Disputed Luxury Building In Rego Park Subject Of Public Hearing

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A community board in Queens is taking public comments on a proposal to rezone a triangular lot in Rego Park in order to build a luxury building.

The proposal, which is the subject of a Queens Community Board 6 committee meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 3, aims to rezone — and demolish — a stretch of three buildings, including a historic theater-turned-synagogue and several businesses, in order to build a 15-story building.

A group of community members have long decried the proposal, saying that the historic Ohr Natan Synagogue and iconic Tower Diner clock tower should be preserved. Critics also contend that construction will block light and air, and increase traffic and congestion.

"This application would demolish historic and distinctive sites and place an economic burden on tenants, not to mention additional congestion and a domino effect of demolitions nearby of other preservation-worthy sites," wrote Michael Perlman, a fifth generation Forest Hills resident, in a letter authored with the Rego-Forest Preservation Council, which he plans to share at the hearing.

The council has also supported a petition to stop the demolition, which has raised over 3,500 signatures.

Among those critics is Ohr Natan's Rabbi Nahum Kaziev, according to Perlman's letter. In the testimony, the Rabbi is quoted as saying that he opposes the development despite reports that he and developers found common ground last year in the synagogue returning to the proposed mixed-use building.

“In Judaism, if you raze a synagogue, you will never have a blessing. In Chernobyl, a synagogue was destroyed during WWII and then a nuclear plant was built in its place, leading to a nuclear disaster. I cannot imagine any reputable business opening in a space where there was a synagogue, a holy place that served thousands," Rabbi Kaziev stated in Perlman's testimony.

Perlman contends that Rabbi Kaziev brought in an engineer who proved that the Ohr Natan and Tower Diner buildings could be incorporated into a new development; a plan that he said is "more respectful of our community’s wishes, infrastructure and the site’s meaningful & beautiful architecture & history."

Rudolf Abramov, of Bayside-based development group RJ Capital Holdings, however told Patch in May that the proposed luxury building will welcome back all current tenants into its ground floor once construction is complete.

"We're talking to all the tenants," he said, adding that the bottom floor retail space will be open to all of the current tenants that "want to come back after construction. We've just got to create the plans and see where they'll fit into the building," he said at the time.

According to Abramov, some of the existing tenants have already expressed interest in returning, including the Ohr Natan Synagogue. He told Patch that he hopes to break ground mid-2022, but since RJ Capital Holdings' plan requires zoning changes, the construction timeline actually depends on how the city's lengthy land use review process — known as ULURP — goes.

The public hearing with Community Board 6 is the first step of this process, but the group's recommendation is not binding: the recommendation will then be reviewed by the Queens Borough President, who will issue another recommendation before the city's Planning Commission and City Council make the final decision.

A final decision is usually made seven months after plans are certified by the city, which in the case of the 98-81 Queens Boulevard rezoning happened in mid Oct.

Find out more information about the Community Board 6 public hearing here.

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