Longtime Queens residents love him; some developers hate him. In an excerpt from an interview on our Web site, Councilman Tony Avella discusses the value of neighborhood preservation and the potential threat posed by ‘unscrupulous developers.’
He’s the man some developers call the enemy. Councilman Tony Avella has been outspoken in the campaign against overbuilding in New York as chair of the New York City Council’s Zoning and Franchises Committee. The lifelong Queens resident has gone toe-to-toe with construction firms and developers whose projects he contends may disrupt the character and quality of life in historic communities.
Based in the nearly suburban Queens neighborhood of Bayside, where he helped push through land-use changes two years ago in part to prevent the proliferation of large McMansions rising on small lots, Avella has been a champion of rezoning neighborhoods to restrict development. Queens has seen more rezonings than any other borough, thanks to his efforts.
In a recent webcast interview with The Real Deal, Avella shared his thoughts on pending battles with builders, the effect of downzoning on property values and what he hopes to achieve by running for mayor in 2009.
THE REAL DEAL: You have now established yourself as a champion for retaining the root character of New York City neighborhoods. Since 2002, Queens has had 23 rezonings covering more than 2,500 blocks. So why all this activity in Queens, and why are you a champion of this?
TONY AVELLA: Queens has become the development paradise for a lot of real estate construction firms, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But there has to be a balance between development, neighborhood preservation and neighborhood quality of life. We don’t do enough to preserve the character and the quality of those neighborhoods, and that’s one of the things I’m very concerned about.
TRD: Do you get a lot of flack from developers, and how do you work within the scope of the law to preserve the character of those neighborhoods?
TA: Well, I’m sure my picture is on a dart board in a lot of developers’ offices, and I’m sure they’re throwing darts at it. But again, I’m not against development; I’m against the unscrupulous developers who may only represent 5 percent of what’s out there in the industry.
By working within the law — by changing the zoning, by eliminating the loopholes so that it’s very clear — we can address all these issues. There just has to be a better relationship between the developers in this city and the community and the elected officials.
TRD: Some developers might say that downzoning drives down property values and prevents necessary economic growth or needed housing in a neighborhood. Would you say that that’s true?
TA: That’s absolutely false. When you downzone, you actually preserve property values. And although no studies have been done in this respect, the Independent Budget Office did a report about homes in historic districts. What they found was that property values rise at a faster and higher rate in historic districts than in comparable districts without those protections.
TRD: You helped push through a downzoning in Bayside two years ago, and now your focus is on Flushing. What’s going on there? Isn’t Flushing a lot different from Bayside? Bayside is suburban, and Flushing is urban.
TA: It’s actually the same type of community; it’s actually the small residential community that’s immediately north to that. I just have two communities left in my entire district — North Flushing and Auburndale — and I’m trying to get them done. North Flushing is, unfortunately, a year and a half behind schedule.
TRD: In the meantime, in your opinion, are those neighborhoods that haven’t been rezoned being destroyed?
TA: Each and every day we lose another house, we lose
another block, and then we lose another neighborhood.
TRD: Let’s talk about Mayor Bloomberg. Do you think he’s pro-development? And what about the City Council? I’ve heard you use the term “rubber stamp” for his policies.
TA: I’m a little disappointed in him because the commitment he made in 2005 isn’t there today. I’m also disappointed in the leadership of speaker Christine Quinn and the leadership of the City Council, because all of a sudden now we’re a rubber stamp of the mayor. We’re supposed to be an equal partner. Sometimes, you have to stand up and say, “Hey Mr. Mayor, wait a second. We don’t agree with this. Here’s what we think we should be doing.”
TRD: You’ve made it no secret that you’re running for mayor in 2009. Will you take your neighborhood orientation, the things that you’ve done, and apply it to other districts of the city? And which ones would those be?
TA: Well, it’s almost every neighborhood in the city. It’s interesting: Even though we’re talking about low density in Queens, I have a lot of civic groups and community boards in Manhattan who are still complaining about overdevelopment.
One of the things I’m working on with the Municipal Law Society that I’d like to institute citywide is that right now, planning is from the top down in the city of New York. I want to institute a plan where it’s done from the bottom up.