CB 1 votes in favor of city’s plan to
designate Rikers Island land public
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Community Board 1 voted
unanimously on Tuesday to
approve the city’s ULURP application
to make Rikers Island
public land, but urged the city
to start planning the future of
the island now.
City officials gave a presentation
on Jan. 21, showcasing
how the ULURP application,
which was officially filed by
the City Council in December,
is only meant to designate Rikers
Island a “public place to
ensure future development on
the site will be solely for the
public benefit.”
The application also ensures
that the island could no
longer be used for the incarceration
of individuals after Dec.
31, 2026, which is when the city
expects to complete four borough
based jails.
Tuesday’s meeting, which
included a public hearing
about the application, was
quiet compared to a previous
hearing CB1 hosted on Jan.
8, when city officials gave the
same presentation and answered
questions from community
board members and
residents. City officials said
a “public place” designation
would mean the island could
be used in many different
ways that would ultimately
benefit the community.
However, the same concerns
were raised in both hearings.
Board members wanted to
know if the ULURP affected
Rikers Island’s current zoning,
which is currently C8. C8
zones are typically used for
repair shops, warehouses and
gas stations. Housing, though,
is not permitted.
But board members and
residents alike were mainly
concerned about what the city
plans to do with the island, specifically.
Some board members
worried that more housing
developers or other as-of-right
buildings would go up without
a review. And at the Jan. 8
public hearing, some residents
suggested the island should
be used to commemorate the
people who suffered there and
to build community resources
Community Board 1 voted to approve the city’s ULURP application to make Rikers Island a public place on Jan. 21. QNS fi le photo
that would help the wrongfully
convicted to seek proper restitutions.
City officials insisted that
the zoning won’t change with
the city’s current ULURP and
have not determined any plans
for the island just yet. They emphasized
that designating Rikers
Island a public space would
mean the community board
will have a say when any new
developments come along, as
required with all city-owned
land.
CB1’s Land Use and Zoning
Committee Chair Elizabeth
Erion said they wanted
to “look ahead” and preferred
to start planning the future of
the island as early as this summer.
“We generally agreed with
the mapping of the public
place. The issues we had concerns
about related to what’s
TIMESLEDGER |2 QNS.COM | JAN. 31-FEB. 6, 2020
been brought up before, what
happens afterwards and how
do we get to the point where everyone
has a workable land use
plan to reuse Rikers Island,”
Erion said. “There’s so much
input, so many stakeholders
involved, but the one thing
that we are concerned about
is that planning begins early,
very early. And that means
not two years from now, that
means more like this summer
we start talking about what’s
the strategy going to be here,
how are we going to get these
groups together.”
Erion added that the committee
wants a “commitment
from the city” that the board
will be involved in the future
plans for Rikers Island and
that there be ULURP applications
and environmental
reviews on “anything that occurs
on the island.”
Although the Rikers Island
jail complex belongs to
the Bronx, the land falls in
Astoria’s jurisdiction due to
the Rikers Island Bridge that
physically connects the island
to Queens. The ULURP application
will now be reviewed by
the Queens borough president’s
office, then City Planning
Commission before it makes
it back to City Council. It will
then be up to the mayor’s office
to approve the application.
The one thing that we are concerned
about is that planning begins early,
very early And that means not two
years from now, that means more like
this summer we start talking about
what’s the strategy going to be here,
how are we going to get these groups
together.
Elizabeth Erion
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