BP backs city’s plan to rezone Long Island City
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Queens Borough President Donovan Richards green lit the OneLIC rezoning plan with several conditions and recommendations on Monday. Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards gave his green light to the city’s massive rezoning plan for Long Island City on Monday.
Richards lent his support to OneLIC, a neighborhood-wide rezoning that hopes to change 54 blocks in one of the city’s fastest growing neighborhoods. With his support came several conditions that he says will only help further economic development in the community.
OneLIC is strongly supported by both local community boards – who had their own list of conditions – and local elected officials. The plan aims to encourage developers to bring 10,000 new units of housing, over 3 million square feet of commercial space and a level of development to the area that will essentially amount to the creation of a new neighborhood.
The BP’s conditions for his approval included a demand for more green space, school seats, infrastructure improvements and around $150 million in new community investments.
“Long Island City is one of the fastest growing communities in the country due its proximity to Manhattan, serene and publicly accessible waterfront, thriving arts and culture scene, blossoming nightlife and booming economy,” Richards said in his recommendation. “But as we see in many urban settings across the nation, community growth that rapid and substantial threatens to price out longtime residents and put this neighborhood financially out of reach for all but a lucky few.”
“It is my belief that, as a whole, this proposal is a significant step forward in preserving the unique character of Long Island City, while ensuring the bright future of this community is one that can be enjoyed by all who currently call it home and those who will do so in the coming years — regardless of one’s place on the socioeconomic spectrum,” he added.
Among the BP’s four-pages of recommendations, he included calls for deeper community benefits, small business grants, investments in local institutions like MOMA PS1, more schools, more parks and a new hospital.
Richards also recommended to the city that they further prioritize the local Queensbridge Houses, and bring a new library and tech lab to the NYCHA development.
He also called for further improvements and investments to existing schools, transportation routes and parks.
He echoed support for several recommendations made specifically by the two local Community Boards, 1 and 2.
The mutual recommendations include the call for the new hospital, arts and cultural zoning incentives, more schools and further requirements for Mandatory Inclusionary Housing for deeper affordability.
“I applaud [the boards] for their advocacy and careful deliberation,” the BP wrote in his recommendation.
In June, Community Board 2, which contains the majority of the rezoning area, voted 36 to seven to approve the project with their own list of conditions, many of which line up with Richards’.
“Borough President Richards has backed us up in many ways,” said CB2 Chair Anatole Ashraf. “Some of the conditions are a bit stricter than I think what we asked for from CB2, but overall, we're on the same page and just trying to get the most for our communities and trying to hold any potential development accountable.”
Ashraf said that the CB and the BP are in lockstep on further healthcare investments, more options for green space and the creation of a community oversight group to track the city’s rezoning efforts.
“This opportunity is a great one to make sure that we're keeping tabs as much as possible on the whole process, and being part of the process,” Ashraf said.
The board chair said that the BP was “stricter” on Mandatory Inclusionary Housing than the board was, but that the ultimate goal remains the same.
The biggest holdup for both boards hinged on the plan’s reliance on private development. Both local community boards said they feared the plan would heavily favor for-profit developers and might lead only to the creation of the same types of luxury apartments that have come to dominate the current housing market in downtown Long Island City over the past decade.
Evie Hantzopoulos, the chair of CB1, abstained from the vote because she is a part of the Western Queens Community Land Trust, a group that overwhelmingly criticized the proposal during hearings.
Hantzopoulos called OneLIC “deeply flawed” ahead of the CB’s vote.
CB1 voted to approve the plan by a 22 to 11 majority.
“We approved a plan with very deep concerns and very specific stipulations as well,” said Hantzopoulus on Monday. “At first glance, it looks like there are some very substantive requests that he's making or stipulating. I guess for me, the question is always are these going to happen?”
The OneLIC plan heads to the Department of City Planning after being approved, with conditions, by the local community boards and the borough president. Rendering via DCP
Hantzopoulos said that while both boards and the BP sent the city to work with a host of recommendations on ways to improve the project, it all depends on what the final product looks like.
“He can recommend, we can recommend, but ultimately, what is going to be delivered to the people and the community?” she said. “I want to see what the city is actually going to deliver, and what the councilmember is going to deliver.”
Councilmember Julie Won is a strong supporter and proponent of OneLIC.
“Borough President Donovan Richards' approval of the OneLIC Plan with conditions is a recognition of the nearly two years of engagement that our community has had with the City to address the critical needs of LIC,” she said in a statement. “Following favorable votes with stipulations by Community Boards 1 and 2, the thoughtful recommendations provided by the Borough President highlight the need for the City to make the critical investments that our community has called for.”
Won has several suggestions and stipulations herself. Her support for the rezoning will hinge on whether the city commits to those changes, she said.
“From day one our community’s priorities have been to maximize affordable housing, a connected waterfront, investments in the Queensbridge Houses, investments in sewage and plumbing infrastructure, and building new schools,” she said. “These are the minimum requirements for the project to receive my support when it comes before the City Council for a vote.”
The BP’s ruling on OneLIC by the BP comes just a few weeks after he signed a relatively similar set of recommendations for the Downtown Jamaica Neighborhood Plan, another massive rezoning which aims to encourage the private construction of around 12,000 new homes over a 230-block area.
In June, Richards approved of that plan with a similar set of calls for further investment in the community and infrastructure work.
“There is no such thing as a perfect plan, however, and there are a number of additional needed investments and changes this community must see happen in coordination with the Neighborhood Plan,” Richards wrote in the Jamaica recommendations.
The only major difference between his recommendation in LIC and Jamaica concerned the local community boards. The two boards with oversight over Jamaica rejected the city’s rezoning plan, claiming that they feared it would harm the portions of the community that are residential homeowners, and that it doesn’t contain enough affordable housing.
This go-around, Richards was in lockstep with the local boards.
The Department of City Planning applauded Richard’s approval for OneLIC.
“Long Island City has long been one of the city’s most dynamic communities, but parts of it remain stymied by outdated zoning that limits new housing,” said DCP Spokesperson Joe Marvilli. “With the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan, we can change the status quo by delivering thousands of new homes, requiring income-restricted affordable housing, creating more job opportunities, enhancing public waterfront access, and more. We deeply appreciate Borough President Richards’ support and look forward to reviewing his recommendations as we work to create a more active, equitable, and vibrant future for this neighborhood.”
The City Planning Commission is hearing testimony on the project on Wednesday ahead of a vote on the project. With the CPC’s expected approval, OneLIC will then come before the City Council for a final vote.
