Players behind land grab
By HEATHER HADDON, NY POST, July 3, 2011
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State leaders went out of their way to push through a controversial land deal -- which robbed taxpayers of millions of dollars -- to gain the favor of a politically powerful Indian church, sources said.

Former Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Queens) championed the sale of 4.5 acres of the old Creedmoor Hospital to the cash-poor Indian Cultural and Community Center, going so far as to hound state Dormitory Authority officials to OK the deal without the usual attorney general's review, state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Queens) claims.

"Why would you want to circumvent the normal contract-review process? Only if you want to hide something," charged Avella, who is pushing the AG's Office to investigate the fishy deal.

Padavan's 2006 legislation authorized the sale of the Queens psych-hospital parcel for $1.8 million, a fraction of its estimated market value of $7.3 million. The measure allows the Floral Park group to build a community center and apartment buildings.

Sale of state land is usually conducted through an auction to the highest bidder, or granted to public entities. Since 2006, the Creedmoor parcels were the only sale of state Dormitory Authority land to be pushed through with special legislation, according to state records.

This year, Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens) shopped around another bill to sell the group roughly six more acres as they seek to erect 126 potentially lucrative apartments.

Padavan -- who lost a re-election bid last year -- and Clark received a combined total of $5,201 in campaign contributions from the cultural group's members, elections records show.

The nonprofit is led by a circle of increasingly powerful Queens and Long Island businessmen.

Sanu Thomas, 35, a lawyer who incorporated the nonprofit, joined local Community Board 13 in 2003, right around the time the group started lobbying hard for the building.

Thomas' name was floated as a possible replacement for Councilman Mark Weprin in 2009, and he was tapped by the Queens borough president to help get residents counted in the US Census.

His father, Koshy Thomas, is a former Indian army officer and the group's VP. The nonprofit is a private foundation aligned with the St. Gregorios Malankara Orthodox Church, which ministers to Indian Christians.

Padavan said he had no knowledge of the AG being cut out of the process and said the cultural group is aboveboard.

"They are very professional and family-oriented people, and I had no reason to doubt their intentions," Padavan said.

Tax documents show the Indian cultural group ran a $22,000 deficit and had no income in 2009, according to the most recent documents.

But the group is rich in political capital, including ties to the growing concentration of Indian-Americans living in eastern Queens.

The group said in a statement it just wants to build apartments to help vulnerable local seniors.

"We are interested only in providing much needed services to the area," it said.

hhaddon@nypost.com

Pols 'give away' land for donations

By HEATHER HADDON

Last Updated: 5:50 PM, June 27, 2011

Posted: 1:36 AM, June 26, 2011

A pair of Queens legislators pushed bills that let a cash-poor Indian foundation scoop up millions of dollars of undeveloped state land for a fraction of its estimated value, documents show.

Now the Indian Community and Cultural Center of Floral Park is groveling for even more cheap state land from the Creedmoor hospital campus in Bellerose. The deal could let the group reap a windfall by building big apartment buildings on the site.

"This is a mess. State property should be used for a legitimate community purpose," said state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Queens), who refused to co-sponsor Albany legislation to sell the group more property.

Two legislators who backed the 2009 sale of 4.5 acres of Creedmoor land to the group - Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens) and former Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Queens) -got thousands of dollars in campaign cash from its members, records show.

It was a great deal for the Cultural Center: The $1.8 million purchase price was a pittance compared to the property's estimated $7.3 million market value in 2010, city records show.

Now the Floral Park group is twisting state legislators' arms to push a deal for another six acres from the site. They plan to build an access road there to two giant nine-story apartment towers.

The Assembly passed a bill pushing the second sale on Wednesday. When Avella refused to sponsor the bill in the Senate, Clark persuaded Sen.

Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) to back the idea instead.

Smith introduced Senate legislation backing the second sale last week.

But after getting furious letters about the land grab, Smith put the bill on hold.

Avella said Clark's insistence that he back the deal was borderline "threatening."

In a statement, the Indian Community group said it has gone through proper legislative channels, and that the proposed apartments will provide needed senior housing.

The apartment plans are a big step up from 2006, when the group only wanted to build a one-story community service facility on the old Creedmoor land, which it would use for "community activities and social gatherings."

"It's a bait and switch. They've been deceitful and deceptive," said Richard Hellenbrecht, a local civic leader and Queens Community Board 13 member.

The cultural group is a private foundation aligned with the St. Gregorios Malankara Orthodox Church, whose 100 worshipers are Indian Christians. Its president is the church's vicar, Rev. Peromkunni Samuel, of New Hyde Park, tax documents show.

The group will need the apartments to generate some dough, as its tax statements show a $22,000 deficit and no income in 2009, according to the most recent documents.

Group leaders and their family members delivered at least $2,351 in campaign cash to Clark last year. They've donated $2,850 to Padavan and $2,510 to Mark Weprin for his City Council and Assembly runs.

Weprin has also backed the development.

Padavan claimed to know nothing about the apartment towers, but supported the original deal because it would "make use of the property in a meaningful way," he said.

Clark and Weprin did not return calls for comment.

hhaddon@nypost.com