Bay Terrace Belongs in Community Board 11

Along with warm weather comes green grass, flowers in bloom and the soothing sound of birds singing. This year it will also bring out concerned citizens gathering signatures for the “Bay Terrace Declaration of Independence.”

The Declaration appeals and declares to the City of New York that the community of Bay Terrace, Queens is and should be part of the community of Bayside, Community Board 11 and the 111th Police Precinct. Bay Terrace is currently part of Community Board 7 with police services being provided by the 109th Precinct. Many of the people carrying petitions will be our friends and neighbors.

Community Board 7 is a hard working board, with dedicated members who deal with a multitude of challenging land use applications but for a number of reasons, which I’ll go into, it’s not the right place for Bay Terrace. Community Boards are government entities, each with up to 50 unsalaried members. CB 7, like every other board belongs to the communities they represent. Individual board members should not be insulted or offended by the desire of Bay Terrace to be part of CB 11.

Look at a map of Northeast Queens and it becomes immediately obvious that Bay Terrace is geographically and socially connected to Bayside. For the most part, residents of Bay Terrace shop in Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck or Nassau County. Dining out is done locally or on Long Island. When medical emergencies strike, most Bay Terrace patients will request that they be transported to Long Island Jewish or North Shore Hospital rather than the now state-of-the-art New York Hospital Queens (Booth Memorial). Spiritual needs are usually met in a nearby house of worship. Life in Bay Terrace largely revolves around what takes place in the other areas served by Community Board 11.

Also of great importance is the matter of police presence and response time, which are critical to the safety of the residents of Bay Terrace. Everyone can agree that the men and women assigned to the 109th Precinct located in downtown Flushing are some the best law enforcement professionals in the City of New York but the located in Bayside is less than half the distance away.  During a situation requiring immediate action a delay of as little as 90 seconds could have dire consequences.

 The  was formed in 1999 and quickly became one of the most respected civic groups in Queens. Five thousand families are now represented by the BTCA.

Not once during the past 12 years has the chair of CB 7 attended a BTCA event or meeting.  Few people can remember when a Bay Terrace resident was last asked to chair a CB 7 committee. To say that Community Board 7 has sometimes made Bay Terrace feel unwanted would be an understatement. Bay Terrace deserves respect and should no longer tolerate being snubbed.

It’s hoped that everyone will sign the Bay Terrace Declaration of Independence. We do control our own future.

I look forward to posting more on this blog about my thoughts concerning our community boards.

Warren Schreiber