Hundreds of Residents Demand BP Richards Halt Kangaroo Court

Hundreds of local residents have urged the Queens Borough President to stop abuses of power at Community Board 7, which recently scheduled a "special meeting" on August 16 to vote out CB7 member and longtime critic John Choe. These residents signed a petition with four specific requests of Borough President Donovan Richards, who appoints members and oversees community boards in Queens:

• End the Board’s attempt to remove Board Member John Choe, which the petition calls an attempt to stifle dissent.

• Investigate CB7’s “pay-to-play” culture of corruption around land use votes, exemplified by Chuck Apelian using his position as Land Use Chair to obtain “consultant fees” from developers with business before the Board. Most recently, he spoke in favor of the proposed Special Flushing Waterfront District before the Land Use Committee and the Board’s public hearing where he urged Members to vote YES while being paid by the SFWD developers as a “land use consultant.”

• Investigate the actions of CB7 Chair Gene Kelty at a hearing on the proposal in February 2020, when he accosted a protestor.

• Fundamentally change the way CB7 approaches land use by supporting the community-based planning effort underway in Flushing, which developed in response to the gentrification and displacement of local communities, facilitated by CB7.

Borough President Donovan Richards recently wrapped up a successful primary election where he campaigned on a platform with nine pillars, one of which was “Community Board Reform.” Sub-goals included “Board Diversity and Representation,” “Public Engagement and Open Meetings,” and “Member Conduct.” John Choe has been the primary active proponent of all three of these goals on CB7. BP Richards’ public statements on the Board’s motion to oust Choe have been limited to “The Queens Borough President’s office will let this process unfold and not interfere.”

The petition was written and circulated by local residents and Queens-based organizers in Flushing.

“Why is Community Board 7 spending time, energy, resources on expelling John Choe on baseless charges? And why isn't the Borough President's office and others against this type of behavior? If the Community Board is supposed to represent the ‘community’, why is someone who has brought transparency to the board and has been a critical part of Flushing for decades being attacked?” said Julie Kim, Flushing resident, “We also cannot forget these are the same people who voted against a community health facility that was desperately needed and lunged at a young woman in anger at a CB meeting. Change requires leadership and we need the Borough President to stand on his promises to reform community boards and remove Chuck and Gene.”

“The single most important function of community boards is their role in land use review and Queens Community Board 7 illustrates the abuses of the City’s lax conflicts of interest rules,” said Professor Tarry Hum, Chair of Urban Studies at Queens College. “Chuck Apelian, CB 7 Vice Chair and Land Use Committee Chair, acknowledged he had a conflict of interest because he was a paid consultant to the Special Flushing Waterfront District (SFWD) developers. Nevertheless, according to the city’s conflicts of interest rules, he was not precluded from participating in community board discussions of the SFWD proposal. In fact, a YouTube video recorded Mr. Apelian’s strong appeal to fellow members to approve the special district and rezoning proposal on the evening of the community board's vote. This loophole must be corrected so that NYC’s conflicts of interest rules align with stricter NYS rules that public officials may not vote or engage in discussions of proposals in which they have a personal interest. Mr. Apelian is now leading the effort to remove CB member and long-time community advocate, John Choe, who has long voiced concerns about the significant representation gap on Queens CB 7 and specifically, Mr. Apelian’s numerous conflicts of interest pertaining to Flushing land use actions. CB7’s proceeding to remove John Choe appears to be an act of retribution for his efforts at greater transparency and accountability, and as such, should end.”

“As a CB7 resident for four decades, I am calling on Borough President Richards to take the important step to restore faith in the community board process by ending this sham proceeding against board member John Choe,” said Nelson Mar, longtime Flushing resident. “For many residents like myself, we feel that the community board is just another political institution that is out of reach of working people like myself and beholden to rich and powerful interests like real estate developers and the politically connected. This is why the efforts of Mr. Apelian and Mr. Kelty to silence dissenting voices and to retaliate against a board member's valid critique requires your immediate action to halt this undemocratic process. If the Borough President is interested in improving the community boards in Queens, stopping this retaliatory hearing against John Choe is the very first thing BP Richards needs to do!”

"The Community Board should work to improve the life of CB 7 residents, workers and small business owners,” said Sarah Ahn of Flushing Workers Center, “But instead, Apelian and Kelty have only helped developers build luxury condos and hotels that contribute to rising rents, property taxes, and cost of living. They have helped to make life harder for the majority of us, and instead, act to benefit a few individuals. The people of CB7 want an end to the corruption, and want to see community leaders who are willing to speak out and fight to make CB7 a better place to live, work and do business. Removing a community leader who has done just that is an affront to our democracy and poor leadership that should be condemned. We call on community board members to not allow this to happen and to help protect our communities from even more luxury development and the displacement it causes."

“Chuck Apelian’s motion to expel John Choe from the Board came just before the Democratic primary election in June, with John running for City Council,” said Miriam Bensman, a Queens resident who managed Choe’s campaign. “It was clearly politically motivated--and effective at damaging his campaign. If you googled ‘John Choe’ in the week before election day, the first result you saw was one of the five articles published that week that quoted Apelian’s spurious allegation that Choe is ‘corrupt’.”

“The charges against John Choe have sent shock waves throughout Queens for the blatant use of political power to crush the voice of reform. My biggest concern is the potential ripple effect throughout the community board system, setting a precedent encouraging leadership to remove members for not toeing the line. I urge BP Donovan Richards to step in and to stop this removal before it sends the wrong message,” stated Ramond Lin, Queens resident and transportation activist.

“Community Board 7 must be audited and subject to sweeping governance reforms. Today, it is an undemocratic institution where members have conflicts of interests and do not reflect the racial and economic makeup of the community they represent. This unprecedented action against an outspoken, sitting board member is extremely concerning and should be reviewed by the Borough President," says Joseph Jung of Flushing Anti-Displacement Alliance.

“The board has spent our tax-dollars investigating a joke John made over a year ago, but has failed to investigate serious and ongoing monetary conflicts of interest by Chuck Apelian, and physically aggressive behavior by Gene Kelty at a public hearing. How many times has Chuck Apelian pulled this consulting + lobbying trick and had to abstain from votes? Was it ever more than the 3-abstention yearly maximum for CB chairs? How much money has Apelian made from developers since becoming Land Use Chair? Who signed off on giving the CB7 contract for Council funds to Apelian’s wife’s firm? Why are these highly relevant questions not being investigated? The public deserves to know! Where is BP Donovan Richards, community board reformer? BP Richards please watch the mockery of justice being carried out on your community board. Real estate attack ads as evidence, really? I mean how transparent can you be about who’s pulling the strings here,” said Zeke Luger, a Queens College student who worked with Choe on the Main Street Busway campaign.

“I have been a Flushing homeowner for 19 years. I am raising my children here. I helped start Flushing CSA. I got married in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. My father grew up here. I am all about improving Flushing. I do not feel CB7 represents me (a working parent, a homeowner) or has my family's best interest at heart. I do not see any 'community' in the Community Board - the members aren't out at community events or at the schools. They aren't improving or increasing community resources. But I do see John Choe doing these things. In fact he has spearheaded many community events. He is out there connecting with community members,” said longtime Flushing resident & Flushing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) co-founder Emily Griffin. “The timing and logistics of CB meetings makes it nearly impossible for parents of young children, like myself, to get involved. The current board (largely retirees) sees no issue with this and carries on representing their own private interests while ignoring the very real issues the community at large is facing. Board members proudly boast about not going 'downtown' to Main Street and crinkle their noses in disgust (literally! I have seen it) at the mere thought of using public transportation. How can they possibly represent the community?!”

"One of the most important duties of the Borough President's office is to oversee community board governance. I believe Donovan Richards should condemn the illegitimate actions of Community Board 7's leadership and immediately stop them from ousting John Choe," said Chong J Bretillon, PhD, Queens resident and transportation activist. "I have known Choe to be an outstanding representative for the community, helping seniors, immigrants, and English language learners. His opposition to the Flushing Special Waterfront District falls in line with his record of deep commitment for economic equality and housing justice, which the rezoning threatens. The retaliation against Choe for this vote stinks of cronyism and retaliation and should not be tolerated. I have also watched the disturbing video of CB7 Chair Gene Kelty as he lunged at a Chinese-American woman in a fit of rage. This behavior is unacceptable for a CB member and the fact that Kelty was not immediately asked to step down is reprehensible."

Background

On June 15, Community Board 7 voted to appoint a special committee to investigate five charges made by Land Use Committee Chair and Board Vice Chair Chuck Apelian against Choe. The special committee met on July 21st and voted to proceed with four of the charges. The Board will hold a special full board meeting to vote on his removal on Monday, August 16th at 7pm, at Holy Cross Church in northern Whitestone.

As noted by The Queens Daily Eagle, the longstanding disagreements between Choe and Apelian “came to a head in the lead up to the Council vote on the [Special Flushing Waterfront District (SWFD)] rezoning plan in December 2020.” The SFWD development, now approved, will bring 1,700 new million-dollar condominiums and 879 hotel rooms to Flushing, a rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood full of rent-stabilized tenants vulnerable to displacement pressure from new development.

The Board accepted a charge that accused John Choe of “slander” for referring to Chuck Apelian’s consulting job as “compromising the integrity of the land use process.” Apelian had spoken openly about the consulting job at the February 2020 hearing on the SFWD rezoning, to explain why he was abstaining from the vote. He also discussed his consulting job for the developers at the special committee meeting this July. Additionally, Apelian used Stephen Ross’ real estate attack ads against Choe as “evidence” of his poor character, stating “there were other people who knew what a bad guy he is.”

The special committee dropped Apelian’s charge that Choe “solicited a bribe” at the Borough President’s hearing on the Special Flushing Waterfront District, when he poked fun at Apelian’s consulting job by joking that he would only support the SFWD rezoning “for a price”. He elaborated that the price was the creation of 500 affordable apartments and other community amenities. The audience can be heard laughing in response.

The Board Members deciding on Choe’s fate have similar conflicts. Board Chair Kelty picked the special committee’s five members, one of whom is a real estate developer and appraiser; the special committee’s chair is the owner of a construction company in the district who serves as Chief Real Estate Services Officer to NY Community Bank. The charges were brought by Apelian, who introduces and advertises himself as a professional land use consultant.

The process for investigating Choe has largely happened behind closed doors. The special committee meeting in July was held at the far northwestern tip of the community district, at the Poppenhusen Institute in College Point. Its agenda stated that the meeting would be held in “an Executive Session” and that members of “the Public will be asked to leave.” Members of the public who showed up were allowed to observe, but were asked to not record, and were not given access to evidence packets distributed to CB members. The special board meeting to vote on the committee’s recommendation will again be held at the periphery of the district.

Neither the board, nor the Borough President’s office has investigated the publicly recorded actions of Kelty or Apelian, despite widespread outrage over their behavior.

Editorial boards and community members have written publicly, including in the Queens Ledger, about their concerns that this motion is meant to punish Choe for speaking out, “Vote against the leadership wishes, and the next vote might be on your removal …. Who on CB7 will ever speak up again?”