Dear Borough President Donovan Richards,

Once again, Community Board 7’s mishandling of development issues in Flushing has broken out into open conflict with a misguided effort by CB7 Land Use Chair Chuck Apelian to oust John Choe, who has been a vocal critic of the executive committee’s policy of allowing members to take money from developers with business before the Board. Without any proof that Choe violated the City Charter or Board Bylaws, CB7’s executive committee has scheduled a "special meeting" on August 16 to vote Choe out. CB7's executive committee is composed of Chair Eugene T. Kelty, Jr., 1st Vice Chairman Chuck Apelian, 2nd Vice Chairman Warren Schreiber, 3rd Vice Chairman Frank Macchio, and 4th Vice Chairman Lei Zhao.

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.” We believe the executive committee's effort to expel Choe is retaliation for his outspoken opposition to the SFWD development and for calling attention to Apelian’s conflicts of interest. In expelling Choe, the executive committee would eliminate one of the only Board members opposed to the CB7’s role in transforming Flushing from a neighborhood for working families into a playground for the ultra rich.

The Community Board is supposed to represent the community, and improve our quality of life. During the decades that Chuck Apelian has chaired the Land Use Committee, CB7 has betrayed that trust. It has approved one mega luxury development after another, while turning down requests for new​ schools​, health clinics and houses of worship that the community needs.

Apelian has long been suspected of “mak[ing] deals to get variances approved,” and had to recuse himself from the SFWD vote for doing paid ‘consulting’ work on the SFWD project itself. What kind of democracy do we have when the Land Use Chair is a paid consultant for F&T Group, the largest developer in Flushing? When he can expel an outspoken opponent from the Board? How blatant does corruption have to be for supervising authorities to intervene?

Your predecessor, Sharon Lee, opposed the SFWD rezoning, citing major concerns about the impact that another large-scale luxury development would have on Flushing residents and business owners. In your last days as a Council Member,you pledged to vote no on the rezoning, stating that “housing affordability is key”. You also reappointed John Choe to the Board, despite Council Member Peter Koo’s opposition.

You and former BP Lee had the integrity to stand with the people of Flushing suffering from skyrocketing rents and property taxes, and the loss of small businesses and services. We ask you to continue standing with us now:

• Stop CB 7s kangaroo​ court from retaliating against John Choe and all of us who spoke out against the SFWD rezoning, and ensure that John Choe remains on the Board
• Investigate CB7's pay-to-play culture of corruption, including Land Use Chair Chuck Apelian's persistent conflicts of interests, and Gene Kelty’s threatening behavior at the SFWD hearing.
• Support the community-based planning effort underway to give the people of Flushing a voice so we can protect ourselves and meet our urgent needs. We’d be happy to share our initial proposal with you.

Queens Community Board 7 is widely known as one of the worst boards in Queens and New York City as a whole. We suggest you watch it closely for the rest of the year, and overhaul its membership when you make new appointments in 2022.

Thank you for your consideration.