Dear fellow QV shareholders,

My name is Alicia Fernandez. I have lived in Building 2, Apt. 6C with my husband, Luis Herrera, since 2003. My family has lived in the Astoria/Long Island City area since 1966 and were residents of the Ravenswood Houses for over 30 years.

It is almost 11 months since I resigned from the QV Board of Directors. I never imagined that I would volunteer to do this again. However, I never imagined the QV Board would allow our grass, bushes, plants, and trees to be part of a social experiment which is damaging our green spaces and aging infrastructure.

Although, I understand that the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented demand for outdoor recreational space, I do not understand the rationale of this overall access. More importantly, I believe this monumental change in the management of our grounds benefits a select group of shareholders and visitors. The overwhelming majority of shareholders do not benefit from this decision and will wind up paying for the required repairs and maintenance.

Therefore, I am running for the board to represent those shareholders who believe that we not only need to restrict access to the lawns, but we also need to restore and maintain our wonderful green oasis.

I plan to advocate for the following priorities to get QV back on track:

• Security – Hire three security guards to fill vacancies. Security should be trained and visible to enforce QV’s rules and policies. Without consistent enforcement, our grounds management is more theory than practice.
• Signage – Post signs which indicate that QV grounds are private property and there should be no trespassing. Boulevard Gardens has very tasteful signs that deliver this message. There should also more visible signage regarding the property rules such as no bikes, no dogs, keep off the grass, etc.
• Playground – The children’s playground should be accessible only to QV shareholders and residents. Currently, COVID-19 and variants are still spreading. Our youngest residents will be particularly vulnerable to greater exposure as the warmer weather causes crowds to flock to the playground. There is also greater exposure to our building services staff as they decontaminate and clean the play structures and benches.

During the past ten years, hundreds of shareholders have signed petitions requesting that playground access be restricted due to unruly and unsanitary conditions. It is time to finally make this happen as they already have at North Queensview and Boulevard Gardens.

I hope you support my candidacy so that I can commit myself to advocate on your behalf to have our property be as green, clean, and orderly as all other well-managed cooperative communities. Please sign the petition by listing your full name and apartment number and kindly disregard the request for a donation. Let’s get this done together!