By Bill Parry
Capacity crowds have filled three public forums for residents of Community Board 2 in the past week, while more than a thousand people sought information on the application process for units of affordable housing at Hunters Point South. The buildings, still under construction on Long Island City’s waterfront, will begin moving in residents in the spring and when the project is completed, Hunters Point South will have 5,000 units.
Meanwhile, CB2 approved a long-delayed $1 billion expansion plan by Silvercup Studios that would add a thousand more apartments at the LIC waterfront. Then the board voted to begin a feasibility study to put a deck over the Sunnyside Rail Yard to provide space for more affordable housing development.
With the Hallets Point project about to begin construction on 1,921 apartments and the Astoria Cove development plan awaiting approval from the City Council with its additional 1,700 units, the Department of City Planning Chairman Carl Weisbrod knew something would have to be done with the transportation system in order to move many thousands of new residents to the area in the coming years. Just days after approving the Astoria Cove project, DCP released online a preliminary report entitled “Western Queens Transportation Study.”
“For more than a year, the Department of City Planning has been examining western Queens’ current and future transportation needs as population in the area continues to grow and new developments are envisioned, especially along the East River waterfront,” a DCP spokesman said.
In consultation with various city and state agencies like the city Department of Transportation, the MTA and the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporations, among others, the study explores linking existing and new development from Steinway Street west to the East River and from Astoria Cove south to Newtown Creek.
Special attention was paid to linking business centers with the emerging technology sector plus a potential additional crossing over Newtown Creek into Brooklyn. Street alignment changes, bus re-routing, extension of East River Ferry Service to Hallets Point and to the future Cornell Technion campus on Roosevelt Island are all covered in the study.
NYC Transit is encouraged to run express service on the Astoria subway line and the 10-5-page draft recommends traffic calming measures on 21st Street, Vernon Boulevard and Crescent Street. The plan includes a bike network and creating a more pedestrian-friendly environment throughout western Queens.
“The study puts to paper what we have known for a long time – we need to redefine the way we think about a street,” City Councilman Costa Constantinides (D-Astoria) said. “A dedicated transit route between LaGuardia Airport, along 21st Street and into downtown Brooklyn would link existing commercial centers with emerging technology hubs and residential developments. That means ferry service as well as Select Bus Service or creating an above-ground light rail.
The study’s recommendation to expand ferry service to Hallets Peninsula would also add transit options to the growing corridor and utilize a new resource – our water. Creating a dedicated technology corridor transit route between western Queens and Central Brooklyn would be a boon to our local economy and develop our assets on the waterfront.”
The DCP spokesman said, “The potential improvements being discussed are predicated on further study and consensus-building among shareholders. In the coming months, DCP planers will continue this public engagement process to work with community residents and stakeholders to further refine the recommendations and issue a final report and action plan.”
Meanwhile, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) is no fan of the plan that is being floated to put a deck over the Sunnyside Rail Yard.
“I have serious concerns about this plan being re-floated again,” he said. “They’ve wanted to do it for a convention center, a stadium and housing and each time it comes up my constituents fight it. I understand the need for development, but it has to be in concert with the existing neighborhoods. What we really need in western Queens is more greenspace, parks and schools.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
