By Nathan Duke
State Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) and City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) said they were concerned that locating a Federal Express distribution center in the neighborhood could result in as many as 100 to 200 trucks on the streets per day.”A large facility that moves trucks back and forth through the streets on a regular basis is a serious problem,” Gianaris said during his recent annual town hall meeting at Astoria's Museum of the Moving Image. Con Ed spokesman Bob McGee said the utility was in discussion to sell part of its property but nothing has been finalized. In their letters to the PSC, Vallone and Gianaris said Astoria residents are already burdened by local power plants, airplane noise from LaGuardia Airport and traffic from Rikers Island.Gianaris wrote that the utility, which was responsible for the massive 10-day western Queens blackout of 2006, should consider whether neighborhood residents want a Fed Ex facility in their community.”Eighteen months ago, over 170,000 hardworking residents of western Queens were affected by the longest power outage in New York City history,” Gianaris wrote to the PSC. “In the past year, Con Edison has demanded higher rates from its victims while continuing to deny responsibility for its now-routine blackouts, electrocutions and explosions. Now Con Edison wants approval to sell property that will do nothing to alleviate the suffering of this community, but will bring adverse affects for years to come.”Rosemarie Poveromo, president of the United Community Civic Association, said the group would hold a public meeting with Fed Ex on the plan at the Augustana Lutheran Church in East Elmhurst on Feb. 7. “Already, truck traffic is my biggest source of complaints from that area of Astoria,” Vallone said. “This isn't a case of 'not in my backyard.' This area already bears more than its fair share of the burden.”Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
