CB 2 Rejects JetBlue’s Proposal For Queens Plaza
Citing problems with the method and process by which Jet- Blue sought permission to place their logo atop their new Long Island City offices, Board 2 voted against their proposal at their Thursday, Feb. 2 meeting at Sunnyside Community Services.
Jeffrey Goodell and Ross Moskovitz, representing the airline company, unveiled their plan to erect an illuminated “accessory sign” on top of their new headquarters at 27- 01 Queens Plaza North.
Over 1,000 employees will soon move into the building, Goodell told the crowd, adding that one of its main hubs is Terminal 5 at JFK Airport.
“JetBlue has always been a New York company,” he noted, with its current headquarters in Forest Hills. A search for a new home for the company led them to the “Brewster Building” in 2010,
The location was chosen in part “because we hoped to be able to put a sign on the roof,” he stated, which would reinforce the company’s status as “New York’s hometown airline.”
The sign would consist of the airline company’s logo in large cut-out lettering affixed to an open frame structure (similar to the nearby signs for Silvercup Studios and the International
Design Center of New York), according to Moskovitz. The lettering would be illuminated with blue LED lights during the day and white lights at night.
Unlike a standard advertising billboard, an “accessory sign” can only advertise a tenant of the building, and cannot rotate on a monthly basis. If JetBlue were to leave the building, they would be forced to remove the sign.
To allow the signs, the company has suggested a zoning text amendment that would allow non-residential buildings between 70 and 150 feet in height which abut Queens Plaza North and South to erect their own accessory signs upon agreement with the building’s landlord. Jet- Blue’s sign would rise to 134 feet.
While Board 2 members seemed comfortable with allowing JetBlue to put up the sign, the prospect of more signs dotting the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge was not as well received, with members concerned that it would lead to ads dotting the Long Island City landscape.
“If we give these people permission,” said Board 2’s Carol Terrano, “we’re setting a precedent.”
The Department of City Planning’s Penny Lee noted that the amendment was intended to fit “similar tenants to JetBlue.”
“They are not going to interested in putty up trashy signs because they’re interested in presenting a good corporate image to the public.”
“We really wanted this to be a ‘headquarters-type’ policy,” Moskovitz stated.
In her report to Board 2, Land Use Committee chairperson Lisa Deller stated that the group had “grave concerns of how this process rolls out.”
She asked for a stipulation that a tenant must occupy at least a quarter of a building to allow the company to add accessory signage, fearing that a firm can rent a small room and use that as a way to erect a sign.
First Vice President Stephen Cooper, claiming he was “very disturbed bu the way this has been done,” asked the board to vote the text amendment down, and suggested that companies instead apply for individual variance requests.
Board 2 followed his lead and unanimously denied JetBlue’s request.
Pols on redistricting and more
“Some of these districts are absolutely ridiculous,” State Sen. Michael Gianaris told Board 2, referring to the his chamber’s proposal for the mandated redistricting of the state.
He added that three separate primaries will take place this year-a presidential one in April, a congressional one in June and the state primary in September-which he feared will lead to poor turnout.
Assemblyman Michael Den- Dekker noted that the Assembly re- districting plan leaves him with about 89 percent of his original district, with a portion of Woodside given to neighboring Assemblywoman Margaret Markey.
He expressed an interest in keeping Woodside and Jackson Heights in the same district, claiming that the neighborhoods share “the same housing stock and same working-class type of people.”
Changing topics, Gianaris told Board 2 he intends to introduce legislation that would give businesses greater protection when giving shelter to someone who is either in the process of or attempting to avoid being victimized.
He also expressed concern that Long Island City High School in Astoria and Bryant High School in Long Island City are being placed “on the most extreme turnaround track” by the city Department of Education, which could lead to the layoff of over half of the school’s faculty.
Gianaris accused Mayor Michael Bloomberg of playing politics with the teachers’ union with the DOE decision
“Don’t use our kids as pawns,” he stated.
Other news
In his chairperson’s report, Conley announced that St. John’s Bread for Life has finally moved to a location away from Hart Playground in Woodside.
He also added that a new cycle of catch basin inspections will begin in June, and all 3,076 catch basins in Board 2 will be re-examined over the next three years.
City Services Committee Chairperson Patrick O’Brien told the crowd that the State Liquor Authority is set to release an online map showing granted, pending and requested liquor licenses throughout New York State.
Terrano, who also serves as chair of the Health Committee, announced that the AIDS Center Of Queens County has lost the lease on its Astoria location, and is moving to 62-07 Woodside Ave.
While the Center gets set up in Woodside, a mobile van will park on 42nd Street off Crescent Street for those seeking its syringe exchange program.
The Center’s Homeless Outreach Unit, meanwhile, will move to Jamaica.
More votes
Board 2 voted to approve the Department of Sanitation’s request to renew the lease on a vehicle storage facility at 52-07 59th St. as an expansion of its nearby repair shop.
Board 2 also approved a citywide “zone green” amendment which removes many of the obstacles to the construction of more environmentally friendly buildings and the retrofitting of existing structures to make them greener.
A vote for an outdoor café for Sean Og, at 60-02 Woodside Ave., was postponed to March.
