The drum beat to develop the Sunnyside Yards continues with the latest call to build on it coming from the former Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff.
Doctoroff, in a New York Times op-ed piece that ran Sunday, said that the city needs to build a 3.1 million square foot convention center and that Sunnyside Yards would be the ideal place for it. The center could also be accompanied, he wrote, by nearly 14,000 residential units of which 50 percent would be affordable.
The op-ed stated that Long Island City is a great location for this development since it is “one of the most convenient, transit-friendly areas in the city, served by eight subway lines.” The idea is that the new convention center would replace the Javits Center, which he deemed too small.
However, residents and local officials argue that the concept just doesn’t make sense and that the neighborhood’s infrastructure in terms of schools, parks and subways are already stretched. Many are unsure how the neighborhood will absorb all the new residents coming to the area, with 5,000-10,000 units coming online in the next few years.
“I found some of [Doctoroff’s op-ed] patronizing,” said Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer who opposes decking over the yards. “It revealed to me somewhat of a Manhattan elitist view of Queens.”
Van Bramer said that Doctoroff might find the neighborhood transit friendly when he looks at the area on a map. However, he said, people who live here know that the No. 7 train is not reliable and there are a lot of delays. During morning rush hour, people often struggle to get on at the Jackson Ave/Vernon Blvd. Station, he said.
At the October Community Board 2 meeting, when the idea of studying the yards was raised, several board members wanted to know how the area will cope with all the Court Square/Queens Plaza development coming online—let alone the yards.
Meanwhile, a petition has just been formed, calling on the city not to allow the site to be developed.
7 comments:
Two observations come to mind:
Who gives a flying f*ck on what Doctoroff wants and why doesn't our spineless officials that like to gang up on little people find the cajones to say something to that effect?
It is amusing when someone treats our officials the same way they treat one of the 'little people' in their balliwick that, in their estimation, gets out of line. I am simply laughing my ass off to see Jimmy and his ilk getting flustered when they are cut out of the public gravy train. A bit of their own medicine. Isn't it funny that if an idea is not theirs (or they are not getting their cut of the action) the criticize it with the same arguments that they ignore when we throw the same at them?
Nothing will stop the over-development until people start getting inadvertently pushed onto the subway tracks on a regular basis. And that day is coming soon!
Both the developers and politicians are totally clueless as to how disgusting life is in most of Queens!
Why isn't school seat certification required for these large developments?
Doctoroff wants it. The city does not need it. If Javits is too small tear IT down and build affordable housing on the empty lot.
Bend over Jimmy. You thought that you were making some smart moves by backing over development in LIC in exchange for campaign contributions from developers. Now it has hit too close to your Sunnyside home. Now who's the butt of the joke? My, my, my, how Queens continues to breed cheap crooks.
That is one 1960s photograph of Sunnyside Yards!
You just got paid back for the payoff you took to scuttle 5 Pointz, Councilman Van Bramer. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! What goes around comes around! Now take your turn in the barrel.
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