Innovation QNS Rezoning Faces Tense Council Hearing As Vote Nears

ASTORIA, QUEENS — The neighborhood-reshaping Innovation QNS rezoning faced its first hearing at the City Council on Wednesday, as lawmakers grilled the developers about their project in the run-up to a final vote.

The hourslong hearing by the Council's zoning subcommittee gave local Council Member Julie Won the chance to question the developers in public for the first time, as Won honed in on the number of affordable apartments included in the five-block, 2,800-apartment project.

Notably, developers admitted Wednesday that they had not yet secured a commitment from the city to fund a portion of the project's affordable homes — though discussions are "very ongoing" with the city's housing agency, said Jay Martin, a principal at BedRock Real Estate Partners.

Thus, while developers have said 40 percent of the project will be affordable, only the roughly 25 percent paid for by the developers themselves has been set in stone. Won, who said last week that she would oppose Innovation QNS unless it were at least 55 percent affordable, repeated that critique during the hearing.

"Innovation QNS would be a majority-unaffordable luxury development in the middle of a working-class, immigrant neighborhood," she said.

Developers emphasized, as they have from the start, that Innovation QNS would deliver a huge influx of affordable housing in the midst of a desperate citywide shortage. If, as promised, developers build 1,100 below-market units, that would nearly triple the number of affordable homes built in Astoria's community district in the last eight years, they said.

If the rezoning were rejected, the site would likely remain for years in its current condition: "private surface parking and big-box retail," developers said. After that, given its current industrial zoning, the blocks would likely be redeveloped for trucking and warehouses, said Jesse Masyr, an attorney for the developers: a joint team of Silverstein Properties, Kaufman Astoria Studios and BedRock.

The hearing featured a tense exchange between Won and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who spoke in support of Innovation QNS after having initially opposed it when it had fewer affordable units.

Richards, who had implicitly criticized Won last week for her continued opposition, confronted the first-year lawmaker in person on Wednesday, pointing to his own seven-year tenure in the Council and saying, "I know you're new here."

"I'll be damned if we’re going to settle on parking lots and tow pound lots in Queens County during a housing crisis," Richards said.

Developers also stressed the concessions they had already made in response to community input, including reducing the height of the towers toward Northern Boulevard and away from Astoria's residential core; adding a new sports facility on the site of a once-promised school, and reducing the number of parking spaces from 950 down to around 500, the bare minimum required by zoning rules.

Won, while harshly critical of the developers in some respects, insisted she is "pro-development," and left the door open to supporting the rezoning if it were made more affordable.

The developers, too, said they would keep negotiating in an effort to find common ground, and suggested the number of affordable units could continue to increase. The Council's zoning and land use committees could vote on Innovation QNS as soon as next week, followed by a final vote by the full Council sometime before Nov. 21.

Three hours after it began, the hearing was ongoing through midafternoon Wednesday as the Council heard testimony from members of the public. Astoria residents who spoke were largely opposed to the rezoning, while supporters included representatives from labor unions, which have strongly supported the rezoning for the construction jobs it promises to create. (Once built, Innovation QNS will host 1,700 permanent jobs, up from roughly 170 on the site today, developers say.)

Many of those opposed to Innovation QNS suggested it would help price out neighbors by contributing to raised rents across the neighborhood — though academic research has largely found that even market-rate housing helps reduce or stabilize rents in nearby buildings.

"What is innovative about marble and glass towers?" said U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who will represent the rezoning area starting next year and opposes Innovation QNS in its current form.

Mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, is the most prominent official to voice support for the rezoning in recent weeks, telling reporters on Monday that he would work with Won to reach a deal.

"I'm hoping that, just as we've done with others, we can sit down and find a place that the councilwoman can understand that this is part of addressing the housing problem we have in the city," he said.

If built, Innovation QNS would add more than a dozen new buildings and two acres of green space to a low-rise area between 37th Street and Northern Boulevard, bounded by 35th and 36th avenues.

First unveiled in 2020, the project began its public review earlier this year, and received a negative recommendation from Community Board 1.

Related coverage:

• Won Still Against Innovation QNS As BP Blasts 'Weirdo' Opponents
• Innovation QNS Increases Affordable Apartments In Bid For Approval
• Huge Innovation QNS Rezoning Gets Thumbs-Down From Borough President
  
• Huge Innovation QNS Rezoning Rejected By Board, But Battle Continues
• Astoria's Innovation QNS Opponents, Supporters Clash At Public Hearing