Saturday, August 3, 2019

Amazon is looking at Maspeth site for next "fullfillment center"


QNS


Nothing happens along Newtown Creek without Mitch Waxman knowing about it first, so he was not surprised to see Crain’s report that Amazon was eyeing an industrial property in Maspeth for a new distribution facility.

As the historian for the Newtown Creek Alliance, Waxman walks along the Queens and Brooklyn shores and updates his Newtown Pentacle website with the daily chronicles of western Queens as it transforms under over-development.

He posted photos of his discovery on his website July 24, nearly a week before the Crain’s report.

“I was on my way to a meeting when I came across heavy demolition going on over on Grand Avenue,” Waxman said. “I noticed the old Cascades Containerboard factory was being torn down by crews from Breeze Demolition so I started asking questions.”

Waxman learned that 54-15, 55-15 and 56-19 Grand Ave. were recently acquired by a California-based company called LBA Realty for $72 million. The deal involves a partnership with another realty company, RXR, to build a four-story warehouse large that would be ideal for the “last mile” of logistics of an e-commerce company.

“Yeah it’s only four stories tall but that thing is going to be massive, massive, massive,” Waxman said. “It’s going to be large enough that heavy trucks will be able to drive around inside the facility, so that the first floor would have to be at least 30 feet tall. As an environmentalist with the Newtown Creek Alliance this set off all kinds of alarm bells with me. This will be a gigantic magnification of truck traffic in residential areas that are already very sensitive to heavy truck traffic.”

QNS reached out to Amazon and is awaiting a response. Amazon scuttled its plan to build to build an HQ2 campus in Long Island City, and create more than 25,000 high-paying jobs, in February.
Now the e-commerce giant is reportedly scouting a million square feet of space in Brooklyn’s Industry City for a new storage and shipping facility in Sunset Park. Amazon may be looking to lease the entire Lord & Taylor building in Midtown, according to Crain’s. 

Waxman, an Astoria resident, is concerned about what is happening in Maspeth.

 This sort of footprint tells me we’re looking at well over a hundred heavy trucks a day as well as additional delivery vans,” Waxman said. “It’s like you’re throwing the whole Green New Deal right out the window with that type of truck traffic clogging Maspeth’s residential streets as they make their way from the Long Island Expressway. This part of industrial Maspeth has a rail spur and it runs right along the back of this property with a direct connection to JFK International Airport. Instead, we just keep building more and more infrastructure for trucks.”

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Waxman is self appointed and with nothing better to do with his time walks around "humbly" - his favorite word - pontificating about this or that with a somewhat vague grip on "facts" particularly with his "history." His blog has the same stuff over and over again.

You do not get on CB1 - "the community board from hell" - without being a "made man" from "tha boys."

And we know how "tha boys" went ape-sh!t when their handlers were cut off from making money in the last Amazon deal - and we all suffered from it big time.

Changing local demographics will soon remedy that problem. And Mitch, get a real job.

Anonymous said...

This makes no sense.
Why incur trucking such massive amounts of merch across the river (perhaps 2 bridges)then repeat the process to ship out. This belongs on the mainland off I-95 exit.
I wonder what the real intent is.
Perhaps torture the neighborhood, destroy the streets and ancient water mains then say "Ok, we will make it housing"
I smell something sneeky

Anonymous said...

I wish people would stop saying 25,000 high-paying jobs.
That's a lie

Rob in Manhattan said...

Plug in "55-15 Grand Avenue" -the address of the former occupant of the location. Then look at the satellite image, you'll see that this is an area with massive factories and other commercial spaces...and little residential.

There appeared to be over thirty semi's laid-up at that location and there are freight train tracks -both at the site and a few hundred feet away on Rust St.

I found the area around Hunter's Point Ave (49th st) fascinating and walked it many times in the mid-nineties.

There is a lot of hyperventilating going on here.

However, if AMZN actually is the entity here, do NOT expect a huge amount of jobs to be created.

They have a massive automation plan under development.

We "capitalist-pig" investors are supposed to cheer that plan....

Rob in Manhattan

Anonymous said...

Of course it makes no sense. Amazon did not get to where they are at by doing something stupid over and over again. Just because a bunch of people from Queens have 'it all figured out' does not need to conform to reality.

Just take a look at who they elect year in and year out to take a measure of their grip on reality.

They are just a background chorus for their handlers.

Anonymous said...

The light rail terminates 1 mile west with no Gantry for container ships. Trucks would still have to come through Brooklyn & Queens streets for shipping. Guaranteed even bigger jams for the BQE, Bridges, Grand, Flushing and Metropolitan ave's.
The fallout effect will effect residential, This is why its being done so stealthy.
Its going to be a disaster for people who need to drive.

Can Amazon make trucks & drones that sprout wings and safely fly in the LGA approach path?

PJ said...

Maybe "Gantry Park" will have to revert to being a... Gantry...

Anonymous said...

"Amazon did not get to where they are at by doing something stupid
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh yea, wait till the FAA gets wind of Amazon wanting to fly delivery drones in the LGA approach corridor over 2 million people.
I think this or part of it is going to be some kind of housing.

Anonymous said...

Look, if the 'boys' were in charge all sorts of abuses would happen and no one would say a thing except "whaatagonnado?"

They are scared on the thoughts of what happens if you lose control over exploiting your community and lose control over your errand boys in DC, Albany, or city hall?

There can be some justice in this world.

Anonymous said...

Oh yea, wait till the FAA gets wind of Amazon wanting to fly delivery drones in the LGA approach corridor over 2 million people. I think this or part of it is going to be some kind of housing.

FEAR AND RUMOR MONGERING.

Anonymous said...

https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/personality/personality/can-michael-gianaris-lead-a-revolution.html?fbclid=IwAR2BaghayJ2L6kKsylLRO7YSLcjh8V6UPbhzu2x34M6PnDtpXUwTDh95cSo

Gag. Why put up with the flavor of the month when the community will soon put forth the real thing? This guy is toast.

Anonymous said...

Maspeth has always been a trucking center. THat's why the got the Jackie Intaboro

Anonymous said...

***FEAR AND RUMOR MONGERING***

Amazon will bring in perhaps 1000 tech heads from California and India. $3000+ rents and no employment for the locals that will suffer for it..
This invasion is very real, perhaps all the stupid people deserve it.
Look at the streets around these tech company's in California, whole mile long strips of RVs, tents, campers, trailers of homeless living, pissing, defecating in the streets.
That will never happen right, then "It Is What It Is" right?

Take a look at the Irish traveler home improvement gypsy camp outside Home Depot by Woodhaven Blvd, no f_cking enforcement or law what so ever.
--Its very real

Anonymous said...

Amazon will bring in perhaps 1000 tech heads from California and India. $3000+ rents and no employment for the locals that will suffer for it..
This invasion is very real, perhaps all the stupid people deserve it.

WOW SOMEONE IS NOT GETTING PAID OFF - GETTING THEIR CUT. CONSIDERING THE ABUSE HEAPED ON US IN THE PAST 50 YEARS HERE IN QUEENS WHILE OFFICIALDOM LOOKS THE OTHER WAY OR PUTS ON A HAPPY FACE SAYS IT ALL.

BY COMPARISON WHAT YOU DESCRIBE IS NUTTIN.'

Anonymous said...

Amazon is no friggan good.
Chinese children are now being DRAFTED to make Alexa and other Amazon devices.
Amazon pay's good wages my ass, will want to make us slave's too given the chance!!
Amazon is getting rich no different then the cotton barons of the south during slavery!
Read the link below:

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/aug/08/schoolchildren-in-china-work-overnight-to-produce-amazon-alexa-devices

panzer65 said...

This mega development boasts that it will be able to process tractor trailers inside the facility. It appears to be the response to the aborted intermodal facility that was supposed to be built at the old Phelps Dodge plant in Maspeth, along with the long aborted Cross Harbor Freight tunnel. Now that both seem to be far away, perhaps this facility will replace one of them. As mentioned, there is a freight rail line a block away, perhaps the developer will use it. If not, theres going to be a lot of trucks on the streets and highways in this region. Even if they do use the tracks, freight will need to be trucked across the harbor by slow moving barges as it does now. The only advantage would be moving freight trains east to Long Island.

Anonymous said...

Indeed, it has been estimated a LI-NJ tunnel
would reduce Manhattan traffic by a third.
Maybe Bezos will get Musk to Bore it.

TommyR said...

^1st Anon - Mitch is like those old people who tell the same stories, if you listen you might learn something. Go find some new thing to talk about, if you wanna be more useful? At the worst he's documented the changes for better or worse in LIC, G-point, Blissville etc and there's some merit to that. At best (if you actually read things) you'd see he occasionally gets potholes filled in, guard rails installed, and certain sites somewhat sorta cleaned up. More than most of the kvetchers on here do for their nabes.