Queens

NY’s first hotel-to-affordable housing conversion near JFK Airport is now complete

Credit: Slate Property Group

December 18, 2025

NY’s first hotel-to-affordable housing conversion near JFK Airport is now complete

The transformation of a vacant hotel near John F. Kennedy International Airport into affordable housing is complete, marking New York’s first development of its kind. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced the completion of the Baisley Pond Park Residences in South Jamaica, which has turned the former JFK Hilton into 318 affordable and supportive apartments. The $167 million project—the first in the state to repurpose a hotel for affordable housing—features an indoor healing garden, on-site social services, and is fully electric.
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Affordable Housing

See inside Queens’ tallest tower, a 70-story rental with a massive ‘backyard’

Renderings courtesy of Binyan Studios

December 15, 2025

See inside Queens’ tallest tower, a 70-story rental with a massive ‘backyard’

By Aaron Ginsburg

The tallest tower in Queens is getting ready for its first residents. The Orchard is a 70-story rental in Long Island City with 824 apartments and more than 100,000 square feet of amenities, including a massive backyard space with a swimming pool and apple orchard. The building, which topped out last November and launched a housing lottery earlier this month, will officially begin leasing next month, with move-ins expected in February. Ahead of the launch, 6sqft got an exclusive look at The Orchard, from the incredible outdoor space to its sky-high New York City views.
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December 12, 2025

Whole Foods to open first Queens location in Ridgewood

By Aaron Ginsburg

Queens is set to get its first-ever Whole Foods, as the popular grocery chain signed a lease in Ridgewood this week. As first reported by Crain's, the Amazon-owned supermarket on Wednesday signed a 15-year deal for 28,000 square feet inside the former Beaux-Arts bank building at 55-60 Myrtle Avenue. The grocery store will take over a space previously occupied by Rite Aid, which filed for bankruptcy for the second time in May.
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Real Estate Trends

City breaks ground on new jade-colored public library in Rego Park

All images courtesy of Weiss/Manfredi, unless noted otherwise

December 10, 2025

City breaks ground on new jade-colored public library in Rego Park

By Aaron Ginsburg

Construction of a new $39 million Rego Park public library, one of the busiest Queens Public Library branches, is now underway. On Tuesday, city officials broke ground on the new library at 91-41 63rd Drive, which will replace the existing one-story, 7,500-square-foot branch with a three-story, 18,000-square-foot facility featuring expanded programming space. Designed by Weiss/Manfredi and managed by the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) on behalf of QPL, the project is slated for completion by the end of 2028.
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Architecture And Design

Astoria’s 31st Street bike lane must be removed, judge rules

Credit: DOT

December 9, 2025

Astoria’s 31st Street bike lane must be removed, judge rules

By Aaron Ginsburg

A partially-installed protected bike lane along 31st Street in Astoria must be removed after a Queens judge ruled the city failed to follow proper procedures. In a ruling issued Friday, Judge Cheree Buggs ordered that the corridor be returned to its original state, despite work on the project already being underway. The judge found that the Department of Transportation (DOT) failed to show the project met legal certification requirements for notifying the FDNY, the Department of Small Business Services, and the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities. The court sided with local businesses and residents who filed the lawsuit, which argued the bike lane would compromise the safety of cyclists and pedestrians, despite city data suggesting otherwise, as Streetsblog reported.
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The best Long Island City and Astoria apartments with skyline views

Photo by Harry Gillen on Unsplash

December 8, 2025

The best Long Island City and Astoria apartments with skyline views

By Devin Gannon

Few New York City neighborhoods have changed as dramatically as Long Island City. In just two decades, the Queens neighborhood has gone from an industrial hub to a mini Midtown, with gleaming, glassy skyscrapers and thousands of new residents. Thanks to several city rezonings (and another just approved) that allow for more housing, the neighborhood's population has increased by 78 percent over the last 10 years, as City Limits reported. With soaring high-rises come sweeping views of the iconic NYC skyline, seen from new heights. If spectacular vistas top your list of apartment must-haves, these are some of the best rental buildings in LIC and Astoria with unbeatable skyline views.
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NYC Guides

Queens’ tallest building opens lottery for 248 apartments, from $2,912/month

Renderings courtesy of Binyan

December 5, 2025

Queens’ tallest building opens lottery for 248 apartments, from $2,912/month

By Aaron Ginsburg

Here’s a chance to live in elevated style: the tallest building in Queens has launched a housing lottery for 248 middle-income apartments. Located at Orchard Street and Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, the Orchard is a 70-story rental tower boasting over 100,000 square feet of amenities, including a sprawling backyard with a swimming pool, three pickleball courts, a sky lounge, and more. New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, priced from $2,912/month studios to $4,925/month three bedrooms.
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Affordable Housing

Plan for 2,000+ homes at vacant Creedmoor campus in Queens approved

Creedmoor campus. Photo by Jim.henderson via WikiCommons

November 20, 2025

Plan for 2,000+ homes at vacant Creedmoor campus in Queens approved

By Aaron Ginsburg

A plan to bring more than 2,000 new homes to the underutilized Creedmoor Psychiatric Center campus in eastern Queens won approval this week. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced that the Public Authorities Control Board approved the general project plan for the Creedmoor Mixed-Use Project, clearing the way to turn nearly 50 acres of vacant state land into a mixed-use community with housing, open space, retail, childcare, and senior services. The project includes a total of 2,022 units, with more than 950 affordable rentals and over 1,000 affordable and market-rate homes for ownership.
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College Point landmark that housed nation’s first free kindergarten gets $6.2M restoration

Credit: DDC

November 14, 2025

College Point landmark that housed nation’s first free kindergarten gets $6.2M restoration

By Aaron Ginsburg

A historic College Point landmark that once housed the nation’s first free kindergarten has received a $6.2 million makeover. Built in 1868, the Poppenhusen Institute—listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a New York City landmark—was among the first buildings in the country constructed entirely of cast, or artificial, stone. Located at 114-04 14th Road, the project included replacing and upgrading all 97 wood and steel windows, along with careful masonry restoration that preserves the building’s historic character.
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Architecture And Design

14,700 homes planned for Long Island City after Council approves largest rezoning in 25 years

Credit: Ruoyu Li on Unsplash

November 13, 2025

14,700 homes planned for Long Island City after Council approves largest rezoning in 25 years

By Aaron Ginsburg

The New York City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved the city’s largest neighborhood rezoning in 25 years. The OneLIC Neighborhood Plan rezones 54 blocks of a largely industrial area of Long Island City to allow for 14,700 new homes, including 4,350 permanently affordable units. The plan will create a continuous public waterfront from Gantry Plaza State Park to Queensbridge Park and includes $2 billion in city commitments, unlocking more than 3.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial space and significant public-realm upgrades.
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Trump’s childhood home in Queens back on the market for $2.3M after gut renovation

All photos by Allyson Lubow for Brown Harris Stevens

November 10, 2025

Trump’s childhood home in Queens back on the market for $2.3M after gut renovation

By Devin Gannon

Like the East Wing of the White House, Donald Trump's childhood home is unrecognizable after a gut renovation. While not quite bulldozed, the Tudor-style property in Jamaica Estates, Queens, where the president lived until he was four, was totally rebuilt after a burst water pipe led to mold all over the home, which has been vacant except for a colony of feral cats. After selling for $835,000 earlier this year, the home at 85-15 Wareham Place is now back on the market for $2,300,000.
take the tour

November 7, 2025

230-unit housing project coming to site of abandoned Astoria megaproject

By Aaron Ginsburg

A site in Astoria once slated for a 3,200-unit development will now be home to a handful of residential buildings with just over 230 apartments. As first reported by Crain's, the Hakimian Organization and CW Realty have filed plans for a 16-story building at 35-17 42nd Street and a 13-story building at 42-08 35th Avenue, on the former site of the $2 billion Innovation QNS megaproject. The ambitious housing project was scrapped in September amid financing challenges following the expiration of the 421-a tax break and uncertainty surrounding its replacement, the 485x program.
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NYC Council approves Jamaica rezoning, paving the way for 12,000 new homes

All images courtesy of DCP

October 31, 2025

NYC Council approves Jamaica rezoning, paving the way for 12,000 new homes

By Aaron Ginsburg

Nearly 12,000 new homes are coming to Jamaica, Queens, following the City Council’s approval of the neighborhood’s transformative rezoning on Wednesday. The Jamaica Neighborhood Plan updates zoning rules across 230 blocks of the transit-rich area, paving the way for thousands of new homes—roughly 4,000 of which would be permanently affordable. The plan, which includes the largest mapping of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) in the city, will also add two million square feet of commercial space, create more than 7,000 jobs, and deliver $400 million in infrastructure upgrades.
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City Council committees approve Long Island City neighborhood rezoning

Photo © Ondel Hylton

October 30, 2025

City Council committees approve Long Island City neighborhood rezoning

By Aaron Ginsburg

The proposed rezoning of Long Island City — which could deliver the most homes created by a neighborhood rezoning in 25 years — took another step toward reality this week. On Wednesday, the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises and Committee on Land Use approved the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan, expected to bring nearly 15,000 new homes, including 4,350 permanently affordable units, to a 54-block stretch of the Queens neighborhood. The vote followed Council Member Julie Won’s last-minute deal securing nearly $2 billion in city commitments, according to QNS.
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Major public art program unveiled for JFK Airport’s $9.5B Terminal One

The world’s largest split-flap display in Terminal 1 will flicker through scenes of New York as passengers move through security. Credit: The New Terminal One at JFK/Arup

October 27, 2025

Major public art program unveiled for JFK Airport’s $9.5B Terminal One

By Aaron Ginsburg

JFK Airport's new $9.5 billion terminal wants to reflect New York’s identity as a capital of creativity and culture. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New Terminal One announced on Monday the seven artists who will create large-scale, site-specific works anchoring Terminal One's cultural program, which celebrates the history, culture, and diversity of New York City and Queens. The installations, ranging from sculptures and mosaics to murals, will complement the broader arts initiative that also features filmmaking and immersive digital experiences.
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Hillside Avenue in Queens gets first bus lane upgrades in more than 50 years

Credit: NYC DOT

October 23, 2025

Hillside Avenue in Queens gets first bus lane upgrades in more than 50 years

By Aaron Ginsburg

More than 215,000 daily bus riders who travel on Hillside Avenue in Queens will now benefit from faster and safer commutes. On Thursday, Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced the completion of nearly eight miles of new and upgraded bus lanes along the corridor, one of the longest bus priority projects in the agency’s history. The project adds offset bus lanes from 139th Street to Springfield Boulevard, improving service for 22 routes that together carry more riders than the entire populations of Yonkers and Rochester.
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Adams unveils plan to transform ‘The Hole’ with new drainage system, 5,000 homes

Credit: Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

October 22, 2025

Adams unveils plan to transform ‘The Hole’ with new drainage system, 5,000 homes

By Aaron Ginsburg

A long-neglected, low-lying area on the Brooklyn-Queens border known as “The Hole” may finally be getting attention from the city. On Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams announced a $146 million investment in the area, also known as the Jewel Streets, to install a long-needed sewage system in the neighborhood, which regularly floods even after light rainfall. The plan also calls for a 17-acre city-owned site to become 1,400 housing units, a rezoning to unlock an additional 3,600 homes, and other flood-prevention infrastructure.
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Jamaica rental with sculpture garden opens lottery for 185 apartments, from $1,843/month

Credit: Bezier

October 8, 2025

Jamaica rental with sculpture garden opens lottery for 185 apartments, from $1,843/month

By Aaron Ginsburg

Applications are now being accepted for 185 mixed-income apartments at a massive development in Jamaica, Queens. Located at 166-20 90th Avenue, the two-building complex dubbed Ruby Square has over 600 apartments and nearly one acre of lush public and private outdoor spaces, including a tranquil interior courtyard with a sculpture garden. New Yorkers earning 80 and 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, with rents starting at $2,688/month for studios, $1,843/month for one-bedrooms, and $2,188/month for two-bedrooms.
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Affordable Housing

$8B Citi Field casino proposal moves forward

Credit: SHoP Architects, Field Operations

September 30, 2025

$8B Citi Field casino proposal moves forward

By Aaron Ginsburg

Some good news for New York Mets owner Steve Cohen. The billionaire's vision of a casino complex next to Citi Field is one step closer to becoming reality. On Tuesday, the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) overseeing the bid unanimously approved "Metropolitan Park," advancing the proposal to the final stage: securing one of the state’s coveted downstate gaming licenses. Cohen's bid joins three other CAC-approved proposals: Bally's Bronx casino, MGM Empire City in Yonkers, and Resorts World NYC in Jamaica, Queens.
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Policy

Yonkers and Jamaica casino proposals advance

Rendering courtesy of MGM Resorts

September 26, 2025

Yonkers and Jamaica casino proposals advance

By Aaron Ginsburg

After several high-profile New York City casino proposals were rejected this month, two bids, in Queens and Yonkers, have advanced in the approval process. On Thursday, Resorts World NYC in Jamaica and MGM Empire City in Yonkers won unanimous approval from community advisory committees, sending the proposals to the state board. Both bids aim to convert existing gaming facilities into full-scale casinos, unlike other remaining plans, such as those in the Bronx and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, which include entirely new developments.
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Policy

On the Rockaway peninsula, new rental opens lottery for 37 apartments, from $2,650/month

All images courtesy of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development

September 24, 2025

On the Rockaway peninsula, new rental opens lottery for 37 apartments, from $2,650/month

By Aaron Ginsburg

Applications are being accepted for 37 middle-income apartments at a new residential development on the Rockaway peninsula. Located at 60-14 Beach Channel Road in Arverne, a small neighborhood between Rockaway Beach and Far Rockaway, the five-story building includes contemporary residences, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Jamaica Bay on the other. New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, priced from $2,650/month studios to $2,800/month two bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Rare Constitution copy on display in Queens for one weekend only

Images courtesy of Christie’s

September 19, 2025

Rare Constitution copy on display in Queens for one weekend only

By Aaron Ginsburg

As the right to free speech makes headlines following the Trump administration's attack on late-night show hosts, what better time to revisit the Constitution? A rare draft of the document will be on display at the King Manor Museum in Jamaica, home to founding father Rufus King, for this weekend only. The draft has King's handwritten edits and marks the first time the words "We the people of the United States," were included. The free public exhibition, held September 19 through September 21, is presented by Christie's auction house, ahead of its annual Americana sale in January.
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Events & Things To Do

Construction to turn vacant Forest Hills hospital into 145 affordable apartments begins

Photo by Peter Wilk/Wilk Marketing Communications

September 17, 2025

Construction to turn vacant Forest Hills hospital into 145 affordable apartments begins

By Aaron Ginsburg

Construction has begun on an intergenerational affordable housing development at the site of a long-vacant hospital in Forest Hills. Foxy Development and Selfhelp Realty Group on Wednesday announced work has begun on The Perennial, a mixed-use project that converts the existing Parkway Hospital building, inactive since 2008, into 145 affordable apartments for seniors and families. Developers describe the $150 million project as one of New York's most complex public-private development projects in recent history and the neighborhood’s first deeply affordable senior housing project.
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MTA expands bus lane camera enforcement to four more routes

Credit: Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

September 15, 2025

MTA expands bus lane camera enforcement to four more routes

By Aaron Ginsburg

Don't block the bus. Four more bus routes in Queens and the Bronx will now have automated camera enforcement, with a 60-day warning period for drivers improperly using busways or blocking stops starting on Monday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced. After the warning period is up, the MTA will issue summonses ranging from $50 for a first offense to $250 for repeat violations.
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$2B Astoria project with 3,200 units scrapped, scaled-down tower planned

Rendering of the proposed Innovation QNS district; courtesy of VERO Digital

September 3, 2025

$2B Astoria project with 3,200 units scrapped, scaled-down tower planned

By Aaron Ginsburg

A huge development that would have brought more than 3,000 units to Astoria has been scrapped. Silverstein Properties has withdrawn from Innovation QNS—a proposed 3,200-unit, $2 billion complex spanning five blocks— citing financing challenges tied to the expiration of the 421-a tax break and its replacement, the 485x program, as reported by Crain’s. While the larger plan has collapsed, remaining partners BedRock Real Estate Partners and L+M Development filed plans last week for a 560-unit building on one of the original sites.
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September 3, 2025

City Planning Commission approves Long Island City rezoning

By Aaron Ginsburg

The proposal to rezone Long Island City, which could bring tens of thousands of new homes to the Queens neighborhood, advanced this week with a key approval. On Wednesday, the City Planning Commission voted to approve the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan, which would rezone a 54-block industrial section of the waterfront to make way for 14,700 homes, with at least 4,300 of them permanently affordable, the most homes created by a neighborhood rezoning in 25 years. The plan also calls for more than 3.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial space, as well as a continuous, publicly accessible waterfront from Gantry Plaza State Park to Queensbridge Park.
DETAILS ON THE PLAN

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