Williams calls on mayor to address crime in Downtown Jamaica ahead of redevelopment
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Queens Councilmember Nantasha Williams called on the mayor to establish a task force to address quality-of-life issues in Downtown Jamaica ahead of the neighborhood's redevelopment plan. File photo by John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit
By Ryan Schwach
An city councilmember in Jamaica wants the mayor to create a task force to address quality-of-life issues in the Southeast Queens neighborhood as it undergoes a major redevelopment plan.
City Councilmember Nantasha Williams penned a letter last month to City Hall asking for the formation of a Downtown Jamaica Oversight Task Force to address community concerns to maintain “accountability” as the area is redeveloped.
The councilmember’s request comes as Williams and other local officials, including Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Borough President Donovan Richards, spearhead the Jamaica Neighborhood plan, an initiative that will lead to the redesign over 300 blocks of the community's streetscape with new housing, public spaces and infrastructure.
Williams – who represents the 27th District – said in a Jan. 24 letter to Mayor Eric Adams that the task force is needed to address crime, social services and overall quality of life in Jamaica.
“Downtown Jamaica has been facing significant challenges, including a growing number of emergency shelters that have overwhelmed social service providers, our public spaces, and the police department,” said Williams. “With nearly 12,000 new housing units proposed under the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan, we must ensure that development is paired with the infrastructure and resources necessary to support both new and longtime residents. A Downtown Jamaica Oversight Task Force will create a structured, accountable approach to improving quality of life in the neighborhood.”
Williams outlined a lengthy list of goals and priorities for the would-be task force in her letter to the mayor.
They include addressing quality-of-life issues like crime, illegal dumping and sanitation; analyzing transportation methods; and supporting economic development initiatives to attract new businesses and job opportunities.
“The creation of the Downtown Jamaica Oversight Task Force would provide the structured approach needed to ensure these priorities are addressed,” the letter read. “It would build a bridge between government commitments and community expectations, ensuring that the planned investments translate into tangible, equitable outcomes for Jamaica residents.”
Williams also said that the task force and the city should work toward ending their reliance on hotel shelters for housing homeless New Yorkers and migrants, and instead build more permanent housing. During the height of the migrant crisis, Jamaica had one of the largest concentrations of shelters in the city.
The city is undergoing a process to redevelop 300 blocks in Southeast Queens through the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan. Map via DCP
“[Hotel shelters] have proven inadequate for both shelter residents and the surrounding community,” Williams said in her letter. “Hotel shelters are a temporary fix that often exacerbates existing issues; replacing them with facilities designed to meet the needs of shelter residents will improve outcomes while alleviating the strain on overburdened neighborhoods like Jamaica.”
“This also affords the community an opportunity to online hotel rooms to travelers and can lay the foundations for a burgeoning tourism industry to grow in place of these hotel shelters,” she added.
Overall, Williams said the task force would enforce a “transparent and community-driven approach to Jamaica’s future.”
“We cannot afford to move forward with a major rezoning plan without ensuring that existing issues are addressed and that our community has a seat at the table,” she said. “I urge Mayor Adams to take swift action to establish this task force and bring the necessary stakeholders together.”
City Hall did not respond to requests for comment about the councilmember's letter.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said he hoped the idea presented by Williams would at least lead to more discussion about the impact of the redevelopment on Jamaica and its current residents.
"As the Jamaica rezoning effort makes its way through the city's planning process, I look forward to a robust discussion with my city and community partners on ensuring significant community benefits for local families and creating long-term neighborhood infrastructure that will support and improve Jamaica for generations to come," said Richards.
At a recent meeting in Southeast Queens, both Williams and Richards discussed the potential impact of the redevelopment plan, which could bring as much as 12,000 new housing units and other developments to the historically underfunded community.
“The Jamaica Neighborhood Plan is a really exciting neighborhood plan, and yes, it does have to do with building affordable housing, but one of the things that I am really excited about with the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan is that the city is also making investments into the community,” Williams said at the meeting.
“It's not just about building housing, but it's about thinking about…social and physical infrastructure components that make up a community,” she added. “We're talking about sewers, we're talking about improving some of the parks that are within the map, we're talking about public safety, we're talking about arts and culture.”
The rezoning plan was introduced in 2023, and the Department of City Planning is expected to certify the proposal in March, which will kick off the city’s land use review process for the plan.
