Queens

New York kicks off planning for 100-acre Aqueduct Racetrack redevelopment

Aerial view of Aqueduct Racetrack courtesy of Empire State Development

May 5, 2026

New York kicks off planning for 100-acre Aqueduct Racetrack redevelopment

New York is moving forward with the redevelopment of the sprawling Aqueduct Racetrack site in South Ozone Park. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday announced the start of the community engagement and planning process for 100 acres of the state-owned Queens racetrack, which will close this summer before moving horse racing operations to Belmont Park on Long Island. The state announced two workshops will take place this month to gather input from the public on priorities for the development, including housing, open space, and retail.
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New Developments

Resorts World opens as first casino to offer live table games in NYC

Photo courtesy of Gee

April 29, 2026

Resorts World opens as first casino to offer live table games in NYC

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City's first full casino has arrived. After many years and a competition for downstate gaming licenses, Resorts World New York City opened in Queens on Tuesday as the first casino in the five boroughs to offer live table games. Located next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica, the existing gambling facility, which opened in 2011, has expanded into a full-scale casino, transforming its third floor with more than 240 table games and thousands of slot machines, with more to come later this year. The casino also led a hiring and training effort that created 1,250 new jobs, including 950 table-game dealers, ahead of its launch following final testing by the New York State Gaming Commission.
roll the dice

See the new food and drink options at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field this season

(L) Bobby’s Burgers “Crunchburger;” (R) New York Mets’ 2026 menu items

April 3, 2026

See the new food and drink options at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field this season

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City baseball fans will find plenty of new food options this season, as both the Yankees and Mets have rolled out updated menus. At Yankee Stadium, offerings include longtime favorites like celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s “Bobby’s Burgers” and Christian Petroni’s “Parm to Table,” along with local newcomers such as Magnolia Bakery. At Citi Field, which has been nominated for best ballpark food by USA Today for the fourth consecutive year, fans can try 37 new dishes, including concepts from chef Kwame Onwuachi, who is introducing a chopped cheese patty served on coco bread.
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MoMA PS1 to host free block party for 50th anniversary

(L) MoMA PS1. Credit: Newell Reinvention on Flickr. (R) Credit: MoMA PS1

April 1, 2026

MoMA PS1 to host free block party for 50th anniversary

By Aaron Ginsburg

MoMA PS1 is hosting a free block party next month to celebrate its 50th anniversary, bringing live music, food, and special programming to its longtime home in Long Island City. The event will take place across the museum's plaza, courtyard, and galleries on Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and include curator-led talks, artist activations, performances, and offerings from local food vendors. The celebration coincides with the opening weekend of "Greater New York," the museum’s signature survey of working NYC artists, which highlights more than 50 multidisciplinary creatives in the early stages of their careers.
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Events & Things To Do

NYC’s first pro soccer stadium tops out in Queens

All images courtesy of NYCFC, unless noted otherwise

March 27, 2026

NYC’s first pro soccer stadium tops out in Queens

By Aaron Ginsburg

Etihad Park, New York City's first-ever professional soccer stadium in Queens, topped out this week. The NYC Football Club (NYCFC) laid the final steel beam on Wednesday, completing the 25,000-seat stadium’s frame on schedule after construction began in December 2024. Developed by NYCFC, Related Companies, and Sterling Equities and designed by HOK, the seven-story, fully electric stadium is expected to open for the 2027–28 Major League Soccer season as NYCFC’s official home in the five boroughs.
MORE THIS WAY

Take a retro NYC subway ride to the Mets and Yankees home opener games

All photos courtesy of the New York Transit Museum

March 24, 2026

Take a retro NYC subway ride to the Mets and Yankees home opener games

By Aaron Ginsburg

Baseball is back! Celebrate by taking a retro subway ride to the Mets and Yankees home opener games. The New York Transit Museum will once again run vintage trains for the first home games of the season, March 26 at Citi Field and April 3 at Yankee Stadium. Costing the typical $3 to ride, retro trains will depart from 34th Street-Hudson Yards to Mets-Willets Point, and from Grand Central-42nd Street to 161st Street-Yankee Stadium.
ALL ABOARD!

Citi Field to host women’s pro soccer match ahead of World Cup final

Photo courtesy of Gotham FC

March 18, 2026

Citi Field to host women’s pro soccer match ahead of World Cup final

By Aaron Ginsburg

Citi Field will host one of women’s professional soccer’s biggest rivalries this summer. On Tuesday, Gotham FC announced that it will face off against the Washington Spirit on July 15 as part of "The Queens Classic," a highly anticipated rematch of the 2025 NWSL Championship and the first women’s sporting event held at the home of the New York Mets. The match comes four days before the men’s FIFA World Cup Final arrives at MetLife Stadium, adding to the wave of soccer events set to sweep the tri-state region this summer.
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Events & Things To Do

Rendering from 2020 Sunnyside Yard master plan courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)

February 27, 2026

Mamdani pitches 12,000-unit Sunnyside Yard development to Trump

By Devin Gannon

A mammoth plan to bring thousands of affordable homes to one of the largest undeveloped sites in New York City was resurrected this week. In a meeting at the White House on Thursday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani pitched President Donald Trump on the Sunnyside Yard development, a proposal to build a deck over the 180-acre rail yard in Queens and create a new mixed-use community with 12,000 affordable apartments, new schools, and public space above a new regional rail hub. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration released a master plan for the project right before the city shut down during the pandemic in March 2020, and it has been at a standstill since. Mamdani said he asked the president for $21 billion in federal grants to advance the project.
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Bayside affordable housing project moves ahead, thanks to NYC’s new charter reforms

Credit: Department of City Planning

February 25, 2026

Bayside affordable housing project moves ahead, thanks to NYC’s new charter reforms

By Aaron Ginsburg

An anti-development New York City council member voted to approve a project in her district Sunday, citing a new ballot measure, supported by New Yorkers in November's election. Council Member Vickie Paladino, who represents District 19 in northeast Queens, voted to advance a 248-unit, eight-story development at 217-14 24th Avenue in Bayside. While she initially opposed the project, Paladino reversed course because the new measure gives a three-member appeals board, including the mayor, council speaker, and local borough president, to overturn rejections by the council.
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Advocates push for restoration of weekend G train service to Forest Hills

Credit: Adam Moss on Flickr

February 5, 2026

Advocates push for restoration of weekend G train service to Forest Hills

By Aaron Ginsburg

A coalition of public transit advocates is pushing the MTA to extend the G train to Forest Hills, bringing the line to central Queens for the first time since 2010. In a letter sent Thursday, more than 30 advocacy organizations and business leaders, including the New York Mets, urged city and state officials to bring back weekend G train service to Forest Hills–71st Avenue, arguing it would be a transformative improvement for outer-borough riders long underserved by a Manhattan-centric transit system. The group also noted that G train ridership has surged since service to Forest Hills was cut, with an increase of roughly 50,000 riders—one of the fastest growth rates in the subway system.
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NYC invests nearly $40M to bring clean heat pumps to Rockaways NYCHA complex

Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

February 5, 2026

NYC invests nearly $40M to bring clean heat pumps to Rockaways NYCHA complex

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City is investing nearly $40 million to bring clean heating and cooling to more than 700 homes at a public housing complex in the Rockaways. Announced on Wednesday by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the $38.4 million investment will install clean, reliable heat pumps in 712 apartments at NYCHA’s Beach 41st Houses in Edgemere, among the first NYCHA residences to receive custom-designed heat pumps under the agency’s “Clean Heat for All” initiative. The initiative aims to expand clean heat pump installations to more than 10,000 NYCHA apartments by 2030.
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Policy

First housing phase of NYC’s net-zero Far Rockaway development moves forward

Credit: FX Collaborative

December 30, 2025

First housing phase of NYC’s net-zero Far Rockaway development moves forward

By Aaron Ginsburg

The development team behind New York City’s first net-zero community in Far Rockaway has secured $278.8 million for its first phase, which will bring 320 new homes to the neighborhood. On Monday, L+M Development Partners, Urbane Development, and other project stakeholders announced the closing of financing for Arverne East Building D, the first phase of housing of the larger revitalization of a 116-acre oceanfront site in Edgemere into a mixed-use community. Upon completion in 2028, the 355,000-square-foot building will deliver 230 affordable rentals and 90 homes designated for ownership.
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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

By Aaron Ginsburg

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.
see it here

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.
see the design

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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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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One Domino Square

8 South 4th Street

Williamsburg

Spectacular living on the Williamsburg waterfront

1 beds starting at $1,925,000
2 beds starting at $2,055,000
3 beds starting at $3,030,000

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