More than 100 Queens residents will gather in Sunnyside for an anti-gentrification march tonight (Thursday) to demand local elected officials protect western Queens residents and oppose three major developments that threaten displacement.
The march, which was organized by the Queens Anti-Gentrification Project in collaboration with Queens is Not for Sale and Anakbayan NY, will start at the 46th Street 7 train stop at 6 p.m. on April 20, to call on Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer to voice his opposition to the Long Island City Core Rezoning, the Brooklyn-Queens (BQX) Trolley, and the Sunnyside Yards development.
The Queens Anti-Gentrification Project feels these developments will inevitably drive out working class people, immigrants, and small businesses, while transforming western Queens.
The proposed BQX streetcar would span across 10 neighborhoods in a 16-mile route along the East River waterfront, which will, according to Queens Anti-Gentrification Project, would raise property taxes along the route.
The Sunnyside Yards development is aiming to create up to 24,000 housing units at the 180-acre Sunnyside Yards site, most of which would not be affordable to the working class people of the neighborhood, Queens Anti-Gentrification Project said.
The Long Island City Core Rezoning would upzone the neighborhood, allowing for more mixed-use developments to be created that may be unaffordable for local residents and small businesses.
For more details about the rally and march, visit the Queens Anti-Gentrification Facebook page. And to sign the online petition asking Van Bramer to stand in opposition to these developments, visit their page here.
The rally and march are also supported and endorsed by nine other organizations including Queens Neighborhoods United, Sisa Pakari, People Power Movement, Take Back the Bronx, Bronx Social Center, NYC Against Trump, Odiasas, Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, and Greater Astoria Historical Society.
