Queens begins to imagine a new future for Aqueduct

Locals attended the first public workshop on the Aqueduct redevelopment plan Tuesday night, including Queens local Mani Jadunath, seen here pointing to his house, which is adjacent to the Aqueduct site.  Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach

An entirely different type of starting gun was fired at Aqueduct Racetrack this week as the state began soliciting public feedback about what to do with the massive plot of state-owned land when it becomes empty later this year.

The state held its first feedback session in Queens on Tuesday as it begins to craft its plan to redevelop the 100-acre site, which will become vacant when Aqueduct Racetrack combines with Belmont in Long Island this summer.

However, community members and local officials were torn over what exactly should be done with the massive site.

It's all but certain that housing will be part of the state’s development plan for the site, but how much housing and what goes up alongside it is still entirely unknown, and neighbors and community leaders have varying ideas.

Most of the locals who attended Empire State Development’s first public workshop on the Aqueduct redevelopment plan on Tuesday night at John Adams High School said housing was a top priority. Others suggested the state build open space and other community-centered resources.

Members of the community board that represents the areas around the racetrack want Resorts World, which operates the casino next door to the track, to have a part in developing the land and turning it into a touristic destination. Fresh off expanding their racino into the city’s first full-fledged casino, Resorts World is also hoping they can be the ones to develop on the land.

Local electeds also want to see the site become a new economic engine for Queens.

Mani Jadunath came to the workshop with his grandson just to make sure his house wasn’t being torn down.

“My backyard is next to the racetrack and we were concerned that they may want to move us from that area,” Jadunath told the Eagle.

He lives on 114th Street, directly adjacent to the site.

Thankfully, his home won’t be affected, but whatever winds up being built at the site certainly will concern the Ozone Park local of 30 years.

He said the community needs housing “first and foremost.”

“People are living in basements, garages — we need more housing,” he said.

His 18-year-old grandson, Avinash Dhanraj, said he wants more places for the community to enjoy.

“Parks and green spaces could be beneficial, especially because a lot of people might want activities to do in the neighborhood,” he said.

Most of the locals expressed the need for affordable housing and community spaces on Post-It notes on boards and maps of the site ESD set up to garner feedback.

“We need affordable housing for us,” said Tneka, an organizer with 1199SEIU and housing-advocacy group Queens Power.

The group was among the loudest pro-housing voices involved in ESD’s development of Creedmoor, a similar state effort that is further along in the planning stage.

“We really need that everywhere, because we work here, but we can't afford to live here,” she said. “That's a big problem, and it puts a lot of strain on everyday working people.”

Beyond housing and other basic community needs, some had more grand ideas.

Resorts World has expressed interest in using the site to build workforce housing for their on-site employees, rather than affordable housing.

“We would love nothing more than to have all of our new employees be able to work, live and play in the community,” said Stefan Friedman, a spokesperson for Resorts World. “I'll leave it up to people far smarter than I to talk about the wisdom of having affordable housing next to a casino.”

Friedman said Resorts World would be interested in doing more than just housing on the site, but that the workforce housing would be the “centerpiece.”

Community members are split on what the state should build as part of Aqueduct’s redevelopment.  Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach

Several Resorts World employees attended and participated in the public workshop, including Senior Vice President of Community Development and Public Affairs Michelle Stoddart.

If Resorts World ultimately gets involved, they would likely have to win out during the state’s request for proposal period in two years after the final plan for the site is complete.

Longtime Community Board 10 Chair Betty Braton told the Eagle on Tuesday that the board has worked with Resorts World since it came to Queens in 2011, and trusts them to develop the project with the community at heart.

In the meantime, she is keeping an open mind.

“I want to see what the state really intends to do,” she said. “We don't have a clear picture.”

Not everyone who attended Tuesday’s workshop was in agreement on Resorts World going all in on the site.

“We're kind of worried they're going to expand the casino, even if there are no solid plans yet,” said a Jamaica local who asked to remain anonymous. “We want the public land to be put for public use.”

While she said she isn’t sure what should go up at the site, she doesn’t trust Resorts World to be the one to develop it.

“The money that they take from the house winning and how that money is given back to places like the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, and places like that, that’s really just our money being given back,” she said. “The money that they're ‘giving back to us’ is our money in the first place that's being extracted from us.”

State Senator James Sanders, who represents the area and attended the workshop, has long suggested a mega-convention center go up adjacent to Resorts World, an idea similar to one former Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed while in office.

“One of the best ideas that we ever could have had in this area is a mega-convention center. New York City does not have one, and we are missing out on all the mega conventions,” Sanders said.

Sanders added that more than one thing can be done at the site, and said he was hoping to hear good ideas from community members.

“This is probably the last biggest site in New York City, and under those conditions, we have to do this right,” he said. “It has to be something appropriate to the community, it has to be something appropriate for the state.”

Councilmember Joann Ariola represents the surrounding communities, and also likes the idea of the casino being involved with what happens at the track site.

“What I would really like to see here is an expansion of the Resorts World grounds to include a convention center, green space, cultural facilities and more,” she said in a statement to the Eagle. “I want this to be more than just a casino. I want it to be a true economic engine for Southern Queens.”

She also added she wants to see affordable home ownership involved with the site.

“Too many New Yorkers can no longer afford a home in this city, and are instead forced into a cycle of perpetual rentorship,” she said. “We need strong, stable families, and we need to give New York's working class the same access to home ownership that their parents and grandparents had.”

ESD’s public input efforts continue next week with a virtual workshop on May 18.