Community News
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I DECEMBER 2019 23
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:
1. To “repair and restore safe and adequate infrastructure
that serves the needs of our communities”
2. To “reform the land use process and create a dem-ocratic
system that is truly community-driven,” and
“abolish the quasi-private EDC and eliminate the
involvement of real estate in city planning”
3. 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 benefit
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 benefit the com-munity,
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 nonprofit attorney who’s lived in Sun-nyside
with her son and husband for 22 years, founded
the group Stop Sunnyside Yards 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 informed consent,” Sharpe said.
“The EDC and the people behind it — who are the titans of
industry, finance, real estate, insurance companies — 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 in-person 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 long-term 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 in-vestors,”
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 officials weren’t present and where they
stand in this.
They mentioned Senator Michael Gianaris, Coun-cilmember
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 Nov. 25, 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 benefit developers and
lead to “further gentrification” and “displacement.”
When a reporter 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 stron-ger
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 hosted 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.
/www.qns.com
/www.qns.com
