Minutes of September 20, 2025 General Membership Meeting of the Westmoreland Association

 

Officers Present:

President - Walter Mugdan

Vice President – Victor Dadras

Secretary – Charles Manna

Treasurer – Gary Savage

 

Board Members Present:

Peter Reinharz

Jess Bravo

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Officials Present: None

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President Walter Mugdan called the meeting to order at 4:05 P.M. 

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Reading of the minutes was waived; Mr. Mugdan noted that the minutes are available for review on the Westmoreland website.

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Gary Savage presented the Treasurer’s Report in advance.  The balance-on-hand as of September 20, 2025, was $20,070.57.  In 2025, so far, there are 60 active households (approximately 18% of the 330 households in the Westmoreland community) who have paid dues. There were no questions, and the report was accepted.

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APEC Annual Gala – Our own Vice President Victor Dadras and his brother, Robert, of Dadras Architects, will be honored at the annual Green Gala fundraiser of the Alley Pond Environmental Center (APEC), to be held at the Terrace on the Park restaurant in Flushing Meadow Park on Thursday evening, October 23, 2025.  The restaurant is located in the Worlds Fair tower located on 111th Street.  The cost will be $150 per person ($125 for APEC members).  The net proceeds will go to support APEC; the Green Gala is that organization’s most important fundraiser each year.  Approximately 80,000 persons pass through APEC each year – mostly students, but also many adults.

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Old Business:

City of Yes update – Walter announced that the lawsuit against the new law was filed in NY State Supreme Court in Staten in March 2025.  There are some 120+ named plaintiffs, including the Westmoreland Association.  After submission of briefs by the parties, the court heard oral argument in mid-July.  We are waiting for the court’s ruling.  The basic argument of the plaintiffs is that the Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the City was severely insufficient and wrong.  Walter hopes there will be some kind of favorable ruling; if so, it could encourage the City to at least negotiate with the plaintiffs about some adjustments to the law that would address our concerns.  Also, there is an election for mayor coming in November; it is possible a new mayor might be willing to negotiate.  Of the four major candidates stand, only one (Curtis Sliwa) has indicated his opposition to the City of Yes law.

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If there were to be a favorable ruling from the court, the City might appeal.  Can the plaintiffs afford to fight that?  Walter thinks the answer is likely to be Yes.  The arguments are already laid out.  The court only needs to review the paper briefs and possibly hear oral argument.  With a hypothetical favorable ruling in the lower court, Walter believes it would be likely that funds could be raised for the appeal.

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New Business:

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Crime in the neighborhood:  There had been vandalism of cars in the Westmoreland Street location.  Someone had been ripping side mirrors and windshield wipers off cars, mostly on Nassau Road and the adjacent side streets.  The owner of one car recorded the act of vandalism on his doorbell camera; the identity of the alleged perpetrator is known to the victims.  The matter was brought to the attention of the NYPD 111th Precinct.  Reportedly the NYPD visited the alleged perpetrator’s home on two occasions, but nobody answered the door.  (The alleged perpetrator was involved in previous incidents of car vandalism (“keying”) several years ago; some of those incidents were reportedly resolved between the perpetrator and the victim(s).)  The Westmoreland Association will reach out to the NYPD to urge that further appropriate action be taken; another vandalism incident of the same sort occurred within the past two weeks.  Victor will have suggest that the Community Board also contact the 111th Precinct to request appropriate follow-up.

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Walter reported that the annual Crime Statistics report from the NYPD that are posted regularly on the 111th Precinct website.  There are seven categories of major crimes, and a number of categories of lesser crimes.  The results are pretty much unchanged from last year’s report.  The overall crime “complaints” (YTD) changed from 842 last year to 883 this year.  That is a fairly minor change. 

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Note: weekly, monthly and annual crime statistics for the NYPD 111th Precinct are available at: https://www.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/precincts/111th-precinct.page

 

A member reported that a car was speeding down Westmoreland Street on night recently and crashed into a neighbor’s car.  The driver fled the scene.  The victim’s car has cameras and recorded the license plate and driver.  The perp was tracked down.  He lives in Great Neck.  The police were notified.  No result as yet.

 

There was a break-in recently at 248 Street.  The perpetrator was dressed as a Pizza delivery guy.

 

Walter remined us that we have in the past tried to get speed bumps installed on Westmoreland Street between 42nd Ave and Northern Blvd; and four-way stop signs at the corner of Westmoreland and 41st Drive.  We will try again to convince the DOT to install these traffic-calming elements.

 

A member reported that another perpetrator pretended to be an Amazon delivery driver.

 Walter reminded the meeting that Lander Bravo reported that that their house was broken into by two or three individuals around 7:30 PM on Thursday, May 15, 2025.  The perpetrators wore black costumes from head to toe to hide their identity.  They used a device to break the tempered glass door in the back of the house.  Within 30 seconds of the break-in the alarm system set off the two sirens in the building and sent a notification to the alarm company.  Fortunately, the intruders were scared off by the loud sound and did not steal anything.  Also, it was fortunate that the family was not home at the time.  (See the minutes from our May 2025 meeting for more details about this break-in.)

 

As reported in May, we are still in a very safe neighborhood.  We rank second among the top six safest neighborhoods in Queens, in both property crimes and violent crimes.

 

Rickert-Findley covenant infractions – A homeowner recently installed a fence closer than 20’ from the property front line.  Walter corresponded and met with the owner, who promised to rectify the violation soon.  Walter will follow up.  Walter also noted:
 

• All the homeowners in the Westmoreland “own the right” to enforce the covenants.

• Several houses are in non-compliance with one or another of the Covenants; but because these occurred decades ago and no enforcement action was taken, they are “grandfathered” and it is unlikely that enforcement now would be successful. 

• Several members alerted Walter to a possible infraction on a reconstruction project.  The potential infraction is also “grandfathered” because a pre-existing structure is being rebuilt.  Walter also used Google Maps to estimate the distance between the frontline of the property and the structure in question; it appears to be at or very close to 20 feet from the front line.

 

The annual clean-up of the Glenwood Landing park will be on Saturday, November 22, 2025 from 10:00 to noon.  Pizza will be served after the work is completed.

 

Zion Church will host a “Free Store” on October 4, 2025.  Contributions of clothing that is lightly used will be accepted by the church; residents of the Women’s Shelter across the street from the church are invited to visit the “store.”   

 

The Community Church of Douglaston will host an Autumn Apple Festival from 121 AM to 3 PM on Saturday, October 18.

 

Zion Church will host a Halloween “Drive-Thru” where candy will be handed out to children by representatives of many local organizations. That event will be held on Sunday, October 26, 2025 from noon to 2 PM. 

 

Our next meeting will take place on Zoom on Monday, November 17, 2025.

 

Minutes prepared by Charles Manna

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Minutes of the March 24, 2025 General Membership Meeting of the Westmoreland Association

 

Officers Present: President - Walter Mugdan; Vice President – Victor Dadras; Secretary – Charles Manna; Treasurer – Gary Savage

Board Members Present: Peter Reinharz, Arasu Jambbukeswaren, Namshik Yoon, John Duane.

Officials Present: None

 

President Walter Mugdan called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M.

 

Reading of the minutes was waived; Mr. Mugdan noted that the minutes are available for review on the Westmoreland website.

 

Gary Savage provided the Treasurer’s Report. The balance-on-hand as of March 24, 2025, was $19,829.36. In 2025, so far, there are 31 active households (approximately 10% of the 330 households in the Westmoreland community) who have paid dues. There were no questions, and the report was accepted.

 

Future Meetings: Will be held at 7:30 on Monday nights in March and November (via Zoom); 4 PM on Saturday afternoons in May and September (at Glenwood Landing Park).

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 New Business:

Walter announced that David Diaz passed away recently. He noted that David was a long-time Westmoreland Board member; he was a widely respected New York City television news reporter for 30 years.

 

Charles Manna announced that Douglas Montgomery passed away recently. Doug was very active in the community for many years and was one of the people who worked diligently to make the Little Neck Douglaston Memorial Day Parade a continuing success. He was also active with the Douglaston Garden Club and other local organizations. He was also very generous with the support of the elderly in the neighborhood.

 

Old Business

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“City of Yes.” On December 5, 2024 the massive rezoning package was approved by the City Council by a vote of 31 to 20 (a much closer vote than is typical for zoning changes, but still a loss). Some modifications were made, but the impact of the proposal is still the same: Our neighborhood and all other one- and two-family zoned communities in Queens and throughout the City would be negatively affected. The Queens Congress is planning to sue the city to stop the changes in zoning within the next few days. [The lawsuit was filed on March 26.] The suit will contend that the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the rezoning was woefully deficient. Walter Mugdan will act as an expert witness to address the environmental impacts of the rezoning changes on water and sewer infrastructure and natural resources. Paul Graziano is also an expert witness to address a number of EIS deficiencies, notably the serious underestimate of the “Reasonable Worse Case Development Scenario” associated with the rezoning; properly estimating the “RWCDS” is requirement for an EIS.

 

Walter called a meeting with the Westmoreland Association Board members on March 19 to discuss whether our organization should agree to be a named plaintiff in the lawsuit. The Board approved this action. Currently, there are eighty to ninety individuals, organizations, and politicians who have signed in as co-plaintiffs.

 

The most important complaint is the impact that the zoning change will have on the neighborhoods. The city is assuming that the changes to housing will be dispersed throughout the City, with only a few new dwellings in any given community. The lawsuit disputes this premise. It contends that there will be dramatic and destructive increased development, particularly in low density neighborhoods. The use of ADU’S (Additional Dwelling Units) will increase the population density dramatically and effectively end the single-family neighborhoods throughout Queens and the other boroughs. In summary the zoning changes will:

•Reduce minimum lot size

•Reduced FAR (House/lot ratio)

•Increase density tremendously

•It would eliminate single-family zoning entirely

•Permit ADU’s even where the danger to the residents was present. For example, apartments in basements with only one way to exit. People drowned during the floods two years ago.

 

Walter explained that the legal basis for the challenge is limited to the argument that the City conducted an inadequate EIS. There are two attorneys and four experts who will participate in the lawsuit. Walter’s discussion of the Water/Sewer Infrastructure and Natural Resources issues focuses on the increased frequency, intensity and duration of combined sewer overflows associated with the increased development density. The overflows will exacerbate high levels of bacteria in the bays, creeks and the Long Island Sound such as Little Neck Bay. It is hoped that the lawsuit will persuade the City to consider and negotiate a more reasonable solution to the housing shortage.

 

Q. What will happen meanwhile?

A. The lawsuit does not ask for a stay. However, we can request specific holds on specific developments. We anticipate that the court could make a decision in the next twelve to eighteen months.

Q. What is the liability faced by the named plaintiffs – could we be sued?

A. State law protects plaintiffs from such reprisal, called SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation).

 

Derelict House on 40th Ave. – The house is finally being refurbished by new owners. The construction fence is up. Walter talked to the new owner about deed restrictions.

 

Annual Glenwood Park Cleanup – The 8th Annual Glenwood Landing Park Spring Cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, April 5th starting at 10 AM. The Parks department will provide gloves and tools, and there will be a free pizza lunch for volunteers.

 

Electronics Recycling – Saturday, March 29, 2025, at St. A’s

 

Udalls Cove – 56th annual cleanup will take place Saturday, May 3, 2025.

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Our next meeting will take place at 4 PM on Saturday, May 17, at Glenwood Landing Park.

 

Minutes prepared by Charles Manna

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Minutes of May 17, 2025 General Membership Meeting of the Westmoreland Association

 

Officers Present

President - Walter Mugdan

Secretary – Charles Manna

 

Board Members Present

Peter Reinharz

Namshik Yoon

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Officials Present

None

 

President Walter Mugdan called the meeting to order at 4:05 P.M. 

 

Reading of the minutes was waived; Mr. Mugdan noted that the minutes are available for review on the Westmoreland website.

 

Gary Savage could not be present but provided the Treasurer’s Report in advance.  The balance-on-hand as of May 10, 2025, was $19,805.38.  In 2025, so far, there are 53 active households (approximately 16% of the 330 households in the Westmoreland community) who have paid dues. There were no questions, and the report was accepted.

 

New Business:

 

Douglaston and Little Neck Historical Society – Annual meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 7, 2025, from two to four in the afternoon.  The speaker will be William Nieter. The topic is the past and future of Alley Pond Park.  The meeting will take place at the Community Church of Douglaston.  RSVP – www.dlnhs.org/events. 

 

Crime in the neighborhood:  Lander Bravo reported that that their house was broken into by two or three individuals around 7:30 PM on Thursday, May 15, 2025.  The perpetrators wore black costumes from head to toe to hide their identity.  They used a device to break the tempered glass door in the back of the house.  Within 30 seconds of the break-in the alarm system set off the two sirens in the building and sent a notification to the alarm company.  Fortunately, the intruders were scared off by the loud sound and did not steal anything.  Also, it was fortunate that the family was not home at the time.  Lander had left the house around 7:24, driving towards Bayside.  He was notified by the alarm company and rushed home.  By the time he got there, the police were there but the intruders were gone.  He and the police missed them by several minutes. 

 

The police noted that these burglars typically break in and take jewelry, money and gold.  Computers and other electronic devices don’t seem to be of interest to them (probably because they have built-in tracking devices that the police can use).

 

Lander reported that he has two 150 dB sirens in the house.  They are great for scaring off intruders.  He uses the Simply Safe alarm system. The break-in seemed to be timed to be just after the LIRR train dropped off passengers at the nearby station, and minutes after Lander left the house.  (Jess and the two children were also away at a nearby restaurant.)  There was a piece of paper that was evidently left by the intruders.  It will be checked for fingerprints or DNA.

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The police checked the cameras of the neighbors.  Unfortunately, none of them were positioned to catch the license plate number of the car used by the intruders.  The cameras on Northern Blvd will be checked to see if the car that was used to flee the area passed by there.  Those cameras can pick up license numbers and images of the occupants of the car.  There is a CCTV camera located on Northern Blvd just over the Nassau County line.

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There was another attempted burglary in the neighborhood about a month ago, on Morgan St. north of 41st Drive.  The owner surprised the intruders when she returned to the house.  They ran off; nothing was stolen.  

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Walter reported that there was one more incidence of a car being keyed on Nassau Blvd. recently. 

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Walter reported that despite the two scary incidents, the NYPD reported that there have been few actual felonies in the neighborhood in the past year.  As usual, the most common occurrence is Grand Larceny.

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Note: weekly, monthly and annual crime statistics for the NYPD 111th Precinct are available at: https://www.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/precincts/111th-precinct.page

 

We are still in a very safe neighborhood.  We rank second among the top six safest neighborhoods in Queens, in both property crimes and violent crimes. 

 

Old business

 

“City of Yes.” As reported at our March meeting, the massive rezoning package was approved by the City Council on 12/5/2024 by a vote of 31 to 20.  Our neighborhood and all other one- and two-family zoned communities in Queens and throughout the City would be negatively affected. 

 

In summary the zoning changes will reduce minimum lot size; reduced FAR (Floor/Area Ratio); increase density tremendously; effectively eliminate single-family zoning entirely by allowing ADUs for all one- and two-family homes.  [ADUs can be established even where there is potential danger to the residents -- for example, apartments in basements with only one way to exit.  People drowned in basement apartments during the floods two years ago.]

 

The Queens Civic Congress led the effort to hire an attorney and file a lawsuit challenging the CoY legislation.  The lawsuit was filed on March 26.  The suit contends that the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the rezoning was woefully deficient.  Walter Mugdan is an expert witness to address the environmental impacts of the rezoning changes on water and sewer infrastructure and natural resources.  Paul Graziano is also an expert to address a number of EIS deficiencies, notably the serious underestimate of the “Reasonable Worst Case Development Scenario” associated with the rezoning; properly estimating the “RWCDS” is requirement for an EIS. 

 

With approval by the Westmoreland Association Board of Directors, the Westmoreland Association is a named plaintiff in the lawsuit.  There are over 120 named plaintiffs, including individuals, community organizations, and elected officials.   

 

The City’s answer to the lawsuit is due May 28; and the plaintiff’s sur-reply is due by late June.  A hearing with oral argument is scheduled for July 8, in Staten Island where the suit was filed. 

 

It is hoped that the lawsuit might persuade the City settlement negotiations aiming at a more reasonable solution to the housing shortage.

 

Our next meeting will take place at 4 PM on Saturday, September 20, at Glenwood Landing Park.

 

Minutes prepared by Charles Manna