Innovation QNS hits snag as local councilmember raises concerns
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City Councilmember Julie Won (left) tours the area where Innovation QNS would be built, if approved, alongside Land Use Chair Raphael Salamanca. On Wednesday, Won wrote a letter to the developers of Innovation QNS asking that they halt plans to submit their project through the city’s ULURP process. Photo by Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit
By Jacob Kaye
Developers of a massive redevelopment project in Astoria gearing up for the city’s rezoning process hit a potentially project-killing snag Wednesday.
City Councilmember Julie Won sent a letter to the developers of Innovation QNS, a five block redevelopment project in Southeast Astoria, condemning their rollout of the project and demanding they do more outreach and conduct further studies about the potential impact the project will have on residents who live nearby.
“Thus far, the amount of community engagement is insufficient for a project of this scale that will deeply impact not only those in the immediate vicinity, but also will have lasting impacts on the neighborhood as a whole,” Won wrote in her letter. “To initiate a ULURP before addressing the community’s concerns satisfactorily would demonstrate a lack of serious consideration for these critical issues facing Astoria and the impact on the broader community.”
“It would also demonstrate a disregard of Astoria's community priorities in how it evaluates proposals that will bring long-term impacts to our neighborhood,” the councilmember added.
Won, who was elected in 2021, inherited the project, however, she wouldn’t be the first councilmember to oppose it. Her predecessor in District 26, Jimmy Van Bramer, called the project “wildly out of character to the surrounding neighborhood,” the day after the project was first proposed in 2020.
Innovation QNS is being spearheaded by three groups – Silverstein Properties, BedRock and Kaufman Astoria Studios. The $2 billion project would require the rezoning of five city blocks from 37th Street to Northern Boulevard, between 35th and 36th Avenues, which is currently occupied by a number of warehouses, residential buildings, retail space and a movie theater.
Developers say they plan to build a dozen new buildings with a little over 2,800 apartments, office space, retail space, health and wellness facilities and, potentially, a school.
A proposed map of the five-block redevelopment in southeastern Astoria dubbed Innovation QNS. Map via Innovation QNS
Won, whose position on the project was an object of speculation for the past several months, did not take a position on the merits of the project in her letter. Instead, she said that after speaking with members of Community Board 1 and a number of constituents, she took issue with the way the developers had engaged with the community about its plans.
The project is expected to start the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure in the coming weeks, but Won said the developers should wait until they meet a series of requests.
Won criticized the developers efforts to speak to nearby residents about the project and demanded they conduct further outreach in-person and in multiple languages, including in Bangla and Spanish.
She also asked that they conduct a preliminary Environmental Impact Study and submit it to the community board for review. Additionally, Won requested a “full Neighborhood Impact Study…be completed including a Racial Impact Study.”
“The impacts on long-term residents and immigrant communities along with the small businesses on the Steinway Corridor must be made clear at the outset and must inform all future discussions on the project,” Won said.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards told the Eagle in a statement that he agrees with Won’s demands.
“Any large-scale development project in Queens should always incorporate robust culturally and linguistically competent community outreach, plans for tangible benefits that support all area residents and clarity on the project’s affordability, as well as its environmental impacts,” Richards said. “This specific proposal, like all others that come before the Queens Borough President’s Office as part of the City’s ULURP process, should be no different.”
In a statement to the Eagle, a spokesperson for Innovation QNS committed to meeting Won’s requests.
“We are grateful for Council Member Won’s interest and engagement on this important project and look forward to continuing to work with her and the Community Board toward a successful outcome,” said Tom Corsillo, a spokesperson for the developers.
“We believe we can accomplish the three things she has asked for: We have spent several years engaging with the local community, and will ramp up our in-person outreach in multiple languages, including Bangla and Spanish; we would be happy to share preliminary Environmental Impact Statement information with the Community Board as soon as we can, with the full EIS available upon certification; and we will start work on a Racial Impact Study as suggested by Council Member Won – becoming the first major privately proposed development project to undertake this review,” Corisillo added.
The developers have promised that the project would bring around 1,700 permanent jobs, 725 affordable apartment units and $50 million in annual spending to the neighborhood. It has garnered support from a number of local groups and residents including Tom Grech, the president and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, Elizabeth Lusskin, the president of the Long Island City Partnership, Carl Goodman, the executive director of the nearby Museum of Moving Image, and others.
A rendering of a plaza on 38th Street to be built as part of Innovation QNS. Rendering via Innovation QNS
Should Won feel that her requests were not met, it’s unclear how much power she would have to kill the project. Councilmember deference, a longstanding tradition that gave the local councilmember the final say on land use projects that came before the City Council, was challenged last year in Manhattan when former Councilmember Ben Kallos opposed a rezoning to build a blood center on the Upper East Side. The rezoning was approved 43-5.
Won’s criticisms of Innovation QNS aren’t new. Community Board 1’s Land Use Committee heard a presentation from the developers last month and shared many of the same concerns.
Since first being presented, plans have been altered without consultation of the community board, some members said. While plans for a new school had long been a part of the project, developers told board members the primary school had been scrapped in February. At the same meeting, the developers told board members that their plans to build one 27-story building now include a second building.
Innovation QNS would be built from 37th Street to Northern Boulevard, between 35th and 36th Avenues, which is currently occupied by a number of warehouses, residential buildings, retail space and a movie theater. The neighborhood is also home to Kaufman Astoria Studios, a partner on the project. Photo by Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit
Members of Community Board 1’s Land Use Committee told representatives for the developers that many questions surrounding the project that had been asked previously remained unanswered. Board members asked them to share information about how they reached out to community members, the prices of the market-rate apartments and the heights of the proposed structures – developers promised to follow up on all requests.
The board also had several questions about the two-acres of public space laid out in the plans, which would be maintained by the developers and which would be spread throughout the neighborhood.
Evie Hantzopoulos, a member of Community Board 1 who spoke to the Eagle in her capacity as an Astoria resident, said that while she agrees with Won’s requests for more outreach and study of the local community, she’s doubtful the tenor of the project will change.
“Even if they do more outreach, is that really going to make a difference? They have their plan, they're trying to push it to be certified,” said Hantzopoulos, who serves as the executive director of the Queens Botanical Garden.
“What changes are they really going to make after doing this outreach, given the fact that they haven't really been responsive to the feedback that they have gotten from the community board and other people who are concerned about the project,” she added.
Jannatul Ahmed, who grew up and lives just blocks from the proposed developments, told the Eagle that neither she nor her family has been contacted or had any interaction with developers. The lack of outreach is concerning, Ahmed said, especially because of the potential effects the development may have on those who live nearby.
“It seems like these mega-developers are just increasing their plans to introduce so many larger developments that obviously won't be helping longtime residents that have been here,” Ahmed said. “So many of our friends and family members have been pushed out.”
Mackenzie Farquer, a member of CB1 who spoke to the Eagle in her capacity as a resident and local business owner, said that even if the developers meet Won’s demands, she’s not confident the project will ever be right for the neighborhood.
“We are very much a small ragtag team of community board members versus very professional multibillion dollar developers – they know how the game is played,” Farquer said. “They're just going to do that exactly – tick all the boxes.”
“It will have a negative impact on the neighborhood,” she added. “I don't see any way around that.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story said that open space in Innovation QNS would be publicly owned and privately maintained. That is incorrect. The space would private but open to the public.
