OneLIC Plan: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I received a blast email from Julie Won last week stating “These priorities are the minimum requirements for the OneLIC neighborhood plan to succeed and receive my support when it comes before the City Council for a vote.” The subsequent bullet points were a good jumping off point for me to share my thoughts on this plan, so here we go, with my comments in italics.

• Affordable Housing: Maximize development of permanently affordable housing units at a range of income levels with a focus on family-sized units, achieved through a combination of permanently affordable housing on public sites and inclusionary housing (MIH) on private sites. You can upzone it, and request the specified allocation in return, but as I said 18 months ago “the economy will be the main determinant as to what gets built and where.”
• A Connected Waterfront: Development of a connected waterfront esplanade from Queensbridge Park to Gantry State Park across both public and private sites. To allow for this, Con Edison and the New York Power Authority must commit to agreements to provide at least 40 feet of waterfront space for the development of public open space as part of the contiguous waterfront on their sites. As I said 9 months ago ‘Great idea, but what about the cost?“ While you’re at it, how about a cost-benefit analysis? Because as much as I love the idea for my own personal benefit, I don’t think it will create any greater connection between Queensbridge and Hunters Point.
• New Public Spaces: Creation of new public inland open spaces on the City-owned sites under the Queensboro Bridge and its ramps, currently used by the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) and NYC Parks Department (Parks) for operations and maintenance. Redevelopment of these sites into public open space would return public land back to the public, connecting Queensbridge Houses with the rest of Long Island City, and addressing the dire need for increased open space in the neighborhood. To allow for the redevelopment of these sites, DOT and Parks must commit to relocating their operations elsewhere. Public open space underneath the Queensboro Bridge and its ramps?
• Investment in Sewage, Plumbing, and Resilience Infrastructure: City commitment to providing new funding for capital investments in sewage and plumbing infrastructure in LIC to address current flooding and sewer issues, and prepare LIC’s infrastructure to support new development in the neighborhood and increase resilience along the waterfront. Out of my circle of competence to assess.
• New Schools: To address the critical need for new school seats within the district, on-time siting and development of new schools, in addition to the on-time construction and opening of schools already sited in LIC, including the Court Square K-8 school and Hunters Point South Parcel C K-8 school. Pretty straightforward demand. But given the scope of the project (and thus its ability to absorb overhead), why not dream think big and request a 9th specialty High School be located here? If people are willing to shlep up to Bronx Sci, they’ll be thrilled at how easy it is to get to this school from all boros – ex SI. Yeah, dream big, especially since it would be especially convenient for all of your constituents.
• Queensbridge Houses Investments: Investments in maintenance and capital upgrades, and prioritizing the rehabilitation of dilapidated, vacant apartment units to make them habitable. Say what you gotta say, do what you gotta do, but Queensbridge is a money pit.
• Community-Driven Development of Public Land: City commitment to prioritizing a range of uses on public land to meet community needs, including developing affordable housing and home ownership options, and following a community-driven process for transforming the City-owned 44-36 Vernon Blvd Department of Education (DOE) site. As part of this process, the City will release a Request for Information (RFI) this spring to gather input on potential uses for the DOE site (such as land trusts and community facilities) and ensure the final Request for Proposals (RFP) released for the site is shaped by community feedback.

I’m going to break out my thoughts on this last bullet point. There has been a lot of ink spilt and protesting about the DOE site on Vernon Boulevard. What I have not seen is any concrete plans, WITH A DETAILED BUDGET. Or should I say, two budgets: one to retrofit this massive and old building into whatever the concept is, and then an ongoing operating budget for whatever programs stem from it (Will there be any offsetting income?). As it stands now, all I can conceptualize is ‘artists’ lofts/lodging circa 1970’s Soho.

As for what is missing from these bullet points, there is one very significant omission: a Rec Center in Hunters Point with a pool. Don’t forget about the voters residents that already live here.