Kew Gardens hotel project continues to rankle neighbors

Kew Gardens residents are distraught over the construction of a 20-story hotel tower, citing concerns about traffic, parking and noise.

The Queens Savoy Hotel and Residences, a 95,000-square-foot tower to hold 83 hotel rooms and 43 apartments, is already under way at 123-32 82nd Avenue at Queens Boulevard. The building is going up directly adjacent to the Hamptons House co-op building at 117-01 Park Lane South, and residents say that their concerns about the project’s size and impact on the area have not been addressed.

“The formal objections we raised when the plans were first announced centered on our belief that parking provisions were — and still are — most inadequate for Kew Gardens, but we were told that they conformed to the relevant codes,” Murray Berger, executive chairman of neighborhood group the Kew Gardens Civic Association, told DNAinfo via email.

Neighbors at Hamptons House told DNAinfo that construction is already making life difficult for them. Complaints have been filed alleging that the hotel’s construction has caused damage to the adjacent building, though the city inspector dismissed the claim saying the “cracks appeared old,” according to Department of Buildings information cited by DNAinfo.

The work site also received complaints about missing guardrails after a worker was injured by an iron beam in August, DNAinfo reported. [DNAinfo] — Julie Strickland