[NYguy]

https://qns.com/story/2020/08/05/cou...t-development/

Councilman Richards announces support of Your LIC waterfront development


By Angélica Acevedo
August 5, 2020

City Councilman and lead candidate for Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced his support of the Your LIC waterfront development.

The development, a project four private developers are looking to build in the 28-acre land along Anable Basin — made popular due to Amazon’s proposed HQ2 — has garnered much attention throughout what is almost a year of its public visioning sessions.

“As we battle massive inequality across Queens, the Long Island City waterfront presents a key opportunity to create new jobs, affordable housing and much-needed community facilities,” Richards told QNS. “We need ambitious proposals that will bring significant private and public investment into communities that have long endured disparities based on their socio-economic status.”

Your LIC’s developers, MAG Partners, Plaxall, Simon Baron Development, and TF Cornerstone, were brought together by City Council Speaker Corey Johnson last year in order to create a comprehensive plan with community input well before the ULURP process.

So far, developers have revealed they plan to develop 10 to 12 million square feet of the 28-acre land with up to 15 buildings that range from 400 to 700 feet in height, or 37 to 64 stories. They’ve mentioned seven acres of public open space. The plan also calls for 50 percent of commercial space, 30 percent residential and 13 percent “community” space that would include three new public schools and space for arts and culture.

Developers say they’ve committed to 5,700 total apartments with 25 percent (or 1,400 units) being affordable, which they say will be consistent with the area’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing metrics. When asked for specific price range for the units, Your LIC Spokesperson Jovanna Rizzo said they did not have those specifics yet.

Richards is making good with his intentions to “play an outsized role in these conversations — more aggressively than what we’ve seen in the past,” he said in July.

“I applaud the Your LIC team for working diligently to solicit community feedback, especially from NYCHA residents who stand to gain the most with this plan,” said Richards. “We must allow it to advance through the ULURP process so we can collectively shape the best possible project for Long Island City’s future.”

His support of the project comes after local Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer announced his opposition to it as it currently stands, following a letter from various western Queens organizations who believe the public land should be used for public good and developed as a community land trust.

“I do not support the Your LIC proposal. Words of support from REBNY yes men mean little in the face of widespread community concern,” Van Bramer told QNS. “Advancing millions of square feet of residential and commercial space should not be done hastily or without consideration to the local community. Simply put, we don’t need more luxury apartments subsidized with giveaways to the ultra rich. Shame on anyone who supports them.”

Van Bramer, who also has a history of accepting real estate money, didn’t answer questions about what should happen on that land specifically. But the Long Island City representative reiterated that COVID-19 has changed everything.

“New development should focus on the deep affordability needs of the community, both living and working space,” he said. “The proposals I have seen are woefully inadequate. Furthermore, no one even knows what the future of work will look like post-COVID.”