City presents rezoning plan in Flushing

The New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) met with concerned residents of South Flushing in a Town Hall Meeting setting to present their upcoming rezoning plan.
At the meeting held at New York Hospital Queens on Monday, September 18, the DCP would maintain the suburban neighborhoods' residential feel and restrict developers from developing multi-use dwellings and commercial property.
The communities of Queensboro Hill, zoned R4, and Cedar Grove, zoned R3-2, currently allow a range of housing types, such as detached single-family buildings, row houses, and multi-family dwellings. A few blocks in the Cedar Grove area are also zoned R2, which does not set limits on building height and exempts the first floor of each house from floor area calculations, which allows these homes to nearly double their floor area, resulting in considerably larger residences.
The new zoning will prevent multi-family and attached dwellings in areas of primarily one- and two-family homes; make sure commercial uses will be prevented from coming up on residential side streets by updating commercial overlays; and direct future housing development to through-streets that are served by public transportation. The zoning is expected to put in lower density homes that will match the character of the areas in question.
In the two-hour presentation, Queens Director of City Planning John Young laid out the provisions of the new plan, which they felt would maintain the neighborhood. The meeting, with residents representing several civic associations and Community Board 7 and Community Board 8, lacked the anger and aggression of past rezoning meetings.
A few residents did complain that the new zoning will affect their ability to sell in the future to developers, such as Mary Lamorgese, who resides on 158th Road in Queensboro Hill. &#8220I feel I will lose money on the value of my house,” she said. &#8220I have been in this area for 40 years. Johnny Come Lately made their money. It's my turn.”
But Joe Amoroso, a Kissena Park resident who sat through the meeting and saw similar rezoning in his neighborhood, advised those in attendance to approve the changes. &#8220It was the best thing that ever happened to our neighborhood,” he said. &#8220It's very stable. The people in our neighborhood are very happy with the rezoning. Don't let it pass you by.”
Near the end of the meeting, attorney Jean Wang objected to the rezoning. She said it would limit her clients who rent out units to low-income immigrants. &#8220There are less units they can rent out,” she said. &#8220If you're a current resident and you want to expand, you can't.”
Wang called the new zoning unconstitutional and discriminatory, wondering why certain areas in Queensboro Hill would remain R4 zoned while others are being altered.