Times plant is expanding

With construction on The New York Times expansion project at its College Point facility underway, Community Board 7 (CB 7) recently sent a letter to the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) requesting a meeting between representatives from all three groups.
CB 7 District Manager Marilyn Bitterman told The Queens Courier that the board’s Chairperson Eugene Kelty sent a letter to EDC President Joshua Sirefman saying that a communication breakdown took place, and the Community Board has not been kept updated on the construction progress.
However, Nick D’Andrea, who has been the plant manager for the College Point location for more than three years, said he was not aware of the board’s request for a meeting. He said that the plant has kept EDC up to date on the project’s progress, even having EDC representatives tour the location where the construction is occurring.
“We’ve had conversations with the city,” D’Andrea said. “We lease the property from the city via EDC. We have been through all of the environmental and zoning requirements, but we haven’t had any meetings with the community board.”
Currently, The New York Times is in the midst of expanding their 500,000 square foot plant by adding a 50,000 square foot building on the north side of the plant near the service road of the Whitestone Expressway going back towards the Whitestone Bridge.
D’Andrea said that the company is shutting down its plant in Edison, New Jersey, and he expects the new building to be completed by October of this year. However, he does not expect the plant to begin running product out of the new building until March of 2008.
In addition, D’Andrea said that the new building at the College Point plant would bring approximately 190 jobs to the plant, but he does not believe space will be an issue.
“We have a lot of space and tons of parking, and we will still be maintaining the EDC requirements,” D’Andrea said.