| 1972
A plan by the builder Sam LeFrak to construct a housing development above
the railroad yards adjacent to Willow Lake and Union Turnpike was
blasted by local residents, who said the project would over-congest an
already heavily populated community... “We urge residents not to flee.
The United States is looking at Forest Hills. We will not fall prey to
the fear merchants,” was the statement issued by a newly formed group,
the Forest Hills Neighbors, in announcing their support for the proposed
108th Street low-income housing
project….
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The
parks department's plan to turn the World's Fair New York State
Pavillion into a roller skating rink was explored on the Trib's
April 13 cover.
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Abe
Wolfson, the 21-year-old historical columnist for the Tribune
and the founder of the Queens Historical Society, is killed while flying
a solo training plane in Montana. A triangular plaza on Kissena
Boulevard in Flushing was later named in his honor....
Later in January it became clear that the nuclear reactor issue might
become moot because the city was planning to revoke the $570 million for
the expansion project. It was rumored that Mayor Lindsay needed the
money for his planned renovation of Yankee Stadium in The Bronx....
The borough president and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce expressed
outrage at Governor Nelson Rocke-feller’s surprise move to cut off all
capital construction funds for the proposed 50-acre campus at York
College, which was operating out of “temporary” facilities....
In February the City announced that it was once again killing funds for
the proposed Flushing Bus Terminal. The victim of 20 years of
bureaucratic quagmire, the proposed terminal’s termination had local
business and civic leaders up in arms....
A hearing at the city’s Board of Standard & Appeals on the proposed
Lefrak highrise over the Kew Gardens railyards drew hundreds of angry
residents. One opposing group was the Kew Gardens-Forest Hills Committee
on Urban Scale, which was represented by an attorney named Mario Cuomo.
He had recently fought the city as attorney for “The Corona Fighting
69,” a group of 69 Corona homeowners who were going to be displaced by
the city in order to build a new high school on the site of their homes.
After intense opposition, the city eventually dropped the plan….
In a surprise move, Borough President Donald Manes announced his support
for Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine for the 1972 Democratic presidential
nomination. It was the first endorsement for Muskie from an urban chief
executive, and seemed to put him at odds with his own political county
leader and close friend Matthew Troy, who had previously endorsed George
McGovern for the nomination.
The
U.S. Supreme Court refused
to hear appeals in the case of
Board 25's book ban.
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Community Board 7 voted against a plan that would provide money for the
redevelopment of Flushing Airport but stated they wanted to “phase it
out.”
In an extensive Tribune exposé, reporter Hank Sheinkopf revealed
the squalid living conditions in old houses on 137th Street in Flushing.
Ramshackle, boarded-up and burned-out houses were the rule in what
looked like a scene from the Ozarks during the Depression. The Tribune’s
editorial featured only a photo of one of the pitiful and decrepit
houses, with the words “People Live Here!”....
At its February meeting the Stevenson Regular Democratic Club picked an
Electchester housewife, Nettie Mayersohn, to be the female co-leader
with Donald Manes….
“Hundreds of Flushing youngsters may be roller skating to their doom
this spring if the Parks Department has its way,” reporter Hank
Sheinkopf wrote in February, referring to concerns that the Parks
Department planned to lease the old New York State Pavilion at Flushing
Meadows to a roller skating concern....
Architectural and engin-eering funds were restored for the Flushing bus
terminal project. Queens Borough President Donald Manes called it “a
significant victory for the people of Queens.”....
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Community
Board 7 made the front page on Sept. 7 when it voted against a plan
to fund the redevelopment
of Flushing Airport.
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Plans for a theater in Flushing Meadows seemed brighter by June as Joseph
Kutrzeba, founder of the Queens Playhouse, announced that the old
Theaterama of the World’s Fair New York State Pavilion was being
refurbished with seats, a stage and other improvements. His group fought
for over seven years to obtain the structure for Queens’ first
professional repertory theater....Fourteen-year veteran, and New
York’s only Republican congressman, Seymour Halpern, announced that he
had decided to “pack it in” and not seek re-election....
After months of bitter meetings, demonstrations and politicking, it
appeared in late May that a compromise might be reached to settle the
controversial Forest Hills low-income housing dispute. Mayor John
Lindsay announced that he was appointing Queens attorney Mario Cuomo to
conduct an independent study to see if a compromise was possible. Cuomo
was offered space at Queens Borough Hall by Donald Manes so that the two
could meet with residents on both sides of the dispute....Korvettes
Department Store in Douglaston was faulted by residents for not
protecting homeowners from a large hill that loomed over the area on the
store’s property. Known as “Mud Mountain,” the hill was constantly
threatening homes with falling boulders and huge mudslides.....
In July Governor Nelson Rockefeller vetoed funds for a proposed Queens
medical school....A major proposal was issued to make Flushing Meadows
the site of the borough’s celebration of the upcoming bicentennial in
1976.... Rockefeller reversed his decision in September and restored
funding for York College in Jamaica....
The city announced that it would build a large cyclone fence to contain
the “Mud Mountain” in Douglaston....
Donald Manes announc-ed that a compromise had been adopted by Mario Cuomo
to reduce the height of the proposed Forest Hills housing and convert it
from a low-income project into a “low-income housing
cooperative.”....
The political season got going in Queens in late September when First
Lady Pat Nixon came to Flushing to campaign for her husband’s
re-election…On Oct. 1, the first “Queens Day” was held in Flushing
Meadows-Corona Park….
In October, Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern stumped
through Queens and attended a rally at Antun’s in Queens Village,
where he addressed over 2,000 of the party faithful....In November the
Board of Estimate approved the Mario Cuomo compromise for the Forest
Hills project....
In November two major projects finally opened, changing the cultural
climate of the borough. The Queens Museum, the first in the borough’s
history, opened in the old 1939 World’s Fair’s New York City
Building. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas Hoving joined Mayor
John Lindsay in opening the museum, which occupied one gallery on the
ground level of the building. Down the road in the park, the
long-awaited Queens Playhouse opened in the New York State Pavilion. Its
first production was of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion.” The Tribune’s
theater reviewer hailed the show as “superb.”....
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear
further appeals in the case of School Board 25’s action banning Piri
Thomas’ “Down These Mean Streets” from city schools.
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