Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Resident Petitions to Get Public Park Built in LIC's 'Isolated' Blissville

 Miguel Cavanzos would like to see this lot at Van Dam Street and Bradley Avenue turned into a public park or playground.
Miguel Cavanzos would like to see this lot at Van Dam Street and Bradley Avenue turned into a public park or playground.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly

LONG ISLAND CITY — Miguel Cavanzos wants to help Blissville find its bliss.

The 34-year-old electrician, who moved to the area four years ago, is collecting signatures to get a city park built in the neighborhood — a small, largely industrial section of Long Island City bound by Newtown Creek, Calvary Cemetery and Hunters Point Avenue.

"This neighborhood has been isolated," said Cavanzos, who added he was inspired to start his campaign after regularly seeing local children playing in the traffic-heavy streets. "The kids have no access to a playground."

The closest park to the area is Thomas P. Noonan Jr. Playground in Sunnyside, about a 15 or 20 minute walk away. Heading to parks in neighboring Hunters Point means traveling over an inlet in Newtown Creek and though several blocks of warehouses.

"We're disconnected, pretty much," Cavanzos said. Though the neighborhood is small, it is close-knit and made up of mostly working-class families, he said.

"I don’t have children, but someday I will," he added. "I love this neighborhood and I don't want to leave just because I feel like nothing's here."

He's been collecting signatures from neighbors in support of a park — he said he has around 200 so far — and brought his idea up at a Queens Community Board 2 meeting.

The Parks Department said they haven't received an official request for a park in the area, but are open to a discussion with the community about it, a spokeswoman said.

Cavanzos even has a specific location in mind — a triangular shaped lot at Van Dam Street and Bradley and Borden avenues, which is currently being used as storage by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.

"I think it's a big eyesore," he said.

The lot is owned by the Department of Transportation. A spokeswoman for the agency said complaints about the site should be logged at 311; she did not immediately comment on the possibility of using it for park space.

"I think it's a good idea," said Fernando, the manager at a local deli where a flier for Cavanzos' park petition hung in the window, who declined to reveal his last name. "The kids, they need space to hang out."