[NYguy]

Developers detail vision for site once targeted for Amazon HQ2


RYAN DEFFENBAUGH
June 30, 2020

A group of developers says it can build a new neighborhood hub with workspaces and public plazas on the 28-acre Long Island City site once targeted and then abandoned by Amazon.

The developers will have to win over a skeptical neighborhood that fears any rezoning plan, similar to that in the case of Amazon, will displace residents.

Against that backdrop, the coalition of private developers detailed its goals in seeking a rezoning for the site through a report released Tuesday. The group, called YourLIC, launched last year at the City Council's urging.

"We've heard the need for job creation, particularly in a part of Long Island City adjacent to one of the largest public housing communities in the country," said Eleonora Bershadskaya, a senior associate at TF Cornerstone. "We've heard the need for abundant public open space. And we've heard again and again that this needs to be a 24/7 vibrant place."

TF Cornerstone previously was set to develop two city-owned parcels for Amazon. It is now helping lead the YourLIC process. Plaxall, which owns several acres in the Anable Basin development site, is a member of the coalition. Developers MAG Partners and Simon Baron are guiding the effort as well.

The group hopes to pursue a rezoning of the 28-acre area by next year, allowing for up to 12 million square feet of construction for commercial space, with at least half of which would be office or nonresidential use, such as a workforce development center. About 7 acres would be reserved for public space, including a new half-acre plaza on the waterfront.

Earlier this month a Western Queens community group called the Justice for All Coalition wrote to Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, a leading Amazon critic, asking him to publicly oppose any rezoning of the site.

"This type of luxury mixed-use development in former manufacturing zones does not provide good quality jobs to those who need them most —in this case, residents of Queensbridge houses, just blocks away," the group's letter reads.

The outreach process has helped win some support in the community. A group of four tenant association leaders in Queens wrote in a Gotham Gazette op-ed last week that Queens "can’t afford to squander yet another opportunity to create jobs and to deliver progress."

But others say the city needs a planning process that operates independently of property developers.

"In terms of developing our neighborhoods—where we live, work and play—the process should begin with a genuine assessment of what the community needs," said Kristen Hackett, an executive committee member with the Justice For All Coalition. "It should be led by the community, who rely on this place for their well-being."

Van Bramer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the potential rezoning.

The process for rezoning, known as the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, is on hold because of Covid-19 pandemic.

A City Hall spokesman told the New York Post on Monday that land-use reviews are unlikely to resume until later this summer at the earliest.

https://www.gothamgazette.com/opinio...rtunity-arises

NYCHA Tenant Leaders: Where Amazon Never Arrived, New Opportunity Arises





June 25, 2020
by Carol Wilkins, April Simpson-Taylor, Claudia Coger & Annie Cotton-Morris

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has not been equitable across New York City. While some New Yorkers have been able to work from home, or leave the city temporarily to wait the pandemic out, our NYCHA family has been devastated with the astounding loss of life and by an economic collapse at a scale we have never experienced before.

We have seen many people speak out about how to help NYCHA recover from this pandemic. On behalf of the nearly 17,000 residents of four Western Queens public housing developments, the virus has been catastrophic for our neighbors and the number one thing we will need coming out of this unprecedented time is jobs.

Thousands of our neighbors have lost their jobs and income, and we are ready to help New York City get back to work. NYCHA is the bedrock of Long Island City and the permanency of our homes provides an opportunity to access our residents for job opportunities. But we need the access, and we need to kickstart the creation of new opportunities to make up for the jobs that have been lost and may never return.

We recently sat down with local Queens and citywide leaders in the workforce development community, convened by four developers (MAG Partners, Plaxall, Simon Baron Development, and TF Cornerstone) pursuing the Your LIC process to create a comprehensive plan for the Long Island City waterfront that is anchored with a strong jobs and commercial district.

We talked about an integrated, place-based workforce development plan that benefits the existing local workforce, including a community center that can connect all of Long Island City, flexible job training, pathways for high school students to find internships, services including childcare for families, and opportunities to strengthen soft skills.

Of course, we’re no stranger to fighting for the future of our community. Leading up to Amazon’s decision to pull their plans for ‘HQ2,’ we were making progress to ensure that the deal would work for all of us. This neighborhood was prepared to receive a job-training center, the launch of a workforce development program with LaGuardia Community College, modern after-school programs, and internships for our children.

For months following Amazon’s decision to pull out, we felt forgotten and it appeared that our goal of creating a Long Island City waterfront that would empower our community and create a significant number of jobs was lost.

Then last year, a new process emerged. The proponents of this new project began organizing a series of public engagements to hear firsthand what Long Island City residents want to see along the waterfront. Since the very beginning of the process, NYCHA residents have had a seat at the table, with hundreds from the community participating in the public workshops and online discussions. Our voices are finally being heard and we are continuing to meet with members of the Your LIC team to make sure that the proposal is one that works for all of us.

We know that the buildings proposed on the waterfront may be tall and dense, and some people will have concerns about that, but we’ve been seeing towers rise in Long Island City for a long time. In those developments, residents come and go, but the residents in NYCHA developments in Western Queens are permanent, and it’s time for a proposal that benefits and draws from the human capital in our communities.

The need to deliver jobs – here in Western Queens – and community benefits are more critical than ever for the future of this place. These are the types of tools and investments that make a real difference in people’s lives and will do so for our children, too.

As we look forward to planning for the future of the Long Island City waterfront – and toward the future of our city as a whole – we can’t afford to squander yet another opportunity to create jobs and to deliver progress right here in a community that both needs it and deserves it.

When crises hit New York City, so many turn to NYCHA to lament how public housing residents are disproportionately impacted, but when given the opportunity too little action is taken. This is our community. Please don’t forget us once again. Support us as we build a strong future for NYCHA and our neighbors.