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BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT
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Paul Graziano, 30, a life-long resident of Flushing, is the son of two CUNY professors, attended PS 21 and the Bronx High School of Science. After attending college at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, Graziano came home in 1993 to find that changes had occurred in his home town. Downtown was becoming increasingly crowded and dirty; the Whitestone Expressway had tons of traffic; beautiful homes throughout Flushing were being torn down for shabby speculative development; and the general quality- of-life of our neighborhoods was clearly being affected.
> To that end, Graziano has spent the last seven years organizing residents throughout Flushing and Queens to stop the destructive speculative development occurring in their neighborhoods, and been committed to using his expertise - which led to completing a Masters of Science in Urban Affairs and Planning degree from Hunter College - and background in planning, zoning, environmental and historical research, and economic development strategies to create novel approaches in protecting neighborhoods from overdevelopment.
> Three issues in Flushing that Graziano has taken leadership on are:
the Greater Flushing Rezoning Proposal, which will rezone over 3000 properties on 150 blocks of Flushing to make sure that new development is consistent with existing buildings; the Kissena Watershed Restoration, which will rehabilitate and restore over two miles of the stream that runs (currently underground) through Kissena Park; and removing the RKO Keith's Theater in downtown Flushing from the hands of its criminally negligent owner, Thomas Huang, while restoring the building to its original grandeur for public use.
> Other issues that Graziano has been involved in include: identification of and funding for cleaning up recognized toxic sites in downtown Flushing; restoration of arts education in the New York City public schools; development of educational components to acclimate and educate newer immigrants to the neighborhoods that they reside in; protecting Fort Totten from development for use as a public park and historic district; and preserving the last mansion from the 1840's in Flushing for use as a community center and museum. |
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