City Council committees approve Long Island City neighborhood rezoning
Photo © Ondel Hylton
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.
As 6sqft previously reported, the plan updates zoning rules to allow for high-density mixed residential, commercial, and light industrial uses along the waterfront, from the East River waterfront to Crescent Street and Queens Plaza North to 47th Avenue. One segment would reach up to 39th Avenue between 21st and 23rd Streets.
Under the rezoning, high- and medium-density mixed-use residential, commercial, and light-manufacturing buildings would be allowed north of the Queensboro Bridge between 21st and 23rd Streets. Along 44th Drive, the plan would permit medium-density residential, commercial, and light-manufacturing development.
For the first time in the neighborhood’s history, Mandatory Inclusionary Housing would be applied, requiring 20 to 30 percent of all new apartments to be permanently affordable.
Another key component of the plan focuses on redeveloping three city-owned sites near Anable Basin: 44-36 Vernon Boulevard, 4-99 44th Drive, and 44-59 45th Avenue. The area includes the former site where Amazon tried and failed to build its headquarters in 2019, as 6sqft previously reported.
It 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. Additionally, the city would update the Hunters Point North Waterfront Access Plan to require all waterfront sites to contribute to a publicly accessible waterfront.
Won, who represents the district covered by the rezoning, secured a $1.97 billion investment from the city to fund 1,300 new school seats, upgrades to neighborhood sewage and plumbing infrastructure, roughly 15 acres of new public open space, and other improvements.
As part of that commitment, the city will invest $102 million to support residents of NYCHA’s Queensbridge Houses through plumbing upgrades and new infrastructure, $98.3 million to improve the Queensbridge Houses North and South, and $6 million to enhance the Jacob Riis Community Center and accelerate the renovation of vacant public housing units for occupancy.
To expand parks and open spaces for local residents, the Council secured $95 million to create new recreational areas beneath the Queensboro Bridge, $30 million for improvements to Queensbridge Park, and $2.3 million to construct the new Queensbridge Baby Park.
The Council also secured nearly $310 million to complete two new elementary schools and committed to acquire privately owned sites for additional schools to meet the neighborhood’s growing demand for classroom seats.
The fate of the project remained uncertain before the vote, as Won had previously threatened to veto the proposal unless the final plan addressed her concerns about affordability, infrastructure, public space, and other community priorities, according to the Queens Eagle.
In a statement, Won celebrated the advancement of the OneLIC Plan and the city’s commitment to invest in the neighborhood.
“Today’s vote progressing the OneLIC Plan forward brings us one step closer to an integrated Long Island City,” Won said. “Over the last three decades, the City has allowed developers to dictate what is built in our neighborhood. These past two years, thousands of residents came together to envision our future.”
She added, “Through our advocacy, persistent community engagement, and disciplined negotiations, we have secured a historic investment in LIC, to fund a connected waterfront, a restored park underneath the Queensboro Bridge, over 1,300 new school seats, sewage and plumbing infrastructure, NYCHA investments, and so much more — all that is long overdue.
Won said she will continue pushing for additional investments ahead of the full City Council’s vote on November 12. Before then, the proposal will return to the City Planning Commission, which approved the plan in September, for a “scope-based” review of the latest modifications, according to a press release.
In April, the city launched the public review for the plan, following a two-year engagement process that included 15 public meetings with 1,600 participants. One LIC is the fifth neighborhood plan under Mayor Eric Adams to enter the public review process, joining Midtown South, Jamaica, Atlantic Avenue, and Bronx-Metro North Station Area Plan.
Adams praised the approval of the plan, framing the OneLIC plan as a way to move beyond the “status quo” of unaffordability and spur new housing and job growth.
“From manufacturing to filmmaking, Long Island City has led many lives over the decades,” Adams said. “But while much of this neighborhood has seen remarkable growth, other parts have remained frozen in time, stymied by an outdated zoning code that limits new housing and curtails new jobs.”
He added, “At a moment when too many people are still struggling to find an affordable place to live, we have to move past the status quo and say ‘yes’ to more homes and more jobs — and that is exactly what the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan will do.”
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