http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13392378&BRD=1864&PAG=461&dept_id=152800&rfi=6
More than 500 Glendale residents and politicians joined together at a Monday night Town Hall meeting to oppose the opening of a religious trade school at 88th Street which they say will drain local services but add nothing to the community.
''We in the community and community board members believe strongly that the Department of Buildings went a step too far when they made this land use decision,'' said Vincent Arcuri Jr., chairman of Community Board 5. ''We strongly believe the school is not as of right and does not conform with the law.''
Controversy over the yeshiva began almost immediately after permits were issued to United Talmudic Seminary in February. Residents are concerned that the school will lead to an increase in traffic, pollution and waste as more than 1,000 students are expected to be bused to the school on a daily basis. As a school it will be exempt from real estate taxes. As a religious private school, local children will not attend.
''I oppose the development at 74-10 88th Street,'' said Councilman Dennis Gallagher, who attended the meeting along with Assemblyman Michael Cohen, Congressman Anthony Weiner and many civic leaders. ''I think it's outrageous that something of this magnitude can go in as of right and not be subject to a mandatory community review process.''
The councilman has contacted a lawyer for the community and Cohen has allocated $3,000 for legal fees. Congressman Weiner said he has met with the DOB on the community's behalf and will continue to do so. He also urged residents to call 311 to express their concerns.
Still, it is unclear what can be done now that construction is nearly finished. Arcuri said in the 40 years he has worked with the DOB he knows of only one building that was altered after being constructed.
Although plans for the school have been changed many times, the project now conforms to zoning regulations, according to the DOB.
''The project is as of right,'' said Robert Hudak, the only representative from the DOB who attended the meeting. ''The Buildings Department cannot deny an application that is as of right. Our hands are tied.''
The city had halted construction of the building in June, ruling that its plans to include sleeping quarters are forbidden by the zoning code.
Dormitories are not permitted in Glendale's light manufacturing district. However, the seminary had attempted to circumvent the restriction by labeling the bedrooms ''transient hotel rooms,'' which are allowed.
The hotel, according to zoning regulations, must be open to the public, and according to the yeshiva's former plans, the rooms would be strictly utilized by students. After the seminary eliminated the sleeping quarters from plans, the DOB lifted its stop-work order and construction continued.
Despite the changes, residents are still not convinced the school will only be used during the day because of the number of times plans have been altered. According to Gallagher, there were 23 disapprovals before plans were accepted. He also said the developer has had virtually no contact with CB 5 or local politicians.
Kathy Masi, the main organizer of Monday night's meeting, pointed out that designs call for 75 bathrooms, which she says, indicates 24-hour use of the building. ''You're going to tell me that people aren't going to live there,'' she said. ''What school has 75 bathrooms? This school has 4,'' she said referring to PS 113.
Besides the issue of students living in the building, residents suspect that the designation of the facility as a religious trade school was done only to conform to zoning regulations. Schools are not permitted in the M-1, light manufacturing zone. Religious trade schools are allowed.
''They say it's a trade school. Where is the equipment for the trade? What is the trade?'' one resident asked. Plans do not indicate any rooms where a vocation would be studied.
With or without vocational study, residents are adamantly opposed to the school, which would ultimately require up to 33 buses for students. ''They're not going to fly in by helicopter and fly out the same way,'' Timon Kalpaxis said. ''Look at what the Stop & Shop and Home Depot did to traffic in our neighborhood.''
Traffic appeared to be the number one concern for many of the residents, who say their neighborhood cannot handle the extra congestion. ''In theory, there can be buses up and down my street for the foreseeable future and I pay some of the highest taxes in the borough,'' Tom Pappas said. ''It's a disgrace.''
Others expressed concern about a school being built on the former site of the Monarch Knitting Corporation without an environmental review. Remediation and cleanup of the site were bypassed since the plans were self-certified by the developer.
''It doesn't seem like the department's hands are tied, but their hands are in their pocketbooks,'' a resident said, referring to the DOB. ''You're lenient toward them instead of being protective of us.''
The developer, the United Talmudic Seminary, did not return calls for comment. UTS is a five-year Hasidic rabbinical seminary based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with an enrollment of 1,640. The school has also operated a yeshiva in Forest Hills since 1999 with an enrollment of 500 students.
In an earlier interview with the Queens Chronicle, Arnold Freund, director of funding development for the seminary, said the Forest Hills students would be transferred to the Glendale yeshiva with approximately one-fifth residing there.
Freund said the Glendale yeshiva would initially have about 600 students, all male, all in their late teens. However, there would be space to accommodate at least 1,000.
According to plans submitted by Manhattan-based architect Karl Fischer, a central assembly hall with a capacity of 1,108 is being constructed. The bulk of the yeshiva students would be bused daily from Williamsburg at 6 a.m. and return home at 10 p.m.
The politicians who were present said they would continue to meet with the DOB and Hudak said he would relay all of the community's complaints to Commissioner Patricia Lancaster. Despite the fact that the building is nearly complete, residents said they will continue to fight the school's opening.
''Our biggest problem in this community is overdevelopment. The schools are overcrowded, the roads are overcrowded, all the amenities are overcrowded,'' Arcuri said to the standing-room-only crowd. ''Thank you for proving the people of Glendale are always concerned about our community.''
זיי רעדן זיך אפ, אז די קווינס ישיבה האט צופיל "קאקערס" ווייל זיי זעען אז מ'בויעט דארט 75 טוילעטס. (וואס איז זייער א גרויסע נאמבער אין זייערע אויגן.)
אויסער דעם שרייען זיי אז די קווינס ישיבה האט שוין געטוישט די פלענער 33 מאל און מ'קען זיי נישט טראסטן.
נישט קיין גרויסע פארברעכנס.
בלויז "כעלעם"... פון קאפ ביז פיס.
