Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Peninsula Hospital to become 1,900 "affordable" apartments

From Curbed:

The former Peninsula Hospital site in the Rockaways will be transformed into a massive residential complex, with nearly all of the apartments slated to be affordable units, Politico first reported.

The news follows two years after the development firm Arker Companies teamed up with Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation to purchase the development site for $19 million.

Plans for the project were revealed through an application filed with the city—the development will be required to go through a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). The developers are hoping to build 2,200 new apartments, about 1,900 of which will be affordable; new open space, a gym, a medical facility, and over 151,000 square feet of retail all spread out over 17 buildings. Of the total units 270 would be reserved for seniors.

20 comments:

JQ LLC said...

I rather have a hospital, as surely those 275 senior citizens the units are allotted to would.

According to Stringer's report the city has mass amounts of public space to build (real) affordable housing. You would think this mayor would want to accomplished his 300,000 goal for housing the lower salaried years ahead of schedule but for some stupid reason it has to stay with the 10 year plan, to be finished when he's gone.

But the yearly salary qualifications for the scant affordable units exceed the real average income of the area these buildings are on, and it will definitely be the case with this one.

Anonymous said...

This will have the look and feel of a NYCHA Project in no time.

Anonymous said...

"This will have the look and feel of a NYCHA Project in no time."

Then it will fit in perfectly in the cesspool that is the Rockaways.

Anonymous said...

You're gonna need a lot of security as well to make sure this complex doesn't turn into 'the projects'.

Anonymous said...

The dregs of society will make this their new home too

Anonymous said...

Define the meaning of the word "Affordable." Where are these residents going to go when they need medical care? A hospital would be a much better idea.

Anonymous said...

A hospital is needed, and this housing complex will take on the flavor of that neighborhood...a pox on those who allowed the Rockaways to fall into ruin...it could have been a jewel of the city

Anonymous said...

Alas, New York City is already a padded cell, and it began with Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed, more than a hundred years ago.

Back then, the tenements were torn down, and projects were built in their place. Worse, the people of color who moved in, practically destroyed those properties overnight (i.e., graffiti, gangs, drugs, public urination, deplorable housekeeping), so I wouldn't expect anything to change more than 75 years later, when New York is STILL, and always HAS been, a welfare state for which you and I continue to pay for thousands of others to not work——COMPLIMENTS of We, the People's kleptocratic government's blessing.

And, before de BLASS-hole is hauled away in handcuffs (any day, now that Harendra Singh is singing in Nassau Court), there will be massive chaos in his wake (currently in mid level process).

Anonymous said...

They should build bungalows !

Anonymous said...

..."Then it will fit in perfectly in the cesspool that is the Rockaways."

You're painting with too broad a brush there Kemosabe.

Rockaway is a very large peninsula with some bad, high crime neighborhoods and some really beautiful and well preserved areas such as Belle Harbor, Neponsit and Breezy Point (gated community). The highest home prices in Queens County are in Rockaway for a reason. It has the only ocean front beaches in NYC (Coney Island and Staten Island are basically part of NY Harbor and pale in comparison). The new boardwalk is awesome and stretches for over 6 miles. If you're following the hipster crowd you'll know that Rockaway Beach is the place to be in the Summer with a vibrant live music/art/surf scene. Singer Patti Smith actually bought a bungalow there recently, as did the singer for band MGMT (Sold out at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn recently if you want to look them up).
Fort Tilden has unspoiled beaches and huge areas of wilderness to explore, it's part of Gateway National Park. Did I mention the ferry to Rockaway Park?
Take the trip for a couple of dollars this Summer, from Rockaway Landing to lower Manhattan (Fulton Fish Market) and your entire vision of Rockaway will change. It's not the Rockaway of the 1980's.

That being said, the last thing the Rockaways need is more low rent housing without the infrastructure to support it. Transportation is a main factor, unless those folks will all have cars, they're in for very long commutes with the A train as it stands. Schools need a lot of improvement as there are very limited choices in the public school system. Years of neglect have taken their toll there. The city should be concentrating on developing the economic anchors of this community before packing in more people.

JQ LLC said...

Although Rockaway does have those rock celebrities (MGMT is a very shit band) and the hipshit invasion, it also has one of the highest concentration or airbnb usage in Averne, there is still a lot of urban decay and poverty and Riis Park is still a decrepit mess even though the NPS is trying to gentrify it with overpriced food and raggy clothing trucks, Riis Park, particularly the bath houses, has still not seen a bit of improvement. It also has that live gas pipeline underneath the Atlantic by the shore.

It's not a cesspool but it's not certainly not the Riviera or Austin or Portland. And I certainly wouldn't call a visitor the anchors of the community And with the extreme effects of climate change the peninsula doesn't have much time (watch what happens to that boardwalk when the next hurricane hits). The hyperdevelopment happening there just reeks of market rate obbsessed dementia.

And having a hospital shut down is just irresponsible, a true disservice to the majority of people who are reliant on bad health plans or don't have any at all. For the nearest hospital is either Jamaica or the notoriously lousy Coney Island hospital.

Anonymous said...

No whites will be given leases to any of these apartments. It will be all black. Who in their right mind would want to live there? The gangs are busy destroying all of Rockaway including the areas mentioned above that are supposedly so beautiful. The gangs know how to make the most beautiful neighborhoods a nightmare.

Before you slam my post, come to Rockaway. Go to the site of the former hospital. Visit Hammels, Ocean View Village, go to Mott Avenue.

The gang banger drug dealers commandeer the many NYCHA projects. Am sure they are already slicing up this turf, too.

Anonymous said...

Hahah,
so we're going to get into a debate about whether or not bands are shit now?
You miss my main point, which is that people who could live anywhere (such as bands that sell out major music venues, MGMT, or Patti Smith, an iconic NY musician) are actually choosing to live in Rockaway.

I already said that there's a lot of work to do and it doesn't need more housing but more infrastructure (schools, transportation and hospitals).

Who said it's the Riviera (a French Mediterranean beach), Austin (a city in Texas) or Portland (a hipster city in Oregon)? It's Rockaway, an ocean front community with unique flavor in New York City.

As far as a gas pipeline running under Riis Park? What's your point there? There are gas lines running throughout NYC? There's a pollution in the East River, there's poor air quality in the Bronx and homeless in midtown. Nobody's trying to sell you a cabin in the Adirondacks genius, the point is that there are indeed nice places to see in Rockaway.

I get you don't like it...so stay under whatever "perfect" little rock you live in and stop fussing about what is or isn't in Rockaway, it's both good and bad and the point again is that it doesn't need more housing!

Lastly, on climate change;
I've been visiting Rockaway all my life here in NYC and the water levels are still the same. Sand gets washed away from the middle of the Peninsula and gets deposited in Breezy but that's not Climate change. If the water levels rose, you would see Riis Park Bath House under water by now, yet it's been there since the 1930s and the beach is just where it's always been.

Yes there was a Hurricane in 2012 that devastated the peninsula....just as Hurricane Gloria did in the 1960's, just as the Long Island Express Hurricane did in the 1930s, and just as a Hurricane in 1898 did as well (in that case an entire island was washed away, Hogg Island). The big difference is that there weren't 130,000 people living in Rockaway during those previous events. Look this all up before spouting off about climate change.

TommyR said...

CB input on rezoning is still a thing. https://citylimits.org/2018/03/23/cityviews-when-developers-threaten-bad-as-of-right-projects-rezoning-becomes-ransom/ (working as intended here)

Beyond the usual blinder'd inanity frothingly spouted by some (always seemingly) Anonymous commentators, the wisest writing above was,

"That being said, the last thing the Rockaways need is more low rent housing without the infrastructure to support it. Transportation is a main factor, unless those folks will all have cars, they're in for very long commutes with the A train as it stands. Schools need a lot of improvement as there are very limited choices in the public school system. Years of neglect have taken their toll there. The city should be concentrating on developing the economic anchors of this community before packing in more people."

Cart before the horse and all that.

JQ LLC said...

Oh anonymous. I usually let dissenters of mine make their comments without reply out of respect and a pure hatred for online flaming but you had to accuse me of living under a perfect rock (like I can afford the market rate rent)

Fort Tilden, Wilderness??!!!! Ha ha yourself. I wonder if you were hanging out with those batty glam campers last autumn on that field by the goal posts or the stupider one in stupider more glamorous one by the wild sands and tall grass.



Realize something here kemosabe, because a lot of your comment sounds like real estate pablum. The ferry will turn out to be an expensive boondoggle as it took priority over the subways and local bus service and it's whole fleet broke down simultaneously last year. (Yeah I know the state is responsible for the subway, but the city runs it and money should have been allocated considering the daily chronicled worsening condition of it)

The beaches by Riis are getting a tad perilous by the way, I have seen piles of washed up sand on the boardwalk and even the road connecting Rockaway Beach Blvd in the past 5 years. I am sure there is a scientific reason for that, all I know is that I have been riding there for over 20 years and I never seen this before.

As for the main point you mentioned, what about all the other development that have been finished and are just starting? Luxury towers are about to sprout on 116 and other nearby blocks, there's a big ass row of housing being built by the train station, other lux towers have been built in Far Rock near Mott. Now suddenly the issue of infrastructure and schools come up when an affordable housing building is being planned? What about all that other shit that has been built in the biggest flood zone in NYC? If you want a comparison, look what's going on by LIC, a shining example of hyperdevelopment without any concern for the environs. And the Gentrification Industrial Complex doesn't give a fucking shit about the anchors of the communities.

https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/02/22/city-to-bushwick-displacement-not-our-problem/

And the pipeline you scoffed at, well there have been reports that the citizens didn't want it and were surprised and dismayed it was being dropped near their areas and the entire shore.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/8/20/new-pipeline-raisesconcernsinaqueenscommunity.html

The thing genius, is that the city is more concerned with turning the entire 5 boroughs into a theme park and lux playground than actually serving the people who live here, which you make glaringly clear. But ok, overlook high asthma rates and water pollution, there are vibrant places to check out! And some punk rock star lives and shitty rock band hangs out there! (hey you brought up MGMT as something impressive, there was no way that was going to slide by)

Oh and there's homeless EVERYWHERE, but no worries, they are just the boroughs disneyland mascots that dot the areas so it's easy to be desensitized by such novelty sights.

You know genius kemosabe, the rockaway of the 80's was great and more fun and vibrant than the bland expensive culture that is being foisted on the public there today. Millions went every year and it was ocean front community with unique flavor back then too. The difference now it's that the city and REBNY cabal that runs it is trying to turn Rockaway into a luxury product.

I pointed out way on top what is truly needed, but because of the dominance of real estate and the city's desperation and dependence on them and the affordability crisis and economic inequity it's caused, cheaper housing is the and has become the only solution to fix it. That and homeless hotels.

And who said anything about the Adirondacks going by your logic?

See you on the boardwalk or on Gothamist comments feed when they return.




Anonymous said...

Most of these folks will work elsewhere. How are they gonna get to those jobs? Is the cityy goona add cops to the 101 pct? Again, putting 5 quarts in a gallon container.

Anonymous said...

...hahaha, JQ LLC
Looks like I got under your thin skin there, Kemosabe.

Don't flatter yourself,
your lengthy retort doesn't "flame" anyone but does serve to illuminate
the (way too apparent) chip on your shoulder.

Stick to the basic premise here; does the area need more housing or
more infrastructure?

My initial argument was for the latter, so I'm not sure why you are positioning your response as if I said otherwise.

Yes, I wish I could return to the NYC of the 70's and 80's.
Looking back with rose-colored glasses there was so much more vibrancy and imagination back then. I know, I was taking the A train to Rockaway back then from
Brooklyn (shout out to "IZ THE WIZ", if you were on the A train back then, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about)
I'm also mature enough to realize that this is probably what folks were saying about NYC in the 30's and 40's back in the day.

Things change cupcake, and all we can do is hope to make things better with our community work and our positive outlook.
Judging from your snarky demeanor online, my guess is that you have a lot of work to do on the "positive outlook" part, and I can only hope you are doing something productive community work around the rock you're living under.

Nobody wants overdevelopment obviously!
The logic of your argument leads to the topic of population control since this city is growing and is at its largest population level ever.

Don't blame me though, I've just been living in this city all my life, blame society for avoiding the elephant in the room.

Signed,
9 Million Here We Come

JQ LLC said...

Re: 9 million.

I wasn't positioning my response (what the hell does that mean?), I was just pointing out that city officials and their real estate donors have never gave a shit about infrastructure in the first place. It's hard to find any slight positivity in the prospects of living in this city even if you can afford to.

I never disagreed with your basic premise about infrastructure, as Tommy above nicely isolated and quoted. Besides this is a comment page, if you want people to stick to the basic premise here, which clearly means yours, maybe you should get a job as one of de Faustio's p.r. drones. I was just pointing out things aren't as rosy about the area that you mentioned.

You apparently never got rid of rose colored glasses yourself since you can't and refuse to see the burgeoning return of blight and poverty and the continuing decay still being felt by Sandy to this day underneath the superficial aspects.

I am not afraid of change, just induced change which is what is clearly happening here and all over the five boroughs.

But continue making cheap insults and knock people for bringing up inconvenient truths at anyone who points that out. And then bitch about the length of the retort after you wrote a long one. (And it's funny how you didn't mention the gang violence still prevalent to this day in the peninsula, but that would be racist and negative I guess).

P.S. I got under your skin and knocked your chip off first by just making counterpoints to your first comment. Fort Tilden has a wilderness, bwahahahaaha!!!

Shout out to the holdouts. Happy easter and passover, and remember, keep smiling!

Anonymous said...

Crack, cocaine, pills. Pimps, guns, violent assholes. Large percentage of people on government benefits, assisted living buildings with convicted sex offenders. Gangs. Few jobs.

Placing single parent black families in the West End. Then Daddy shows up but of course he's not on the lease. But don't say anything, Mommy will loose her LINC voucher to pay 70% of the rent. Daddy don't have to work, can stand outside selling drugs and chasing/harassing women all day.

Wonderful Rockaway. Build it Black. It's a drug haven. Please don't put more dregs of humanity in Rockaway.

Anonymous said...

No, this has nothing to do with Congressman Gregory Meeks area. No, nothing. No truth to all the rumors about Congressman Meeks. You are just targeting him because he is a black man.

https://nypost.com/2017/12/16/secretive-taxpayer-funds-used-to-settle-lawsuit-against-gregory-meeks/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-reps-named-corrupt-congress-queens-rep-gregory-meeks-staten-island-rep-michael-grimm-investigation-article-1.1157699

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/house-staff-criminal-investigation-234714

https://onrockaway.com/tag/scandal/