Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Continued overdevelopment along 7 train line is probably a bad idea

From Brick Underground:

Anyone who has passed through Queensboro Plaza lately won't be surprised to hear that a development boom is afoot in this part of Queens. The area surrounding the elevated train station in Long Island City is a sea of cranes and residential high-rises, which have been sprouting up ever since a 2001 rezoning of the neighborhood.

And lately, developers have been pushing farther along the 7 train corridor into Queens, adding towers to the skylines of areas like Jackson Heights and Flushing. Last year, a report from Ariel Property Advisors predicted that growth would continue, eventually even mirroring Brooklyn's L train corridor in the changes to come, based on the area's (relative) affordability, transit and increasingly hip reputation. Even Anthony Bourdain, bad boy celebrity chef meets CNN anchor, recently featured Queens in an episode of his travel show, Parts Unknown.

The word is definitely already out in northwest Queens, home to Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside and Woodside. According to the most recent Douglas Elliman market reports, median rents have actually exceeded those of Brooklyn and the number of new leases grew by over 50 percent from last year.

But some Queens locals say that they're concerned about population growth along the 7 line, which isn't really free from the issues ailing the rest of NYC's subway network. (In fact, Brick previously covered how weekend subway shutdowns of the 7 hurt Queens neighborhoods.) A development boom could end up exacerbating overcrowding and delays that are already plaguing the train, these residents say, making a bad situation worse.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fear not, Queens Blvd. has a bicycle lanes. We are saved!

Anonymous said...

Wait until the BQX starts dumping hipsters in LIC to pick up the 7 to get into Manhattan.

Anonymous said...

blame all of your counsel people for allowing all of this building in long island city -- no thanks to JVB and his pockets being lined -- and that is a fact -

Anonymous said...

This article could have easily been written by going back ten years in Queens Crap posts and reading wrote and warned about back then.

Anonymous said...

How much longer you think until someone notices all that great real estate currently occupied by Calvary cemetery??? 5-10-20 years? You know it's going to happen someday. Half of Manhattan was graveyards, until they weren't anymore. Scoop 'em up and haul 'em away...somewhere.

Anonymous said...

If the city isnt going to do major infrastructure improvements in that area like new subway lines and expanded roadways and parking there shouldn't be any more building allowed then.

Its ok to say sorry we're full.

Anonymous said...

and you wonder why the 7 train is so overcrowded?

Anonymous said...

Agreed. LIC is full!

JQ LLC said...

As Carole King sang: It's too late baby.

I don't know how long Brick has been in existence, but this article doesn't help dick. Especially since it contains a tone deaf quote by a real estate shill groupie.
The only thing left is to get these sell out hacks out of government office and their varsity team aides with them and put them on a barge on Newton Creek for everyone to throw shit and chum at them.

As Yo La Tengo sang: The Damage is Done

M. How said...

HOLY COW!

"Anonymous said... How much longer you think until someone notices all that great real estate currently occupied by Calvary cemetery??? 5-10-20 years? You know it's going to happen someday. Half of Manhattan was graveyards, until they weren't anymore. Scoop 'em up and haul 'em away...somewhere."

In this climate of priest/child abuse trials draining The Catholic Church Corporation coffers, eventually the need to break open the piggy bank will be the final determination of Catholic Cemeteries in Queens. Very sad but true.

Anonymous said...

The BQX is bogus, and the alleged W train weekdays (brought back when the Q was moved to Second Avenue Line) seems more often to become a Q to the Upper East Side.

Anonymous said...

"How much longer you think until someone notices all that great real estate currently occupied by Calvary cemetery??? 5-10-20 years? You know it's going to happen someday"

Great point. And the churches too. I mean, churches are representations of 'the patriarchy' aren't they? And attendance is low. PRime real estate, with a new built in political base. Prefect for REBNY...

They run EVERYTHING.

Anonymous said...

Sooner or later the people will have enough of this:

- when you are 40 with little but internships and crushing debt even Trump country looks good - at least the people are authentic out there (even though half of them are brain dead living in a weed filled wasteland while working at Walmart and doping themselves on liquor and drugs)

- taking 2 hours to get to work from your Queens $3000/mo room where the halls smell of ratburgers and non-communicative neighbors change by the month - is not compensated by yet another a performance at your local park showcasing the latest in talent from Tibet or Niger or poetry readings at your library that tell of the wisdom of old folks in the Andes or on the reservation.

All the money and resources in this country are being taken by the ultra-rich Republicans who live in their gated worlds and the Democratic hacks that have zombified government to loot its resources to build their party.

(as to the cemetery about 10 years ago someone made the rounds talking about taking them over for parks in about 50 years from now - which is the first step for development)

Anonymous said...

I had a work colleague who got on the 7 at the first stop, in Flushing. If she tried for a train that would get her into Manhattan at 9am, they were often already packed-- at the first stop!!! So she adjusted her hours to come in at 10. Not everyone can do that. Sounds like the 7 is maxed out.

There's also a lot of new building along Queens Blvd. Those trains can get pretty crowded as well. But do developers and Duh Blahzio care? Nope.

Anonymous said...

But do developers and Duh Blahzio care? Nope.

The question should be do the voters - your neighbors in the voting booth care - and the answer is no! Especially galling are all the tweeder groups that have no backbone.

Anonymous said...

But that was the whole idea. When subways were first built, the idea was that people and businesses would want to live along a subway route.

Unfortunately, generations of buck-passing politicians chose to use transit money for raises, giant pensions, inefficient work forces and they never expanded or improved the system. They thought it was 'just fine' so use buses to get hundreds of thousands of people to Flushing instead of expanding subway service in Queens. So of course every train is full at the first stop, your politicians planned it that way.

Build more subways, Ha! Not in our lifetimes, our arrogant Governor would rather build monuments like the Post office LIRR/Amtrak station in Manhattan and name bridges for his father. Someone besides a far left socialist mayor might let private enterprise build new transit, in other cities it costs 70% less to build a transit line, but this is NY. I plan on moving as soon as I find a job in a quieter city, you can have my spot on the 7 line. Bah!

Anonymous said...

Flooshing is already built to the max and boiling over with lawbreakers!