Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Upzoning the Rockaways

Say goodbye to Olde Rockaway.

The Department of City Planning is in the draft stages of its first comprehensive rezoning of the Rockaway Peninsula in more than 46 years - and portions of the new map are drawing the community's ire.


Rezoning battle rocks Rockaways

The proposed rezoning calls for parts of Beach 116th St. and adjoining streets to become R7A, a designation that allows for residential buildings that are 80 feet high, like the recently built Ocean Grande on the boardwalk at Beach 117th St.

"This proposed rezoning would allow for the increase of 736 units in the neighborhood," said Community Board 14 member Michael Tubridy. "It's so inappropriate. We've really got to put the stats together to stop this from happening."

12 comments:

Unknown said...

That is absolutly insane!
Do the so-called city planners have any idea what public transportation is like in the rockaways?
It can take you 45 minutes to get to Howard Beach!

Anonymous said...

I guess we can all partially thank John Young......
and the same old antics of the Dept. of City
(lack of) Planning!

Anonymous said...

Soundview Pointe, Ocean Grande... Why do developers love the letter E so much?

Anonymous said...

Developers like the letter E because that's the first letter of EVIL. That's what they are, what the represent and they don't care about ruining communities. They don't live in these communities anyway. The only other letters that surpass E is M & G. MONEY & GREED.

Anonymous said...

45 minutes isn't that bad, Michael-- try just missing that A at Beach 116th St. i love Rockaway & spend a lot of time out there but it's been clear something like this could happen for a long time. (i've been going to Rockapulco since 1969, btw.)

what upzoning THERE does, of course, is expand the # of "luxury" units in what's considered the "nicer" area. Meanwhile, there's still A LOT of unbuilt land both in Arverne & elsewhere that could easily (& usefully) be filled in first. i LOVE the sometimes desolation of Rockapulco but do know that things can be built up some in a better way than THIS.

wwib

p/s: anonymous letter "E," that's funny, & there are INSANE Brooklyn examples as well-- lemme make a list & post back.

Anonymous said...

Why doesn't the city council do what should have been done a long, long time ago == Build NY's equivalent of Atlantic City. Years ago, they wanted to put casinos in the Rockaways and it never happened. Can you imagine the revenue? Not the mention jobs and the upgrades in transportation to and from the Rockaways. It would ease the tax burden on the middle class if gamblers came to the Rockaways to spend their money. Food for thought.

Queens Crapper said...

That sounds like a good plan, but have you ever walked off of the Boardwalk in AC? Gambling doesn't seem to have helped.

Anonymous said...

It would be an absolute crying shame if that home was touched. Get going, preservationists...

Anonymous said...

may be a backwards notion, of mine, but I always thought of gambling as a sin, sort of like trying to second guess God or divine the future, not that I'm any one to be standing on any moral pedestal.

Still, there are some lines I draw and gambling is one I don't cross, because besides the point I mentioned I've also seen how gambling can ruin a person's life and their spouse and children's too.

Sorry for the sermon.

Anonymous said...

i'm for almost every type of vice, as long as the opportunities-- & laws regulating-- are applied EQUALLY to rich & poor, woman & man, etc etc.

QC gets to the gist of the matter, which is to say Atlantic City is an illusion, & not a very good one either. casinos are a little better to the overall economy than, say, a taxpayer funded sports stadium but at what cost to the overall civic fabric? (i.e. favortism to big $$$ developers, AGAIN.)

wwib

Anonymous said...

And what is HDC doing about this one .....
putting it on their "endangered list"....
and that's that ?

H-m-m-m.....yawn !

Anonymous said...

They've got bigger Manhattan fish to fry !
Why bother ?