Community split over Innovation QNS
/
Over 100 Astoria residents showed up to voice their opinion on the proposed Innovation QNS at the Museum of the Moving Image on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye
By Jacob Kaye
Innovation QNS, a massive, multi-block residential and commercial development planned for Astoria, has been a contentious project since it was first proposed about half a decade ago.
That didn’t change Wednesday night during the first public hearing on the project since its developers officially began the city’s rezoning process in April.
Held at the Museum of the Moving Image and hosted by Queens Community Board 1, the developers behind Innovation QNS – Silverstein Properties, BedRock and Kaufman Astoria Studios – gave a short presentation before hearing from nearly 100 speakers from the neighborhood.
Though more speakers voiced opposition to the five-block development from 37th Street to Northern Boulevard between 35th and 36th Avenues, nearly just as many spoke in support.
Those against Innovation QNS questioned whether the affordable housing units promised by the developers would be truly affordable to those already living in the neighborhood. Additionally, they claimed the project wouldn’t fit in with the current make-up of the area, which includes a number of exclusively residential streets with buildings not higher than a couple of stories – the average height for the 15 proposed buildings is around 17 stories high, and the tallest proposed buildings will be 27 stories high.
Those rallying in support the project said the neighborhood – which is currently populated by a number of warehouses, several homes, retail businesses and a movie theater – and the surrounding area is in need of housing and jobs, two of the main benefits touted by the project’s developers.
The two points of view clashed Wednesday night, with tensions only growing over the course of the three-hour meeting.
When a community member would speak in support, they were often met with boos, heckles and accusations of being bought off by the development team. Those opposed to the project were occasionally met with a groan from one of their fellow neighbors or a smile from the lead architect on the project, Eran Chen.
Caught in the middle of it all was Marino Frost, who, like all speakers, was given one minute to give his testimony.
Frost took to the mic about an hour into the meeting and began to tell members of the community board’s Land Use Committee that his home, his business and his nonprofit organization, all of which are located one of the blocks slated to be razed, stood to be “destroyed” by the creation of Innovation QNS. Those opposed to the project gave him a round of applause.
But before he could clarify his position, his one minute of allotted time was up and Community Board 1’s Sergeant-at-Arms Tom Ryan was pulling him away from the mic. A number of people in the crowd stood up and began to shout at Ryan, who had grabbed Frost’s arm and pushed him toward the seating area.
“One minute? We’re talking about things that are, in my case, life or death,” Frost later told the Eagle. “I wanted to say the truth – I'm the only person here who has everything at stake.”
Marino Frost, who lives on one of the blocks proposed to be replaced by the Innovation QNS development, is grabbed by Community Board 1 member Thomas Ryan after Frost exceeded his one-minute speaking time limit. Eagle photos by Jacob Kaye
The testimony Frost would have given involved a story about how the developers of Innovation QNS came to his home on several occasions and spoke with him for hours. They eventually reached a resettlement agreement, agreeing to pay for the cost of his move, any potential difference in rent and for the installation of a new recording studio, which he said cost him $150,000 to install in his current home.
“They talked to me nicely, they talked to me as normal human beings,” Frost said. “I understand some of these corporations are evil, but these guys are not. The whole point is that sooner or later, some other corporation will come.”
Silverstein Properties, BedRock and Kaufman Astoria Studios are attempting to rezone the five blocks to bring in 2,800 residential units, 700 of which would be split between units designated for seniors and affordable housing. Of the affordable units, 300 would rent for $1,000 or less, according to the developers.
The development also includes spaces for offices, a new movie theater, several open spaces and community facilities – a number of local organizations, including HANAC, Urban Upbound and the Floating Hospital have been promised space in the development.
However, opposition to the project has remained strong.
A group of residents have accused the Innovation QNS development team of not properly notifying nearby residents and business owners about the proposals – a number of local business owners spoke in favor of the project Wednesday.
But a number of residents, most of whom are immigrants and people of color, maintain that the development will price them out of the neighborhood.
“Projects like this that bring an influx of luxury housing into neighborhoods that are already severely rent burdened just drive the prices up across the whole neighborhood, and end up pushing out the immigrant, working class people who actually built this neighborhood,” said Sasha Wijeyeratne, the executive director of nonprofit CAAAV.
Several speakers suggested instead the project be reconfigured to have shorter buildings and an increase in the number of affordable units.
One longtime Astoria resident, Memo Salazar, suggested the are undergo a redevelopment, but one led by his neighbors.
“You can have the jobs that you're looking for, you can have the commercial and the innovation and the artistic decision you're looking for, but not in a way that screws people over,” Salazar said. “You can do it by working with community land trusts, who will work with these nonprofit developers to bring the same kind of innovation that looks like what you're seeing on the board, but actually doesn't make the prices go up.”
A spokesperson for Innovation QNS said the development group was “in active discussions with the Department of Housing Preservation and Affordability to expand the project's affordable housing commitment.”
“The city’s formal review process is designed to gather input from the public, and we’re glad to receive that input even as we continue to make the case that New York City – perhaps now more than ever – needs this $2 billion private investment that will create urgently needed mixed-income homes and 5,400 jobs, while generating hundreds of millions of dollars to support public safety, education and infrastructure,” the spokesperson added.
Wednesday’s public hearing was the first hosted by the community board. A previous town hall was hosted by the developers in April.
The developers moved to certify the project for the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure despite demands from local City Councilmember Julie Won, who asked they wait until they conduct more community outreach.
Won has, for the most part, declined to comment on the merits of the project itself.
Members of the community board’s Land Use Committee has yet to take a formal vote on the project – their recommendation will be brought to the full board next month, which will then issue an advisory vote – but has suggested that it will vote against based on the current plans.
Gerald Caliendo, the co-chair of the board’s Land Use Committee, said that, generally, the board is pro-development, but only when “a project is reasonable, and when the community at large would benefit from the development.”
“When we see that a project is detrimental we will vote against it,” Caliendo said. “The sub-committee generally agreed that the project is somewhat detrimental to the community.”
Following the community board’s advisory vote, the proposal will move its way to Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who will also issue an advisory vote.
Final say on the project will come in the City Council, where Won may have significant influence on the opinions of her colleagues. Though it was challenged last year, councilmember deference has historically been respected in the legislative body.
There will be two more public hearings on Innovation QNS – the first will be held from noon to 2 p.m., at the Melrose Ballroom on 33rd Street on June 11, and the second will be held virtually from 6 to 8 p.m., on June 14.
