Queens tomorrow 2007 by CNG community Newspaper Group: A News Corporation company

Envisioning the future of America’s most diverse locale

Building boom brings new places to live, eat, work and play

Artist’s rendition of Citi Field, the Mets’ new $825-million ballpark, being built on a site adjacent to Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

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QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

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INSIDE

30 Going Strong

With a major overhaul and brand-new wing underway, New York Hospital Queens gets a clean bill of health at age 50.

THIS ISSUE

What will the Queens of tomorrow look like?

6 Shea No More

The Mets’ new Citi Field combines the best of baseball’s past and future.

10 Extreme Makeover

Bloomberg’s $3 billion plan could transform Willets Point from the borough’s grungiest spot to one of its flashiest.

12 Chinatown Jewel

Photo: Cat Cutillo

Projects by TDC, Rockefeller Development and Muss would make an already bustling Flushing into a veritable metropolis.

14 Finding the Center

Armed with new zoning and the AirTrain link to JFK, downtown Jamaica is anticipating an all-around boom.

34 Rising High

16 Getting There

The MTA’s ambitious capital plan would bring LIRR commuters to Grand Central, No. 7 riders to the Javits Center and dedicated bus lanes to Queens thoroughfares.

20 Movie Mecca

With a $1 billion expansion, Silvercup Studios is poised to become the East Coast’s filmmaking powerhouse and a shopping and cultural destination.

With a dozen luxury residential towers up or on the way, Long Island City is staking its claim on the skies above New York.

40 Park Extraordinaire With landscaping improvements and a brand-new pool and recreation facility, the fun never stops at Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

23 Life’s a Beach

Arverne by the Sea may be just what the Rockaways need to kick-start a waterfront renaissance.

28 Sleeper Hit

Cheaper than Manhattan, less über-hip than Brooklyn, Astoria is just right for Queens’ up-and-coming generation.

50 By The Numbers

The lowdown on the people, the projects and the big bucks that are transforming Queens.

A lot like the Queens of today: diverse, dynamic, bursting with life — only bigger, newer, shinier and more luxurious, from Flushing to the Rockaways, from Shea Stadium to JFK, from the No. 7 train to the Z line. You’d have to be living under a rock not to have heard something about the incredible boom in western Queens. Long Island City is one of the hottest real estate markets in the city, and Astoria, its neighbor to the north, isn’t too far behind. But you may not have known that from the East River to the Atlantic Ocean, Queens is seeing a renewed interest in its waterfront. In Long Island City, high-rise apartments and condos are cropping up left and right along the water in Queens West, and Silvercup Studios, one of two movie lots in the Astoria/LIC area, is looking to expand its production facilities and put up a massive mixed-use complex of shops and apartments in the shadow of the Queensboro bridge. On the banks of the Flushing River, Muss Development is planning to transform polluted industrial property into a 14-acre town center for the neighborhood. And on the Rockaway Peninsula, the sprawling Arverne by the Sea may be the best hope for Queens’ Atlantic beachfront, which has languished since its days as Manhattan’s favorite getaway spot in the early 20th century. You’ve also probably heard plenty about the ongoing construction on the Mets’ new home, Citi Field, slated to replace the oft-maligned Shea Stadium in 2009. But you may not have heard that the city has long had its eyes on Willets Point, the muddy, downtrodden industrial neighborhood surrounding the stadium. Now the city thinks it’s closer than ever to transforming the so-called Iron Triangle into a destination for stadium-goers looking for somewhere to shop, eat and play. All around the borough, jackhammers are cracking the concrete and cranes are stretching toward the sky. In Flushing, the busy New York Hospital Medical Center is planning an expansion. Aided by a recent zoning change, downtown Jamaica is on its way to building on its AirTrain link to JFK Airport, with stores, hotels and housing. And the MTA is preparing to expand mass transit options for the influx of people that already is arriving. Join us for a peek into the future of the most diverse locale in America. Ian MacFarland

N E W S P A P E R S

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QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

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QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

batter up

Flushing’s Citi Field of dreams New Mets stadium melds luxury, history BY JEREMY WALSH It’s not your father’s ballpark, you might say — and your father might just think that’s a good thing. A big change is coming to the home the New York Mets as aging Shea Stadium is soon to be replaced by a brand-new design. Citi Field, as the new stadium will be called, will offer 45,000 seats, a natural grass playing field and a distinctive asymmetrical outfield that, according to the Mets’ Web site, will make it a “traditional pitcher’s park.” Its estimated completion date is Opening Day 2009. The stadium is slated to cost about $825 million, with the Mets shouldering $660 million of that expense. The city will contribute $90 million in capital funds, and the state will contribute $75 million to fund infrastructure costs related to the project. Shea Stadium, which opened in 1964, cost $25.5 million – $64.9 million in 2007 dollars, based on the Consumer Price Index. Shea was designed to host both baseball and football games, seating 55,300 for baseball and 60,000 for the New York Jets. But the last time the Jets played at Shea was in 1983, and Mets fans have long complained about Shea’s more generic design. To answer this complaint, Citi Field will have superior sightlines for baseball throughout the venue. Seating will be angled toward the infield and set down closer to the field, with 42 percent of the ballpark’s seats located in the lowest seating level. ballpark that is worthy of their current and future standing among the The ballpark will feature wide concourses. Concession stands and game’s elite,” said then-Gov. George Pataki. restrooms will be located within the facility’s exterior walls, leaving the Citi Field is being built directly next to Shea Stadium on a parcel circulation areas with uninterrupted views of the of land bounded on the north by the south side of field. Northern Boulevard, on the east by the west side of The stadium will boast an expanded Fan Fest 126th Street, on the south by the north side of Roosfamily entertainment area within the ballpark on evelt Avenue and the west by the east side of Grand the concourse level, an enhanced outfield picnic Central Parkway. Shea is expected to be demolarea, multiple party deck areas and an interactive ished sometime after the 2008 baseball season. Mets museum with club memorabilia and Hall of The destruction of the stadium will likely Fame displays. compensate for the 2,500 parking spaces that were The complex will also have numerous siteliminated when construction on Citi Field began. down, climate-controlled restaurants, bars, clubs, The Mets have said a parking garage is not part of and lounges. the plan for Citi Field. Though the design of Citi Field is modern, David Oats, president of the Flushing Meadit pays tribute to New York City’s rich baseball ows Corona Park Civic Association, has called on heritage. The architecture will feature brick, limethe city Parks Department, the Mets and the U.S. stone, granite and cast stone, with the brick closely Tennis Association to collaborate on a parking resembling the masonry used at Brooklyn’s legendgarage located on city-owned lots along Roosevelt ary Ebbets Field. Design elements call for exposed Avenue, but Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe trusses, light towers, scoreboard structure, and a has said such a project is not realistic, mostly due roof canopy that recall the ballparks of yesteryear. to an estimated cost of $200 million. Exposed steel will be painted dark blue and the The Citi Field project was developed by seats will be dark green. Queens Ballpark Company LLC and designed by In addition, the Mets and Citi will commisthe architectural firm HOK Sport. Hunt-Bovis, a sion a statue and name the entry rotunda to honor joint venture of Hunt Construction Group and BoJackie Robinson, the legendary athlete who broke vis Lend Lease, will provide construction managebaseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers ment. in 1947. The developer, Queens Ballpark Company When work began on the new stadium in NoLLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the New vember, elected officials hailed the project. Mets. Construction is due to last until April 2009. York HOK, “This great ball club and its fans deserve a the parent company of HOK Sport, was 6

QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

It’s a blowout! Amenities at Citi Field have Shea beat hands down BY DYLAN BUTLER

Officials for the Mets say it will offer better sight lines for watching the games. founded in 1955 by George Hellmuth, Gyo Obata and George Kassabaum. HOK Sport has worked with 24 of 30 Major League Baseball franchises and 30 of 32 NFL franchises. The company de-

signed or renovated 13 of the 30 major league ballparks in use today and seven of the last eight to open in Major League Baseball.

The only thing Shea Stadium has more of than the soon-to-be-completed Citi Field in Flushing is 12,333 more seats. As far as everything else goes, there is no comparison in quality for the new home of the New York Mets. Citi Field, which is being built just past the outfield walls of 43-year-old Shea Stadium, one of the oldest ballparks in the majors, will have all the amenities of a state-of-the-art facility – wider seats, more than 50 luxury boxes and several restaurants and shops. That’s what you get when you shell out nearly $800 million. The stadium is being designed by HOK Sport, which has built some of the most picturesque ballparks in baseball, including AT&T Park in San Francisco, Jacobs Field in Cleveland, PETCO Park in San Diego and Camden Yards in Baltimore. In addition to the wider seats, more legroom between rows and seating closer to the field than at Shea, there will be far more culinary options for fans at Citi Field. Shea has two restaurants – the Diamond Grill and The Grill Room – that can seat 500 patrons combined. Citi Field will have four restaurants to choose from, including the massive Sterling Club Lounge, which has a 1,600fan capacity. Looking to buy some merchandise? The team store will be nearly four times as large as the one at Shea. There will also be seven more public elevators and 656 more wheelchair-accessible seats at Citi Field. The concourse level will feature a 360-degree walk-around circling the ballpark with expansive field views and ample standing room. And the main entrance to Citi Field, which will have reminders of Ebbets Field throughout the facility, will be called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda and will feature a statue of the legendary Brooklyn Dodgers infielder who broke baseball’s color barrier. “It’s a tribute to a great man,” Mets manager Willie Randolph said at the ceremonial groundbreaking in November. “I think more than anything, it’s something that will be great for the fans, and especially the young fans, to see and experience, to learn about Jackie and what he meant to the game. Not just to baseball, but to life and the social effect he had on our country.” The players will also benefit with a larger clubhouse and lounge. But with generous room in the gap – 379 feet in left-center and 383 feet in right-center – Citi Field will specifically cater to the Mets pitchers.

The Mets plan to name the stadium’s rotunda after Jackie Robinson. QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

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renewal

The plans for Willets Point call for a series of stores on 126th Street that will face the new Citi Field stadium.

New plans weighed for Iron Triangle Bloomberg envisions bustling marketplace in Willets Point BY STEPHEN STIRLING Willets Point is an elusive treasure. For the better part of the last half century, mayors and developers have struggled to redevelop the hardscrabble 60-acre site that sits adjacent to Shea Stadium to no avail. Now Mayor Michael Bloomberg has it in his sights, and his administration is determined not to let the opportunity slip through the city’s fingers once again. After years of false starts and failed plans, Bloomberg is hoping his vision of Willets Point will be the one that reshapes the run-down swath of land on the Flushing River and provides the framework for the future of northern Queens. In April Bloomberg pulled back the curtains on his proposal for a massive redevelopment of Willets Point, which would see the 60acre conglomeration of auto-repair businesses and salvage yards completely torn down. The infamous site would be revitalized and rebuilt into a sprawling mixed-use development that 10

he envisions as a jewel in the crown of the borough’s redevelopment. The city Economic Development Corporation, which crafted the plan, said the city hopes to begin construction on the ambitious project, which could cost upwards of $3 billion, as early as 2010. The agency said tentative plans for the 13-square-block site include up to 5,500 mixedincome housing units, 1.7 million square feet of retail space, 500,000 square feet of office space, a 400,000-square-foot convention center and a 700room hotel, all of which will be designed with environmental sustainability in mind. Former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman, who tried unsuccessfully to redevelop the site with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said she believes the plan laid out by Bloomberg is the best hope for the redevelopment of Willets Point the city has ever had. “We really have to move this project. In my opinion, it is critical for the city to develop this site,” Shulman said. “It’s probably one of the best sites in the city of New York by virtue of its location.” QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

Shulman is taking no chances. Earlier this year she was tapped to lead the Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corporation, an advocacy group formed to oversee the redevelopment plans and provide a crucial lobbying tool for Bloomberg to push his plan forward. “We want to get so far along by the time Bloomberg leaves office that there’s no possibility of reversing [the plan],” Shulman said. “You never know where the support is coming from.”

The Plan Bloomberg said initial expectations call for construction to last about seven years, with aspects of the project opening as soon as 2012 and a targeted completion date sometime in 2017. The EDC said construction on the project would bring 20,000 temporary jobs to the area, while the retail and office space combined will ultimately lead to about 6,100 permanent jobs. A spokesman for the nonprofit corporation said it hopes the project’s location and commercial diversity will act as a catalyst for economic development in the region, providing a bridge

that will draw people to the already booming communities of Flushing and Corona that border Willets Point. “This project will set the standard for sustainable and responsible development in New York City,” said EDC President Robert Lieber. The heart of the proposed 1.7 million square feet of retail space will line 126th Street, directly across the street from the future site of the Mets’ new home, Citi Field, which is scheduled to open in 2009. The city hopes the retail area will grow into a bustling marketplace similar to the area surrounding Fenway Park in Boston. Exact numbers are not yet available, but the EDC said affordable housing will make up part of the 5,500 residential units expected to be available upon the project’s completion. The exact amount will depend on a negotiation with the developer, once it is chosen. The EDC will not identify the developer until next summer, but the city is hoping it will bear the brunt of the multimillion-dollar infrastructure and environmental remediation costs associated with the Claire plan. Widespread contamination spread throughout the area by a high water table permeates the site, and the expected cleanup is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars. The project also boasts plans for a 400,000square-foot convention center, envisioned as an affordable alternative to Manhattan’s Javits Center. The Willets Point center will have a large, flat green roof carpeted with plant life, cutting down on energy costs by trapping heat in the winter and repelling it in the summer. The public approval, or ULURP, process is expected to begin by the end of November, according to the EDC. If the project is approved by local community boards, the borough president and the City Council, the EDC said it would select a developer in the summer of 2008.

The area known as the Iron Triangle has come under perennial fire from city officials for its shoddy appearance and lack of essential services such as sewers, streetlights and paved roads. Redevelopment plans have faced fierce opposition from the more than 250 businesses that occupy the area, some of which have been there for more than 40 years. They contend their economic community is viable and should not be tossed aside. The development agency said a goulash of toxic spills and garbage dumping have combined with a high water table and a lack of drainage over several decades to inundate the area with widespread contamination. Since Willets Point is prone to flooding, the EDC said the entire neighborhood would have to be cleared and cleaned up as a whole. The site cannot be cleaned up incrementally, according to the EDC, because contaminants could easily spread into newly remediated areas in the event of a heavy rain. The cleanup will be both difficult and expensive, with costs Shulman expected to reach well over $50 million, the EDC said. To ensure that any redevelopment will be safe from similar contamination and flooding, the agency said the entire area would have to be raised about four feet with landfill. The EDC planners said that in the coming months they will unveil a comprehensive work force development program which will provide one-on-one relocation assistance and job training for Willets Point workers. The EDC said it will work with business owners to acquire properties through negotiated settlements and would only use eminent domain to acquire the properties as a last resort. The city hopes to begin negotiating property acquisitions as early as next spring with the bulk of business relocations taking place the following winter. Shulman acknowledges the challenges associated with the project, but said the future of development in northern Queens is banking on its success. “This is not an easy job,” Shulman said. “But I think this is really the best hope this area has had.”

It’s probably one of the best sites in the city of New York by virtue of its location.

Uphill battle Though the redevelopment of the Willets Point area has been discussed for years and the concept has been largely embraced by elected officials and the public as a necessary and positive step for the borough’s future, the road to completion for the project is likely to be an arduous one, wrought with conflict and obstacles.

The site is the proposed home of a convention center with a green roof to reduce energy costs. QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

Willets Point dodged many developers BY JEREMY WALSH Mayor Bloomberg’s latest redevelopment plan is hardly the only ambitious attempt to transform Willets Point. The Iron Triangle has been targeted by developers for decades. The first major effort was in 1964, when legendary builder Robert Moses attempted to use the World’s Fair as justification for condemning Willets Point properties to expand Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Local business owners hired a young attorney with a flair for oratory, Mario Cuomo, to fight Moses in court. Cuomo’s persuasive arguments thwarted Moses, who retired soon afterward. Another larger-than-life developer began eyeing Willets Point in 1985. A young Donald Trump planned to relocate his U.S. Football League team, the New Jersey Generals, to Queens, proposing to build a $286 million domed stadium on 60 acres in the neglected region. Mario Cuomo, then governor of New York, sided with Trump this time. Unfortunately for The Donald, the USFL was riddled with controversy and collapsed before the 1986 season began. As Trump became wrapped up in the major lawsuits that followed the league’s dissolution, he quietly dropped the stadium plan. In 1991, the city’s Public Development Corporation commissioned a study outlining three possible development schemes, all emphasizing industrial uses. The estimated cost of basic sewer and street improvements for all three schemes was between $24 million and $27 million. In 1993, then-Queens Borough President Claire Shulman released an alternative proposed plan for Willets Point. She took the view that the 1991 development schemes were shortsighted by focusing solely on industrial and industrial-related potential uses. Her plan recommended either a multi-purpose business center model including offices, research and development activities, recreational facilities, retail stores and restaurants, or a pavilion for international trade, which included a proposed automated guideway system designed to provide convenient or affordable airport access. Neither the 1991 proposal nor the 1993 proposal ever saw the light. Willets Point again appeared on planners’ radar screens in 2003, when the city’s Economic Development Corporation invited developers to submit plans for the region. In 2005, the area came up for discussion when Queens advocates were struggling to win rights to host the 2012 Olympic Games. Though the proposed new Mets stadium was submitted as the site of the Games, the city suggested seizing the adjacent auto shops and building the main press and international broadcast center there. That plan collapsed when the International Olympics Committee awarded the 2012 games to London. 11

boom town

The $500 million Flushing Commons complex will house a business-class hotel, 500 residential units and a recreation center.

Flushing’s next chapter: More retail Projects promise shops, hotels and residences BY GENE ROMAN When Fred Fu, now president of the Flushing Development Center, arrived in Flushing from Taiwan in 1980, longtime residents and businesses were abandoning the neighborhood. During the next 20 years, new immigrants from Korea, Taiwan and China replaced the departing residents and increased Flushing’s population by 40 percent, according to the New York City Planning Commission. But the neighborhood still lacks a spot for local and national retailers, a multiscreen cinema and other amenities associated with a major transportation and commercial hub like Flushing, according to Fu. The Bloomberg administration agrees with Fu and has approved plans for the construction of three new developments in the area: Flushing Commons, Queens Crossing and Skyview Park, formerly known as Flushing Town Center. “I think it’s terrific,” said Fu, 54. “We don’t always want to go to Manhattan to shop and catch a movie.”

Queens Crossing Construction has already begun on the Queens Crossing project, located at 138th and Main streets between 38th and 39th avenues. 12

The 12-story, 407,000-square-foot structure is being built at a cost of $110 million by the F & T Group, an umbrella organization of real estate companies that includes TDC, a Flushing-based developer. The retail space includes an Asian teahouse, a home furnishings store, a clothing store and eight floors of office and condominium space. TDC is also teaming up with the Manhattan-based Rockefeller Development Group to transform Municipal Parking Lot No. 1 on Union Street into Flushing Commons, a $500 million residential, retail and hotel complex. This 5.5-acre parcel of city-owned land will house a business-class hotel, a 50,000-square-foot recreational center, parking for 1,600 cars, 500 residential units (20 percent earmarked for senior citizens) and a 1.5-acre town square of open space with a fountain plaza. “It will be like a little Bryant Park,” said Michael Meyer, president of TDC. “Right now, there is no place in Flushing to sit down and socialize.” Meyer expects this project to produce 2,600 construction jobs and 1,800 permanent jobs. The city has also agreed to assist the Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church as it develops 100 units of affordable housing on a halfacre portion of the lot, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation. TDC spokesman Jamie Van Bramer said the developers are anxious to begin work, but he could not provide a timetable for the project’s completion. “We are working with the city at this point on timing and specific final details of our Flushing Commons plan,” Van Bramer said in an e-mail. “We look forward to finalizing our plans in the near future and making this vision for downtown Flushing a reality.”

Skyview Park As the residential and commercial makeup of the neighborhood changed during the 1980s, the Muss Development Company of Forest Hills bought a parcel of industrial property in west Flushing near the Flushing River and saved it for future use. The company operated the property located at the intersection of College Point Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue as a light industrial center until recently. Jim Jarosil, senior vice president of the Muss Company, told Northeast Real Estate Business Magazine that his company rented out existing buildings on the site until about four or five years ago, when retailers began to express an interest in it. This 14-acre brownfield site is the centerpiece of a $600 million mixed-use development called Skyview Park, formerly the Flushing Town Center. When completed, the project will have 800,000 square feet of ground retail space, 1,200 residential units, parking for 3,000 cars and a waterfront esplanade. Half of the retail space is already leased by commercial tenants, according to Muss spokesman Richard Mulieri.

QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

big plans

Jamaica’s on the move 368 blocks in center rezoned The Sutphin Blvd. project would revitalize the area near the AirTrain. 45-3.

Photo: Howard Koplowitz

The Greater Jamaica Development Corporation believes prospective retailers will seize the opportunity to buy space in the neighborhood because it is a major transportation hub of Queens. “New retailers will benefit not only from airport access, but also from users of the Long Island Rail Road and the three subway lines and dozens of bus routes that serve Jamaica,” Greater Jamaica said. But the eventual transformation of downtown Jamaica has also fueled fear among opponents who envision the area becoming overly developed to the point where infrastructure such as schools and sewer systems will be taxed and streets will be overflowing with cars. The recently adopted rezoning plan also calls for National retail chains such as Old Navy and the Gap have started the transformation of Jamaica Center. six- to eight-story apartment buildings on Hillside Avenue BY HOWARD KOPLOWITZ that will become the only hotel connected to after the City Council amended the measure, Kennedy via the AirTrain. which originally proposed complexes as high as An architectural renaissance is on the hoThere is yet to be a developer for the pro- 12 stories. rizon in downtown Jamaica following the City posed hotel, which would be part of a mixed-use In addressing transportation issues, two Council’s approval of a rezoning plan that paves development that also makes available 70,000 multimillion-dollar plans have been drawn up the way for everything from multi-story apartsquare feet of retail space. for road reconstructions projects in the vicinment buildings on Hillside Avenue to a revitalThe hotel would feature 15,000 square feet ity of the AirTrain dubbed “Sutphin Boulevard ization near the AirTrain. for a banquet room to host weddings and other Plaza” and “Atlantic Avenue extension.” Development in the southeast Queens events and a meeting hall. The Sutphin Plaza project is expected to neighborhood was at a standstill in the latter “Southeastern Queens has long sought a cost $45 million, according to the city’s Econompart of the 20th century, but the new millencommunity meeting and celebration space, and ic Development Corporation. Sutphin Boulevard nium brought new projects, such as Jamaica the hotel banquet facility will be much in deand Archer Avenue would be widened, creating Center — retail stores anchored by downtown mand,” Greater Jamaica said on its Web site. public plazas at the entrance to the subways at Jamaica’s first movie theater in years — built Others plans near the AirTrain include 375 Jamaica station. by The Mattone Group. units of housing, some of which are slated to be The Atlantic Avenue extension, at a cost of In 2005 construction was completed on the affordable housing. about $24 million, would convert 94th and 95th $350 million AirTrain and a renovated Long IsOpportunities for retail stores — encomavenues into one-way streets in order to spur land Rail Road station was finished in 2003. passing both national chains and local shops what the city calls “traffic-oriented developThe area around the Jamaica station, — will also be a part of future development in ment.” which links the AirTrain from John F. Kennedy downtown Jamaica. The EDC will be partnering with the International Airport to the Long Island Rail “This rezoning effort will help to transform Greater Jamaica Development Corporation on Road — will be the cornerstone of new develop- and revitalize downtown Jamaica into a vibrant the transportation projects and both organizament in downtown Jamaica that will encompass economic engine that will create much-needed tions have pledged to award bids to minority 368 blocks of the neighborhood. jobs for the southeast Queens community,” City contractors while also creating jobs for Jamaica One of the more state-of-the-art additions Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans). residents. to downtown Jamaica is a proposal to build a The City Council voted to adopt the rezon“The Jamaica Plan will not only bring jobs first-class, 250-room hotel near Jamaica station ing, known as the Jamaica Plan, by a vote of but also hope,” Comrie said. 14

QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

let’s roll Photos: Cat Cutillo

Breaking ground for Queens commuters Next stop: Grand Central The end of the line for No. 7 train riders will be extended to the Javits Center. BY PHILIP NEWMAN

The price tag on the East Side Access is $6.3 billion, with nearly 40 percent of the cost to be paid by the federal government. The East Side Access was launched after a survey indicated that a large number of commuters arriving at Penn Station actually needed to get to the East Side of Manhattan. The survey said that while 36 percent of all jobs in midtown were within walking distance of Penn station, nearly 70 percent of the jobs are within walking distance of Grand Central.

With a gigantic boring machine ready for tunneling deep beneath the Manhattan side of the East River, the day may be approaching when thousands of Queens and Long Island commuters exchange their longtime destination at Penn Station for Grand Central Terminal. The East Side Access project to bring trains from the Long Island Rail Road’s main line and the Port Washington line into Grand Central is one of the biggest transit projects in the history of either the LIRR or the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It is scheduled for compleAnother ambitious project will allow riders tion in 2013. on the No. 7 subway line to travel all the way to Planners expect more than 160,000 people a Manhattan’s far West Side, if all goes well with day to use the Eastside Access. plans for extending the tracks past its longtime “We are finishing preparations and expect final destination at Times Square. to start tunneling, I would say, in about two Under the plan, the city of New York would weeks,” Mysore Nagaraja, president of the MTA pay the estimated $2.1 billion cost of the project Capital Projects Company, said. “We are going with the MTA carrying out the construction. ahead with the East Side Access.” Some contention has arisen over the possibility Besides saving what transit officials say of cost overruns, for which the city has insisted will be up to 40 minutes a day, the East Side Ac- it would not be financially responsible. cess will include a new LIRR station in SunnyThe No. 7 extension envisions a new station side as well as a new station 110 feet below Grand at 11th Avenue and 34th Street at the Jacob JaCentral. vits Convention Center, the end Tunneling in Manhatof the line. tan is expected to get the The No. 7 extension is go-ahead by early autumn, scheduled to be completed in according to Nagaraja, and 2013. the machines then will began boring a tunnel from the Queens side. The first of several Meanwhile, Mayor Migigantic, 200-ton tunnelchael Bloomberg’s plan for ing machines, owned by a congestion pricing to assess Spanish company, were demotorists $8 to drive into Manlivered a few months ago, hattan’s central business dis“For transit buffs the trict during peak hours speciarrival of these machines fies that revenue will be used is something like the arto improve mass transit. He rival of the huge tree at has yet to become specific, but Rockefeller Center heraldtransit activists have insisted ing Christmas,” Nagaraja express buses must come first Rapid transit bus lanes for said. “ It means something if the congestion pricing plan riders will be tested in Queens. can succeed in getting commutis about to happen.”

Extending No. 7

Bus Rapid Transit

QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

ers out of their cars and into mass transit. They say that many subway lines are approaching capacity now and new lines would take years to build. The congestion pricing proposal is in the hands of a 17-member commission appointed by the governor and other state and city officials and is scheduled to present its recommendations by Jan. 31. Opposition to congestion pricing has developed in Queens, but a Quinnipiac poll has indicated there is less opposition in Queens than in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Transit officials believe buses are the answer, particularly in parts of eastern Queens where subways are scarce. One idea under development is Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT. BRT is due for a demonstration and trial period along Merrick Boulevard in Queens sometime this fall. BRT involves use of dedicated corridors, which means no other vehicles can use the BRT lanes. Sensors in buses will hold the green lights at intersections long enough so that buses can speed on by without wasting time waiting at a red light. Buses might also be equipped with cameras to record license numbers of vehicles that dare to enter the bus-only lanes. Ideally, more police would be assigned to enforcement of the restricted bus lanes. Each borough will start with its own demonstration run of BRT service.

A New Penn The plan to create a new, more elegant Penn Station reminiscent of the original Pennsylvania Station is popular with the public, but they know little about it, according to the Municipal Art Society, which has opened its own Web site to keep everyone informed on progress of the project. A recently revised plan would include moving Madison Square Garden to a new 20,000-seat arena above the present post office and building two skyscrapers, one taller than the Empire State building, over the existing station. The whole project is now estimated to cost $14 billion.

QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

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that’s a wrap

Lights! Action! Expansion!

Silvercup’s expansion will include eight new soundstages, 1,000 apartments, a waterfront pavilion, a catering hall and commercial space.

Silvercup Studios ready for its $1 billion close-up as East Coast’s Hollywood BY NATHAN DUKE For years the West Coast has been the center of the entertainment industry. But Queens’ western tip is now giving Hollywood a run for its money as Silvercup Studios prepares to construct its $1 billion expansion project, which will make it the largest film and television studio on the East Coast. Silvercup West will include eight new soundstages for film and television productions, a waterfront pavilion, a 100,000-square-foot cultural institution, a 1,400-space parking garage, a 40,000-square-foot catering hall, 70,000 square feet of retail space, a new Silvercup sign and 1,000 apartment units, of which 15 percent will be designated for affordable housing. The 2.7 million-square-foot project, which will create an estimated 4,000 new jobs, is scheduled to finally begin construction along Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City in 2008 after the studio finishes remediating the site and removing power generators, the studio said. The studio portion of the six-acre project is estimated to be completed by 2011. “Silvercup continues to play a leading role in the city’s effort to attract film and television production,” said CEO Alan Suna, who co-owns the studio with his brother, Stuart Match Suna. “The new project will bolster our industry while also meeting other important objectives such as creating housing, opening the waterfront for 20

public access, generating additional revenue for the city and state and creating thousands of well-paying jobs.”

Studio expands The Sunas first opened the studio in 1983 at the site of the former Silvercup Bakery and expanded its operations in 1999 to 400,000 square feet and 18 sound stages as well as on-site production offices and set, prop and wardrobe areas. A number of critically acclaimed TV shows, such as “Sex and the City” and “The Sopranos,” completed a majority of their interior shooting at the studio. Silvercup has also provided production space for a number of films, including “Gangs of New York,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “Do the Right Thing” and “The Godfather Part III.” Several new TV shows are shooting at the studio, including “Cashmere Mafia” with Lucy Liu, “Gossip Girl” and detective thriller “New Amsterdam.” In addition, “30 Rock” will shoot its second season at Silvercup and “What Happens in Vegas,” a feature film starring Cameron

Silvercup West from Roosevelt Island. QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, will film on its premises. Stuart Match Suna said the studio has been booked to capacity during the past few years and has been forced to turn away projects. He said the studio’s production boom in recent years was due, in part, to city and state tax credit programs for film and TV productions that offer tax breaks, marketing credits and other benefits for productions that complete most of their filming in New York. And Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the studio has been a pioneer in reviving the city’s film and TV industry after studios began to relocate productions from New York to less expensive U.S. cities and Canada. “With added studio space (at Silvercup), more productions that may have been filmed elsewhere will now take advantage of all the benefits of filming in New York City, which we like to think of as the best backdrop in the world,” Stuart Match Suna said.

Praise for jobs Western Queens elected officials and community leaders have praised Silvercup West for creating new jobs in the area as well as providing affordable housing in a neighborhood that is quickly becoming a hub of high-end condos and rental units. “The Sunas are very involved in Queens,” state Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan (DRidgewood) said. “You have to give them credit. They’re Queens-based and I think they are very sensitive to community needs.” The Department of City Planning voted unanimously to approve the project in July 2006 with the provision that 150 of the project’s 1,000 apartments would be designed for cheaper housing. Silvercup West is designed by British architect Lord Richard Rogers.

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Photos: Stephen Stirling

on the ocean

Arverne by the Sea is the most ambitious development project undertaken on the Rockaway Peninsula in decades.

Arverne By The Sea New hope for a neglected community BY STEPHEN STIRLING No area in New York City is banking more on a development for new life and hope than the Rockaway Peninsula is on the sprawling Arverne by the Sea residential complex. Naturally isolated and historically neglected, the Queens peninsula is the center of a city-supported 2,300-unit undertaking. Arverne by the Sea has community members and elected officials alike eyeing it as a centerpiece in a broad effort to revitalize an area that has been largely overlooked for the past 40 years. “If we do this right, we’re talking about a holistic plan for a community where we can use these resources to build and develop, where we can start attacking, if not solving, some of these seemingly intractable problems that have plagued the community for years,” said City Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton). Sanders is not alone in his optimism. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and developers BenjaminBeechwood LLC view the 117-acre development, expected to be completed between 2012 and 2014, as a chance for a fresh start on the beleaguered stretch of land that lines Long Island’s southern coast. “When it is complete, this new oceanfront community, complete with affordable housing, commercial and recreational spaces, will bring jobs and homes for the entire Rockaway

Peninsula,” Bloomberg said while touring the development last year. “We will help thousands of teachers, police officers, firefighters, nurses and other moderate- and middle-income New Yorkers to realize the American dream of owning their own home.” Residents such as Dora Wells, who has lived in the nearby Hammel Houses for more than 15 years, are more conservative. “Things have been bad here for a long time. A long time,” Wells said. “You always gotta hope it will get better, and maybe this will do it. Hopefully.”

‘The Playground of New York’

Six separate neighborhoods built on 117 acres will hold the 2,300 homes planned. QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

In the early 1900s, the Rockaways were a collection of bustling coastal villages considered a premier summer getaway for thousands of New Yorkers through the 1930s, earning the 11-mile-long spit of land the nickname “The Playground of New York.” The rise of inexpensive travel and the construction of the national highway system, however, gave area residents more holiday options, transforming the Rockaways into a residential community. With the end of World War II came the construction of several low-income public housing projects. Thousands of families were shuffled to the projects, a product of city plans to rid Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn of crime- and drug-infested slums that dotted

Continued on Page 24 23

24 Photos: Stephen Stirling

on the ocean Continued from Page 23 the region. These low-rent apartment complexes soon became hotbeds of crime, prompting Mayor John Lindsay to bulldoze large swaths of land in Arverne, Edgemere and Hammel as part of a massive urban-renewal plan to revitalize the area in the early 1970s. Money for Lindsay’s plan soon ran dry, and for nearly 40 years the community of Arverne has languished in a sea of false starts and poor funding, leaving hundreds of acres of prime beachfront property largely untouched. In the last five years, new development in the region — largely spurred by the ambitious Arverne By the Sea project — has restored optimism among residents and elected officials on the peninsula that the beachfront villages can once again regain the allure that made the Rockaways the apple of New York’s eye years ago.

A new beginning Since Bloomberg broke ground on Arverne by the Sea in 2003, Benjamin-Beechwood LLC has embarked on an aggressive construction plan to kick-start the $1.2-billion project. The development’s first of six planned neighborhoods, a collection of 32 middle-income townhouses dubbed the Sands, was completed in early 2006 and sold out quickly. Jennifer Stern, a mother of two who grew up in Glendale, moved last year into a two-bedroom apartment with her husband in the project’s pioneer community. “It’s like a dream come true for me,” Stern said. “I’ve always wanted to live by the beach and I really can’t imagine a better time or a better situation to be in out here.” Developers said about half of the planned homes will be completed and occupied by year’s end, Sales executive Laura Sporny said prospective buyers often get emotional when they come to her office. “I talk to people who for all of their lives have been trying to get out of the Rockaways. Now because of this development, all they want to do is buy a home here,” Sporny said. Benjamin-Beechwood expects Arverne by the Sea to house upwards of 9,000 people, or nearly 10 percent of the approximately 105,000 who currently call the Rockaways home.

Supporting the community With all the excitement swirling around the development, however, there is an equal amount of concern. Sanders said working with the developers to ensure Arverne by the Sea is properly integrated into the community surrounding it is paramount to its success. He cautioned that without building the proper infrastructure to support such a complex in the community, the potential exists to divide the peninsula along economic lines instead of uniting the community with the new development. “It, of course, could lead to a tale of two cities where one city is doing well and looking down on those mired in poverty and descending,” he said. “It really does not have to be.” Plans for a 30,000-square-foot YMCA, an elementary school, a new transportation hub, a $35 million marina and 250,000 square feet of retail space have both the developer and the Bloomberg administration confident that Arverne by the Sea will be a bridge to the surrounding community and not an island. Developers hope the expansive retail mar24

Housing at Arverne by the Sea ranges from one-bedroom units to three-floor condominiums.

Arverne by the Sea hugs New York’s largest stretch of coastline. ketplace, which already includes plans for a Super Stop & Shop, will revitalize commerce in the region and provide residents with shopping options they previously would have had to travel to the mainland to get. Plans for the transportation hub and marina are still in development but could bolster public transportation in the area with additional bus and subway options. The city is considering the marina for a potential stop on a planned ferry route between the peninsula and Manhattan announced earlier this year. The Y, which Bloomberg broke ground on in November, is expected to be completed by the end of 2008 and provide services and jobs for more than 10,000 people. Benjamin-Beechwood LLC has also pledged to build an 800-seat K-through-8 school as part of Arverne by the Sea, but construction is not expected to begin until 2009 at the earliest. Sanders agreed with the city’s assessment that Arverne By the Sea is an unparalleled opportunity for the region, but said its implementation over the next several years will make or break its success. “It’s been said that the opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity,” Sanders said. “The choice is really ours and we are at the moment of decision.” QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

Nearly every aspect of Arverne by the Sea’s homes are fully customizable.

QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

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9/21/07 10:14:12 PM

Photos: M. Junaid Alam

trendsetter

This 45-01 Ditmars Blvd. piano-factory-turned-condominium-complex abuts a brick-front plaza.

Chic and hip 28

Astoria’s quiet streets, great shopping attract young buyers BY M. JUNAID ALAM “Astoria is definitely the hottest community for real estate in Queens. This is it.” That’s the assessment of Kevin Riley, a sales and marketing director for Pistilli Realty Group, which has been vigorously involved in building new residential developments in the area. Traditionally known as a Greek and Italian enclave, Astoria has increasingly become a more chic and hip area as the young, the bold and more than a few Manhattan exiles have trickled in over the past few years. The area’s attraction is not difficult to discern. Relatively quiet and replete with single and multi-family brick homes, Astoria abuts the green waterfront near the QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

Triborough Bridge, where many couples admire Astoria Park greenery and the blue-lit span in the evenings. It is also host to some very lively shopping corridors, such as Ditmars Boulevard and Steinway Street, replete with restaurants offering a bevy of spicy Greek, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Asian dishes. As Riley pointedly emphasizes, it is essentially a case of having one’s cake and eating it, too. “It’s a got a very metropolitan feel” in the markets, “but still has that calm and sense of nostalgia” in quiet residential areas flanking the busier streets, he says. The cost of living, he adds, is also a welcome respite from Manhattan red hot prices. Riley’s assessment is based on meetings and conversations he has held with people interested in newly developed Pistilli condominiums – of which there are quite a few. Take Riverview East, a 186-apartment co-op located on 19-19 24th Ave. Equipped with ground-floor commercial space and more than 1:1 parking, it also offers a 24hour concierge and fitness center. Riley

calls it “modest luxury.” The co-op is not aimed at the highest-income bracket, but rather at resident and returning Astorians looking to upgrade as well as young couples. “What we do have is value, size and location … We’ve saved people on the mark-up and our apartments have room to grow,” he says. The building does not actually have a view of the East River, but it is one block from Astoria Park, which is nestled on the waterfront. Some one- and two-bedroom units here cost just less than $400 per square foot, Riley said. Lofts with tall ceilings are also available. One-bedrooms are about 650 square feet, while two-bedrooms range from more than 1,100 to 1,600 square feet. A circular staircase entrance invites visitors to enter the lobby. Pistilli Realty has also converted an old Ditmars piano factory — once owned by the storied Steinway Piano Company — into a condominium complex. The twotoned 45-01 Ditmars Blvd. building features an impressive glass-encased arched entrance and houses 200 units, starting at a little more than $400,000. The Italian- and Greek-descended Pistilli developers, Riley says, “made a move long ago to develop here, based on a vision that Astoria has a lot of promise.” Development here, however, is not the exclusive preserve of the Pistillis. Robson Lemos, vice president of the Corcoran Group, which researches, markets and sells condos in Queens for various developers, is also quick to sing Astoria’s praises. “Astoria is a really hot real-estate market,” he said. “It is changing from a worker’s neighborhood to a young executives’ and students’ ” area for those who want to enjoy the safety and comfort of an established community. Hoyt Terrace, located on 25-47 23rd St., is an eight-unit condominium that Lemos’ company is handling in Astoria. Studios sell for $259,000 and two-bedroom units fetch $489,000. Just minutes away from the N and W subway lines, the complex also has a private outdoor area and built-in washer and dryer appliances. Lemos said developments such as Hoyt Terrace are attractive to Manhattanites who, in fact, can get to Midtown more quickly from Astoria — and he counts himself among them. “I moved from Soho to Astoria, and now getting to Madison Square takes half the time,” he says. A condominium complex pitched at more upscale buyers is the new Astoria Windsor, located at 30-80 21st St. Developed by New City Builders LLC and marketed by The Developers Group, it is a 29unit, seven-story complex with a starting price of about $530,000 for one- and twobedroom homes. “It’s very much a luxury option,” says Harold Valestin of The Developers Group. Spanish porcelain, flat-screen color intercoms and unobstructed views of Manhattan are some of the perks for those interested in “the finer side of life,” he says.

Typical Riverview East interior.

Riverview East, a 186-apartment co-op. QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

Rx for the future

An architect’s rendering shows the new wing of New York Hospital Queens, where construction is already under way.

NY Hospital builds wing with 80 beds Project adds parking spots BY ALEX CHRISTODOULIDES New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens broke ground in February for its 80-bed expansion, facilities upgrade and 372-space parking garage, work which is poised to bolster the Flushing hospital’s role as a boroughwide powerhouse. The construction is part of the hospital’s 50th Anniversary Major Modernization program. The nearly $200 million building program encompasses a major modernization of the existing facility. The funding came from multiple sources, including fund-raising and a loan from HUD, the hospital said. NYHQ will add a new wing with 80 beds, bringing the facility’s total capacity to 519 patients; aggregate cardiovascular services including operating rooms and catheterization labs; a new ambulatory surgery center; and infrastructure improvements after an estimated 42-month construction plan. Besides the new medical and surgical bed capacity, hospital spokeswoman Cynthia Bacon said the expansion will “increase the number of operating rooms from five to 10, including interventional cardiology rooms for same-day procedures like angioplasty, and we’re going to consolidate cardiology services in the same area so that all our cardiac specialists 30

are right there. The space that it will bring will allow us to consolidate our cardiovascular services in one convenient area, the specialists, the operating rooms.” The emphasis on cardiology and cardiovascular services stems from the fact that NYHQ is one of the borough’s two heart centers (the other is North Shore-Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park). “This way we can keep patients in the borough instead of having them go out to Long Island, and we’ve become this high-quality tertiary care center in the middle of Queens. Our cardiothoracic surgery program is one of the top-rated in the state,” Bacon said. The new wing is designed by architecture firm Perkins Eastman, which has several healthcare facilities in its portfolio, and the construction management firm in charge is Barr&Barr. “Both projects (the garage and the new wing construction) are going on simultaneously,” she said. “The foundation has been laid for both projects, and we’re expecting a steel delivery for the structure supports for the new wing. We’re trying to work with the community; they’ve gone out and secured some Queens-based firms to do some of the work.” The new wing is slated to open in 2010, and Bacon said the parking facility on Booth Memorial Avenue is scheduled for a 2008 opening. The hospital’s main entrance has been shifted to Booth Memorial Avenue, away from Main Street and non-clinical departments have been temporarily relocated to a building on Kissena Boulevard. The February groundbreaking drew not only hundreds of hospital medical and administrative staffers but also city, borough and state officials. “In today’s precarious environment for hospitals, we are fortunate to embark upon a program that will expand healthcare access for the residents of Queens,” said New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens President and CEO Steven Mills. “We believe that people must have high quality medical services, and trusted expertise — right in their own backyard.” The expansion program will mean faster turnaround time for hospital beds at the busy medical center. “We’re at almost 100 percent capacity, and we’re on track to have 90,000 patient visits for the year. The new beds will help to get patients into beds as quickly as possible,” Bacon said. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Mills said “the community’s needs are growing and we’re doing what we need to do to serve the community. We all know that growth is necessary and we all understand disruption is part of growth.” Mills was referring to the displacement of the hospital’s parking while the hospital’s own parking garage is razed to make way for new facilities. A new garage under construction nearby is to hold 372 cars on two underground and one at grade levels, a process the hospital expects to take about 18 months, the hospital said.

QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

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Hunter’s Point skyline rivals Gotham

Photos: Cat Cutillo

sky’s the limit

Queens West opens first six buildings BY NATHAN DUKE The Long Island City skyline has begun to resemble Manhattan, its neighboring borough across the East River, more and more in recent years as it offers proof that the long-anticipated Queens West development project is gaining momentum. Revitalization of the western Queens waterfront has been a project many years in the making. The Queens West Development Corporation, a city-state Port Authority partnership, began developing the 74-acre mixed-use project in the early 1990s. It currently has plans to construct 20 buildings near the waterfront and directly across from midtown Manhattan in a period of four stages as well as adding 2 million square feet of commercial space.

Queens West The first two stages of the project, which include 12 buildings, have been developed by Avalon Communities Inc. through the state’s Empire State Development Corp. The latter stages, which will include afford34

The East Coast towers (l.), Avalon Riverview North and the Citylights building are four of

able housing units and retail space, will be created by developer Rockrose through the city’s Economic Development Corporation. Queens West is roughly bounded by Newtown Creek to the south, the East River to the west, 44th Drive to the north and 2nd and 5th Streets to the east. The project, which is estimated to cost more than $2 billion, is the largest of its type in the borough, city and state officials said. “It’s a waterfront community where there has been a very quick occupancy,” said Jennifer Rimmer, vice president for The iconic gantry in front of the Avalon subsidiary development at the Empire Riverview tower was used to load barges. QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

State Development Corp. “(The city and state) have redeveloped an industrial site to make it into an entirely new community.” The site was formerly home to two turn-ofthe-century oil refineries. Rimmer said six of the 12 buildings being developed by the state are completed, including Avalon Riverview, Avalon Riverview North, The Gantry, the 42-story Citylights building and the two East Coast towers. A seventh building is scheduled to open Nov. 1, while another is under construction now and is scheduled to open next year, she said. In addition, four other buildings will be constructed, one per year, during the next several years, she said. Most of the units will be market rate rentals, she said. Infrastructure costs for these buildings is estimated at between $150 million to $180 million, which was provided by the Port Authority and the city. But the state will spend more than $1 billion to pay private developers for the project, she said. Several of the buildings will include coffee shops, restaurants and supermarkets on the

the seven buildings that have already opened in Queens West. ground floor, while the Citylights building contains PS 78, an operating elementary school. In addition, the state is in the process of remediating land near The Gantry to create a park.

Library promised One of the project’s more controversial aspects has been the completion of a promised 22,000-square-foot library on Center Boulevard at 48th Street. An agreement was made between Avalon and the Queens West Development Corporation in 2002 to construct the $15 million building. But the project is temporarily stalled due to a lack of funding and the need to remediate the polluted site where the library is planned to be built, a spokesman for the city EDC said. “I think there has been a lot of finger pointing,” state Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan (D-Ridgewood) said. “The city and state have an obligation to come through with some sort of community center. I’m very disappointed at what I feel has been a very slow process for community amenities.” Rimmer said nearly 50 percent — the proj-

ect’s northern half — of Queens West has been completed. The southern portion of Queens West, which is being developed by the city and dubbed Hunters Point South, will designate 60 percent of its 5,000 units for middle-income families who earn between $60,000 and $140,000 per year and the other 40 percent for market-rate units, said EDC spokesman Tom McKnight. “The city is making sure it has adequate affordable housing,” he said. “There is a lot of housing designated for lower-income families but not much for middle-income families.”

Affordable housing The affordable housing units are part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to build cheaper housing in the city. Western Queens elected officials and activists have long called for the creation of more affordable housing in the neighborhood. Some argue that the units designated by the city for Queens West are still entirely too expensive for a majority of the borough’s residents. “When the tide rises, all ships should rise QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

together,” said Bishop Mitchell Taylor, pastor of Long Island City’s Center for Hope International and president of the East River Development Alliance. “It’s exciting to see Long Island City being developed, but if we are really trying to make this community better, we shouldn’t create a tale of two cities — the haves and havenots.” No developers have yet been secured for the city’s portion of Queens West and the EDC will begin to undergo the approval process for the site and complete an environmental impact statement this winter, McKnight said. The city would also need to map streets that would be constructed in the project and create new zoning, he said. Construction on the project will not likely begin for at least one year, he said. The city will spend an estimated $350 million to remediate its portion of the project, build sidewalks and streets and pay for infrastructure costs, he said. Hunters Point South will also include ground floor retail space, community facilities, a 10-acre waterfront park and space for a new school, grades 6-12, he said. 35

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QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

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QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

SpecialKIDS

DESERVE SpecialCARE Shadat, age 16 months

Shadat came to St. Mary's at just two months old. He came with a congenital heart condition and vocal cord paralysis. He came needing specialized medical and rehabilitation services. He came, he is receiving exceptional care, and he is thriving. St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children is one of the nation's premier providers of intensive rehabilitation and specialized care for children with special needs and life-limiting conditions. The largest pediatric post-acute care provider of its kind in the region, St. Mary's treats 4,000 children each day through our Hospital, Home Care and Community Programs in the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and beyond. Following hospitalizations for complications from premature birth, illness and injury, or when special services are needed, children and their families come to St. Mary's to receive exceptional care, learn to manage their condition, and achieve a better quality of life.

St. Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s: Pioneers in Care & Rehabilitation & Inpatient Services & Home Care & Early Intervention & Traumatic Brain Injury and Coma Recovery & Healing Arts and Therapeutic Activities & Center for Pediatric Feeding Disorders & Palliative Care & Complementary Care & Medical Day Care & Early Education & Research Institute & Advocacy

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Photo: Cat Cutillo

let’s play

The Unisphere is the symbol of Queens and the centerpiece of the 1,225-acre Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

Queens’ coolest park adding attractions Pool, ice rink open this fall BY IVAN PEREIRA It’s no secret that Flushing Meadows Corona Park already has some of the coolest attractions in Queens. The mesmerizing Meadow Lake, the 12-story-high Unisphere, Billie Jean King Tennis Center and Shea Stadium are just some of the sites that bring millions of visitors from around the world to this 1,255-acre grassland. “This park always gives me a good opportunity to have a good time with my dogs, meet new people and have a good time,” said Bobby LoRocca, 42, of Forest Hills, who was walking his two boxers in the park on a recent Saturday. Of course, there’s always room for a little more fun, and that’s why the city Parks Department has been rolling out several projects in the last couple of years to improve old attractions and add new ones. The first major improvement to the park was the renovated Flushing Bay Promenade, located on the north side of Meadow Lake. The boardwalk structure, complete with a raised viewing plateau, park benches and concession 40

stand, was actually created as part of another project to make the park more environmentally friendly. The Department of Environmental Protection built the promenade as part of its $250million construction of retention tanks located beneath the soccer fields, Parks Department spokeswoman Abby Lootens said. “These tanks were needed to correct the pollution of the water systems that was being attributed to a combined sewer overflow. It is common when an agency or company does (environmental) work that may affect a park. It pays mitigation funds that are used to benefit the park,” she said. Since the boardwalk opened in the summer of 2004, it has attracted visitors who love taking long breathers in front of the 93-acre, man-made lake, the largest in the city. The promenade stands on the same grounds as the former Billy Rose Aquacade, a waterfront arena built for the 1939 World’s Fair. “This boardwalk fits in with the rest of the park. It’s got the food for the kids, and the benches here for the joggers like me,” said a ForQUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

est Hills park-goer for more than 20 years. The park’s next big project is a $64-million recreation complex, which will open this fall on Meridian Road near the Van Wyck Expressway. The complex will house an Olympic-size swimming pool and a National Hockey League-standard ice rink, a three-story lobby and an outdoor patio space — all in one building. As big as the facility is, it also has room to grow. The building has a cable-supported roof and movable floors for expansion above and below the facility, according to the Parks Department. “The movable floor makes the pool a flexible space with the potential to have recreational and competitive swimming simultaneously,” Lootens said. Another recreation facility, which will feature racquetball courts, dance programs, aerobics classes, fitness programs, basketball programs and a computer resource center, will open up next door to the pool on Fowler Avenue in December, Lootens said. Pat Dolan, president of the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Conservancy, said the center was a big plus not only for the park but also for northern Queens, since it will provide residents with much-needed recreational services. “We’ve been looking forward to the pool and rink for the past couple of years, because there isn’t a public pool like that in this part of the borough,” she said. Of course, Flushing Meadows is still a green space, and the Parks Department has plans to upgrade its long winding paths and walkways across the park. In addition to improving the trails that surround Meadow Lake, Parks is planning to create a path to lead visitors back to Willow Lake. The marshland has been inaccessible since 2000, when a fire damaged a wooden pedestrian bridge. Thanks to an $84,480 grant from New York state, pedestrians will have access through two trails, one over the Van Wyck Expressway and another over the Grand Central Parkway, Lootens said.

We’ve been making mortgages since 1921 and we’ve only just begun.

You’ve probably seen a lot of articles recently about a number of mortgage companies who have either gone bankrupt or been forced out of business because of the changing economic climate. Rest assured Ridgewood Savings is here to provide affordable financing to creditworthy consumers whether it be a first-time homebuyer or an existing homeowner. Owning a home has always been part of the “American Dream” and Ridgewood wants to help by offering a variety of mortgages with flexible terms and affordable rates. We’ll make you feel right at home.

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QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

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go figure 45,000

Queens by the numbers

Distance from home plate to deep center field at Citi Field

From a 45,000-seat stadium to a $3 billion plan for Willets Point, this diverse boro is changing fast

The estimated cost of redeveloping Willets Point

2,255,175

The date when the city first tried to demolish and redevelop Willets Point during the tenure of Robert Moses

The number of seats in Citi Field

408 ft 26 The number of soundstages the expanded Silvercup Studios will contain

$3 billion 1964

Population of Queens in 2006

$50 million

1,809,578 Population of Queens in 1960

The projected cost of cleaning up the contaminated land at Willets Point

48%

$530,000

Percentage of Queens residents born in other countries, according to the 2005 Census

Starting price for a luxury condo at the new Astoria Windsor complex on 21st Street in Astoria

Photo: Gene Roman

$51,190

$110 million

Median household income in Queens in 2006, based on a Census report

Cost to build the mixed-use Queens Crossing project in downtown Flushing

$60,000â&#x20AC;&#x201C;$140,000

368

The middle-income range for families in affordable housing at Hunters Point South

Blocks of space in downtown Jamaica that have been rezoned for development

1,255

The size in acres of Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Photo: Cat Cutillo

2,300

Number of beds New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens is adding to its Flushing facility

160,000

Number of homes planned for Arverne by the Sea

Number of people the MTA expects to use East Side Access on the Long Island Rail Road.

9,000

$6.3 billion

The number of people Arverne by the Sea is expected to add to the Rockaway Peninsula

Projected cost of East Side Access

$1.2 billion

$2.1 billion

Projected cost of Arverne by the Sea

Projected cost to extend the No. 7 train to 11th Avenue on the Far West Side of Manhattan

Photo: Cat Cutillo 50

QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007

QUEENS COLLEGE NAMED ONE OF AMERICA’S 25 HOTTEST SCHOOLS

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FALL OPEN HOUSE ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4. For more info, call 718-997-4220 or visit www.qc.cuny.edu/admissions

QUEENS TOMORROW OCTOBER 4, 2007