Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Watchmakers’ wall reminds neighbors of a prison camp


NEW YORK DAILY NEWS


Tuesday, April 22, 2014, 7:55 PM



NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpiRichard Harbus/for New York Daily news Neighbors say the monolithic grey wall appeared almost overnight. They are worried that it will depress home values in the quiet residential area.

Neighborly relations can sour in a New York minute.


Little Neck residents are already turning against a Long Island City watchmaker whose impending relocation they once cheered.


Critics say the company put up a new 35-foot-high wall at the former Leviton site, making their residential neighborhood feel like a prison.


“It looks like a concentration camp,” said Joan Arnowitz, 63, who lives down the block from the monolithic gray partition erected by Steel Equities and watchmaker E. Gluck Corp., which plans to move to the site later in 2014. “It is a monstrosity.”


E. Gluck Corp. says the back wall will be part of a new warehouse it needs at the site, and countered that the community already had an opportunity to review the plans for its as-of-right development.


“Our intention was just to build what we need to run our business,” said Murray Stimler, the senior vice president at E. Gluck Corp., who noted the company could have built even higher. “It was not our intention to build to the sky.”


NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpiRichard Harbus/for New York Daiynews On March 22, residents and elected officials protested at the wall a relocating watch manufacturer just built in their neighborhood.

More than 35 protesters who showed up Tuesday at the wall demanded a change.


“Anyone would understand that a 35-foot wall in front of their neighbor’s house would be disturbing,” said Assemblyman Edward Braunstein (D-Bayside), who represents the area.


“I feel like they misrepresented the project.”


Residents called on the state to repeal the roughly $ 13 million in sales and property-tax breaks the company secured for relocation.


erosenberg@nydailynews.com






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