5/28/2023 0 Comments Donovan richards![]() “Are we going to be welcoming to the kind of communities we’ve been able to welcome in Astoria?”ĭoreen Mohammed, another Community Board 1 member, said she would only a support a housing complex where rents on every unit are capped for low- and middle-income tenants-an extremely unlikely prospect. “Are we going to be a diverse city?” Hantzopolous said. About 17 percent of residents of Community District 1 fall below the city’s poverty threshold, roughly on par with the rest of the borough. The New York City Metropolitan Area needs about 772,000 apartments priced for very low-income residents to meet the need, according to a report by the New York Housing Conference, a policy group.Īnd while much of Astoria has undergone gentrification and seen median incomes and rents rise above the city average, the blocks immediately surrounding the rezoning area are home to a number of working class immigrants and other relatively low-income residents, said Community Board 1 Housing Chair Evie Hantzopolous. Less than 1 percent of apartments priced below $1,500 per month are vacant, according to the city’s most recent housing survey, and homelessness and evictions are both on the rise. They say the proposal fails to include a sufficient number of units for low-income New Yorkers who face a severe apartment shortage. ![]() The project, known as Innovation QNS, has encountered opposition from the community board, progressive elected officials and even development-friendly Borough President Donovan Richards as it winds its way through the city’s land use process. She has not yet made a public commitment, though she has discussed the problems she sees with the proposal, especially when it comes to affordable housing. Won’s stance is crucial because the full Council traditionally defers to the member who represents the area subject to a rezoning. The question soon facing the City Council-and in particular, local member Julie Won-is how much affordable housing is enough to replace the active industrial scene there. “That was change in a good way,” she said of the former manufacturing district now stuffed with shimmering high-rises.īut the future of the plan to create what amounts to a brand new neighborhood in southeast Astoria is far from certain. At the same time, she said, she has seen benefits from new development in Western Queens, like the area around Queens Plaza where she attended high school. She said she and her family members are worried about the impact of a major residential rezoning, especially if their landlord decides to hike rents in their non-regulated units to keep pace with higher prices in new luxury towers. “For the small businesses and people living here, it’s sad.” ![]() “For whoever’s coming, it’s great,” Melo said. The developers already own much of the land-Kaufman Astoria’s headquarters are located at the edge of the proposed rezoning area-and hope to erect at least a dozen towers containing offices, retail space and 2,845 apartments, including about 700 units with rents capped for low- and middle-income earners. Now she’s bracing for the potential effects of a major transition across the street from the Astoria apartment she shares with her husband and three kids, down the block from her mother and in-laws.Ī development team comprised of the companies Silverstein Properties, BedRock Real Estate Partners and Kaufman Astoria Studios is seeking City Council approval for a residential rezoning on an industrial swath of the neighborhood bound by 37th Street to the west, Northern Boulevard to the east, 35th Avenue to the north and 36th Avenue to the south. The job has taught her a lot about housing costs and what makes people leave where they live, she said. Melo, 35, runs a small business helping people organize their possessions and decide what is important to them as they prepare to move or downsize their homes. ![]()
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