Fresh Pond Road Realty LLC gave a short presentation to members of Queens Community Board 5 and the public on its rezoning application for its plan to build a 7-story building on the empty lot at 63-02 Fresh Pond Rd. in Ridgewood.
Attorney Adam Rothkrug, from Rothkrug Rothkrug & Spector LLP, who represents the developer, gave the presentation at Christ the King High School on Feb. 11 to explain the rezoning application, answer questions from the board and display the most recent plans for the building.
The Troia family, who operate the well-known chain of pizzerias in Queens, Rosa’s Pizza, have owned the property at 63-02 Fresh Pond Rd. since 1998. A Rosa’s Pizza location even sits across the Fresh Pond Road from the vacant lot.
“They are local people and run the pizza shop across the street, so they didn’t want to do anything that was insulting or out of character with the community,” said Rothkrug. “We think this is an appropriate area, appropriate location, and corner for something a little larger that will bring what is considered to be needed affordable housing to this district.”
The project has been in process for four years now, ever since Rothkrug reached out to Community Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano to explore the potential rezoning. Currently, the lot is zoned for low-density residences with commercial space requirements. The application requests that it be changed to an R6B classification to allow for a higher Floor Area Ratio (FAR) to permit the additional floors in the design. The rezoning would still include first-floor commercial space at 7,000 sqft, which the Troia family feels confident they will be able to fill the space when the time comes.
In total, the 7-story building will be about 52,000 square feet, containing 54 dwelling units of which 14 will be income-restricted. Though the developers could reapply to gain the advantages of a shorter land use review process, as passed by the city’s 2025 ballot proposals, Rothkrug stated they will be proceeding with the same application.
Due to changes from the controversial City of Yes, which rewrote portions of New York City’s zoning law to allow for more housing to be built, a building of this size is not required to include any parking. However, the developers have included 19 off-street parking spots at the behest of Councilmember Phil Wong and the community, as parking in the area is already sparse.
After the presentation, Wong stated he hopes even more parking is included for those renting the 54 apartments and has given the LLC other notes and requests during a meeting held over Zoom last week, though those changes, if any, have yet to be included in the plan.
One Ridgewood resident, Ezra Kohn, used his time during the public hearing to speak in opposition to the project, stating that the portion of the apartments designated as affordable housing is still too unaffordable to those in the area.The proposal lists two options for mandatory inclusionary housing, one at 60 percent of the area median income, the other at 80 percent. At 60 percent, a one-bedroom apartment would cost around $1,800 a month. At 80 percent, rents could exceed $2,500.
“We all know Ridgewood could certainly benefit from additional housing, but rezonings are permanent changes to the rules, and it’s important to look carefully at who benefits from those changes and what long-term impacts they could have on our community,” Kohn said. “However, the details of affordability matter. Those prices are out of reach for many of our neighborhood’s residents, particularly those living in rent-stabilized apartments or working lower-wage jobs, and with the majority of units remaining a market rate, this project could still contribute to rising rents in the area.”
