When Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced an initiative to build an applied science and engineering school in New York City last December, many leaders around the borough had the same thought: Why not Queens?
So far, the New York Economic Development Corporation (NYEDC) has included several possible sites for construction, including Goldwater Hospital at Roosevelt Island, Governors Island, Farm Colony on Staten Island and Navy Hospital at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) states that the city has no preference for any site within city limits and respondents can propose any site, including privately-owned land. With a Request for Proposal (RFP) expected this summer for more possible locations, former Borough President Claire Shulman says that an applied sciences and engineering university is a project the community should be fighting for.
“We can make a really compelling case to maximize the potential for this initiative,” said Shulman. “If the RFP will be accepting of all bids, why not consider Queens?”
More specifically, Shulman is a proponent of developing the Sunnyside Yards, which occupies over 190 acres of land currently owned by Amtrak.
“Sunnyside Yards is an ideal location with a diverse population,” said Shulman. “People have looked there for years as a place for future development. If the city is looking to expand its industrial base, this is one way to do so.”
Another site that has attracted some support from local political leaders is the Coalition for Queens’ stance that a university should be constructed and developed at Willets Point. Jukay Hsu – Queens native, Harvard graduate and Iraqi War veteran – is the driving force behind the project he calls “Silicon Valley 2.0.”
“Why isolate a university on an island instead of giving it a place to grow?” asks Hsu. “I think Queens and the greater Flushing area can foster this growth. The community would rally around it.”
Hsu cites great transportation, room for expansion and Queens as a melting pot for the world as the essential aspects to creating a new industrial hub in greater Flushing, but says the first order of business is getting Queens included in the RFP.
As of the spring, the city has received 18 formal expressions of interest from 27 academic institutions including Stanford University, an institution that for the first time is actively seeking to build a campus outside of California and possibly foster the growth of the next Silicon Valley.
Shulman and Hsu agree that whether an RFP for Sunnyside Yards or Willets Point is put forth, Queens will be the ultimate winner if it wins a bid to build an applied sciences and engineering university.
“We have to look to the future, for future technologies,” said Hsu. “…and the city recognizes this.”
