The City Planning Commission (CPC) has voted in favor of the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan, which aims to transform a large portion of Long Island City with new zoning rules that would create nearly 14,700 housing units, including 4,300 affordable homes.
Mayor Eric Adams and CPC Chair Dan Garodnick celebrated the CPC’s 11-1 vote in favor of the plan on Sept. 3, commenting that neighborhood plan will bring significant housing and economic opportunities to Long Island City.
The CPC vote represents the first binding decision of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) process.
Adams said the plan is a tool that his administration is using to address the city’s housing crisis, stating that OneLIC marks the “next great chapter” in Long Island City’s history.
“From a thriving industrial hub to a home for artists and entrepreneurs, Long Island City has led many lives over the years,” Adams said in a statement. “Our OneLIC Plan will help Long Island City write the next great chapter in its history, making sure families can find an affordable place, businesses can find a good place to grow, and everyone can access and enjoy the waterfront throughout the neighborhood.”
Garodnick, on the other hand, said the CPC’s vote is a step toward addressing a lack of housing and economic opportunities in the neighborhood.
“Long Island City is one of New York City’s most bustling neighborhoods, but parts of it are held back by a lack of housing or economic opportunities. With today’s vote, we’re one step closer to changing that,” Garodnick said in a statement. “The OneLIC Neighborhood Plan updates zoning for new homes and jobs and makes investments in the public realm to create a more equitable, lively,and prosperous community. Thanks to the City Planning commissioners for their support.”
Casting his vote in favor of the plan, Garodnick described the OneLIC plan as the “product of a thorough and thoughtful 18-month planning process with the community.”
“The OneLIC Neighborhood Plan strikes the right balance to create much-needed new homes, require income-restricted affordable homes, boost good-paying jobs, and deliver important infrastructure investments to help this neighborhood thrive,” he said
Alongside 14,700 new housing units, the OneLIC plan aims to create over 14,400 new jobs for the neighborhood alongside over 3.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial space. The plan also aims to expand access to the East River waterfront.
The OneLIC proposal covers 54 full or partial blocks from Gantry Plaza State Park to the Queensbridge Houses and north to the Long Island City Industrial Business Zone. The eastern boundary extends to Court Square and 23rd Street. The plan aims to revise outdated zoning regulations to allow for more mixed-use development, increase housing supply, and improve neighborhood infrastructure and resiliency.
The plan also includes approximately nine acres of new public open space, including expanded parks and plazas, as well as improved streetscapes, sidewalk safety, and pedestrian crossings. It updates the Waterfront Access Plan to unify and enhance public waterfront access from Gantry Plaza State Park to Queensbridge Park.
In addition, the city is pursuing a Request for Information for the six-story, 672,000-square-foot Department of Education building at 44-36 Vernon Blvd. Officials say the publicly-owned sites could support community-focused uses such as housing, commercial space, cultural facilities, and green infrastructure.
The plan would mandate affordable housing under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program in Long Island City for the first time. Of the 4,300 affordable units proposed, approximately 4,000 would be developed through MIH, with 25 % of those at 60% of Area Median Income (AMI), 30% at 80%t AMI, and 20% at 40% AMI.
The city will also use public sites, such as the Department of Transportation facility at 44-59 45th Ave., to build additional income-restricted housing, including a planned 320-unit project.
Speaking when the neighborhood plan entered the ULURP process in April, Garodnick said the proposal marks the largest number of housing units generated by a neighborhood rezoning in New York City in at least 25 years.
“While parts of the neighborhood have seen remarkable growth in the past two decades, other parts remain frozen in time by outdated zoning,” Garodnick said at the time. “Maintaining the status quo simply doesn’t make sense, especially during a housing crisis that is historic.”
He echoed those sentiments while voting in favor of the plan on Wednesday, stating that OneLIC will significantly boost commercial and manufacturing capacity in Long Island City while also improving housing capacity in Queens. He noted that Queens currently boasts a vacancy rate below the citywide average of 1.41%.
He also noted that the plan “doubles down” on improving open space in Long Island City by creating a fully connected waterfront in the neighborhood and pointed to the numerous public meetings and forums that took place over an 18-month period before the plan entered ULURP.
Council Member Julie Won, who represents the council district covered by the neighborhood plan, welcomed the CPC’s approval of the OneLIC plan and the commission’s commitment to creating a connected waterfront from Gantry Plaza State Park to Queensbridge Park.
Won, however, said the plan must “guarantee” a range of community benefits, from permanently affordable housing to open space and new schools. She said she will not vote in favor of OneLIC when the neighborhood plan goes before the City Council if the plan does not include specific guarantees.
“OneLIC cannot advance without meeting community-driven priorities,” Won said in a statement. “The plan must guarantee permanently affordable, family-sized housing across public and private sites, transform city-owned land under the Queensboro Bridge into public open space, and ensure the DOE site is developed through a community-driven process that prioritizes affordability and public benefit. OneLIC must also deliver new schools, investments in Queensbridge, and in sewer infrastructure to support our growing neighborhood. Without these commitments, this rezoning will not have my support.”
Commissioner Juan Camilo Osorio, the only CPC to vote against the plan on Wednesday, said he could not vote in favor of the plan “in good conscience” because the plan did not contain specific guarantees that any housing created in the DOE building on Vernon Boulevard would be 100% affordable. Osorio also encouraged the Department of City Planning to strengthen flood resiliency strategy in the neighborhood.
Osorio also voted against the plan because the plan’s Environmental Impact Assessment left “critical” issues unaddressed.
In June Community Board 1 and 2 voted in favor of the plan, with conditions, while Queens Borough President Donovan Richards also issued his conditional approval of the plan in July. Decisions from the community boards and the Borough President are non-bonding.
Richards’ conditional approval also called for guaranteed affordable housing, infrastructure upgrades and new schools and hospitals for the area.
As part of the ULURP process, the plan will now go to the City Council for final approval. The mayor can veto the plan within five days of the Council’s vote.
