8 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 25, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Photo courtesy of Shutterstock LIC led U.S. in apt. construction: report BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected] / @Amatua A new report found that a record number 6/2/17 6/2/17 6/2/17 6/2/17 SPRING INTO SAVINGS! Encore Premium VARILUX PROGRESSIVE LENSES $169 (No-Line Bifocals) w/metal frame.Select frames with clear plastic no-line lenses +/- 4 sph, 2 cyl. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plan packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at location only. Some restrictions apply see store for details. Offer ends 6/2/17 QC of rental units were built in Long Island City from 2010 through 2016, eclipsing other large cities nationwide that also experienced a spike in development. RENTCafe, a real estate search engine, analyzed construction data from 1,000 neighborhoods listed on Property Shark and Yardi Matrix to fi gure out which neighborhoods grew the most since the recession. Th ey considered only large rental buildings with 50 or more units located in the 30 largest cities in the country. Renting an apartment became popular aft er the housing crash of 2007, RENTCafe argues, and many developers in large cities around the country catered to that trend by constructing rental units at a fast pace. Long Island City topped the list of 50 neighborhoods with the most new rentals from 2010 through 2016 and greatly surpassed the next neighborhood on the list, Downtown Los Angeles. During that six-year time period, the neighborhood saw 12,533 new units and 41 new apartment buildings being constructed. Th e report also found that 36 percent of the apartments in the area were built during this time. “In a matter of just a few years, the neighborhood has gone from dated industrial vibe to gleaming new glass towers, to take the number 1 spot for building by far more apartments than any other neighborhood in the country has done in recent (post-recession) history,” the report found. In comparison, 7,551 new units were constructed in Downtown Los Angeles during the same time. Long Island City is the only Queens neighborhood to make the list though other neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn make an appearance. LIC Partnership, the neighborhood’s development organization, released its “Real Estate Snapshot” in April and found that there are about 9,000 new units slated to be constructed in 2017, making it the most number of units in a single year in Long Island City’s history. Since 2006, the total number of residential units built in Long Island City will total more than 20,000 by the end of 2017. Th e neighborhood has continuously been found to be one of the most expensive to rent or purchase a home. Th ough more residential buildings are being planned, the neighborhood lacks retail space and the city would like to add more commercial space for companies in a variety of industries. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that Long Island City might be the home of a new initiative called LifeSci NYC to bring biotechnology jobs to the city. Th e city also plans to rezone portions of Court Square, Queens Plaza and Dutch Kills to encourage more commercial tenants even though residents argue that it will drive rent prices further and drive out longtime residents. “We really want to take a look at the development patterns going on, fi gure out how to re-establish a balance of uses here and then fi gure out how we can increase the percentage of aff ordable units,” said City Planner Penny Lee at a community meeting in February. Long Island City has seen a large number of rental building construction since 2010. Jackson Heights sues over 7 train lead paint Business owners and residents in Jackson Heights announced on Monday that they fi led a class-action lawsuit against the MTA aft er fi nding that the crumbling paint along the 7 line tracks contained high levels of lead. Councilman Daniel Dromm gathered under the tracks on Roosevelt Avenue along with residents on May 22 to call out the MTA for failing to address the hazardous conditions that have been present for years. Earlier this month, District 9 International Union of Painters and Allied Trades said that the 52nd Street station in Jackson Heights contains more than 40 times the legal threshold of lead paint, which amounts to 224,000 parts per million of lead paint. “Th is lawsuit is a response to an urgent public health crisis that has endangered our community for far too long,” Dromm said. “Th e facts are clear: lead levels in the paint chipping away from the 7 train trestles are over 40 times what they should be. Alarmingly, the MTA has been aware of and ignored these emergency conditions for years.” A spokesperson for the MTA, Beth DeFalco, said that the safety of MTA customers and the surrounding community “is a top priority.” Angela Matua Middle-schooler fi res BB gun, strikes teacher accidentally An 11-year-old boy at I.S. 5 in Elmhurst accidentally fi red a pellet gun on Monday aft ernoon, and the projectile struck a teacher in the ankle, authorities said. According to police, the incident occurred on May 22 at about 2 p.m., when the student was showing off the gun to his friends. A bullet hit the wall of the school, located at 50-40 Jacobus St., and then struck the 45-year-old teacher in the ankle. Th e NYPD showed up to the school to take away the gun and also fi lled out a juvenile report. Th e teacher refused medical attention, an NYPD spokesperson said. Angela Matua
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