Why do all these new density housing buildings look like this?

Looks like Richmond Hill has got a new neighbor. Another black and gray density housing apartment building. No indication that's this out of scale behemoth on Atlantic Avenue will be "affordable". 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And you have to do a head stand to see their NYC_Buildings permits.

 

 

Queensway compromise?

From the Queens Chronicle:

The Regional Plan Association isn’t choosing the QueensWay over the Queens Rail, or vice versa.

Instead, the transportation think tank has partially endorsed both ideas for the abandoned 3.5-mile Rockaway Beach Rail Line.

In its Fourth Regional Plan, issued late last month, the RPA called for the creation of the QueensWay — a proposed park along the elevated right-of-way — between Rego Park and Woodhaven.

From Atlantic Avenue south into Ozone Park, the RPA has endorsed the reactivation of train service along the defunct line.

Under the Fourth Regional Plan, the Queens Rail would run between Atlantic Avenue and Kennedy Airport with a stop near Aqueduct Race Track in between.

At Atlantic Avenue, the service would connect to the Long Island Rail Road’s Atlantic Branch — which itself would be extended west from Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn into Manhattan.

That would give train proponents that 30-minute one-seat ride from Manhattan to JFK many have advocated for.

BQX would hinder BQE reconstruction

From the Times Ledger:

Transit honchos in charge of fixing the dilapidated Brooklyn–Queens Expressway want the mayor to hit the breaks on his controversial $2.5-billion streetcar plan because the two massive infrastructure projects will butt heads.

The Department of Transportation must repair the 1.5-mile stretch of the decrepit roadway between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street in Brooklyn Heights before the triple cantilever — which runs beneath the neighborhood’s promenade and above Furman Street — crumbles beneath the weight of the thousands of big-rigs that rumble across it daily.

But Hizzoner’s plan to lay 14 miles of light-rail tracks from Sunset Park to the outer borough of Queens that would run along streets in Red Hook, Fort Greene, Dumbo, and Brooklyn Heights, including on Atlantic Avenue, will impact the city’s work on the expressway and cause even more chaos on the local thoroughfares, according to the city’s Deputy Commissioner of Bridges.

“I had a conversation with somebody who was working on the BQX. They are thinking about it going down Atlantic Avenue and across Columbia [Street], and I said ‘Look we’re going to be there, I don’t think it’s a good idea,’ ” Bob Collyer said during a public meeting about repairs to the expressway’s triple cantilever on Dec. 11. “That’s as far as we got.”

Jamaica to get new park

From the Queens Courier:

After a long wait, new parks and increased access to the Jamaica train hub from the Van Wyck Expressway are set to arrive soon in Jamaica.

The Atlantic Avenue Extension project is set to break ground this summer and will create three new park areas (Gateway Park) totaling 0.86 acres, according to the city Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the agency in charge of the project. Work is estimated to cost about $21 million, all of which has already been fully funded.

The extension will connect Atlantic Avenue to 95th Avenue near the Van Wyck Expressway, changing the now-two-way street to a northeast-bound one-way street. It will also do the same for 94th Avenue, which will now solely be southwest-bound. The parks are being built because of the extra space that this construction will create.

The extension, which will cut through both avenues in a roundabout fashion, is designed to create an east-west street network that serves downtown Jamaica and to alleviate the traffic congestion that regularly occurs as drivers try to make their way to and from the Van Wyck and Jamaica LIRR station.

Could the Queensway work as both a park and transit?

From AM-NY:

Both QueensWay and the High Line involve former rail rights of way but, functionally, they are very different. The High Line was a short freight line, with no real potential, then or now, for passenger use.

The Rockaway Beach Branch, however, did serve passengers, and the right of way still has great transportation potential. It shouldn't be used only for a linear park and food stands. This irreplaceable, publicly owned land could also serve to reduce auto traffic and increase mobility in the local neighborhoods.

This could be achieved by using the Queens right of way for a modern, context-sensitive, grade-separated bus rapid transit service with connections to area bus and rail lines, including Metropolitan Avenue, Atlantic Avenue, other major crossroads and the Queens Boulevard subway. This type of quick, reliable, environmentally friendly rapid bus system has been in service for years in many cities, including Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Miami.

At Atlantic Avenue in Woodhaven, the bus rapid transit station could connect to a rehabilitated Woodhaven Station on the LIRR Brooklyn line. In this way, Queens would gain the public transportation service that was denied it when the AirTrain to Kennedy Airport was built.

Both sustainable elements -- parks and high-quality transit -- could be achieved by the time-shared use of a single "way" within this right of way: transit during weekday peak periods and a pedestrian-bicycle trail at all other times.

Scaled down Jamaica transformation?

From the Queens Tribune:

A development project intended to stimulate the economy of downtown Jamaica – as well as bring aesthetic appeal – may be facing budget cuts that would preserve the function but abandon its artistic form.

The Greater Jamaica Development Corp., which has been acting for more than 40 years as the key architect of growth, zoning changes and remediation of Downtown Jamaica, was hoping to receive $15.9 million of City funding for the Atlantic Avenue extension project – a key part of a massive urban renewal project around the new AirTrain station.

Under the plan, the community surrounding Atlantic Avenue would be transformed into a mixed-use business district around the Jamaica Station and AirTrain complex, bringing commercial space, several parks, residential units, and retail to the area. The complete project design also includes several parks and visual improvements to the one-way pair of 94th and 95th Avenues.

When the possibility of a $10 million funding cut came to the attention of GJDC earlier this year, the organization reached out to then-Economic Development Corp. Executive Vice President Madelyn Wils, asking for the funds to remain. Wils responded to GJDC President Carlisle Towery that the City was unable to return the project to its $15.9 million plan due to the economy, though the EDC agreed to work with GJDC to change the scope of the project to fit a potential change in budget.