THE QUEENS
SEPTEMBER 2017
Developer announces plan to restore a
waterfront habitat in Long Island City
ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
ADomenech@schnepscomm.com
@AODNewz
Th e waters of the East River around
44th Drive in Long Island City are deep
and choppy, but steps are being made to
allow residents more access to water in
spots like Anable Basin.
Real estate developer TF Cornerstone
has announced plans to restore and
enhance the natural waterfront habitat at
the Long Island City Innovation Center.
“We really don’t spend that much time
lingering in the cove area as it is not protected
from the main current,” said David
Matten, senior administrator at the Long
Island City Community Boathouse, a
nonprofi t that is dedicated to kayaking
and environmental education on the East
River. Matten has worked at the community
boathouse for nine years.
TF Cornerstone will remove an old
platform and restore a half acre of waterfront
for the benefi t of the environment
and people alike. Th e sloping
shoreline will feature boulders and rocks,
which will be interspersed with plants.
It’s unclear when the project will be completed
but once it’s done, visitors will be
able to travel down to the water’s edge.
Matten attended a June 25 public meeting
hosted by Economic Development
Corporation where the agency asked
community members for their thoughts
about potential designs for the waterfront.
While controlling erosion was of
the essence, Matten said he and others
pushed the department to limit the environmental
impact of the project on the
marshland there.
“You can build this the same as the rest
of the waterfront where you can’t touch
the water or you cannot let me build up,”
Matten said.
Bioswales — manmade sloped areas
fi lled with vegetation designed to drain,
concentrate and remove water — will
be installed in the low-lying area to prevent
fl ooding during severe storms. Piles
that supported the old platform will be
left in place to minimize the disruption
to the river bottom and provide habitat
for the river’s marine life and wave attenuation
in order to calm the waters in the
cove and reduce wave impact along the
shoreline.
Preservation and restoration are in the
works not only to create a welcoming
and sustainable public space for Long
Island City residents, but to also protect
the community from rising sea levels
and coastal storms which are becoming
increasingly more severe due to climate
change, according to a press release from
TF Cornerstone, which has developed
properties in the adjoining area.
In 2017, the real estate management
and development company, TF
Cornerstone, along with the nonprofi ts
Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design
Center and the Coalition for Queens,
were chosen to create a new, mixeduse
development in the hopes of bringing
aff ordable industrial space, workforce
training, offi ces, a school, aff ordable
housing and public space to the
Long Island City waterfront.
“It’s a forward-thinking approach that
all waterfront developments in our coastal
city must take in this era of climate
change,” said Roland Lewis, president
and CEO of Waterfront Alliance, a nonprofi
t organization that works to infl uence
the development and use of the
waterfront of New York City and northern
New Jersey.
Photo courtesy of BerlinRosen
Caption: The future waterfront near the Long Island City Innovation Center will be enhanced with a new boulders and stairs. The current condition around Anable Cove does not allow residents to come
near the water.
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