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May 24-30, 2019 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
• ASTORIA TIMES
• FOREST HILLS LEDGER
• LAURELTON TIMES
• QUEENS VILLAGE TIMES
• RIDGEWOOD LEDGER
• HOWARD BEACH TIMES
• RICHMOND HILL TIMES
ALSO COVERING ELMHURST, JACKSON HEIGHTS, LONG ISLAND CITY, MASPETH, MIDDLE VILLAGE, REGO PARK, SUNNYSIDE
Activists press board on Target plan
Fears that big box store’s expansion to Jackson Heights would add to economic disparity
they care about, whether we
consume. They don’t care
about our community.”
The zoning in at 40-31 82nd
St. prohibits variety stores
over 10,000 square feet. This
is known as the “Special
Limited Commercial District”
adopted in 1969 and amended
through 2016 to “protect public
health, safety, general welfare
and amenity.”
According to the city
Department of Buildings, the
building code gross floor area
under the plans are 88,859
and a total zoning floor area
of 38,201.
testimony,” another speaker
said. “It is literally your job
to listen to us and not the rich
lawyers sitting here texting
and playing solitaire.”
MELODY’S WAY IN QUEENS VILLAGE
“Seriously consider our
The family of Melody Edwards and City Councilman I. Daneek Miller celebrates the fire victim’s
street co-naming ceremony in Queens Village on May 18. Edwards was one of four young adults
who died in the April 2017 blaze in the neighborhood. Courtesy of Miller’s offi ce
BY MARK HALLUM
After over a year of
contentious debate from
community boards to the
state Supreme Court, the
city Board of Standards and
Appeals will now make a final
decision on a Target Express
under construction at 82nd
Street near the Elmhurst/
Jackson Heights border..
The BSA held its final
public hearing on the matter,
with Queens Neighborhoods
United (QNU) arguing that
the project violated the zoning
laws, on May 21 in Manhattan.
A decision will be released by
the agency at a later date.
QNU claimed that public
comment at the hearing
became so heated that the
agency eventually cut short
the comment period and shut
off cameras for a short time
before threatening to arrest
have activists arrested.
Video footage depicted
police officers at the back
of the hearing evaluating
the situation.
“They union-bust a lot,
The development – not
yet completed – already has
a long and bitter history in
the community.
What started as primarily
a housing development,
Sun Equity Partners and
Heskel Group filed for a
ULURP application in early
2018 to expand the proposed
structure from 10 stories – as
of right under the zoning – to
13 stories.
Arrangements had
already been made with
Target to lease a space at the
ground level.
Although the affordability
of the apartments slated in
the original plan were suited
for families making 61,000
per year, the average income
for CB4 is $44,000 per year.
The developers later dropped
that affordability level down
to accommodate more of the
local residents and expanded
the amount of below market
units to 40 percent.
Although the project had
a fair bit of support from
Borough President Melinda
Katz and Councilman
Francisco Moya, the
developers had withdrawn
their ULURP application and
opted instead for only a retail
space in July.
we don’t want that in our
community and already have
a Target at Queens Circle,”
one speaker said. “This
corporation absolutely wants
to take our money. That’s all
Read more at QNS.com.
Vol. 7 No. 21 64 total pages
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