FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 • QUEENS BUSINESS • THE QUEENS COURIER 39
real estate
Photo courtesy of TF Cornerstone
LIC residents balk at city’s plan to develop
1.5M square feet on the waterfront
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
In July, a plan was unveiled to transform
two city-owned lots in Long Island
City into a 1.5-million-square-foot development
with housing, a school and offi ce
and artist space.
Th ough offi cials touted the project as
something that would bring “good, middle
class jobs” and a “state-of-the-art”
school to the neighborhood, people are
skeptical. At a Community Board 2 meeting
in Sunnyside on Sept. 7, a handful of
residents railed against the project and
asked that the city scrap it.
The Economic Development
Corporation called the proposal “the fi rst
of its kind industrial-commercial-residential
project.” Mixed-income housing
would accommodate middle-class residents
and families, the new school would
absorb the infl ux of families with children
and the offi ce and artist space would help
preserve businesses that felt they could
not aff ord rising rents.
Located along the waterfront at 44th
Drive, the lots currently house a a parking
lot for the Department of Transportation
and a Department of Education facility.
TF Cornerstone, a developer with several
buildings in Long Island City, was chosen
to build the housing portion of the
project.
A recent report found that 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. Th is construction boom,
along with the lack of additional infrastructure
like schools, transportation and
green space has worried residents.
Nick Velkor has owned Yoga Agora, a
yoga studio at 33-02 Broadway, for six and
a half years. Yoga Agora is a sliding scale
studio, which means that lower- and middle
income individuals pay less for services.
Velkor said at the Sept. 7 Board 2
meeting that he has witnessed “the very
rapid displacement” of his clients because
they cannot aff ord to pay rent.
“When I see this ridiculous idea of TF
Cornerstone building on city-owned land,
I’ve become increasingly convinced that
this city is willfully ignoring the needs of
low- and middle-income people,” he said.
“Th is is city-owned land. We have enough
pandering to the one percent. Let’s have
human decency to start checking in with
low- and middle- income people by bringing
in nonprofi t developers and community
organizers to lead this plan.”
At least 1,000 units will be built on the
site and 25 percent are slated to become
aff ordable housing.
Th e lots are located along the waterfront
and some residents are arguing that developing
such a large project near the water
is not responsible, especially in the wake
of Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged parts
of the city in 2012, and Hurricane Harvey
in Houston.
Danielle Luscombe has lived in Long
Island City for 12 years. She attended
the meeting with her 7-year-old daughter,
Lucy, to argue that building a school
within a hurricane evacuation zone is “the
wrong thing to do.”
“Ever since the fl oods in Houston, my
daughter has been terrifi ed every night
before bed about the idea of her neighborhood
fl ooding,” she said. “I have to
explain to her that we are safe and nothing
bad can happen here, but then I start
to wonder.”
She cited a New York City Panel on
Climate Change study, which predicted
that sea levels, precipitation and temperatures
will continue to rise in the coming
decades.
“Why place our children in another
school built in a fl ood zone?” Luscombe
said. “Maybe Lucy is right to be afraid.
I agree that there is a desperate need for
schools, but building along the waterfront
is the wrong thing to do.”
In total, eight residents spoke out
against the project, arguing that the
neighborhood did not need additional
luxury apartments and expressing skepticism
about how aff ordable the offi ce and
artist spaces would really be.
Lisa Ann Deller, the Board 2 Land Use
Committee chair, said that the EDC only
had one meeting with the board to discuss
the project and that the agency argued
that sharing any plans with the community
would “jeopardize the negotiation with
developers” if it leaked to the public.
She also expressed concerns with the
development and encouraged local community
groups to vocalize their opposition.
Th e project is about two years
away from starting construction since
it requires a zoning change, which gives
Long Island City residents time to negotiate
with the city, she said.
“Th e community board can’t do it
alone,” Deller said. “We need a lot of
noise. We need noise from LIC Coalition,
we need noise from all the housing advocacy
groups because we’ll get nothing if
you don’t turn up the noise.”
She added that the Community Board
would send a letter to the EDC outlining
its concerns.
A spokesperson for the EDC said
employees have begun talks with community
stakeholders and would continue to
do so throughout the process.
“Th is project is in the preliminary stages
of planning and is required to undergo
environmental review and public approvals,
in which community residents and
stakeholders will be able to share their
input,” the spokesperson said. “We have
already commenced meetings with community
stakeholders and look forward
to continuing the discussion with them.
We’re invested in bringing jobs and workforce
development back to Long Island
City’s waterfront within a truly mixed-use
community.”
A 1.5 million-square- foot development will be built along the Long Island City waterfront.