Library

Table of Contents:


Overview

  • NYCHA
  • Luxury Development in LIC
  • Hotel Development in LIC
  • Rezoning
  • Money & Politics
  • Cost of living in Queens
  • Community Resistance

Specific Projects & Developments
 (skip to)

  • LIC Core Study and Rezoning
  • Small Businesses and SBJSA
  • TF Cornerstone and Hunter’s Point South
  • Brooklyn-Queens Connector (BQX)
  • Sunnyside Yards
  • Anable Basin / Plaxall DevelopmentOverview
 
Reports Created by JFA and affiliates:
- Fact sheet (Created by JFA Steering Committee Member Jenny Dubnau)
- 'Changes in LIC'Report. See Youth Forum Recap.
- Jobs Report - Coming Soon.

This glossary, also created by Jenny Dubnau, and this glossary created by Diane Hendry, JFA and LIC Coalition member, may also be of interest.

Overview

NYCHA

[gview file=”http://opencuny.org/ayonyc/files/2018/01/NYCHA-article.pdf”]

Luxury Development in LIC

Hotel Development in LIC

Rezoning

Money & Politics

Cost of Living in Queens

  • NOV 6, 2017: How much do you need to make to live in these Queens neighborhoods? By Angela Matua, Qns.
    – “The median asking rent in Queens is $2,200, which means a household would have to earn $88,000 to rent in the borough. The study also found that in nine of more than two dozen neighborhoods StreetEasy tracked, the household income needed to afford renting is at least 50 percent more than the household income earned in the borough.”

Community Resistance

Specific Projects & Developments

 

LIC Core Study & Rezoning

The Department of City Planning is currently holding ‘Listening & Learning’ sessions aiming to get community input about how to rezone and redevelop a central part of Long Island City. DCP claims they want to bring affordable housing to the area, GREAT! But the question is whether their understanding of affordable housing is the same as ours.

So far, the Mayor has overseen the construction and preservation of 77,651 units of ‘affordable housing’ across the city (Office of the Mayor, July 13, 2017). See breakdown of the numbers for yourself here. A quick overview finds that:

  • 68% of units are for households earning more than $42,000/year
  • 20% of units are for households making more than $68,000/year
  • 32% of units are for households making less than $42,000/year
  • 15% of units are for households making less than $26,000/year

So when the Mayor says, let’s bring affordable housing to LIC, the question is ‘affordable’ for who? 

Learn more here: http://tinyurl.com/DCPCoreStudyLIC

Recap of 2nd meeting: AUG 10, 2017: Frustration and Concerns Voiced at Long Island City Rezoning Workshop. By Abigail Savitch-Lew. City Limits.

Small Businesses and SBJSA

SPJSA Overview and Petition

DEC 5, 2018: Diagnosing NYC’s Vacant Storefront Problem, City Limits. By Abigail Savitch-Lew. 

March 7, 2017: A Sign of the Times: More For-Rent Notices in Manhattan, New York Times, By C. J. Hughes.

July 5, 2017: Our Community Cannot Afford the Cost of ‘High-Rent Blight’, Chelsea now, By Scott Stiffler.

July 1, 2015: Why Don’t We Ever Hear About Commercial Rent Policy?, Gotham Gazette, By John Surico.

TF Cornerstone Project at Hunter’s Point South

The NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to create a massive 1.5-million-square-foot mixed-use development on two undeveloped CITY-OWNED lots in Hunter’s Point South. Because this is public land, we think it should be developed for public use instead. LIC Coalition agrees, and has started a petition to encourage officials to turn these lots into public parks for the community.

Learn more and sign the petition here: http://tinyurl.com/LICCoalitionPetition

UPDATE: At the Community Board 2 Land Use meeting on Wednesday Oct 18, 2017, it was announced that the buildings in Parcel C have been redesigned to accommodate a the concerns of Amtrak, resulting in an increase in the expected height of the buildings.

Brooklyn-Queens Connector (BQX)

bqx_map_v_final-1

The BQX is a proposed streetcar  system that would run 16 miles from Sunset Park, Brooklyn to Astoria, Queens. While the Mayor and a newly-created non-profit, Friends of the BQXsay this is a step towards transit equity, we and other community activists worry this is part of a larger gentrification scheme. Below are some of the facts (organized by UpRose), you decide:

  • The supporting non-profit, Friends of the BQX includes major luxury real estate developers: Two Trees Management, Tishman Speyer, The Durst Organization, Industry City
  • No guarantee has been made regarding free transfers to/from MTA subways or buses
  • Cost is about $2.5 billion.* 
  • Funding depends on luxury waterfront development, which could displace working-class community members.

*In April, a leaked 7-page memo to Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen “laid out a brutal assessment of the construction and financial challenges facing de Blasio’s $2.5 billion trolley, even deflating his main sales pitch — that it will pay for itself” (Rivoli, 2017). 

For more information, Check out: 

 

Sunnyside Yards

The City has long been considering building over Sunnyside Yards, a functioning rail yard in LIC. However, moving forward with a plan in the near future seems more likely given the other development taking place in the neighborhood and the completion of a feasibility studyby the City in February 2017. Moreover, De Blasio’s administration has proposed 3 scenarios for what the megaproject could look like. These include 1) using the 180-acre plot to develop more affordable housing, to develop more office space, and/or to develop a destination or attraction. 

Moreover, De Blasio has proposed 3 scenarios for what the megaproject could look like. These include 1) using the 180-acre plot to develop more affordable housing, to develop more office space, and/or to develop a destination or attraction. More recently, Long Island City was one of four districts officially proposed by the City for Amazon’s second headquarters.

Anable Basin / Plaxall Development

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