Astoria's Innovation QNS Opponents, Supporters Clash At Public Hearing

ASTORIA, QUEENS — The neighborhood-altering Innovation QNS proposal faced one of its first official tests on Wednesday, when Community Board 1 hosted a public hearing on the five-block development to help inform its eventual vote.

Opponents of the $2 billion project routinely heckled developers and supporters during the two-and-a-half-hour meeting at the Museum of the Moving Image. As with previous meetings, much of the debate centered on the size and affordability levels of the 12-building proposal, which would add about 2,800 apartments — including 711 that would be permanently affordable — to what the developers call an underused area between 37th Street and Northern Boulevard, bounded by 35th and 36th avenues.

The dozens of speakers in attendance Wednesday were roughly split between detractors, who said the project would be inaccessible to longtime residents; and supporters, who said it would create economic opportunities and help alleviate the city's housing shortage.

"These developers have proposed a project that does the bare minimum in offering affordable units — units that would still be out of reach for those who need them the most," resident Mason Van Gieson said. "Not to mention the threat that an influx of luxury units would raise area rents and property taxes, pricing out people like me and my neighbors."

Brian Denton, a 20-year Astoria resident, urged the board to support Innovation QNS, saying more development was needed to keep the neighborhood diverse and dynamic.

"If we want to preserve the character of this neighborhood, we’re going to want to build more housing so that anyone who wants to come here, can come here," he said. "It’s going to be a good start to create a rental market where landlords compete for tenants, and not the other way around."

The community board's zoning subcommittee has already drafted a resolution to reject the zoning changes required for Innovation QNS to be built, arguing that developers should shift taller buildings toward Northern Boulevard and away from residential streets. If passed by the full committee, that recommendation will advance to the full board for a vote on June 21.

New details emerge on subway, library impacts

Some new details about the project have emerged in recent weeks, since Innovation QNS was first certified by the City Planning Commission.

A required study of the project's impact on its surrounding environment, submitted last Friday, found that Innovation QNS had the potential for "significant adverse impacts" on the surrounding area — including on subway congestion, pedestrian and vehicle traffic, public libraries, and early childhood education.

The estimated 8,144 residents that would live in Innovation QNS would include about 128 children under the age of five who would be eligible for publicly funded childhood programs, the report found — exceeding the capacity of the neighborhood's existing daycares.

Library impacts would be most severe at the Queens Public Library's Long Island City branch, whose population would grow by about 6 percent — potentially impairing library services, the study found.

Pedestrian congestion would be worsened at three sidewalks and two crosswalks near the development site, while vehicle traffic would be snarled at 24 intersections — mostly during construction, according to the study.

As for the subways, the most severe impact would be on Manhattan-bound N/W trains during morning rush hour, which would see an average increase of 5.6 people per car, bringing it over capacity.

Meanwhile, Playground Thirty Five XXXV, on the corner of 35th Street and Steinway Street — which would be expanded as part of the project — will be bathed in new shadows throughout the day during all seasons, "eliminating much or all of the remaining sunlight in the park at times—particularly in the fall, winter, and early spring," the study found.

Developers are exploring ways to mitigate the effects — for example, by building more open space in direct sunlight near the playground. But some negative impacts would be unavoidable: reducing subway crowding, for example, would require the MTA to run two additional trains each morning, but the agency has said it could only run one more, according to the study.

A few other studied areas would not suffer any major negative impacts from the project, including neighborhood character, air quality, residential displacement or business displacement, the study found. (About 20 businesses would be displaced, but none that comprise a majority of employers in any given sector, according to the study.)

Senior housing, space for nonprofits

Developers have unveiled some new details of their own, announcing this week that Innovation QNS will include more than 100 units of affordable senior housing, managed by the Astoria nonprofit Hellenic American Neighborhood Action Committee.

A handful of other neighborhood groups would also get space in the project, including the Queens-based LGBT Network, Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement, the construction training group Building Skills NY, and the Museum of the Moving Image.

"It will expand our audience by one-third, we get a new space for programming — we ain't going nowhere," said the museum's executive director, Carl Goodman — one of several partners in the project who spoke in favor of it on Wednesday.

The project's affordable units would have monthly rents ranging between $598 for the cheapest studios and $3,608 for some of the three-bedroom apartments. About three-quarters of the affordable apartments — 540 in total — would rent for $1,675 or lower.

Other opponents included Mohammad Uddin, who said he was speaking on behalf of the substantial Bangladeshi population in the surrounding blocks.

"The way they’re building ... this is going to hurt Astoria," he said, pointing to a lack of affordable apartments. "Our small businesses, they’re not going to be able to stay."

Tony Barsamian, chair of the Steinway Astoria partnership, countered that small business owners along Steinway Street support the rezoning for its potential to increase foot traffic.

"The stores need shoppers, this will bring thousands of shoppers to the block," he said.

Looking ahead

Wednesday's hearing was a required step in the project's monthslong public review process — unlike the similar "town hall" held last month, which was convened by developers to gauge more community input.

The proposal's fate over the coming months is far from certain.

The community board's final vote, expected in late June, will be only advisory, as the neighborhood panel has no power to kill the project.

After that will come a 30-day review by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, whose office will make its own recommendation; followed by the City Planning Commission, which will have 60 days to host a hearing and make a binding vote.

During the final showdown in the City Council near the end of the year, all eyes will be on local member Julie Won, who can likely persuade her colleagues to approve or reject the rezoning depending on her position.

Won has not taken a formal position on Innovation QNS thus far, but has knocked the developers for inadequate outreach to neighbors and called on them to delay the project's certification — a request that was apparently rebuffed.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the developers — a joint team of Silverstein Properties, Kaufman Astoria Studios and BedRock Real Estate Partners — said they were "glad to receive" input from the public on Wednesday.

"We continue to make the case that New York City – perhaps now more than ever – needs this $2 billion private investment that will create urgently needed mixed-income homes and 5,400 jobs, while generating hundreds of millions of dollars to support public safety, education and infrastructure," the spokesperson said.

Related Innovation QNS coverage:

• Astoria's Innovation QNS Developers Face Opponents At Tense Town Hall
• Innovation QNS Rezoning Begins Review, Against Councilmember's Wishes
• Astoria's Innovation QNS Developers Are Being Cagey, Pol Says
• Astoria's Innovation QNS Developers Share Changes Amid Skepticism
• Astoria Residents, Organizations Clash At Innovation QNS Hearing