The proposed Astoria Cove development plan has hit a snag.
Borough President Melinda Katz has recommended the disapproval of the controversial project, citing community concerns, insufficient mass transit in the area and not enough proposed affordable housing units among other reasons.
Released late Thursday morning, Katz applauded the project being the first in the city to mandate affordable housing in her recommendation, but her worries over multiple aspects of the project were too great to warrant her approval of the plan.
In her recommendation, Katz noted that an influx of hundreds of people into the area would be "particularly hard felt" because of the peninsula's limited network of streets.
Also, she cited the already overcrowded nearby N and Q train stations and infrequent bus service as a concern that must be addressed before the plan moves forward.
In terms of affordable housing, Katz called for more units than the 1,723 proposed, 20 percent of the residential dwellings that have been proposed. She did not specify a desired number of residences or a specific percentage of units she would like to see designated as affordable.
The Borough President recommended that the proposed school, which was planned to be constructed in the final phase of the project, be built first to meet the existing need for more seats in School District 30.
As Chair of the City Council's Land Use Committee, Katz greenlighted projects that were denser, with heavier strain on infrastructure, and fewer affordable units. So...?
When the plan came to Katz two weeks ago, multiple union members at the hearing demanded that Alma Realty, the project's developer, provide well-paying, safe construction jobs with benefits. She echoed that sentiment Thursday, saying the project will only succeed "if it is built by the most skilled and professional workers to assure the quality, durability and safety of the construction."
Ah, ok.
10 comments:
The more 'affordable' housing you put in the less of it can actually be affordable. It's a dirty secret the pols never tell you. The developers get constant revenue when they increase the number of affordable units because they up the income requirements and reduce the subsidy given. and the result? homeless bums and shelters all over the city because people get priced out of the bottom of the market. Of course katz isn't about helping the poor. just wants the city, and coerced private companies, to support her friends in the middle class. Not middle class people generally, just her buddies in a particular union, and her buddies that she can give a discounted apartment too. disgusting bitch.
If she or other pols wanted to do good they'd get rid of ALL affordable housing requirements, and put in a rental voucher system instead of giving out taxbreaks for every project. and for those developments in transit rich areas where more people will be able to live without a car, relax the parking requirements. They are per unit, not per square foot. Two small six hundred foot units necessarily targeting a lower end of the market should not need twice as much parking as one twelve-hundred square foot unit. The family living in the latter is more likely to own a car than the single person or couple living in either of the small units.
"The proposed Astoria Cove development plan has hit a snag."
The snag being the developers didn't cough up enough cash for the politicians campaign coffers.
Why can't the entire development be affordable? Affordable does not equate to ghetto.
Housing should be for the indigenous community.
Why are developers allowed to plan our neighborhoods for us? The residents should decide what gets built!
Affordable construction? Ever try to build anything in NYC? You can thank every single politician for that?
The snag being the developers didn't cough up enough cash for the politicians campaign coffers.
BINGO!
You want affordable housing?
Cut taxes that go for subsidizing development and welfare state programs.
Overnight housing would be more affordable for 10,000s.
my head is pounding trying to follow this program.I really need a cheaper place to live and I make just a little too much money to qualify for these units,and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
as for the alleged snag,no doubt the rats are scrounging for more cheddar.The Queens Steamer is feigning outrage about the tower builders,just like the Blaz does when he feigns concern about the poor and unfortunate.These are false liberals.Pure sociopathic behavior.
this development is surrounded by housing projects. how much more f-ing "affordable" housing do these commies want?
She's up to something. And wait until she gets all of her developer friends engaged with the NYS Pavilion restoration. Something tells me the Pavilion will be leveled before she leaves office. Just a thought.
There are so many government thumbs on the scales for new and old housing (market-rate, rent-controlled, rent-stabilized, affordable, Section 8), taxing the working poor, then subsidizing the non-working poor, arcane eligibility rules, etc. that no one really knows the actual cost of an apartment in New York other than to know it costs more here than elsewhere.
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