16 THE QUEENS COURIER • JULY 5, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Plans to make Long Island City the ‘next leading tech ecosystem’ in motion
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Elected offi cials and prominent business
leaders in Long Island City unveiled
a plan last week to make the neighborhood
the latest and greatest tech town in
the country.
Th e “Western Queens Tech Zone
Strategic Plan” presents a series of proposals
to improve Long Island City’s
position as a thriving technology sector.
Th e multi-faceted plan was presented
by Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz and local stakeholders on June 29
at WeWork Queens Plaza.
Th e study encompassed the entire
neighborhood of Long Island City and
considers how the locale could complement
other burgeoning tech communities
in the city, including Cornell NYC’s
Tech campus at Roosevelt Island and
the Brooklyn Tech Triangle (Downtown
Brooklyn, DUMBO and the Brooklyn
Navy Yard), while developing its own
signature “brand.”
According to the study, there were
8,400 tech jobs in western Queens in
2016. Th ese jobs paid a median wage
of $31 an hour, compared to $22 for
all jobs, and 34 percent of the positions
required no post-secondary education.
Th e long term “road map for growth”
consists of six main initiatives to grow
upon the existing sector, including a plan
to create a 40,000- to 60,000-squarefoot
physical hub for tech innovation.
Th e space will expand access to tools,
training and aff ordable offi ce space and
would be open to the entire community.
Th e strategy also lays out plans to
market the neighborhood as a tech town
by creating a “recognizable brand,” to
strengthen the tech workforce pipeline
by developing a partnership between
government and private tech employers,
and to secure federal and state funding
to expand tech training program,
focusing in on groups that are currently
under-represented.
Existing factors also position the
neighborhood for tech sector success,
the study says. Long Island City
is already home to eight tech-focused
educational institutions and fi ve workforce
development organizations, and
the neighborhood has 3 million square
feet of offi ce space in the pipeline. It is
also easily accessible by multiple modes
of public transportation, including the
subway, ferry and Long Island Rail
Road.
“Tech jobs, on average, pay more and
are growing at a faster clip than jobs
citywide,” Katz said. “Western Queens
off ers a coveted, dynamic mixed-use
community where workers can live,
ideas can synergize and businesses can
thrive. We commissioned the Tech Plan
to facilitate a more equitable growth of
this emerging global innovation hub
and the city’s next leading tech ecosystem.
By leveraging its inherent assets, as
well as training locally and hiring locally,
we will steer our borough into a more
competitive lane of the digital age.”
At the event, Katz also announced
the formation of the Western Queens
Tech Council. Th e group of 21 individuals
will be charged with implementing
the Tech Plan, identifying a tech-driven
brand for the area and promoting a
coordinated strategy for the tech district.
“Th e borough president’s Western
Queens Tech Zone Strategic Plan is
timely, visionary and comprehensive,”
said Elizabeth Lusskin, president
of the LIC Partnership and member
of the Tech Council. “With so much
and such varied tech activity – from
coding to advanced manufacturing –
already underway in LIC, Cornell Tech
now open a quick ferry stop away, and
LaGuardia Community College so pivotal,
we need to act on this strategic plan
to capture, support and share these great
jobs and creative energy in our unique
live/work/innovate community.”
Th e plan now enters the phases of
implementation and its success “will
hinge upon continued engagement from
all stakeholders vested in western Queens’
growth, including those entrusted on the
Tech Council,” Katz said.
Th e tech plan was fi rst initiated by the
Western Queens Tech Task Force in
2011 and funded by the New York State
Department of State under Title 11 of
the Environmental Protection Fund.
City set to drop the hammer on illegal dumping and
truck parking woes in southeast Queens and beyond
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
New legislation passed by the City
Council last week aims to address two
problems that have plagued southeast
Queens for years: commercial waste
dumping and illegally parked trucks.
In order to improve the quality of life
in southeast Queens neighborhoods,
Councilman I. Daneek Miller announced
the City Council’s passage of Introduction
656, which will toughen the current civil
penalties and criminal fi nes for unlawful
commercial dumping. Th e mayor is
expected to sign it soon.
“Unlawful dumping and illegally parked
18-wheel trucks are two nagging quality
of-life issues that have been especially
troublesome for my Southeast Queens
constituents,” Miller said. “Introduction
656 will send a clear message that there
will be steep consequences for those who
dare to dump their garbage wherever
they please, and the ‘Commercial Truck
Abuse Act’ will serve to make the cost
of doing business more than the companies
that own these vehicles can aff ord to
bear, which they have been all too willing
to do at the expense of our community,
but we’re determined to change that
attitude.”
Under Introduction 656, criminal fi nes
for unlawful dumping will start at $4,000
for fi rst off enses and will raise to $9,000
for each subsequent off ense. Matching
civil fi nes and an $18,000 penalty will be
imposed if subsequent off enses take place
within 18 months and fi nes for dumping
near public litter baskets adjusted to $300
and $400 for second and third off enses.
Vehicles that are impounded twice may
be subject to forfeiture, and civil penalties
can be imposed regardless of relationship
between owner and operator.
Additionally, the DSNY will now be able
to presume culpability of a person or
business for the improper placement of
waste near a basket if its contents bear the
name of that individual or owner.
“Ask anyone in the 29th Assembly
District and they’ll tell you the issues of
illegal dumping and commercial vehicle
parking are tremendous nuisances,”
Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman said.
“My colleagues and I are seeking to apply
greater penalties and fi nes for those who
violate common courtesy owed to our
neighbors. Actions such as these are by no
means minor steps in ensuring the cleanliness
of our streets.”
Th e new bill will join two pieces of legislation
that make up Miller’s “Commercial
Truck Abuse Act.” Th e bills would reduce
the amount of time that a tractor-trailer
can be legally parked from three hours to
90 minutes. Fines would also be increased
for a fi rst violation to $400, and $800 for
subsequent violations within a six-month
period.
“Quality of life concerns such as illegal
dumping and illegal commercial truck
parking are some of the issues that lead
to the highest volume of complaints
in Southeast Queens,” Councilman
Donovan Richards said. “We must work
together to fi nd better solutions than we
currently have at our disposal. Th at’s why
these pieces of legislation are so critical to
addressing these concerns.”
Photo by Suzanne Monteverdi/The Courier
The Long Island City streetscape at Queens Plaza North
Photo courtesy of the Offi ce of Councilman I. Daneek Miller
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