‘Queens is not for sale’
Community activists protest EDC’s plan to develop Sunnyside Yards
BY ANGELICA ACEVEDO
Justice for All Coalition,
Stop Sunnyside Yards, Woodside
on the Move, Take Back
NYC and several other community
activists and leaders
rallied on Monday on Skillman
Avenue to demand that all
public offi cials and city agencies
— particularly the New
York City Economic Development
Corporation (EDC) and
the Department of City Planning
(DCP) — stop all plans to
develop Sunnyside Yards.
“Anyone who pitches to
you the idea of building a giant
steel deck on top of this
historic rail yard and then
building on top of that deck an
emerald city for the rich while
the other 99 percent of the people
in our community have
their needs unmet, is pitching
to you a short-term solution
with huge long-term costs,”
Nicholas Velkov, executive
committee member of Justice
for All Coalition, small business
owner and Astoria resident,
said at the rally.
Velkov and Ivan Contreras,
the lead tenant organizer
at Woodside on the Move, directed
the rally and press
conference, which took place
right in front of the 180-acre
rail yard.
The land, which is about
six times the size of Manhattan’s
Hudson Yards, is owned
by Amtrak and the MTA and
is considered one of the busiest
rail yards in the country.
Amtrak and the MTA are
undertaking “critical capital
investments” that only happens
once in a century, according
to the EDC.
Therefore, Sunnyside
Yards has been eyed for a longterm,
billion dollar development
project by the EDC since
2017, after they found that it’s
possible to create new land
in the form of a deck over the
yard with continued rail operations
below.
At Monday’s rally, the
speakers presented their petition
that’s signed by 43 organizations
and small business
owners across the boroughs,
and not only called for a moratorium
Nicholas Velkov of Justice for All Coalition leads the Sunnyside Yards protest on Nov. 25.
Photo: Angélica Acevedo/QNS
on “all major new developments
and rezonings,” but
also outlined what they want
to see the “tens of billions of
dollars” that are intended for
the Sunnyside Yards development
project used for instead,
including:
• To “repair and restore
safe and adequate infrastructure
that serves the needs of
our communities,”
• To “reform the land use
process and create a democratic
system that is truly community
driven,” and “abolish
the quasi-private EDC and
eliminate the involvement of
real estate in city planning,”
and
• To “repair NYCHA housing
and secure permanent,
fair housing for all unhoused
NYC residents,”
Danelly Rodriguez, a member
of the Justice for All Coalition
and a life-long resident
of Astoria, took to the microphone
to address the crowd in
English and Spanish.
“Only two things have been
going up in Astoria and Long
Island City: The cost of rent
and luxury buildings,” Rodriguez
said.
Rodriguez further questioned
who would really benefi
t from the EDC’s development
project.
“The EDC has been boasting
for years about how Astoria
and Long Island City has
been developed so much, but
the question is, who are they
developing for — is it for us?
Absolutely not, they’re developing
for the rich and that’s
been clear time and time
again,” Rodriguez said.
Others argued that their
plans won’t benefi t the community,
instead it’ll just be
“another Hudson Yards,” that
will “displace loved ones,”
“raise rent,” and cause further
damage to the environment.
Emily Sharpe, a nonprofi t
attorney who’s lived in Sunnyside
with her children for 22
years, founded the group Stop
Sunnyside Yards Development
a year ago when she began to
hear about the EDC’s plans.
“There’s a gross imbalance
of power going on here, there’s
self-dealing, there’s lack of
inform and consent,” Sharpe
said. “The EDC and the people
behind it — who are the titans
of industry, fi nance, real
estate, insurance company —
they’re trying to get this for
themselves and their friends.”
The EDC has organized
three public meetings, steering
committees once every
quarter and about 100 community
stakeholder in-person interviews.
But at their most recent inperson
meeting at Aviation
High School in Long Island
City on Sept. 16, a group of
protesters held a community
teach-in and called their meetings
“fake.”
Tom Angotti, emeritus professor
of urban planning at
Hunter College, was present at
that meeting and at Monday’s
rally.
Angotti said that the EDC’s
claims that the project will
take into consideration longterm
effects to the community
is not accurate.
“There’s no planning involved
here, they have absolutely
no idea what will go on
top because it’s all driven by
investors,” he said. “Yet the
EDC will march in participatory
workshops and say, ‘this
is planning.’”
As the rally went on, some
people began to ask why their
elected offi cials weren’t present
and where they stand in
this.
They mentioned Senator
Michael Gianaris, Councilmember
and Queens Borough
president candidate
Jimmy Van Bramer, Assemblywoman
Cathy Nolan and
Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez.
On Nov. 19, Van Bramer
and Ocasio-Cortez signed a
joint letter to the EDC stating
some of their concerns regarding
the current planning
process and proposed development
over the Sunnyside
Yards. Some of those concerns
include the current plan’s lack
of “environmental impacts of
developing near the Newtown
Creek Superfund Site, an industrial
waste zone that would
expose unknown amounts of
toxins to local residents.”
Ocasio-Cortez and Van
Bramer’s letter also stated that
their positions on the project’s
steering committee for the development
“does not imply endorsement”
of it.
On Monday, Gianaris also
sent a letter to the EDC, stating
that they have not “embraced
a democratic process
in implementing public input
that prioritizes environmental
and social justice” and that
the development will be “yet
another mega-project” that
will benefi t developers and
lead to “further gentrifi cation”
and “displacement.”
When QNS asked the EDC
for comment regarding the
concerns of the community, a
spokesperson stated that they
are still in the master planning
process and will release
the formal plan in Winter
2020.
“Sunnyside Yard presents
an opportunity to build
a stronger New York and
meet the needs for more open
space, transit, housing, jobs
and green infrastructure in
Western Queens,” the spokesperson
said. “We recognize
that in any long-term planning
process there will be
questions and concerns. We
look forward to continuing to
engage the community to discuss
the goals and impact with
them.”
They will be hosting a Digital
Town Hall webinar on
Wednesday, Dec. 4, to showcase
a draft of the master plan
and discuss what it means for
the city’s long-term future.
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