Long Island City needs more housing. Anyone who lives or works in Queens knows this. Rents keep climbing, and working families keep getting squeezed out. The OneLIC Neighborhood Plan would bring 14,700 new homes to the area, with at least 4,300 of them affordable. For union carpenters and other tradespeople, that means a real opportunity to live in the neighborhoods where we work.
Queens Community Boards 1 and 2 have already voted to support the plan. So has Borough President Donovan Richards. They looked at what OneLIC offers and decided it’s worth backing. Now it’s up to the City Council to finish the job and vote in support of Long Island City.
The affordable housing piece is significant. These aren’t just studio apartments. The plan acknowledges the need for family-sized units at different income levels. Union members know what it’s like to watch neighborhoods change and suddenly realize you can’t afford to live there anymore. Even with good union wages, New York City prices can price you out. OneLIC gives working people a fighting chance to stay in their community.
The plan also means jobs — over 14,000 of them. Union labor will build this project, which means fair wages, health benefits, and safe working conditions. When development happens with organized labor involved from the start, it lifts up families and strengthens communities.
Infrastructure is another big component. Long Island City floods. The sewage systems can’t handle what they’re dealing with now, let alone what’s coming. Council Member Won has been pushing hard for the city to commit real money to fix these problems. The waterfront improvements will also connect Queensbridge Park to Gantry State Park and open up public space that should have been accessible all along. New green space under the Queensboro Bridge will also help reconnect Queensbridge Houses with the rest of the neighborhood, better connecting communities and closing gaps within the neighborhood that have existed for far too long.
Schools matter too. The plan includes commitments for more school seats beyond what’s already in the works. Plaxall and the School Construction Authority are working together on this, depending on whether the plan passes. Growing neighborhoods need schools — it’s that simple.
This is Long Island City’s best shot in years. Previous plans went nowhere. This version came together after 18 months of community input. Council Member Won listened to what people wanted and turned that into real priorities. That’s how it should work.
Now the Council needs to act. The community boards voted yes. The borough president voted yes. People have had plenty of chances to speak up during the review process. The Council has to decide to approve a plan that brings affordable housing, creates thousands of jobs, fixes infrastructure, and adds public space, or vote no and send Long Island City back to the drawing board.
Union members showed up to every public hearing so far to support this plan because it takes care of the basics. Housing, jobs, infrastructure, public space — you need all of it for a neighborhood to work. OneLIC doesn’t just focus on one thing and ignore the rest. It looks at the whole picture and keeps community needs front and center.
The construction trades understand what good development looks like. We show up every day to do the work right. Safely, efficiently, and built to last. The same goes for planning a neighborhood. OneLIC reflects that approach. It’s based on real input, real commitments, and a focus on more than just profit.
The City Council has what it needs to make the call. Community boards said yes. Borough President Richards said yes. The plan addresses affordable housing, infrastructure, and public space. It delivers jobs and homes that working families can actually access.
Long Island City deserves this. Our families deserve it. The Council should vote yes on OneLIC.
Capurso is Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New York City District Council of Carpenters.
