Councilmember Julie Won is urging her colleagues to reject the massive Innovation QNS project that would bring 2,800 units to five square blocks in Astoria.
Won, in an e-mail sent to her colleagues, argues that the project does not provide enough affordable housing despite the developers upping the number of affordable units to 40 percent of the project. The e-mail she sent to her fellow councilmembers was leaked to Politico.
The $2 billion proposal, which is dependent on a rezoning, is scheduled to go before the city council for a vote next month that will determine its fate.
The developers–Silverstein Properties, BedRock Real Estate Partners and Kaufman Astoria Studios—initially said they were going to set aside 25 percent of the units for affordable housing but boosted that number to 40 percent last month.
But Won said that 40 percent is not enough and noted that the extra 15 percent would be funded through taxpayer subsidies and not at the expense of the developers.
Won has been calling on the developers to set aside at least 50 percent of the units for affordable housing in order to win her vote.
Traditionally the city council votes in lockstep with the official where the development is proposed—known as council deference—although sources say many high-ranking officials want Innovation QNS to be built and that the council may break from this tradition.
Won, in the e-mail, urged her colleagues to rally behind her.
“Approving this rezoning with minimal affordability would result in displacement, rising rents, and amplify infrastructure challenges,” Won wrote, according to Politico. “It would also send a message to our communities that the Council will work around them and their representatives for the profit of large real estate interests.”
The Politico report led to some harsh criticism of Won from advocates of the project, such as 32BJ SEIU, the large union that represents building workers.
“Here are the facts,” the union tweeted. “The Innovation QNS project would create 1,100 affordable housing units, including 500 deeply affordable units. At the same time, it will provide family-sustaining jobs for working NYers.”
The union added: “Won faces a straightforward choice: seize an opportunity to address our city’s affordable housing crisis and support good-paying jobs or deploy bad-faith arguments to squander the chance. She’s chosen the latter, and her constituents deserve better.”
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who initially opposed the project but then became a supporter after the number of affordable units was lifted to 40 percent, also appeared to take a shot at Won.
He retweeted the 32BJ SEIU statement with the message: “Are we still having a conversation in 2022 on why Queens needs more deep affordability?”
