Positive use of a closed Astoria Park Pool
OANA calls upon the Parks Department and Mayor Bill DeBlasio to consider doing much-needed repairs on the Astoria Pool if and when the pool is closed for the summer.
This is a good example of making the best use of a bad solution. This would alleviate the closure of the pool in the future for much-needed repairs.
Some repairs include renovation of the Locker rooms, Restrooms, Terrace, electrical, and plumbing.
While we understand that one reason for closure this summer is the lack of taxpayer generated revenue, any repairs come out of the Capital Budget, which is directly funded by the issuance of bonds by the city.
Therefore, the actual repayment comes out of future tax revenues, and the current lack of tax revenues would not affect this.
Therefore we ask that this be seriously considered. We know that a lot of bureaucratic hurdles would have to be dealt with, and the timeline would have to be reduced from years to months for preparation. But as we have seen with COVID 19, that which we thought could never happen, if there is a will there is a way.
Photo: Scott Young
Richard Khuzami
Mr. Khuzami has been a member of Community Board 1 in Astoria, NY for the last 20 years. He sits on the Zoning and parks Committees and is on the Executive Board. Previously, he served as Parks and Culture chair of Community Board 1 for eleven years and also chaired Capital and Expense priority Committee. He is a member of the Queens General Assembly and had been a panelist for grant submissions for the Queens Council on the Arts (QCA). Richard also is an officer of The Eastern Mediterranean Business Culture Alliance (EMBCA) and President of OANA.