Thursday, January 20, 2022

54.000


 

Queens Post

A group of community and business leaders from Flushing announced Tuesday that more than 54,000 residents have signed a petition opposing the construction of a 90-unit homeless housing development on College Point Boulevard.

The petition, launched last month, seeks to stop the proposed seven-story building from being constructed at 39-03 College Point Blvd., located between 39th Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue. The petitioners say the community has not been involved in the planning process and that they do not want the facility to be built on the empty site.

The development would consist of supportive housing units, providing temporary apartments to homeless families as a means to get them back on their feet.

Proponents of the plans say that the facility would provide temporary accommodation for families who may have lost their homes or may have been housed in illegal basement apartments—as opposed to being a long-term homeless shelter. The purpose of the units is to help transition people back into long-term housing.

Permits for the development were filed late last year with the Dept. of Homeless Services (DHS) expected to partner with the Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) to construct the facility. The AAFE is a Manhattan-based non-profit that provides affordable housing for Asian Americans and various disadvantaged communities. The organization also has a Flushing office on 41st Avenue.

The development is expected to cost around $440 million, according to the organizers of the petition. The project is expected to break ground in February 2022 with construction taking around 20 months, according to the AAFE website.

However, in a statement issued today, AAFE said the project is on hold.

“The project has been paused, due to AAFE’s own coordination with city officials, in order to address community concerns and to provide more education and insight into the benefits of this project for the Flushing community,” a spokesperson for AAFE said.

The petition calls on the city to block the development arguing that it would “adversely affect Flushing” as it attempts to bounce back from the economic crisis stemming largely from the pandemic.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

They use the words transition the homeless back to usefulness until they can find something more suitable well if they're homeless now that means they can't find anything because it's too expensive so what makes anyone think that these homeless people go into the shelter and then miraculously going to be able to find money to pay for an apartment who's kidding who the reason that Homeless is because they don't have any money to pay for the high cost of apartments so how are they going to find this money it's going to be laying in the street and then all of a sudden they can rent a beautiful two bedroom apartment good paying jobs can't afford to live in the five boroughs anymore

Anonymous said...

In order to get funding, most shelters must fill quotas.
How many of you know that there are no standards on health and safety in shelters?
Also, how do you separate individuals with contagious diseases from everyone else?
Send the NYC Homeless to Portland !

Anonymous said...

Why do some Homeless Choose The Streets Over Shelters ?

Anonymous said...

What could go wrong ?
Oh, chronic schizophrenia and get pushed under a train.

Anonymous said...

Follow the shut up money it will get built !

Anonymous said...

$440 million for 90 apartments, so $5 million each? Wow!

Anonymous said...

Flushing United "F.U. ?!

NPC_translator said...

Those Chinese and Koreans really don't want any homeless people around. Not that I blame them.

"Hey, why you no work! You get job! Share apartment with twenty people! Why so problem!"

Can you imagine being Asian, coming to NYC from an actually sensible, grown-up country, and then meeting the adolescent fanaticism of New York politics! They must be totally baffled.

Anonymous said...

Now they know how previous homeowners who live in northeast queens feel when their foreign developers build a "two family house" and put 90 people in the home. Hypocrites.

Anonymous said...

Well you can bet money is pouring in to maintain the bridgehead.

Anonymous said...

Democrat policies can make people more fascist.

Anonymous said...

Punishment for the Asian community for not confirming to the demands of the black and brown.