....October 23, 11:01 AM
	Flushing Waterfront Gets $1.5M A grant could mean a beautiful overhaul for the Flushing River. By Joseph Orovic Gov. David Paterson announced $1.5 million in funding geared towards producing fresh ideas for the underutilized 60-acre Flushing River waterfront. The Brownfield Opportunity Areas grant gives the Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corporation fiscal leverage to explore remediation costs, determine potential developments, and find new mixed-use opportunities in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The site could be made up of close to 32 brownfields, or properties that have suffered extensive environmental damage that hinder development. State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing) and Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) were instrumental in getting the funding appropriated to the LLC. Stavisky alluded to F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, which alludes to the "small foul" Flushing River and the adjacent "valley of ashes" - or Willets Point to the rest of us. "We have the opportunity to clean the contamination and create a sustainable community with residential, commercial, recreational and entertainment complexes," Sen. Stavisky said. "I hope when someone writes about the area again, it will not be as a valley of ashes, but as a Phoenix, the bird that rises from the ashes to begin life again." Claire Shulman, President of the Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corporation, welcomed the added funds. "This will help us improve the environmental issues that currently surround the Flushing River and its upland areas, and will be helpful for the future development of Flushing," she said. Reach Reporter Joseph Orovic at jorovic@queenstribune.com, or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 127.