30 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 25, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Advocates celebrate completion of Queens Blvd. redesign
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
It was a celebratory bike ride more than
a decade in the making.
Transportation Alternatives volunteers,
elected offi cials and supporters gathered
in Sunnyside and rode all the way to
Borough Hall on Sunday, Nov. 14, on the
Queens Boulevard protected bike lane
they advocated for, and asked for more to
be done to protect cyclists.
“Th is celebration belongs to the countless
New LIC developments see increase in apartment unit sales: Report
BY KAYLA WONG
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
New developments in western
Queens, particularly in Long
Island City, saw an increase
in sales during the last several
months, according to a report by
real estate agency MNS.
MNS’ “New Development
Market Report” defi nes “new
development sales” data as
“arms-length” and is compiled
from the Automated City
Register System (ACRIS) for
sponsor sales that traded during
the third quarter (which is
between July 1 and Sept. 30 of
this year).
During this third quarter, the
total sales volume of Queens
sponsor units increased by
nearly 46%, from $296,366,589
during the second quarter to
$432,548,838.
Th e total number of new
development sponsor sales also
increased by about 45%, from
295 total sales in the second
quarter to 428 total sales.
Quarter-over-quarter, while
the median price per square foot
decreased by 0.6%, the median
price paid for a Queens
sponsor unit in that same span
increased by 0.8%. Year-overyear,
the median price paid per
square foot for a Queens sponsor
increased by 4%, while the
median sales price increased by
about 18%.
Both the highest price paid
and the highest price paid per
square foot for a Queens sponsor
unit took place at the Skyline
Tower at 3 Court Square in Long
Island City, where a unit sold for
$2,610,739 (or $1,969 per square
foot). In the past quarter, 25 studio
sponsor units were sold, representing
nearly 6% of all sponsor
unit sales in Queens.
One-bedroom sponsor units
represented nearly 44% of all
sponsor unit sales in Queens
during the third quarter of this
year, or 187 out of 428 total
sales. Two-bedroom sponsor
units represented 46.73% of all
Queens sponsor unit sales, or
200 out of 428 total sales. Th reebedroom
or larger sponsor units
comprised the remaining nearly
4% of Queens sponsor sales
that occurred during this year’s
third quarter, just 16 out 428
total sales.
Th e majority of these sponsor
sales were in Long Island City,
where about 65% of all Queens
sponsor sales occurred. Th is
translates to 279 out of 428 total
sponsor unit sales that took place
in the neighborhoods tracked
by this report, which include
Astoria, Flushing, Forest Hills,
Jackson Heights, Rego Park and
Ridgewood.
Flushing had the second-highest
percentage of sponsor sales
at about 20%, translating to 86
sponsor units sold this quarter.
Long Island City also dominated
as the neighborhood where
the majority of each individual
unit type was sold, with studios
at 92%, one-bedrooms at 68%,
two-bedrooms at 59% and threebedrooms
at 75%.
But the largest downswing this
quarter also occurred in Long
Island City, where the median
price per square foot decreased
by 0.6%, from $1,383 to
$1,376. Additionally, the median
sales price in Long Island
City increased by 1.4%, from
$999,512 to $1,013,063.
Th e largest quarterly upswing
occurred in Rego Park, where
the median price per square foot
increased by 11%, from $840 to
$933, but the median sales price
decreased by nearly 20%, from
$680,191 to $544,764.
activists who over the course of a
decade have participated in rallies,
events, collected petitions, and stood up
for undoing the destructive legacy of
the ‘Boulevard of Death,’” Transportation
Alternatives senior organizer Juan
Restrepo said. “Th rough your activism,
fewer families along the boulevard
will know the torment that is losing
a loved one to traffi c violence.
Mayor-elect Adams will look at
extending this project to its
original endpoint, Jamaica
Avenue in Jamaica.”
Th e extension of the
project into Jamaica would
fulfi ll the vision of Lizi
Rahman who rode along
with the activists. She held
a portrait of her son Asif, a
poet, rapper and artist who
was struck and killed on the boulevard by
a reckless truck driver in 2008 as he rode
his bike home from work.
“Part of me is very sad and part of me is
very happy,” Rahman said. “Aft er he died, I
started this campaign. From now on, more
people in the future, they will be safe, so
that’s a happy feeling for me. I’m sure he’s
smiling in heaven and he is happy, too.”
TA also called on the city to co-name
a street in honor of Rahman who was 22
years old when he died from his injuries
in Elmhurst. State Senator John Liu rode
along and spoke of Asif, who would have
been 30 had he survived the collision.
“Many years aft er Asif Rahman was
killed on Queens Boulevard, cementing
its notoriety as the ‘Boulevard
of Death,’ the grief and
pain is still felt by his family and community,”
Liu said. “We honor his memory
with the completion of this bike lane,
an important milestone in the continuing
transformation of Queens Boulevard
into the boulevard of life, and look forward
to seeing more improvements and
reconstruction of other thoroughfares
into more human-friendly zones.”
Th e city began installing the safety infrastructure
along the corridor in Woodside
beginning in 2015 including protected
bike lanes, pedestrian paths, and improved
crosswalks and intersections. As a result,
and its recent expansion into Forest Hills
and Kew Gardens, injuries have declined
by 19%, while pedestrian fatalities and
injuries declined by
24%.
“I am grateful
to the city
for taking
the necessary steps to address the traffi
c safety crisis on Queens Boulevard,”
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi said. “Th e
safety redesigns on Queens Boulevard
including wider pedestrian crossings and
expanded medians will help prevent further
tragedy from befalling others in our
community.”
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer was an
early advocate of the Queens Boulevard
reconstruction and called for bike lanes
on Skillman Avenue and 43rd Avenue in
Sunnyside aft er cyclist Gelasio Reyes was
killed by a drunk driver in April 2017 at
43rd Avenue and 39th Street.
“From Skillman and 43rd Avenue to
the very fi rst phase of Queens Boulevard,
which established protected bike lanes on
what was then known as the ‘Boulevard
of Death,’ helping to transform it to a boulevard
of life, we have fought arm-in-arm
for the street-changing successes we have
achieved,” Van Bramer said. “Th ere are few
things I am more proud of during my time
in the Council than my advocacy to make
our streets safer in western Queens.”
Th e ride ended at Borough Hall where
the activists celebrated their achievements
with a rally.
“Bicycle riding is fun, healthy and
environmentally-friendly activity that
we all should be doing our utmost to
encourage,” Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards said. “Th e best thing
we can do to promote bike riding is to create
conditions where cyclists can ride safely
and confi dently throughout our borough
and city. Th e Queens Boulevard protected
bike lane will do a great deal to promote
secure and enjoyable bike riding, so
I commend all of our partners, both inside
and outside of government, who help keep
Queens Boulevard safer every day.”
Photo courtesy of Binyan Studios
Skyline Tower in Long Island City.
Photo courtesy of Transportation
Alternatives
Lizi Rahman, holding a
portrait of her son Asif, celebrates
the completion of the
Queens Boulevard redesign during
a rally at Borough Hall.
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