A Proposal for "Astoria Mountain Park"

An Astoria resident has proposed a park for the overgrown, vacant “mountain” on the northeast border of Astoria — referred to as Ingraham’s Mountain. According to this Untapped Cities article, “The mountain was created from excavated material from construction of the third tube of the Lincoln Tunnel in 1936 and is 86 feet high. It’s similar in height to an 8-story building, higher than most of the buildings in the area.” Untapped Cities reported that the Port Authority (the city leases this land to Port Authority) plans to level at least 20 to 30 feet off the mountain to create a ‘staging area’ for runway extension work that will be performed at LaGuardia airport. In a DEP report back in 2012, there’s also a suggestion to use the land for an enlarged sewage treatment plant. No single project has been confirmed for the mountain just yet.

Astoria resident Joseph Anastasio would much rather see a park here. His proposal, published on LTV Squad, is this:

We could retain as many of the existing trees as possible, while building paths through them to mimic the experience of walking through a deep forest. Depending how crazy you might want to get, facilities and a fire tower could be constructed to rise above the tree line, offering a panoramic view of Manhattan, the Bronx, and yes, even the notorious Rikers island. The whole thing could built for 2-5 million, depending what facilities are added…

The Port Authority can find someplace else for their staging area, if they even need it (maybe barges moored at or near the worksite?). I’m unconvinced they need to bulldoze this property, destroying trees and trucking out large qualities of rock and soil (to where?) just to create a blighted staging area and stream of dump truck traffic through local residential streets.

He’s asking all interested Queens residents to contact the mayor’s office, their local elected official, or just him directly — if there’s enough people interested in the park proposal he plans to organize a group. What amenity do you think would work best for this bizarre site?

Astoria Mountain Park: An Idea Who’s Time Has Come [LTV Squad]