The City of Yes, Mess and Less Affordable Housing is complete

 

AMNY 

A compromise version of Mayor Eric Adams’ zoning overhaul aimed at easing the city’s dire housing crisis squeaked through the City Council on Thursday, clearing its final hurdle to become law.

The mayor’s “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” plan, a suite of proposals that promises to allow for “a little more housing in every neighborhood,” passed the 51-member chamber by a slim 31-20 votes on Dec. 5. The city estimates the plan will spur the construction of 82,000 new housing units over the next 15 years, down from the 109,000 homes it was projected to produce before the council’s modifications were made.

All that remains is for Adams to sign what will likely be his greatest signature accomplishment as mayor thus far into law.

Adams, during a City Hall rally on the heels of the vote, compared his administration to the 1986 Mets team that won the World Series.

“We’re gonna argue in the locker room, we’re gonna get in debates, we’re going to do all sorts of things, but you know what? We’re gonna bring home the championship ring,” Adams said. “That’s what we did…You’re seeing the most comprehensive housing reform in the history of the city.”

 

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, following several council members’ impassioned speeches for and against the plan, said the body “cannot do nothing” about the city’s dire housing crisis. She also emphasized that the modified version of the zoning text amendment hashed out by the council is far better than what the mayor initially proposed.

“This council cannot be the body that says ‘no’ to people that need a place to live,” Speaker Adams said in an emotional speech. “This cannot be the council that turns their back on homeless; this cannot be the council that continues to say ‘scrap it, let’s move ahead and do something else,’ because I tell you that will never happen.”

 

The plan consists of a series of updates to city zoning rules that have not been changed in over half a century. It’s designed to expand the amount of housing that can be built in parts of the Big Apple that typically do not see much development.

The zoning changes only narrowly passed the city legislature even after they were altered last month to assuage many council members’ concerns about them potentially altering the character of the neighborhoods they represent. The final deal between City Hall and the council also includes a $5 billion commitment from Adams’ office and Gov. Kathy Hochul to fund affordable housing construction, housing affordability programs, infrastructure improvements, and more staff for city housing agencies.

Several council members acknowledged that the modifications addressed their concerns and got them to a “yes.” 

 

The lawmakers who voted against the City of Yes included every member of the chamber’s conservative Common Sense Caucus, some Democratic members representing low-rise outer-borough neighborhoods, and one progressive who saw the plan as a giveaway to developers.

City Council Member Joann Ariola (R-Queens) said her “no” vote was driven by her constituents’ concerns that City of Yes would change the character of their neighborhoods. She also expressed concerns that the infrastructure in her district, which covers coastal areas in the Rockaways, will not be able to support the added housing that would come with the plan.

“The city of yes will only add to the heavy burden that residents face every day,” Ariola said. “We don’t have the infrastructure and I know the mayor has promised money for infrastructure. But why are we putting the cart before the horse? Why are we putting the housing up and then worrying about the infrastructure?”

David Carr, a Republican council member representing Staten Island, who also voted “no,” said he believes the plan is “incredibly vulnerable to legal action” and “will not survive” such action, which could be forthcoming.

Progressive Council Member Christopher Marte (D-Manhattan) said he voted against the plan because it is a “yes to only the real estate developers.”

Update:

The lawsuit against the City Of Yes is about to begin. Donate to their gofundme to put a stop to this real estate land and air grab.

 

We need your support to cover legal fees, compliance costs, and expert consultations as we oppose the City of Yes rezoning plan. This sweeping proposal threatens to undermine our neighborhoods, eliminate public input on critical land use decisions, and promote unchecked overdevelopment and excessive density.

The City of Yes is a giveaway to developers at the expense of our communities’ character, livability, and long-term sustainability. With your help, we can push back and ensure responsible urban planning that prioritizes people, not profits.

Your donation will empower us to make our voices heard and protect the future of our neighborhoods. Join us in this fight—every contribution counts!

 

 

Judgement day coming for the City Of Yes

 

Queens Chronicle 

 

Queens residents and presidents of local civic associations gathered with activist Paul Graziano outside the office of Councilwoman Nantasha Williams (D-St. Albans) on Monday to protest next Thursday’s City of Yes vote and announce their intentions to sue the city should it go through.

The City Council is expected to vote on Dec. 5 to approve the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity text amendment, the last third of the City of Yes agenda. The amendment would ease regulations to allow accessory dwelling units, more high-density housing, greater building heights and much more, detailed in the 1,400 pages of text.

Warren Schreiber, the president of the Queens Civic Congress, told the Queens Chronicle that the civic associations would file an Article 78 class action lawsuit against the city to stop it from implementing the rezoning program on the basis that the action would be “arbitrary and capricious.”

“An Article 78 [is] what you bring against a government entity when you think that they’ve made a wrong decision,” Schreiber said.

Schreiber added that the opponents have yet to decide who would be the plaintiffs, although the Queens Civic Congress would certainly be one, and they have yet to contact a lawyer. When asked how it would be funded, he said they were looking at a GoFundMe. Schreiber said they would at least be looking for the judge to issue an injunction while the suit plays out.

“Everybody seems to understand the importance and they understand that it’s urgent that we move forward as soon as possible,” Schreiber said.

During Monday’s rally, Schreiber and others took shots at city officials for making supposed backroom deals to get the City of Yes through the Council.

“When the City Council plays ‘Let’s Make a Deal,’ they do it behind closed doors, in secret,” Schreiber joked.

“Speaker [Adrienne] Adams and [Chair of the City Planning Commission] Dan Garodnick, both attended the Somos lobbyist convention in Puerto Rico and they met behind closed doors,” Schreiber added, referring to the tropical getaway attended by many in the New York political scene every year. “Nobody knows what they said to each other.”

Claudia Valentino, a magazine editor and Forest Hills resident of 40 years, told the Queens Chronicle that overdevelopment that could happen under City of Yes would do “nothing but cause damage and take community review away.”

“The moment you start digging up driveways to try to put ADUs in backyards, garages and so on, you will endanger the foundations of the houses,” Valentino said. “It will cause a whole world of problems with our ancient sewer and electrical grid.”

For Aracelia Cook, the president of the 149th South Ozone Park Civic Association, infrastructure was also a top concern, citing the catastrophic 2019 Southeast Queens sewer pipe collapse.

“Now all of a sudden they throw in, ‘Oh, we’re going to give X amount of billions of dollars for infrastructure,’” Cook said. “Where did that come from? You should give that to people anyway, regardless of whether they are going to vote for the City of Yes or not.”

Graziano, an urban planning consultant who has been making his rounds across the city rallying against the City of Yes, compared the newest amendments to the housing opportunity section of the program to treating a gunshot patient.

“When you have a patient that’s been shot by six bullets — it doesn’t matter if they got shot by five, the patient is still gonna die,” Graziano said, referring to the Council’s modifications to the bill.

Graziano was particularly peeved by the $5 billion City for All budget, which has been set aside “to address the city’s housing crisis,” according to City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Jamaica).

“This is not $5 billion in a bank account that they’re waiting to tap to give to all of these things,” Graziano said. “This is our tax dollars.”

 

 QNS

As the City Council’s voting deadline on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity steadily approaches, residents, civic groups, and local elected officials throughout Queens have voiced their stance on the monumental rezoning proposal. 

The City Council is expected to hold a final vote on Dec. 5 regarding the City of Yes, which was approved with modifications by two influential council committees on Nov. 21 following a hearing. 

The changes included modifying the proposed elimination of parking mandates for new residential developments and adding restrictions on where accessory dwelling units can be built. Additionally, Mayor Adams’ administration announced a $5 billion commitment to fund the City Council’s housing plan, City for All, earlier this month. 

The City for All Housing Plan’s points include mandating affordable housing in large transit-oriented and town-centered developments, allocating increased funding to the city’s housing programs, and increasing support for tenants’ rights.

In Southeast Queens, a steady coalition of residents and civic leaders have protested for months against the rezoning initiative, which aims to bring a little more housing in every neighborhood. 

The organizing against the plan started earlier this year. In May, Alicia Spears, a Cambria Heights homeowner, held a packed town hall meeting at Cambria Heights Library. More than 500 Southeast Queens residents came together, voicing concerns that their single-family and two-family zoned neighborhoods would become unrecognizable in the near future if higher-density housing developments—as well as accessory dwelling units—are permitted. 

Other vocal nay-sayers include Paul Graziano, a Flushing resident and urban planner who has long opposed the City of Yes for Housing initiative, and Reverend Carlene Thorbs, Chair of Community Board 12 and organizer of recent ‘Say No to City of Yes’ rallies held in South Jamaica. Two weeks ago, Graziano, Thorbs, and Spears hosted another rally in St. Albans, urging their elected officials to vote no this December.

The organizers led their most recent rally on Monday, Nov. 25, in front of Council Member Nantasha William’s office, located at 172-12 Linden Blvd.  Much of Monday’s rally centered around homeowners reiterating concerns about the City of Yes.

Graziano and Warren Schreiber, president of the Queens Civic Congress, said that if the plan passes on Dec. 5, they would pursue legal action. ” We will be filing a lawsuit… it’s happening,” Graziano said.

Schreiber expanded more, sharing that they would file the lawsuit under Article 78, which allows citizens to appeal decisions made by government agencies or officials to the New York State Supreme Court. “The first step would be an injunction until the Article 78, the lawsuit, could be heard,” Schreiber said.  Schreiber said that he wants to ask the court for an injunction as soon as possible. “We’re still working on its logistics and how it’s going to be funded,” Schreiber said.

 

The City of Mess for predatory land and air grabbing opportunity gets approved by City Council fauxgressives

 

NY YIMBY

Sorry, NIMBYs: Your opposition to New York housing creation has just been drowned out by a resounding $5 billion of “Yes.”

A City Council subcommittee on Thursday approved Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to build 80,000 new homes over the next 15 years, lowering the cost of rent for New Yorkers amid one of the worst housing crises in city history. Dubbed “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,” the rezoning proposal aims to spur the creation of affordable housing in all five boroughs, along with upgrades to critical infrastructure. The approval by the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises and Committee on Land Use was secured following a $5 billion pledge from the city and state.

According to the city, the proposal exceeds the housing creation total of all rezonings pushed out by the administrations of Michael Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio.

“Thanks to our shared commitment in building critically needed housing, we have reached an agreement on a historic plan that could open the doors to a little more housing in every neighborhood in our city,” Adams said in a statement on Thursday. “If passed, New York City will once again serve as a model to the nation on government’s infinite ability to take challenges head on, set forth a bold agenda, and get the job done.”

The plan, first announced in April, originally sought to facilitate more than 100,000 new housing units. It also included provisions for lifting the parking space requirement for new residential construction, which developers claim adds an undue cost burden, and for unrestricting property owners’ ability to create accessory dwelling units in spaces like basements, attics, and garages.

Thursday’s amended proposal involved concessions on all three points. Rather than dropping the parking requirement wholesale, it will instead divide it into three zones, preserving the mandate in boroughs like Staten Island and Queens where local lawmakers deemed it necessary. Further, accessory dwelling creation will remain restricted in many areas, particularly in historic districts and flood zones, but will be permitted in transit-proximate areas.

The people, the lies and the conspiracy of the City of Yes

 

 

With the City of Yes of Housing Opportunity about to get heard by City Council and New Yorkers the next two days, Intrepid City Planner Paul Graziano dropped a report on the sneaky tactics at the previous zoom hearing and sneaky people trying to get the worst housing plan in New York City history approved in spite of majority rejection by community boards and residents.

Here are the best parts on Paul's X account.

T

The video above happens to be from this farcical rally with everyone from Paul's COY list. They can't even answer housing related questions and defend their agendas without their YIMBY scripts and talking points. And they refuse to answer the most important question no one is asking these dopes, who is going to build this City of Yes?

Luxury public housing tower development in Ridgewood is still in a coma

 

 

QNS

Construction has been put on hold for a 17-story mixed-use building at 3-50 St. Nicholas Ave. in Ridgewood.

Known as The Ridgewood, this tower will be the tallest structure in Ridgewood. It will cover 284,000 square feet. In addition to 97,000 of that square footage being dedicated to retail space, including two large stores and other amenities, The Ridgewood will have 133 rental apartments, with plans to set 30% of them aside for affordable housing. A community facility was also planned to be included as part of this structure.

Delays have previously plagued the construction process of The Ridgewood. A fatal accident on the construction site in April 2022 led to multiple stop work orders as a result of unsafe working conditions. While the developers of the building had initially hoped to complete the project in the winter of 2023, the stop work orders delayed construction for multiple months. It was not until December 2022 that the building was finally topped out. The latest construction delay likely means that the project will not be done before the end of 2024.

Prior to the most recent pause, the facade was partially enclosed. Progress had been further along in the exterior, at the podium. Current features of the podium include a red metal envelope and broad stretches of glass with black mullions. The main southern elevation is close to being completed, but the northern face is still mostly exposed, with metal frames currently in place to support the installation of paneling. A tall sidewalk shed is blocking the view of the tall sidewalk shed.

 

Queens is burning and more unaffordable

  

QNS

A 72-year-old man was killed after a fire engulfed his illegal basement apartment in South Richmond Hill on Thursday afternoon.

The FDNY received a call just after 5 p.m. of a house fire at 94-14 132nd St. Firefighters confirmed the blaze broke out in the basement. The FDNY dispatched 12 units and 60 firefighters and EMS personnel to the scene. Paramedics rescued the 72-year-old victim, and EMS rushed him to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition. He succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead a short while later.

Two other residents were injured, and one firefighter suffered a minor injury. They were treated at the scene. The fire was brought under control at 5:44 p.m. 

QNS

New York City has launched a housing lottery for 182 units in The Monarch, a 24-story mixed-use development at 92-29 Guy R Brewer Blvd. in Jamaica that opened last July.

The building has 605 total residences, with 30 available in the housing lottery for those earning 80% of the area median income and another 152 for those earning 130% of the area median income.

Of the 30 units set aside for those earning 80% of the area median income, 25 are one-bedroom, with a monthly rent of $1,596. Up to three people can reside in each unit, as long as their combined annual income ranges from $58,046.-$111,840. The other five units are two-bedroom, with a monthly rent of $1,904. These units are meant for up to five people, who earn $69,669-$134,160 annually.

For the 152 units set aside for those earning 130% of the area median income, 125 of them are one-bedroom units, which cost $3,140 a month. They are meant for up to three residents, who combine to bring in $107,658-$181,740. The 27 remaining units are two-bedroom, with a monthly rent of $3,753. Up to five people can live in these units, as long as they combine to earn $128,675-$218,010 annually.

Amenities for residents of The Monarch include washers, dryers and dishwashers in the units, high-end kitchen appliances, countertops and finishes, air-conditioning, energy-efficient appliances, smart controls for heating and cooling, charging outlets with USB ports, hardwood floors, cable or satellite TV and high-speed internet.

QNS

The average rental price for housing units across Queens went up 4.07% year-over-year in August 2024, according to a report by the real estate firm M.N.S. Real Estate.

Queens had its overall rental price jump from $2,812 in August 2023 to $2,926 in August 2024. Studios, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units each experienced price hikes over this period of time. While the year-over-year changes were not as extreme as last month, the trends were similar.

Studios again had the largest percentage increase, going up 5.92%, from $2,240 in 2023 to $2,372 in 2024. Rego Park retained its title of having the most significant increase in studio rent year-over-year among the 11 Queens neighborhoods included in the study. The cost there rose from $2,138 last year to $2,714 this year.

One-bedroom units had a 3.73% rise in rent, from $2,737 in August 2023 to $2,839 in August 2024. Once again, Rego Park had the biggest boost among the Queens neighborhoods, with the rent of one-bedroom units there going up from $2,646 last year to $2,889 this year

Two-bedroom units again had the largest increase in price, going up 4.41%, from $3,415 in August 2023 to $3,566 in August 2024. Sunnyside had the biggest change, up from $2,920 last year to $3,316 this year.

The most expensive units continue to be found in Long Island City. The average rent in August there was $3,464 for studios, $4,223 for one-bedroom units and $5,975 for two-bedroom units.

11 hours of stories of the City of Mess and here's a few of them

City Planner Paul Graziano makes NYC Planning Commissioner and Developer Mascot Dan Garodnick uncomfortable with dire warnings of the desecration of towns from the one size fits all plan to build a little more affordable housing in every neighborhood. Because it really is just a little that won't end the infinite housing crisis the city has made. Jackson Chabot from the public streets usurping 501 c 3 lobby cult Open Plans rambles on about removing parking mandates from buildings and towns and gets laughed at, but not before he trashes Graziano for how he got his house and remained in his neighborhood. But wouldn't you know the best take about the City Of Yes/Mess literally came from the street from the ubiquitous NYC political media gadfly Christopher Leon Johnson who remarked that this will do nothing to help people who make less than 60% of the AMI to qualify for the prospective tall and dense luxury public housing towers to end the housing crisis NYC Planning created and now they want a do-over. CLJ also blows the whistle on lobbyist infiltration of community boards that were placed there by borough presidents.

 Update:

 Well, it looks like Dirty Danny and the City Of Yes people at NYC Planning is censoring the public from isolating clips and embedding the whole video of the public hearing. Paul comes around the 3:45, Jacko around 4:37 and CLJ around 5:08.  

Watch how Danny tells people not to clap for people against City Of Yes because it would "take up valuable time" but he allows extended time for borough presidents Mark Levine and Vanessa Gibson to shill for the overdevelopment apocalypse program. He also spends time interrogating council members who announced they will vote no against it and gave nearly an hour to an architect to describe and justify the plan.

Man murders younger half-brother and stabs parents, then gets gunned down by NYPD at "affordable" housing tower

 

 

AMNY 

The 4th of July holiday became a nightmare in Queens on Thursday afternoon after a man stabbed a child to death and police fatally shot the knife-wielding suspect in a domestic dispute, police brass said.

According to NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell, cops from the 103rd Precinct rushed to a luxury apartment building  at around 5:20 p.m. in the Jamaica section of the borough, located at 147-25 94th Ave after several residents called police for help.

“A female came out of this building pleading for help. She ran down to the corner to MTA police to get help and simultaneously the security desk called 911 for assistance,” Chief Chell said. “Members of the 103 Precinct responded in three minutes.”

Upon arrival at the 5th floor apartment, authorities said, cops were confronted with a man, in his 20’s, holding a knife to his 43-year-old father’s neck. Inside that same apartment a 29-year-old woman had been wounded and an 8-year-old boy had been stabbed to death, all in the same apartment as an 8-month-old-baby. Chief Chell told reporters that cops demanded the man drop the weapon, but he refused, resulting in the officers shooting the suspect. The baby was unharmed.

Police say the perpetrator was rushed to a hospital; sources close to the investigation report that he later died.  

 Chief Chell said the 8-year-old and his killer were stepbrothers, however, the ultimate reason for the holiday rampage remains under investigation.

This is not a luxury tower per se, it's one of those "affordable housing" towers from the 421a program to set aside 20%-25% of units under market rate (it's the one with the now leasing sign)

Besides the tragic domestic slaughter, this is bad all around for the "city of yes" and what may be another indictment of the city's continuing lack of mental health services. 

 

 

 

 

Communities protest against the City Of Yes

City Of Don't Mess With Us

 

 Queens Chronicle

None of the members of Community Board 12’s Land Use Committee were for Mayor Adams’ City of Yes housing plan after listening to a presentation from the Department of City Planning on May 7.

In fact, many felt downright disrespected by the proposal, which they said was created without any community input.

The mayor’s plan calls for upzoning single-family areas to make way for denser multifamily buildings.

The measure would allow low-density housing areas with three to five stories to be eligible for higher density; more houses to be built by subway stations; basement, attic and garage apartment legalization; and religious institutions dedicating parcels of their land to housing. The purpose of the plan is to build enough units to help bring down the costs as the city goes through a housing crisis.

Rene Hill, a CB 12 member, said she does not consider herself a “not in my backyard” person, but she along with others on the committee and the community board bought their homes because of the area’s low density. She doesn’t believe the housing plan will work as intended, and worse, it will drive up prices in residential areas, pushing homeowners out.

“We are trying to keep our homes,” Hill said. “We are middle-class people who want to stay here. We do not want to move into Long Island.”

Hill said developers are renting single bedrooms for upwards of $3,000 a unit and if the administration wants to solve the housing crisis, probably it should put a cap on rent instead of investing in high-rise hotels.

“It should be $650 or $750,” Hill said about rent at apartment complexes. “This is ridiculous, this is an insult, this is disrespectful to us and you should tell the mayor stay away from us. He needs to because he will not be elected again. You can let him know that ... We are going to vote Republican if we have to.”

Michelle Keller said instead of the DCP trying to defend the mayor’s housing plan, it has sent different representatives to the board’s meetings trying to “cajole us.”

“You need to listen to the taxpayers and the constituents here,” Keller said. “You are trying to tell us here that having these high-rise buildings or [accessory dwelling units] is going to be minimal and is going to help us. The elephant in the room is that you are helping these people who are coming from these other countries and now you want us to be onboard with that. I’m not on board with it.”

“Stop acting like you are for us,” Keller said to the DCP representatives. “I do not even know where you live, but when that happens most of us will be in a pickle and we will have to deal with the taxes on our homes and the quality of life has already gone down the drain.”

 

City of God

 

 Queens Eagle

Mayor Eric Adams made a trip to Queens on Friday to announce a faith-based housing initiative that would allow houses of worship to more easily build affordable housing.

Adams, alongside South Queens clergy members and other elected officials, unveiled the plan, which he says will make it easier for faith-based organizations to add new housing on their property and generate income for their organizations through zoning law changes.

The initiative is included under the mayor’s expansive City of Yes housing program, which proposes zoning changes that would add “a little more housing in every neighborhood,” but has received some pushback from suburban areas in Queens and other boroughs from residents who are resistant to building up housing density in residential neighborhoods.

Highlighting one aspect of the plan on Friday, the mayor said the zoning law changes would allow faith campuses, which are typically large lots with multiple buildings on them, to create new housing on their available land.

“We cannot let old, outdated zoning rules keep us from building new housing and our mission driven, faith-based and community organizations can play a special role in this entire process,” said Adams from Antioch Baptist Church. “So, we say, ‘Yes, in God's backyard,’ today.”

As the city deals with an ongoing affordability crisis as well as an overcrowded shelter system, the hope is that programs like the one announced on Friday can open the door to more affordable housing in New York City neighborhoods, the mayor said.

“We're throwing open the door to new solutions and new housing that would help us solve the crisis by working with our churches, our synagogues, mosques and other faith organizations to build more housing and reclaim our city,” Adams said.

In Queens, Borough President Donovan Richards called the lack of affordable housing a “state of emergency.”

“We have 40,000 migrants in our care in this borough, but let me also add that we had a compounding issue with homelessness for a long time in our city as well,” he said at the church on Friday. “So, you add those two things together, and we are in a state of emergency – but there are some great signs of progress in the borough.”

Richards spoke in support of the faith-based housing plan, as well as City of Yes proposal more generally.

“This rezoning really gives us the opportunity to not just talk about the housing crisis but to get to be a part of the solution,” he said.

“I've heard from many of our leaders who want to be a part of the solution who want to do God's work, but who are really prohibited from doing it because sometimes…we have challenges in financing,” he added. “But one way to ensure we can move many of these projects forward is to do what God has called us to do and that is to take care of the least amongst us.”

The plan also aims to help the houses of worship. as well – a group that largely supported Adams’ bid for mayor – by allowing them to make revenue from the program.

“We have to have more flexibility,” Adams said. “We have to live in the real world. The ideal cannot collide with the real, and these faith-based leaders have been talking about this over and over again. They want to deliver more housing and we want to give them the opportunity to do so.”

 

Sacrificing life and limb for housing equity

 

 Queens Eagle

Another worker was injured at the construction site of a Rockaway affordable housing development being run by a construction company that lawmakers in January demanded be taken off the project, the Eagle has learned.

Earlier this month, a construction worker contractor Joy Construction was injured while working on building Edgemere Commons, a planned affordable housing development in the Edgemere section of the Rockaway peninsula.

The city’s Department of Building’s later found that the site’s safety coordinator had recently fallen out of compliance with their licensing, which had expired.

In January, several elected officials rallied at the site, calling on Joy Construction to be removed from the project due to a previous history of worksite incidents at other developments and because of a separate worker injury at Edgemere Commons.

On Feb. 8, DOB inspectors were called to the worksite, located at 5119 Beach Channel Drive, to investigate reports of a worker injury, according to the Department of Buildings.

At the site, it was determined a worker fell off a ladder after a harness they were wearing caught on a handrail.

The worker sustained minor injuries and complained of back pain, and was transported by an ambulance to a local hospital. DOB further determined that all required safeguards were in place, and they found no unsafe conditions at the scene at the time of their inspection.

However, while on site for the injury, DOB found that the site safety coordinator’s license had expired about a week prior and that the coordinator had not properly renewed their license.

A Stop Work Order was put in place by the Department of Buildings. The order was eventually lifted four days later when Joy brought in a new site safety coordinator for the job.

“I hate to say I told you so,” said Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson, who rallied against the contractor in January. “Unfortunately, I am disappointed by the news of this injured worker and the discovery of an expired site safety license, which prompted a Stop Work Order, but I am not surprised.

“Joy Construction has a troubled and well-documented history of criminal lawsuits, hazardous workplace conditions, and fatal worker injuries,” he added. “At a recent rally, my elected colleagues and I urged the city to remove Joy Construction from the Edgemere Commons project and out of the Rockaways entirely. I wish the injured worker a full and speedy recovery and will continue to demand accountability and fight for workers’ rights, dignity, and safety.”

Construction on Edgemere Commons began in May 2022. The project is a $100 million affordable and supportive housing development, which will bring 2,000 affordable homes, retail, community space, medical facilities and outdoor public space on the site formerly occupied by Peninsula Hospital.

The first phase of the project, directly adjacent to the construction site in question, was constructed using union workers rather than Joy, a private contractor.

In January, four local elected officials for the Rockaways and Southeast Queens rallied with union members to call for Joy’s removal from the project over the contractor’s recent history of workplace incidents, including an injury at Edgemere Commons in December that resulted in a $10,000 fine after the contractor failed to report the incident.

Lawmakers also raised concerns over an incident at a Joy Construction site that left a worker dead at the site of a Bronx project a year earlier. ]

“We are demanding that Joy come off of this project,” City Coucilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers said in January. “Joy has an unfortunate track record that has seen many deaths on construction projects where they have not taken enough care and concern for the worker. That is unacceptable.” 

Not so fast, let's hear some virtue signalling banalties from the Queens Borough Redundancy that won't lead to any fundamental changes for worker safety at the site...

 Queens Borough President Donovan Richards was not present at the rally, but said at the time that if issues persist, then a new contractor should be considered.

“Queens has been, is and forever will be a union borough — a borough where we uplift, protect and support the working people who make up our organized labor movement,” Richards said. “Safe, plentiful and prosperous union participation in the first phase of Edgemere Commons’ development via Arker Companies reflected that fact, and as we embark on the second phase of the project with Joy Construction, it is my belief that our brothers and sisters in labor should be treated the same way by the contracting company tasked with the job.”

“Should those common sense standards not be met as construction continues, then a new contracting company must be brought in to complete the project,” he added. 

 

A new building on the city's affordable housing program cheapest rent is nearly 4 grand a month

Queens Post 

Seven affordable housing units—all 2-bedroom apartments—are up for grabs in a Long Island City development with monthly rents starting at $3,835.

The units, located at 37-25 32nd St., are part of a 6-story, 15-unit development. The city has recently opened a lottery for the affordable units.

The affordable units are for residents who earn up to 130% of the area median income (AMI), ranging from $131,486 to $198,250, depending on household size. Each affordable housing unit is meant for between two and five people.

Amenities include a shared laundry room, a dishwasher in each unit, air conditioning, high-speed internet, a rooftop terrace, a virtual doorman, an elevator, security cameras, a parking garage, an accessible entrance and more.

Downtown Brooklyn's affordable housing policy failure

 6 Sq Ft.

 

As the massive Brooklyn megadevelopment once known as Atlantic Yards reaches its 20th anniversary, news of the project’s progress has been scarce. But recent changes affecting the development anchored by Barclays Center may put the 22-acre site–now known as Pacific Park–back in the spotlight. As The Real Deal reported in a wrap-up of its progress over the past two decades, current developer Greenland USA has defaulted on nearly $350 million in loans attached to the project’s second phase. With foreclosure imminent, an auction, scheduled for next month, may mean a new developer will be responsible for fulfilling crucial affordable housing agreements and inherit penalties for unbuilt units.

According to The Real Deal, Greenland USA, part of China’s state-owned Greenland Group, which owns a 95 percent stake in the project, defaulted on loans tied to its remaining six unbuilt sites–more than 3,200 rental apartments. The U.S. Immigration Fund, which had assembled the loans through its foreign investor program, intends to foreclose on the sites, with an auction slated for January 11, 2024.

Launched with much fanfare and controversy in 2003, helmed at the time by developer Forest City Ratner, the (then) $2.5 billion megaproject was to include a new stadium that would be home to the former New Jersey Nets and 15 residential and office buildings, the highlight of which would be a glassy supertall designed by Frank Gehry. At the project’s center, a platform would be built above the MTA’s Atlantic Yards railyard at the nexus of Pacific Street and Atlantic, Carlton, and Vanderbilt Avenues.

At present, nine of the planned 15 buildings have risen. The Gehry tower, dubbed “Miss Brooklyn,” never happened, though the celebrated stadium–and the Nets, which Ratner purchased and later sold to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov–have become part of Brooklyn’s colorful urban fabric. (The team is now owned by Joe Tsai, chairman of the Chinese multinational technology company Alibaba Group.).

The project has been plagued with challenges from its earliest days. Legal actions taken by residents and property owners displaced by the developers’ eminent domain agreement with the state delayed work for years; a planned modular residential tower hit snags; the 2008 financial crisis dealt another blow, as did the Covid pandemic.

Post-pandemic prices affecting the cost of building the rail yard platform have been an additional challenge. The Real Deal notes Greenland reached a tentative deal with the MTA in August covering the platform’s first phase, consisting of three residential towers.

A recent setback that may significantly affect the project’s next chapter is the expiration in 2022 of the 421a property tax break. Greenland stated that without the tax break, it could not build the new units.

Atlantic Yards Report

Crucially, Empire State Development (ESD), the gubernatorially-controlled state authority that oversees/shepherds Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, won't comment on what conditions may be attached to the auction of six development sites over the railyard next month

Will the May 2025  affordable housing deadline, with $2,000/month fines for 876 (or 877) remaining units, transfer? Will the bidder(s) also be responsible for building the platform and paying the MTA $11 million a year for development rights?

Those are major expenditures that significantly affect the value of any bid. How can any potential bidder proceed before they know whether and how they assume those obligations.

Could Gov. Kathy Hochul waive those obligations and/or commit public funds? ESD--which has ignored my queries--would only say Hochul is committed to the “successful buildout and completion of this project" and is reviewing it.

To the Real Deal, City Comptroller Brad Lander and Fifth Avenue Committee head Michelle de la Uz expressed concern that ESD would make a deal without public input. Former Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, a real estate developer herself, believes the penalties should remain. And Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso worries that it would be precedent to renege on other deals.

I'd add that the state has consistently shown an unwillingness to push the developer, so it offered a 25-year deadline on a project long professed to take ten years, and it allow for "affordable housing" to be defined as any units participating in government programs rather than broad spectrum originally promised by original developer Forest City Ratner.

Also note that--unmentioned in the article--both ESD and embattled developer Greenland USA have lost longtime staff working on Atlantic Yards

The Habitat For Humanity Horror Has A Habitat

 

 Impunity City

It's a miracle on 126th St.  Looks like Santa Claus came to Queens early and visited The Habitat For Humanity Horror affordable housing grave and dropped a house on this corner after over a year and a half of utter negligence and indifference by the Mayors Office and district elected officials who appeared here celebrating themselves when this "Your Home NYC" program and Mayor Adams "Get Stuff Done" sloganeering campaign started.

Or maybe it was from my intrepid reporting that compelled the Mayors Office and it's (Luxury Public) Housing, Preservation and (Over)Development Department into quickly expediting the development of this new house on this lot that was negligibly forgotten and abandoned by the city and let it turn into a ungodly apocalyptic dump on a residential street corner. To signify what a disgraceful embarrassment this is, this housing went up a month after I posted this on here and "X" and it came at the beginning of Mayor Adams machete austerity budget cuts in every municipality (except DOT but that's another fucked up story).

It also got built right when Rosalyn Carter died, who co-founded Habitat for Humanity with her husband former President Jimmy Carter, so maybe they got a couple of phone calls to get this stuff done to paraphrase New York City's troubled current mayor. Here's the sign where the Habitat for Humanity logo once was, the brand got peeled off after being hung up for hundreds of days in the elements.

Lets look at the layout and "bones" of this affordable home.

 

 

 

Governor Kathy Clown brings the housing crisis circus to the crazy house

QNS 

A newly unveiled plan for the Creedmoor campus in eastern Queens seeks to bring 2,800 housing units alongside community amenities to the underutilized plot of land. 

The 93-page Creedmoor Community Master Plan, made public by Governor Kathy Hochul on Dec. 6, proposes the revitalization of 48 acres of the 125 acre plot of the state-owned land. Currently 19 of the 25 buildings are sitting vacant. And in the past year, the site began to shelter some of the city’s new migrants in tent structures. 

The plan proposes a grand total of 2,873 housing units – with 1,633 available for ownership and the rest as rentals. It stands to be the largest housing investment in eastern Queens since the construction of Glen Oaks Village in the 1950s and the newest single expansion for homeownership in the area since the North Shore Towers were constructed in the 1970s. 

“Creedmoor represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for New Yorkers to reimagine state land and plan for the emerging needs of tomorrow,” said Hochul. “Working together in productive partnership with the community — and thanks to the leadership of Queens Borough President Donovan Richards — we can build more housing, create more jobs, and strengthen Eastern Queens for the next generation.”

Over the past year, seven workshops were held to engage the community and hear from stakeholders on what they want to see in the redevelopment. Attendees expressed a strong desire for recreational family-friendly places to gather, such as open outdoors and an accessible town center. They also wanted new housing to give low and middle income households starter home options, as well as designate units for seniors and veterans.

High rise Hunters Point most expensive place to live in Queens...where rents are still rising

 

 Queens Post

Real estate firm PropertyShark ranked New York City as the city with the largest concentration of expensive ZIP codes in the U.S. by closed home sales.

In PropertyShark’s report, the ZIP code for Hunters Point in Queens,11109, was cited as one of the eight New York City locations to rank in the top 100 priciest ZIP codes.

Hunters Point’s ZIP code was ranked as having the fifth-highest median sale price, at $2.09 million. The only zip codes that had a higher median sale price were 10282 (Battery Park City) at $3.4 million, 10007 (Tribeca) at $3.09 million, 10013 (Tribeca/Hudson Square) at $2.97 million and 10069 (Upper West Side) at $2.17 million. Hunters Point is the lone neighborhood within the top five not located in Manhattan.

Other ZIP codes within New York City that made PropertyShark’s top 100 for most expensive ZIP codes in the U.S. include 10012 (SoHo/NoHo/NoLita) at $1.95 million, 10028 (Upper East Side) at $1.84 million and 11231 (Red Hook), also at $1.84 million. The latter ZIP code is the lone Brooklyn neighborhood to be cited as a main contributor.

When it came to the list for the 100 most expensive ZIP codes, Battery Park City’s 10282 ranked 20th, Tribeca’s 10007 came in 24th, Tribeca and Hudson Square’s 10013 ranked 27th, the Upper West Side’s 10069 came in 65th, Hunters Point ranked 72nd, SoHo, NoHo and NoLita’s 10012 was 87th, the Upper East Side’s 10028 ranked 97th and Red Hook’s 11231 was ranked 98th.

This year’s study marked the first time that New York City ranked as the epicenter of expensive zip codes since 2016.

 QNS

There was a 2.94% increase in the average rental price in Queens in October 2023 compared to the same month last year, according to a report from the MNS Real Estate firm.

The year-over-year increase came despite the fact that rental prices for two-bedroom units actually went down 0.48%, from $3,441 to $3,424. This is largely due to more significant increases experienced with studio (5.40%) and one-bedroom (5.46%) units. Rental prices increased in studio units from $2,140 to $2,256 and in one-bedroom units from $2,588 to $2,729.

Despite the significant increase in the average rental price by the end of October this year compared to the same time last year, there was very little change compared to September 2023. Month-over-month, there was a 0.06% decrease in average rental price, from $2,804.94 to $2,803.12.

Month-over-month, the average rental price of studio units increased 1.5% from $2,222.19 to $2,255.57. However, the average rental price for one-bedroom and two-bedroom units both went down. There was a 0.67%, decrease for one-bedroom units, from $2,747.66 to $2,729.38. Two-bedroom units experienced a 0.60% decrease in average rental price, from $3,444.97 to $3,424.40.

Five Queens neighborhoods tracked in the report, Astoria (1.93%), Rego Park (1.5%), Forest Hills (0.28%), Elmhurst (0.89%) and Sunnyside (0.95%), experienced an increase in the average rental price in October compared to September. The remaining six Queens neighborhoods, Long Island City (0.99%), Ridgewood (0.97%), Flushing (0.35%), Jackson Heights (1.41%), Jamaica (1.11%) and Woodside/Maspeth (0.66%), had a decrease over that same period of time.

Astoria saw the largest month-over-month increase in studio units, rising 12.8%, from $2,090 to $2,358. The most significant decrease during this same period of time was seen with studio units in Elmhurst, which went down 12%, from $1,988 to $1,749.

Long Island City had the most expensive studio ($3,418), one-bedroom ($4,145) and two-bedroom ($5,756) units in terms of average price. Flushing had the cheapest studio units ($1,679) and Elmhurst had the least expensive one-bedroom ($2,275) and two-bedroom ($2,845) units.

 

The Habitat For Humanity Horror

Impunity City 

 

Yesterday afternoon, Mayor Eric Adams enthusiastically announced plans for the city to build 100,000 affordable apartments in the next 5 years in his “City Of Yes” program. The City Of Yes program/doctrine will make it easier for the NYC housing and building departments to expedite building permits faster with little regulation and even community input under the rubric for the need to stem the housing affordability and homeless crises in the five boroughs. While noble and necessary, it still needs to be ratified into law by City Council.

But it was only a year and a half ago when Mayor Adams and his “team” went to Southeast Queens to announce an affordable housing program initiative for to give the opportunity for lower income earning residents to own their own houses. Partnering with Jimmy Carter’s Habitat for Humanity, the city’s Housing and Preservation Department took over 16 houses that were neglected and then abandoned by the notorious NYCHA  and had them demolished so they can build new environmentally sound “green” houses in their place. During the presentation which also announced new infrastructure to mitigate constant flash flooding from extreme storms, early SE Queens native Mayor Eric Adams promised that these homes will revive the neighborhoods that were neglected by past administrations.

One of those homes is this corner on 126th and 116th avenue.

  

Promises made, promises slept.

 

Bowling for housing and parking

Queens Chronicle

Community Board 7 on Monday approved plans for a nine-story residential building at 30-05 Farrington St., replacing the legendary Whitestone Lanes.

The push for the proposed nine-story apartment building is being led by Marco Macaluso Jr., the owner of Whitestone Lanes. His attorney, Eric Palatnik, spoke on his behalf at this week’s CB 7 meeting.

“Mr. Macaluso [Sr.] built this building with his blood, sweat and tears, by the skin of his teeth some 40 or 50 years ago — you never thought he’d be here today asking you to rezone the property,” Palatnik said. “It wasn’t his intention. Bowling alleys were the newest, biggest fad at the time — tells you how long ago it was.

“They’re not a fad anymore. It’s over, and they are over, too, and they know it.”

Plans for the new building were first reported in June; publicly available documents filed with the Department of City Planning proposed that the site be rezoned from an M1-1 zone to an R7A zone to construct a nine-story building with 413 units, 113 of which would be affordable, and 200 parking spaces below ground. It also included plans for publicly accessible outdoor space.

But First Vice Chair Chuck Apelian said Monday that through discussions with the board’s Land Use Committee, the Macalusos and the developers, the group had “come to an agreement” on an alternative plan: Instead, the building would have no more than 350 units, 91 of which would be affordable, and at least 300 parking spaces.

Given Whitestone Lanes’ location right off the Whitestone Expressway and that it is lined by two narrow streets — Farrington Street and Linden Place — traffic congestion was a significant concern for board members. With that in mind, Palatnik said while cars will be able to enter the garage both on Farrington Street and Linden Place, they can only exit on Farrington Street, heading northbound. Those entering on Linden Place can only be heading southbound, and from either direction on Farrington Street.

Arguably the largest change from the previous plan, however, was that instead of outdoor space, complete with benches, tables and the like, the board put forth the idea for a “parking garden,” which would add 35 more parking spots and be filled out with plenty of plants, trees and other greenery. It would sit in back of the building along Farrington Street.

Apelian said it was board member Arlene Fleischman who first articulated the committee’s hesitations toward open green space. “Arlene voiced concern that in this climate, in this environment of homelessness, of migrancy and other things that have taken place, that improper use would take [the] place of this altruistic idea of creating a public access area,” he said. A parking garden was proposed as an alternative.

Community board kept from community workshops for Creedmoor housing conversion

QNS 

As of the afternoon of July 11, nearly 1,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for the Creedmoor Property Development project to be halted in its current form.

According to organizer Carin Bail, the purpose of the petition to try and get Queens Borough President Donovan Richards to receive more input from the residents in the area to try and address some of their biggest concerns.

Bail, who is a member of the Hollis Hills Civic Association, brought up multiple concerns she and other community members share about the Creedmoor Property Development potentially being transformed into housing units. While Empire State Construction is still in the process of developing the master plan for the project, many residents in the area are worried that a large influx of people for the developed property will cause overcrowding, creating more traffic in the area and making parking significantly more difficult. Additionally, there is concern over the environmental effect such a project could have, like its impact on the sewage system.

Despite the fact that Richards and Empire State Development announced back in January that a series of community visioning workshops would be held on the matter, Bail questioned the amount of input that truly came from the community during those that have since occurred. She said many living near Creedmoor weren’t aware of these sessions for quite a while, and feels these people should have their voices heard since they will be greatly impacted by it. Still, these offices have been in constant contact with several local civic associations in eastern Queens to keep them updated.

“I’m a civic president in a neighboring community and I wasn’t even aware of this until someone in my community asked if I was going to the Zoom meeting, which was back in April,” Bail said. “I have almost 1,000 people who are not in favor of this because they didn’t even know that this was happening.”

Forget it Jake, this is the "City of Yes"