$22 million facelift for Queens Plaza

Queens politicians announced that construction will begin on the $22 million Queens Plaza beautification project by the end of next year. The announcement came after $19.05 million federal funding for the project was secured by Congressmember Carolyn Maloney and the NYC Department of City Planning (DCP). The City has agreed to allocate the remaining amount for the beautification project - $2.95 million.
Along with a new 1.5 acre, green space at Queens Plaza East, the project will widen and landscape medians, and revamp the Plaza's lighting, tree planting and directional signs. Traffic lanes will also be reconfigured, and a new bike lane will be added to the Plaza. The transformation will make the now-bleak Queens Plaza more inviting to pedestrians and bicyclists, which will reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality, and encourage commuters to use mass transit, Maloney said.
&#8220Queens Plaza has become known for rusty elevated tracks, traffic snarls and take-your-life-in-your-hands crosswalks, but all that is about to change,” Maloney said. &#8220Queens Plaza will soon become the welcoming gateway that the residents of Long Island City deserve.”
Maloney secured a total of $3.05 million within the past four federal budgets, and helped to ensure that $6.4 million, which will be delivered over the course of five years, was included in the federal government's five-year highway capital plan, passed in 2005.
The remaining federal money - $9.6 million - was secured by the DCP through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Program from the federal transportation budget, said City Planning Director Amanda Burden at a press conference recently announcing that fundraising had been completed.
&#8220This will help Long Island City reach its full potential as one of the great business districts of our City,” Burden said. &#8220We expect this transformation to further catalyze reinvestment in this dynamic, transit rich and culturally distinct district that is a key component of the Mayor’s five-borough economic development strategy.”