that deserves landmarking, but that didn't stop me. (And, in retrospect, there's a lot in this area that is worthy of landmarking as a district.
We all got slips of paper to fill out if we wanted to speak and they, wisely, arranged the speakers by neighborhood to keep the hearing more coherent. I got to hear about lots of places in Astoria, Flushing, Richmond Hill, Kew Gardens, Sunnyside Gardens and all kinds of worthy places that had been turned down for capricious reasons like "Well, some of the windows have been updated, so technically you don't qualify." However, there seem to be no written guidelines to support such reasons for rejection. It seems like there is no rhyme or reason to landmarking decisions. We're in Queens, so we barely count. And, there were LOTS of people talking about individual landmarks and very few were stopped.

Well, it almost goes without saying that I was just about the last person to be called to speak, which I did on behalf of The Rego Park Group. Over the course of the proceeding, several people deferred to colleagues and asked that they be allowed to speak first (it was allowed in every instance, except for when I did it). I tried to do that for Michael Perlman (Founder of the Committee to Save The Trylon Theatre), who I was afraid would not get to speak because his agenda was clearly targeted to one building, the Trylon. I asked if I may, and they said "You may not." To which I responded, "I believe that is the first of many no's I will hear today." They tried to shout over me and asked me bluntly (as they had not confronted anyone before me) "What historical district are you speaking about, because if you are not here for a historical district, you cannot speak." I said, "I am here for the newly conceived Rego Park and Western Forest Hills Historical District, which you will be receiving an application for soon. And yes, the district DOES include the Trylon Theatre as well as other art deco and art moderne buildings." Again, I believe it was Manhattan Councilwoman Lapin who started shouting over me saying, "You are being disrespectful to this entire proceeding..." To which I said, "I am talking about a historical district, just like everyone else. Rego Park has a great wealth of art deco and art moderne buildings from the 1920s to the 1950s that deserve protection, even though they are in a working class neighborhood. Working class people like me can't always afford to take a day off from work to come down to meetings like this, but that doesn't mean that our neighborhoods shouldn't be protected. The problem with a historical district in our area though is that our history is begin torn down around as at this very moment and the Trylon is an excellent example of that." I'm not sure that I even remember quite what I said from there because I had less then 120 seconds to say it in and I was shouted down and interrupted throughout that time (not by the audience, who was supportive, but by Councilwomen Lapin and Katz). But, the point was made. A later speaker actually referred to the "new Rego Park Historical District" and I could barely contain myself. Michael Perlman DID get to speak, but, he had to revise his whole speech once he got there due to the changes in the nature of the meeting and the time limit, so, while he did great, it was so unfair that I could have cried.

Melinda Katz, however, did face the opposition she so richly deserved. First of all, I think she nearly had a stroke when I tried to defer to Michael Perlman. Her face turned scarlet red. She was glaring at me the whole time I talked. Then, I believe it was Jerry Rotundi (my appologies for any inaccuracies or wrong spelling), who got up and shouted her down calling her "disrespectful" and challenging her for being in the pocket of all the real estate companies and builders that had supported her campaign. She pretended not to be aware of that list, which came off as totally disingenuous. As she left the hearing (which, I'm not sure why it ended at 4PM, 1 hour early and started at 1:30PM, a half hour late unless it was to discourage and limit community involvement), she turned to Michael Perlman and said (according to him, I did not overhear this said) "Thank you for your work on the Trylon, but it will never be landmarked." Of course, since all of this came last, as the Rego Park neighborhood always does, the reporters were already gone by the time these fireworks went off. Melinda, if you have done nothing wrong, then why, oh why, must you suppress public debate on this? Where did $280,000 in taxpayer funds granted to the Center for Russian Jewry go? We have no community center on that site. What we have is an eye-sore and a cover-up. Why has there been no formal investigation into this?

People, we need to do something about this! That theatre will obviously NEVER be a Russian Jewish Community Center. I submit to you my suspicion that it was never really intended to be. In the past 4 years since that plan was announced, two Bukharian Jewish Centers, one in the Rego Park Jewish Center and one huge new one in Forest Hills, have been created. If they had wanted to create one in the Trylon, it would be open by now and would not have required the destruction of the building. This is just a blatant attempt to turn a landmark building (even if it does not have Landmark Status) into a wreck worthy of destruction (take a look, they've been pretty successful at it so far, working without valid permits, I might add) so that no one will oppose them when they tear it down to build a condo tower. Which they will. Guaranteed there will be a tower there with apartments that working class people will not be able to afford. This is not just historical desecration, it is class warfare, discrimination, and neighborhood destruction.

I literally cannot afford to jeopardize my job and fight this full time, but it needs to be fought. Not just for the Trylon. There are other buildings in the area, particularly the early apartment buildings on Saunders Street (the outstanding architecture of Remo Hall, Jupiter Hall and Marion Court immediately come to mind) that we should start fighting for soon, because apparently, it can take over 20 years to save a building. One striking older woman, with long grey hair, got up to speak at the meeting and she said, "You know, I've been fighting to landmark my neighborhood since way before this hair was gray." I think she was one of the Richmond Hill contingent, but I could be wrong. The point is, Rego Park and other neighborhoods in Queens are slated to become wastelands, with no historical landmarks, old buildings, or points of interest, in order that we may absorb the bulk of building by profiteering real-estate tycoons who DO NOT live in the area and DO NOT CARE what they do to it, so long as they turn a profit. They make millions, but we cannot get a seat on the subway due to overcrowding, our children have to attend high school in shifts because there is not enough classroom space as it is without adding additional population, and we don't even have a movie theatre in our town because the only one that was there is now being destroyed. Is this the progress you want? Is this the environment in which you want to raise your children?

Is anyone else angry enough to fight to be heard? Please, please let me know. I don't have the time or strength to fight this battle alone, but, as part of even a small group, I know that we CAN make a difference.

Who's with me?

Sincerely,

Michael B. Reiner
Reinerfmly@aol.com

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