From left: St. Saviour’s site, City Council member Elizabeth Crowley and a rendering of the park that was slated to be built on the site

Desperate for green space in Maspeth, the city wanted to turn the site of a former historic church into a public park, but the New York Daily News reported it will instead pursue land about a quarter of the size of the church site.

The original space was the former home of St. Saviour’s Church, a circa 1847 structure at 57-40 58th Street built by the same architect that designed the Trinity Church in Manhattan. But Queens Borough President Helen Marshal and local Council member Elizabeth Crowley secured $4 million to buy the property and rebuild and preserve the church, whose pieces remain stashed away in two trailers. [more]

(Video source: Queens Crap)

Allegations of illegal construction are cropping up at a Maspeth, Queens church site. Local residents have been fighting to preserve the 160-year-old St. Saviour’s Church, which was designed by the architect of famed Trinity Church and which was facing possible demolition by Maspeth Development. Although plans have been in place to save the main church building and relocate it to a safer spot in the same neighborhood, neighbors have been complaining that some unauthorized work has been going on at the site. A St. Saviour’s activist was outraged when she saw bulldozers destroy a portion of the church’s retaining wall, Curbed reported, and accused the Department of Buildings of nefarious activity like engaging in bribes and falsifying reports. For now the construction has been halted by city officials, although the DOB maintains that the construction activity is both legal and safe.

The New York City Industrial Development Agency has granted preliminary approval for incentive packages for the expansion of two industrial companies in Queens. The program would give Dinas Distribution Corporation and PA Austin sales and real estate tax incentives valued at up to $1.5 million and $1.2 million, respectively. The NYCIDA, which the New York City Economic Development Corporation oversees, said that the two groups would create 45 new jobs immediately and around 20 more over the course of three years. The two projects will also generate around $7.4 million in tax revenue in the next 25 years, according to a statement from the group. “These two companies are perfect examples of the types of companies the NYCIDA was created to assist,” Seth Pinksy, NYCIDA chairperson, said. TRD [more]