Reworking Industrial Districts in Long Island City

DISEÑADO POR: ANGEL LARA

DISEÑADO POR: ANGEL LARA

URBAN DESIGN STUDIO SPRING 2018

DISEÑADO POR: ANGEL LARA

DISEÑADO POR: ANGEL LARA

DISEÑADO POR: ANGEL LARA

REWORKING INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS

IN LONG ISLAND CITY

EQ DISEÑADO POR: ANGEL LARA

AL

UI MANHA PMEN TT T RENT AN

DUSP/MIT

Gonzalo Ortega

Daphne Xu

URBAN DESIGN STUDIO SPRING 2018

Zoe Mueller

Marissa Reilly

Chelsea Bruck

Graham Lazar

Annie Hudson

Charlotte Ong

REWORKING INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS

IN LONG ISLAND CITY

Sara Li

Azka Mohyuddin

Johanna GreenspanJohnston

DUSP/MIT

Jialu Tan

Evan Spetrini

AC K N OW L E D G M E N TS Instructor Marie Law Adams Co-Instructor Xi Qiu (Colleen) Teaching Assistant Pitchapa Jular (Pim) Client Alexis Wheeler, NYC Department of City Planning Publication Team Marissa Reilly Sara Li Zoe Mueller

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The authors thank Alexis Wheeler for introducing us to the people, places, and businesses of Long Island City, and for providing insightful feedback throughout the semester. Elizabeth Lusskin and the Long Island City Partnership for hosting us early on, reviewing the work in progress, and providing essential connections to the LIC business community. Purnima Kapur, Michael Marrella, Sulin Carling, David Vega-Barachowitz, and Dylan Sandler for sharing the work of NYC Department of City Planning. Cali Williams and Annemarie Gray for sharing the work of NYC Economic Development Corporation. Bin Jung for sharing the work of NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Paula Kirby, Adam Lubinsky, and the team at Plaxall for presenting Plaxall’s future plans. Mana Products, Boyce Technologies, Sims Metal Management, and Fifth Hammer Brewing for facility tours.

Mitch Waxman and Willis Elkins of the Newtown Creek Alliance for touring Newtown Creek.

Thank you to the management and staff of Green Asphalt, Depp Glass, Ranieri Sculpture Casting, Rapid Steel Supply Corp, Materials for the Arts, LeNoble Lumber, Hunters Point Recycling, Shapeways 3D Printing Factory, Nouveau Elevator, Navillus Contracting, Green Insulation, Edison Price Lighting, and Ifresh Market for interviews and tours.

Thank you to the Brownfields Mini-Symposium speakers Kim Rose (Ariel Foundation Park), Mark Wallace (Detroit Riverfront Conservancy), Mark Sloan (GM Real Estate), Jim Hartnett (GM Remediation), Jay Gardner (Surplus Property Roundtable). Thank you to Mike Goldstein (Ingersoll Rand) for organizing the speakers.

Eran Ben-Joseph, Mary Anne Ocampo, Anthony Vanky, and Nadya Nilina for their feedback on our mid-review. Alexis Wheeler, Jana Cephas, Tim Love, Dan Adams for their feedback on our final review.

Ceasar McDowell for facilitating constructive reflection sessions at critical moments during the semester.

This work was generously supported by the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

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TA BL E OF CO NTE N TS INTRODUCTION

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Marie Law Adams

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BUSINESS BIOGRAPHIES ++ Depp Glass

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++ Ranieri Sculpture Casting

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++ Rapid Steel

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++ Materials for the Arts

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++ LeNoble Lumber

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++ Hunters Point Recycling

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++ Shapeways Factory

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++ Nouveau Elevator

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++ General Insulation

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++ Sims Metal Management

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++ Edison Lighting

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++ IFresh, Inc.

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++ Navillus Contracting

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PROPOSALS

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++ Elevating Rail Remnants Sara Li Zoe Mueller Marissa Reilly

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++ A New Learning Curve Azka Mohyuddin Evan Spetrini Daphne Xu

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++ Reimagining the 10% Chelsea Bruck Charlotte Ong Jialu Tan

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++ Four Long Island Cities Graham Lazar

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++ A 22nd Century Logistics Hub Annie Hudson

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++ Beyond the Waterfront Johanna Greenspan-Johnston Gonzalo Ortega

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REFERENCES

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INTRODUCTION

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

Reworking Industrial Districts in Long Island City Marie Law Adams

This document presents the work of a spring 2018 MIT urban design studio and practicum that explored design strategies to strengthen Long Island City’s (LIC’s) core industrial areas. It includes field work with LIC industrial businesses, urban analysis, and proposals produced by city planning students with input from individuals in the NYC Department of City Planning (DCP). This work is intended to offer concrete visions for LIC that complement current city-wide industrial economic development initiatives (New York Works, NYC Industrial Action Plan), and contribute to an emerging area of study on urban design and physical planning for contemporary urban industrial districts.

In a 2016 New York Times article, Alicia Glen, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development, remarked, “The city is growing and getting bigger … so we have to think about new ways we can make all the messy pieces of the city fit together.” [1]

Opposite : View of LIC across Newtown Creek with industrial foreground and LIC’s bui lt-up core in the skyline

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

Congestion and bui lding in LIC It’s no secret that New York is a real estate hotspot. The ‘messy’ part, though, calls for some explanation. Messy points to the problem with traditional approaches to land use compatibility that neatly separate residential from industrial districts with a commercial buffer in-between – a zoning strategy that has become impractical with the city’s diminished supply of developable land. As New York continues to face an affordable housing crisis and soaring land values, the city and developers have been eyeing every scrap of under-utilized land to add housing units, often at the cost of other less profitable and less visible uses like industrial. In the Times article above, Glen was referring to the city’s quest for solutions through new types of industrial mixed-use development by leveraging the market to increase the supply of industrial space and good-wage industrial sector jobs. This concept is being taken to the test with a set of two major projects currently seeking rezoning approval on Long Island City’s East River waterfront, where light industrial bases would be crosssubsidized by residential towers above. [2] 12

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

M districts in LIC, red area indicates MX mixed-use The ‘messy’ problem represents a change in the issues that shape industrial development, which has, arguably, always been the most problematic land use type. Early versions of modern zoning, going back to New York’s 1916 Resolution when industrial activities comprised a much bigger share of New York’s land use, were developed in part to isolate the industrial problem by putting “Unrestricted” industrial uses and their noxious impacts away from wealthier residential neighborhoods. The geography of industry in the US has altogether shifted since that peak period of production, however, owing to a mix of economic, social, political, and technological changes across scales.

Decentralization through industrial suburbanization and globalization led to the so-called post-industrial city in its different forms – the shrinking city, the elite service and leisure-oriented city, etc; and helped along by zoning changes that have encouraged the non-industrial redevelopment of industrial districts in New York and elsewhere. [3] 13

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

Messy street in a LIC IBZ Recently, however, there have been signs that the industrial sector in New York is stabilizing, and the current problem facing expensive cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago is how to preserve what’s left. The types of industries thriving in these cities today are different, favoring small-batch custom manufacturing that benefits from proximity to the city’s population of designers and end-users, industries with time-sensitive delivery, like concrete and asphalt batching, and essential industrial services that support public works, like waste and water management. Recent studies in New York have shown that industrial jobs could play an important role in creating a more economically equitable city, on average paying almost twice as much as service sector jobs that have tended to replace them and providing pathways to a middle-income level for individuals who haven’t had the opportunity to attend college. [4] The question of what urban industry is today, and what it contributes to quality of life and the city as a whole, is evolving.

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

Open-yard industry Today, more than half of New York’s remaining industrial M-districts receive some level of protection from rezoning under the Industrial Business Zone initiative, though the program faces criticism because it’s not codified in zoning and it’s unclear how effective it’s been at strengthening industrial areas. [5] The zoning code still allows for a number of non-industrial uses (commercial, hotel, and previously, selfstorage) as of right, all of which are more profitable and will therefore contribute to the continued gradual de-industrialization of industrial districts.

Starting in 2014, political leaders in New York outlined new strategies for strengthening the industrial sector as part of a broader agenda to create a more equitable city. In 2017 the city released New York Works, a job creation plan for 100,000 new good-paying jobs over the next 10 years, targeting 20,000 new jobs in the industrial and manufacturing sector.

This complemented a $115 million 10-point Industrial Action Plan in 2015 to strengthen core industrial areas through capital investments, updated 15

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

zoning, and workforce development; and followed on a 2014 Engines of Opportunity brief that provided land use policy recommendations to support industrial areas.

These new approaches to job and land use policy will be limited, however, if not supported by creative thinking on the physical, spatial, and social dimensions of new industrial districts. Changes in the makeup of industrial districts that are more mixed by design, shifts in goods distribution due to e-commerce, advancements in freight technology, and questions of climate change and how that will affect New York’s many floodplain industries, are some of the pressing issues in the design and planning of industrial districts. [6] In today’s ‘messy’ context, where past approaches of segregating industry have proven to no longer suffice, our urban design studio looked to build on the work the city is doing and develop design frameworks to see how different pieces might ‘fit together’ as productive districts that offer quality jobs, resilient and forward looking industries, and a more plural and inclusive urban public realm. The studio work focused on the Long Island City (LIC) neighborhood of Queens, where the city is already testing ideas for new industrial mixed-use development and placemaking around industrial activities.

LIC has been called a city within the city because of its history as an independent municipality, but it also seems fitting to think of it as two cities – it is still today one of New York’s highest performing industrial areas, while at the same time, LIC has recently experienced lightning growth, turning over many of its formerly industrial areas to residential towers as an outcome of Bloomberg-era rezoning. The struggle over land use in LIC is plain to see, where issues of gentrification, overburdened infrastructure systems, and increasing truck-bike-ped conflicts (industry to non-industry conflicts) have tangible impacts on the daily lives and long-term plans of LIC residents and businesses alike. Add in the ongoing 180-acre Sunnyside Yards master plan for residentialcommercial redevelopment in the heart of LIC, and it’s clear that this neighborhood is facing major change. What is the role that industry will play in the future of LIC, and what should that look like?

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

APPROACH The studio began with a site visit to LIC, where we were first introduced to the area through city planning and stakeholder meetings, site walks, and facility tours. The tours offered an overview of the wide range of businesses that fall under New York’s M-zoning – from facilities that have already largely converted to post-industrial arts uses, more traditional examples of vertically integrated manufacturing, advanced manufacturing and development, artisanal production, to heavy open-air industrial facilities. We visited: MANA Products, one of the world’s largest cosmetic manufacturers operating out of a former Packard plant that employs nine-hundred workers (and sometimes more) in LIC that test, mix, mold, package and ship makeup products, with four in-house laboratories of chemists that perfect the color, odor, texture, and appearance of the MANA products.

Sims Metal Management on Newtown Creek, where excavators work on giant piles of crushed cars, scrap metal, and fluttering paper and plastics before sending them on barges down the East River for recycling.

Plaxall, a historic LIC plastics packaging manufacturer that has diversified into property management of a thriving art and maker district. More recently, Plaxall is spearheading the development vision for one of LIC’s two major industrial-mixed use projects that would bring over 300,000 square feet of new light industrial space and over 2,000 housing units to Anable Basin on the East River.

Boyce Technologies, an advanced technology development and fabrication facility that specializes in custom integrated security and communications devices for transit authorities.

Fifth Hammer Brewing Company, a craft brewery and taproom opened two years ago by a former Manhattan lawyer and his saxophone-playing business partner.

After the initial site visit, the studio semester was divided into phases of research, analysis, and design.

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

The research part was based on a premise that the physical, operational, and scalar logics of industry are different and less understood by urban designers than other urban typologies (many active industries tend to be more peripheral, fenced off, and less public-facing), and that new design and planning tools should draw from a better understanding of industrial business practices and concerns. We started by doing field work with

LIC area agriculture and wetlands, mid 19th c.

1873, the urban vi llages that comprised LIC

1916, industrial development

Development patterns today 19

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

current LIC businesses through interviews, facility tours, parcel data comparisons, and analytical drawings of their operations. We chose 14 businesses that exemplified a range of current industrial activities seen in LIC, and asked about their physical facilities, operations, business networks, distribution networks, and plans for the future. We compiled the field work and distilled six common themes that offer some insights into policy, physical planning, and public realm issues for current LIC businesses: Tenure and Transience: Unsurprisingly, property ownership status heavily influenced a businesses’ future plans in relation to LIC. Renters faced uncertainty and disinvestment, as landlords speculated on future development opportunities of their industrial properties.

Risk: Although many of LIC’s industrial areas lie within the floodplain and some of the businesses had fairly major property damage from Hurricane Sandy, very few had concrete plans for how to survive the next storm.

Incremental Growth: Many facilities that we visited were overflowing with materials and equipment, turning sidewalks as and streets into improvised loading zones, stockpile areas, and employee parking lots. At the same time, increasing congestion on the streets was causing delivery delays and raises questions about the area’s infrastructural capacity to grow. Businesses that had the capital to expand were constrained by low FAR allowances in the M-zoning.

Across the board, many were beginning to look to New Jersey to grow, with its business tax incentives and cheaper space, or Long Island.

Many businesses had moved from neighborhood to neighborhood through the city already, chasing lower rents as property values climbed.

Public Facing: Some of the businesses relied on frequent in-person collaboration with designers and clients, and accordingly were interested in making the industrial neighborhood inviting, safe, and accessible to outsiders. Other businesses generated a significant volume of trucking, loading and unloading activities, which was not well reconciled with pedestrian and bike movements.

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

M-1 allowable uses

M-2

M-3

MX New York-Centric: LIC’s position in the geographic center of New York City is ideal for connecting businesses to consumers all over the city. Some of the businesses required short distances to deliver perishable goods to end-users, and others benefited from supporting the ‘front of house’ industries that New York is known for, like theater and fashion.

Compatibility of Uses: Industries in LIC today range in compatibility to non-industrial uses – depending on trucking volumes, noise, and visual appearance. While this is reflected in the 1961 M-1 (lighter industries), M-2 (medium), and M-3 (heavy) categories, the specific use types from that era no longer reflect contemporary industry, and overlook a more refined approach to mixing uses without compromising productivity or quality of life.

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

In parallel, we examined the physical and regulatory frameworks that have shaped LIC through maps and analytical drawings. Drawing on observations from our initial site visit, the studio identified six themes for investigation: The Anatomy of LIC: The urban fabric of LIC can feel fragmented and at times disorienting. The order underlying the disparate patterns can be traced through LIC’s development history, as it grew from an agglomeration of eight independent urban villages, resulting in a patchwork of different urban grids. Adding to this, LIC holds several large-scale developments of different kinds (large cemeteries like First Cavalry Cemetery, infrastructural areas like Sunnyside rail yards, and public housing complexes like Queensbridge – the largest in the country - and Ravenswood), that create their sub-districts within the surrounding fabric. Should our proposals seek to better connect between LIC’s urban fragments, or does this pattern of discrete parts offer unique opportunity to cultivate different productive districts with distinct identities?

LIC Waters: Water flows around and through LIC. The East River and Newtown Creek waterfronts exemplify contrasting visions for what LIC could be, with the green waterfront parks that foreground residential towers on the East River, and the battered bulkheads that line the Newtown Creek Superfund waterway. With little green space overall and rapid development, LIC’s combined sewer infrastructure is overwhelmed and overflowing with every major rainfall. Following on decades of industrial pollution, LIC’s skyrocketing residential population offers one of Newtown Creek’s most serious water quality problems today. Compounding all of this is the need for better floodplain resiliency measures against the threat of increased storms and rising seas. How can LIC grow in ways that address vulnerability, water quality, and better access to resources?

Flows of Goods and People: LIC’s mobility systems cast an actual shadow on the neighborhood. The area is known for its overhead infrastructure – subways, bridges to Manhattan, bridges to Brooklyn, and overhead highways, that create three-dimensional

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

entanglements over the local streets. Areas under bridges are often used for construction laydown and parking, or nothing at all, creating more breaks in a fragmented urban fabric. What unique opportunities do these covered and elevated spaces offer? Can we imagine new modes of connectivity or new ways of activating these residual spaces?

Cataloging Industries: New York’s zoning term for industrial uses since the 1961 zoning overhaul has been ‘Manufacturing,’ which covers a range of activities that include manufacturing as well as warehousing and distribution, waste management, and public utilities. Additionally, most M-districts allow most commercial uses and hotels, which out-compete industrial uses in today’s market.

In the late 1990’s, a large swathe of LIC was zoned MX for mixeduse residential/industrial/commercial, to encourage and bring into conformance mixed use live-work zones that had naturally developed in LIC. However, because there is no requirement for industrial in the zoning, residential and commercial uses gradually push out the industrial in these zones. What would a forward-looking industrial zoning policy look like? How can policy support LIC’s existing industrial community while offering actionable pathways for growth and change?

Physical Fabric of Industry: Different eras of industry and transportation have produced different patterns of buildings and infrastructural spaces in LIC, ranging from the robust reinforced concrete multi-story factories of the early 20th century, one-story nearly window-free steel or block warehouse buildings, open-air yards with trailer-offices, and a whole family of oddly shaped buildings borne out of LIC’s historic freight rail networks. How will this palette of industrial artifacts and patterns shape LIC’s future productive and public spaces?

The Public Realm (of Industry): As LIC’s residential, commercial, and industrial communities grow closer together, the streets and sidewalks have become a contested zone, where semi-trailers, fork lifts, cyclists, parked cars, and pedestrians jockey for space.

The streets and sidewalks are where LIC’s frictions become most immediate and physical. Are there benefits to this flexible and dynamic public realm, or should future visions seek to ease conflicts by delineating zones for different mobility systems?

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

The field work and urban analysis served as a basis for urban design framework proposals in the last phase, to support the development of productive, resilient, and inclusive industrial districts in LIC. The proposals draw from existing and proposed policy tools and physical design. Elevating Rail Remnants is a project that uncovers new pedestrian infrastructure to connect workers and residents to LIC’s major IBZ near Newtown Creek. A New Learning Curve combines new mixed-use commercial and industrial zoning with an institutional strategy for a new workforce development ecosystem. Reimagining the 10% re-appropriates a tax incentive for industrial facility improvements to enhance quality of life in IBZ’s. Four Long Island Cities is a tactical urban design intervention that brings together entrepreneurial energy from Cornell Tech and the Queensbridge Houses community. A 22nd Century Logistics Hub envisions the adaptation of LIC’s IBZ’s for new forms of freight technology, urban mobility, and public spaces; and Beyond the Waterfront tests scenarios for a new resilient infrastructure along the north shore of Newtown Creek.

Notes 1. New York Times article, “Experiment on Queens Waterfront Would Mix Manufacturers and Dwellers.”

April 18, 2016 by Matt A.V. Chaban.

2. The Plaxall redevelopment on Anable Basin, and the city-owned 11-12 44th Drive redevelopment under the NYCEDC. 3. See pages 9-10 of Engines of Opportunity brief, outlining Giuliani’s efforts to allow big box retail in M-zones, creation of Mixed Use districts, and early Bloomberg Administration rezoning.

4. Engines of Opportunity, p. 2.

5. Between 2006 and 2013, the Bloomberg Administration designated 21 citywide Industrial Business Zones within M-districts in an effort to protect existing industrial assets from real estate speculation. The IBZ program has included some tax benefits and business support services, and a mayoral commitment not to support rezoning. The de Blasio Administration has maintained the IBZ program to date, though language on the NYC Planning website about the IBZ’s hasn’t been updated to change from Bloomberg to de Blasio’s commitment.

6. Plans for the Bronx’s Hunt’s Point food distribution center and DCP’s Resilient Industry report are both solid steps in this direction.

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

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BUSINESS BIOGRAPHIES

MATERIALS FOR THE ARTS

EDISON PRICE LIGHTING

DEPP GLASS

NAVILLUS CONTRACTING

NOUVEAU ELEVATOR RANIERI SCULPTURE CASTING SHAPEWAYS FACTORY HUNTERS POINT RECYCLING

LENOBLE LUMBER

IFRESH, INC.

RAPID STEEL SUPPLY CORP.

SIMS METAL MANAGEMENT

LENOBLE LUMBER

GREEN ASPHALT

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GENERAL INSULATION

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Business Biographies The Business Biographies field research is based on a premise that the physical, operational, and scalar logics of industry are different and less understood than other urban typologies (many active industries tend to be more peripheral, fenced off, and less public-facing), and that new design and planning tools should draw from a better understanding of industrial business practices. We started by doing field work with current LIC businesses through interviews, facility tours, parcel data comparisons, and analytical drawings of their operations. We chose 14 businesses that exemplified a range of current industrial activities seen in LIC, and asked about their physical facilities, operations, business networks, distribution networks, and their plans for the future.

Opposite : Locations of all featured LIC businesses

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Loading for outgoing material

Proposed bike lanes in front of loading dock

Unloading for incoming raw material Client showroom on upper level

DEPP GLASS ADDRESS .................... 41-50 / 41-40 38 STREET

Founded in Brooklyn in 1860, Depp Glass has expanded into both Manhattan and Queens. Depp Glass bought the two buildings that comprised their LIC location in the early 1980s. While the owner wishes to stay in Long Island City, they have considered moving the manufacturing side of their business elsewhere and using the LIC location for a showroom.

ZONING ................................................. M1-4 BUILT FAR ......................................... 1.38 / 1.13 BUILDING HEIGHT .......................... 20 ft / 25 ft AREA (IND:STOR:OFF) ................ 82% : 0% : 18% BUILDING AREA USED ..................... 14,850 sqft FLOODED BY SANDY? ................................ No GROUND ELEVATION ............................... 65 ft

Depp Glass caters to mostly high-end clientele for custom glass installations. Their work can be found in the private homes of celebrities and display windows of stores like Barney’s. They worked with Apple and provided all the glass for their iconic storefronts and hold the patent for the glass stairs found in Apple stores.

RAIL CONNECTION? .................................. No YEAR BUILT .................................... 1925 / 1931 MAJOR RENOVATIONS ............................ 2001 (TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT ........................... $11 LEASE or OWN? ..................................... OWN

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Crowded street parking used by surrounding businesses

Examples of sculpture products on building facade

Defensive bars on windows Infrequent use of loading docks due to decreased business

RANIERI SCULPTURE CASTING ADDRESS ..................................... 27-01 47th Ave

As the 3rd generation in his family to work with sculpture, Dominic Ranieri moved from Italy to New York and opened Ranieri Sculpture Casting in SoHo in 1961. Ranieri opened in LIC in 2001 with more than double the space for mold-making, sculpture casting, patina application, and storage.

ZONING .................................................... M1-4 BUILT FAR ........................................... 1.59 / 2.00 BUILDING HEIGHT ....................................... 18 ft AREA (IND:STOR:OFF) ..................... 92% : 0% : 8% BUILDING AREA USED ........................ 19,600 sqft FLOODED BY SANDY? .................................... No GROUND ELEVATION ................................... 13 ft RAIL CONNECTION? ......................... Yes, Inactive YEAR BUILT ................................................ 1933 MAJOR RENOVATIONS ....................... 1987, 2000 (TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT ............................... $8 LEASE or OWN? ......................................... OWN

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Incoming raw material

Trucks pass through building to pick up materials

Outgoing fabricated products Building is full depth of the block, allowing for efficient production line Proximity to Queens Midtown Expressway

RAPID STEEL SUPPLY CORPORATION ADDRESS ....................................... 49-49 30th St

Rapid Steel is a steel supplier focused on steel fabrication. Within their Long Island City space they have a series of machines that cut, roll and form steel. They also store a limited amount of product.

ZONING .................................................... M2-1 BUILT FAR ........................................... 1.10 / 2.00 BUILDING HEIGHT ....................................... 18 ft

Rapid Steel’s competitive advantage is their highquality customization and speedy delivery: they offer free (and rapid) delivery anywhere in New York City and its surrounding environs. Their trucks (at the ready outside of the space at all times) drop raw steel off on one side of the building and pick up the customized product on the other side.

AREA (IND:STOR:OFF) ................... 50% : 50% : 0% BUILDING AREA USED ........................ 38,380 sqft FLOODED BY SANDY? .................................... No GROUND ELEVATION ................................... 13 ft RAIL CONNECTION? ......................... Yes, Inactive YEAR BUILT ............................................... 1948 MAJOR RENOVATIONS ............................... none (TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT ............................... $8 LEASE or OWN? ....................................... LEASE

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Adjacent to Sunnyside Yards

No nearby parking Loading dock is insufficient

MATERIALS FOR THE ARTS Materials for the Arts is New York City’s premier donation center supporting the arts and education.

MFTA collects surplus items from businesses and individuals, and make these donations available for free to its recipients: nonprofit organizations with arts programming, government agencies, and public schools. Their warehouse is operated by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs with additional support from the City’s Departments of Sanitation and of Education.

ADDRESS ............................ 33-00 Northern Blvd ZONING .................................................... M1-5 BUILT FAR ............................................... ....6.96 BUILDING HEIGHT ..................................... 108 ft AREA (IND:STOR:OFF) .................... 1% : 37% : 61% BUILDING AREA USED ....................... 35,000 sqft FLOODED BY SANDY? .................................... No GROUND ELEVATION ................................... 22 ft RAIL CONNECTION? ..................................... Yes

MFTA has a small art gallery where they showcase art made out of recycled materials. They also host public programs in their space once a month, ranging from artist-led workshops, lectures, yoga sessions, and more.

YEAR BUILT ................................................ 1915 MAJOR RENOVATIONS ....................... 2001, 2007 (TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT ............................. $23 LEASE or OWN? ....................................... LEASE

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Planned expansion into current FreshDirect facility

Original loading dock connected to rail spur

Sales staff, dispatchers and accounting staff are split between two offices

365-acre Cavalry Cemetery across street creates buffer to industrial uses

LENOBLE LUMBER ADDRESS ................................. 38-20 Review Ave

Founded in 1965 to serve the movie industry, the family business moved to LIC in 2007 upon outgrowing its Hells Kitchen facilities. Their fulfillment and distribution center, pictured here, is served by 3 warehouses and includes a small shop for custom milling. A future expansion will double their space.

ZONING .................................................... M3-1 BUILT FAR ........................................... 1.81 / 2.00 BUILDING HEIGHT ...................................... 41 ft AREA (IND:STOR:OFF) .................... 15% : 82% : 3% BUILDING AREA USED ....................... 80,000 sqft FLOODED BY SANDY? .................................... No

Review Ave is overburdened by heavy trucking industries and by improvised, congested loading areas. The expected departure of neighbor Fresh Direct may provide brief but probably insufficient relief. Their tenure is threatened by a spread of LIC’s displaced high-rent commercial tenants.

GROUND ELEVATION .................................. 20 ft RAIL CONNECTION? ......................... Yes, Inactive YEAR BUILT ................................................ 1972 MAJOR RENOVATIONS ............................... none (TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT ............................... $9 LEASE or OWN? ...................................... LEASE

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Need to manage dust from aggregates Tall wind screens buffer views from encroaching residential

Stacked shipping containers = office and break room

DISEÑADO POR: ANGEL LARA

Complex truck queuing

Main sorting pile Building owned by parent construction company

HUNTERS POINT RECYCLING Hunters Point Recycling recycles dirt, concrete and rock from road construction/repair projects primarily in Manhattan and Queens. HPR converts these materials into recycled aggregate of differing grades, which is then used as backfill.

ADDRESS ........................ 29-55 Hunters Point Ave ZONING .................................................... M3-2 BUILT FAR ......................................... 0.00 / 2.00 BUILDING HEIGHT ........................................ NA AREA (IND:STOR:OFF) ...................... NA : NA : NA

HPR has erected a high fence around their yard to minimize the yard’s visibility. They also pride themselves on maintaining a clean yard, with attention paid to the cleanliness of the entrance and exit. HPR tries to manage truck traffic by having a yard personnel manage the truck queues and actively turn away trucks if the queues get too long.

With an influx of commercial and residential uses in the surrounding areas, HPR perceives that there is an incompatibility with these new incoming uses.

BUILDING AREA USED ...................................NA FLOODED BY SANDY? ................................... Yes GROUND ELEVATION .....................................NA RAIL CONNECTION? ...................................... No YEAR BUILT ............................................... 201?

MAJOR RENOVATIONS ................................ 2016 (TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT ............................. $27 LEASE or OWN? ........................................ OWN

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Widened sidewalks at loading side of building

acrylate ceramic nylon

SHAPEWAYS FACTORY ADDRESS .................................... 30-02 48th Ave

Shapeways is a custom order 3D printing service, founded in 2007 in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Their headquarters are in Manhattan and they have manufacturing facilities in Long Island City and Eindhoven as well as additional offices in Seattle.

ZONING .................................................... M2-1 BUILT FAR .......................................... 2.85 / 2.00 BUILDING HEIGHT ....................................... 51 ft AREA (IND:VAC) .................... 20,000 : 121,800 sqft

Shapeways opened their Long Island City facility in 2012 and currently has five years left on their lease.

They are the only remaining tenant in the building as the owner is renovating the remaining spaces.

They expect the landlord to fill the vacant spaces with office tenants and a cafe to create a complex much like the Factory and Falchi buildings close by. If the owner increases their rent once the lease has expired they will move from higher-skilled to lower-skilled labor, diminishing their need to be in such a central location.

BUILDING AREA USED ....................... 20,000 sqft FLOODED BY SANDY? .................................... No GROUND ELEVATION ................................... 13 ft RAIL CONNECTION? ...................................... No YEAR BUILT ............................................... 1926 MAJOR RENOVATIONS .................. 2013, Ongoing (TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT ............................... $9 LEASE or OWN? ....................................... LEASE

42

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

2014 renovations increased building’s structural capacity to anticipate zoning changes

Showcase elevator shaft

Four residential apartments sandwiched between Nouveau properties Employee parking

NOUVEAU ELEVATOR ADDRESS .................................. 47-55 37 STREET

Nouveau Elevator, the largest vertical transportation company in America, builds, installs and maintains thousands of elevators, escalators and moving sidewalks both in the tri-state area, and nationally.

ZONING .................................................... M1-4 BUILT FAR ........................................... 1.99 / 2.00 BUILDING HEIGHT ...................................... 36 ft

The company was founded in 1984 by four brothers and their father and is still family-owned and operated. They currently have 550 employees and plan to grow 10% in the next 6 months. During a 2014 renovation, Nouveau reinforced the building’s structural capacity to enable additional stories (up to 15) in case the zoning changes in the future. Prior to moving to LIC, Nouveau was located in Greenpoint -- their Greenpoint location was severely affected

by Superstorm Sandy. In reaction to the flooding, Nouveau sought a new facility further inland prompting a move to their current location.

AREA (IND:STOR:OFF) ..................... 96% : 0%: 4% BUILDING AREA USED ........................ 36,100 sqft FLOODED BY SANDY? .................................... No GROUND ELEVATION ................................... 77 ft RAIL CONNECTION? ...................................... No YEAR BUILT ................................................ 1956 MAJOR RENOVATIONS ........................2007, 2014 (TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT .............................. $21 LEASE or OWN? ......................................... OWN

44

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Storage warehouse Truck queuing Flooding vulnerability from Newtown Creek

Office area

Inland flooding and pooling

GENERAL INSULATION ADDRESS ................................ 38-42 Review Ave

General Insulation Company, Inc. is a national distributor of insulation, weatherization, and fireproofing products for the construction market. The company is based in Massachusetts, with this LIC branch ideally located to provide timely service the greater New York City metropolitan region. Green Insulation is a mid-sized company with about 15-20 employees at the LIC location working in sales, logistics, warehouse, and trucking. The primary concerns regarding their location is a conscious tenant-landlord relationship, coastal flooding and rent increases.

ZONING .................................................... M3-1 BUILT FAR ................................................... 0.98 BUILDING HEIGHT ...................................... 30 ft AREA (IND:STOR:OFF) .................. 25% : 65% : 10% BUILDING AREA USED ....................... 45,000 sqft FLOODED BY SANDY? ................................... Yes GROUND ELEVATION .................................... 8 ft RAIL CONNECTION? ........................ Yes, Inactive YEAR BUILT ................................................ 1931 MAJOR RENOVATIONS ............................... none (TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT ............................... $5 LEASE or OWN? ....................................... LEASE

46

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Truck scales

Office

Generator elevated after Sandy

Paper and plastics with wind fence Barge loading Light metals

Heavy metals

Scrapped vehicles

SIMS METAL MANAGEMENT SIMS is a recycling company in a privileged location on the creek mainly focused in metal management with other locations in the Bronx, Brooklyn and NJ, where they deliver the recycling materials via barge transport for operations that cannot be handled in the current location.

ADDRESS ............................30-27 Greenpoint Ave ZONING .................................................... M3-1 BUILT FAR .......................................... 0.08 / 2.00 BUILDING HEIGHT ...................................... 20 ft AREA (IND:STOR:OFF) ..................... 94% : 5% : 1% BUILDING AREA USED ........................ 10,333 sqft

SIMS is the main industry using maritime traffic in the area. Along with the benefits of being close to the water, there are some risks as well. SIMS was heavily impacted by Hurricane Sandy but the only measure taken after the storm was elevating their generators.

FLOODED BY SANDY? ................................... Yes GROUND ELEVATION ................................... 10 ft RAIL CONNECTION? ......................... Yes, Inactive YEAR BUILT ................................................ 1974 MAJOR RENOVATIONS ................................2013

They generate intense inbound traffic and despite adjusting to regulations still generate environmental concerns as perceived by the Newtown Creek Alliance, since their activities occur in the open air.

(TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT ............................... $9 LEASE or OWN? ....................................... LEASE

48

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Queensbridge Housing

Production area on ground level

Outgoing fabricated lighting products Incoming raw material Product display space on second floor

EDISON PRICE LIGHTING ADDRESS .......................................... .41-01 21 St

Edison Price Lighting designs, fabricates, and installs custom art and design fixtures for institutional clients across the United States and internationally. Their projects to date include 450 museums and galleries, as well as a range of hotels, universities, and municipalities. The company has operated in LIC since 2001, having previously located in Manhattan on East 60th Street. They have 5 years left on their current lease in LIC.

ZONING .................................................... M1-5 BUILT FAR ........................................... 1.22 / 6.50 BUILDING HEIGHT ...................................... 33 ft AREA (IND:STOR:OFF) ................... 77% : 0% : 23% BUILDING AREA USED ........................ 53,225 sqft FLOODED BY SANDY? .................................... No GROUND ELEVATION ................................... 16 ft RAIL CONNECTION? ...................................... No

Edison Price expressed interest in staying in their current location but have acknowledged the possibility that they will have to move at the expiration of their lease in 5 years. They did not specify a location but presumably the Bronx, New Jersey, or further into Queens.

YEAR BUILT ............................................... 1950 MAJOR RENOVATIONS ................................ 2001 (TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT .............................. $16 LEASE or OWN? ....................................... LEASE

50

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Upper level office/ admin area Dry goods storage warehouse

Employee parking Loading docks

Fresh produce and live seafood

IFRESH Mr. Deng founded Long Sheng Hang in 1995. Long Sheng Hang is an import wholesaler specializing in Asian dry food products from China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. Mr. Deng purchased the building at 2-39 54th Avenue in 2003, which he currently uses for office space and warehouse storage for dry goods. Later he leased the building across the street for fresh produce, meat and seafood warehousing.

ADDRESS ........................................ 2-39 54th Av ZONING .................................................... M1-4 BUILT FAR .......................................... 0.96 / 2.00 BUILDING HEIGHT ................................. 25-30 ft AREA (IND:STOR:OFF) .................... 85% : 0% : 15% BUILDING AREA USED ........................ 59,022 sqft FLOODED BY SANDY? ................................... Yes GROUND ELEVATION ................................. 6-8 ft RAIL CONNECTION? ......................... Yes, Inactive

With green space and residential development planned on the waterfront directly West of IFresh, Mr. Deng anticipates traffic congestion challenges. Truck shipments and deliveries will come in conflict with the future increase of pedestrians in the area.

YEAR BUILT ............................................... 1962 MAJOR RENOVATIONS .................................1981 (TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT ............................... $7 LEASE or OWN? ......................................... OWN

52

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Construction equipment and supplies in fenced open lot

EQ

UI MANH PME

NT AT TAN REN TAL

Travel to Manhattan takes 15 minutes to 1 hour depending on traffic

Main street entrance shared with Manhattan Equipment Rental

Queensboro Bridge Qu ee nsb

oro

NAVILLUS CONTRACTING ADDRESS ..................... 22-09 Queens Plaza North

Navillus is one of the largest construction companies in NYC. This yard stores equipment: a fleet of trucks and flatbeds and building materials for immediate use. While their HQ will remain in Manhattan, they expect to move the yard to NJ when their lease expires in two years. The business is surrounded

by Queensbridge on the west and hotels on the east- they expect the current parcel will turn into residential development in a few years.

ZONING .................................................... M1-5 BUILT FAR ............................................ 0.83 / 5.0 BUILDING HEIGHT ...................................... 28 ft AREA (IND:STOR:OFF) ................. 20% : 50% : 10% BUILDING AREA USED ........................ 67,600 sqft FLOODED BY SANDY? .................................... No GROUND ELEVATION ................................... 17 ft RAIL CONNECTION? ...................................... No

The benefit to being in the NYC metro area is enormous- they have projects all over the city and their trucks are able to access the sites relatively easily. However, it is difficult for trucks to navigate the blocks around the building- trucks must drive four blocks loop north and west in order to circle back to get onto the Queensboro Bridge.

Year Built .................................................... 1949 MAJOR RENOVATIONS ................................ none (TAX) LAND VALUE / SQFT ...................... $12 - $14 LEASE or OWN? ....................................... LEASE

54

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business bios

THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL FRONTIER When insufficient money, lack of space or leadership change comes, these are the LIC businesses’ next moves.

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

TENURE + TRANSIENCE Almost every business we spoke with was considering their next move, but they had different motives and concerns. How can policy respond to these appropriately?

• Edison Price Lighting • iFresh • Navillus Construction

RISK Will this accelerate the departure of industry? Given low public ownership, how can the city help grow the systemic scattered site stormwater infrastructure needed to protect industrial operations?

• General Insulation • SIMs Metal Management

I N C R E M E N TA L G R O W T H How can the city help industrial businesses grow in place as space becomes more scarce? Is LIC “at capacity” given current levels of congestion?

• LeNoble Lumber • Nouveau Elevator •

C O M PAT I B I L I T Y O F U S E S How can policy better describe and adapt to the rapid evolution of industrial land uses? How can zoning reinforce where mixing uses enhances quality of life and where it detracts from quality of life?

• Hunters Point Recycling • Shapeways

NYC-CENTRIC What the next industrial frontier means for NYC-centric industry? How can adjustments to Manhattan freight ease LIC congestion?

• Green Asphalt • Ranieri Sculpturing • Rapid Steel

P U B L I C FA C I N G How can the public realm better facilitate a positive industrial customer experience while promoting efficient freight circulation?

• Depp Glass • Materials for the Arts 57

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Inside the Depp Glass showroom 58

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Inside Ranieri Sculpture Casting 59

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Sorting material, inside Hunter’s Point Recycling 60

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Inside Shapeways Factory 61

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Inside Nouveau’s elevator testing area 62

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Plastics pi le at Sims Metal Management 63

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Inside Edison Price Lighting fabrication area 64

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | business biographies

Dry goods storage at IFresh 65

PROPOSALS

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

68 68

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Elevating Rail Remnants Sara Li | Zoe Mueller | Marissa Reilly

Long Island City’s industrial system developed around the complex freight rail network of Sunnyside Yards. Both present and historical traces of rail have resulted in an interrupted urban fabric of parcels, buildings, and infrastructure. We propose to create a connection across Sunnyside Yards using existing rail structures to improve transit connections and worker commutes. We then employ the fragmented, residual parcels and stitch them together into a cohesive network around the new connection.

We imagine new uses on these parcels to support industrial operations and workers while also providing ecological and social benefits to the IBZs. Opposite photo: Multi-level chaotic infrastructure of the 7 Train

69

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

VOIDS The central rail infrastructure of Sunnyside Yards and the waterfront act as the largest voids of LIC’s urban fabric.

INFRASTRUCTURE Sunnyside Yards has a historical rail network that shapes the development of the parcels and buildings.

INTERRUPTIONS Irregular parcels emerge from the central rail infrastructure. They also becomes sites of convergence for issues in the IBZs.

70

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | introduction

1000sf

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 sf size

132 134 172

57

128

191

54 110

87 177

50

95

180

167

160

91

206

112

93

159

7

211

29

23

17

201

152

156

62

121 105

205

126

110

30 163

169 79 20

104

175-

100

118

70

179

159

161 76 40

41

105

36 72

158

83 103

119

65 4

58

92

104 106

105 11

212

28 45 84

142

95 150 104 108 101

110

198

shape

86 123

97

A comparison of remnant parcel shape irregularity and size The proposal was born out of an intensive research that explored the existing urban fabric of Long Island City. We found that the voids (Sunnyside Yards, East River and Newtown Creek) forced the grid to incorporate irregularities and subsequent remnant parcels. Following this discovery we conducted a taxonomy to understand the variation within remnant parcels.

71

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

72

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Imagining New Uses What if the irregular parcel shapes could What if the irregular shapes could be used for an parcel ecological network? be used for an ecological network?

Gravel Garden

Existing Business

Permeable Surfaces

Imagining New Uses Haphazard What if the odd buildings were used for Parking combined operations services?

What if the odd buildings were and used for

Wayfinding Stop

combined operations EXISTING and services?

PROPOSED

Advertising Signage Existing Industrial Business

Service Hub

Following the discovery of remnant parcels we developed a series of questions that proposed further exploration .

W hat if the irregular Existing parcel shapes could be Business used for an ecological network? W hat is the odd-shaped bui ldings were used for Industrial combined operations Education Signage and services. W hat if the roofs industrial bui ldings could be multi-functional?

Logistics HQ

deli mail drop jobs center

LI N C

O

Imagining New Uses Fenced Off What if the roofs of industrial buildings could be multi-functional?

What if the roofs of industrial buildings EXISTING could be multi-functional?

Stormwater Retention + Seating

PROPOSED Seedum Green Roof

Low, Sturdy Industrial Structure

Existing Industrial Buildings

EXISTING

Elevated Loading Dock

PROPOSED

73

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

A CONNECTED NETWORK The remnant parcels form an aggregated network, relating to each other both on the ground level and in elevation from rail connections and rooftops. The reactivation of the rail parcels catalyzes the network of residual parcels to relieve industrial pressures such as parking, loading, and worker services.

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

I N T E R V E N T I O N M AT R I X Combining industrial, social, and ecological interventions as a mixed approach to parcel usage. The suggested uses of the parcels build off existing conditions to provide a light-touch intervention that can serve as a catalyst for more informed organization of the future. Each intervention’s impact builds on each other, creating a network that specifically supports the needs of an industrial zone.

UNDERPASS RIPRAP LARGE DRAINAGE BELOW-INFRASTRUCTURE WALKING PATHS

TRIANGLE PARK PERMEABLE PAVING WAYFINDING PLANTINGS

ROOFTOP MIXED USE RAMPED PARKING GREEN ROOF FLEET STORAGE

76

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

DRAINAGE GARDEN

GROVE PARKING

OPEN SPACE LOW MAINTENANCE PLANTINGS

GREEN DIVIDERS PARKING REST AREA

ROOFTOP SHOWROOM

ROOFTOP LOADING

PUBLIC FACING EDUCATIONAL GREEN ROOF

RAMPED DOCK GREEN ROOF TREE BUFFER

SERVICES HUB

MATERIAL STORAGE

FOOD + SERVICES UNION SPACE OFFICE

MATERIAL OVERFLOW PUBLIC FACING VEHICLE PARKING

77

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

The elevated rail acknowledges and celebrates industrial nature while helping it to operate effectively by relieving transit pressures.

The re-appropriated industrial, social and ecological parcels all integrate with the elevated connection.

Industrial businesses can use the new connections social gathering space and a place to showcase their products and innovations.

78

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

The connections offers a pleasant, safe and comfortable pedestrian option in a street network dominated by trucks.

This intervention inserts permeable surfaces back into the urban landscape, reducing runoff and mitigating the affects of heavy rains.

The connection utilizes historic infrastructure to reduce disrupting the industrial patterns of Long Island City.

79

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

ADA accessible suspended bridge

7

SECTION B

Existing rail structure used to support new park

viewing platform

7

80 SECTION SECTION A A new connection existing existing rail rail EXISTING ELEVATED RAIL

SECTION B

NEW CONNECTION existing rail

S ex

SECTION B xisting rail

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

E L E VAT E D C O N N E C T I O N S It is a central objective of this proposal to stitch the urban fabric back together. Sunnyside Yards poses as a passive fissure in Long Island City’s connectivity, and we knew that by proposing an intervention that connected the east and west portions, the neighbors, visitors, workers, and residents alike would benefit.

Long Island City is rich with rail lines, may of which are decommissioned. The Montauk Spur that feeds directly into the yards is reminiscent of Manhattan’s West Side High Line before its iconic transformation. We decided to activate the Montauk Spur as a connection that would provide a pedestrian and cycling connection across Sunnyside Yards.

furniture mounted on existing rail funky seating

shade -structure

SECTION SECTION C C MONTAWK RAILrail SPUR existing existing and rail and berm berm

81 AT GRADE RAIL SPUR

SECTION SECTION D D existing existing rail rail

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

COURT STREET SUBWAY ENTRANCE

This new connection cuts my commute in half!

Thank goodness for the handicap accessibility

Bridge connects the handicap accessible subway station to the Elevated Connector

Love the industrial chic vibe of this place!

Can’t wait to check out the showcases today.

Our son loves to watch the trains go by.

Entrance from 7 Train bridge Off to get one of those famed LIC deli sandos!

Remind me, what’s your astrological sign?

Wow, look at this view!

Finally, wayfinding!

I wonder what LeNoble is showcasing today.

Dang, these these trees are niiiiiice

Gathering spaces on connector

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Let’s check out the new workers hub tomorrow.

More food options!

100% agree.

So glad I didn’t have to park illegally today. So stressful

Montauk is way more interesting than the High Line.

Who knew this art was manufactured here in LIC !

I didn’t know Lenoble had a showroom up here!

I love it up here Mommy! I want to make stuff when I grow up.

The air has gotten better lately.

I love watching the trucks go by.

Walking around the IBZs is really interesting!

Elevated Montauk to rooftops

A C T I VAT I O N The activation of the elevated connection is central to the intervention.

The programming of the space includes social gathering nooks, observation decks, public art installations, landscaping and a series of showcase rooms intended to be used by LIC industrial businesses. These showcase rooms offer a outward facing retail space that can be used to communicate about what is made in LIC and the important of industrial uses in the context of NYC.

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

84 84

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

A New Learning Curve Azka Mohyuddin | Evan Spetrini| Daphne Xu

Industry has been an integral part of Long Island City from the beginning, however, with technological advances, that industry is starting to change shape. The New Learning Curve embraces this inevitable change to be the center of technological innovation while also preparing the existing workforce for this changing landscape, ensuring cross-learning opportunities, and promoting economic democracy. We believe that effective learning does not happen in a top-to-bottom hierarchy but is rather a curve where you can learn from each other through sharing, observing, interacting, socializing and mixing of age and experiences.

Our proposal leverages the demand for commercial space in LIC to create a district that allows density but carves out space for co-learning and coworking. We propose a new commercial building typology in order to encourage and facilitate this cross-learning which along with traditional office space also offers space for a learning center, communal gathering, and co-working labs and offices. This physical intervention will be supplemented by a worker-owned workforce development cooperative which will activate these learning centers across the district based on workers’ needs.

Opposite photo: High-rise development

85

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals Elevated subway line (7 train)

Sunnyside Yards

Possible open space opportunities

Targeted interventions to act as catalysts for development

86

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

FUTURE GROWTH We identified six lots where these new building typologies can be introduced to act as a catalyst for future development. Rather than simply repeat this new typology for every building, our goal is to locate them in a way that creates a new ecology on a planar level within the district and a vertical level across the buildings.

Active ground floor uses to support pedestrian spines

Upzoning to leverage development and support civic infrastructure or workforce development

87

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Residential Development Commercial Development

Agents of change : commercial migration

88

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

THE TOOLS

COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT FOR C R O S S - S U B S I D I Z AT I O N Upzoning in LIC from 2 to 15 FAR to attract commercial development can help support the preservation of good-paying industrial jobs.

ZONING 60% Commercial, 30% Industry, 10% Social/Community/Learning Linkage fee of $7/square foot for developers to put into Workforce Development Trust Fund to kickstart local LIC worker-owned learning center organization.

TA X P O L I C Y Capture tax revenue for 30 year period after development begins to support Workforce Development Trust Fund.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TRUST FUND Allocated to starting the worker-owned cooperative learning center platform. Support partnerships between existing local educational, social, and community institutions to promote innovative initiatives in workforce development.

89

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Inspired by the mixing of professions and age groups observed at Griddle Deli in Long Island City on a typical weekday lunch hour, we asked:

90

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

How might we design a social space that encourages interactions between workers and students, and creates opportune learning moments? What are ideal conditions for workforce development utilizing existing social spaces?

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Industry as Linear

INDUSTRY AS A LINE

Employer

Employee Professional development Skills development

Business needs

Industry trends

Assembly Line

Supply Chain

Work

Life

Traditionally we think of industry in a very linear way – our mind drawing up images of assembly lines, supply chains, and organizational hierarchies. All these things imply that an individual’s role at work is limited to the position he/she plays in this linear model with a clear separation of work and life. The employee and employer simply fulfill each other’s professional needs and there is no further exchange between the two.

92

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

INDUSTRY AS 3D

Industry as 3D

Personal growth opportunities

Businesses generate wealth

Overall Livelihood

Schools generate knowledge

Skills empowerment opportunities

Our proposal challenges this way of thinking and introduces industry as a three dimensional model with interaction, partnerships, and exchange of ideas at its core. We believe that by facilitating an environment where both employees and employers feel invested in their growth, we can not only be more productive but also improve the overall livelihood of the people that work there.

Sharing

Learning

93

Observing

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

In order to prevent the creation of individual silos within buildings, the activation of the ground level learning centers and open space will encourage communication across the district and the levels of different uses within the buildings will create layers of communities vertically.

94

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Our goal was to bring learning to the people instead of the other way around so the design guidelines for these “working lobby� learning centers drew inspiration from the delis in LIC which already play the role of bringing different people together and are a source of learning.

95

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Building Ecologies

BUILDING ECOLOGIES

Penth

1

Highest Comme square f infrastru

Comm

2

Provide different learning

Share

3

Share

4

Innovatio

Indus

5 6

1

PENTHOUSE Highest return in rent; views of Manhattan. Commercial rents from the increased square footage subsidizes proposed civic infrastructure

2

C O M M O N S PA C E S

3

Shared Office Space

Precise space for gathering of people from different professions to facilitate learning

4

Shared Production Space

5

Industrial Space

6

Working Lobbies

96

“Work Learn

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

98

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Reimagining the 10% Chelsea Bruck | Charlotte Ong | Jialu Tan

Reimagining the 10%: Designing a Public Realm Network for LIC’s Workers and Industries offers ideas for the improvement of the public realm in Long Island City’s Industrial Business Zones, with an emphasis on the everyday experience of local workers. Though many aspects of the IBZs’ public realm could benefit from improvements, our design proposal focuses on two main issues: the lack of food and beverage establishments, and the absence of nearby public spaces.

This proposal takes the existing ICAP policy as a starting point to imagine how additional food retail and accompanying public spaces might be financed and built in LIC’s IBZs. ICAP, known as the Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program, provides tax abatement benefits to industrial businesses that improve and/or expand their existing building, as long as they use less than 10% of their space for retail purposes. Instead of viewing the retail limit as an obstacle, we propose to view it as an opportunity to encourage industries who are already going to undergo a renovation to build in a small retail space for a food establishment. We have also proposed an addendum to the existing ICAP policy that would incentivize businesses to build new public spaces by offering similar types of financial benefits. Building on this policy framework, our design proposal imagines a pilot network of new food retail and nearby public space in the IBZs, augmented by creative ideas for collaborations across local businesses that could take full advantage of the additional flexible space.

Opposite photo: Food options on the IBZ streets

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

IBZ WORKER PROFILES LATCHMAN | SIMS TERMINAL MANAGER BAYSIDE, QUEENS DRIVES TO WORK EARNS $100K+

AMY | MANA COSMETICS FACTORY LINE WORKER JACKSON HEIGHTS, QUEENS SUBWAY TO WORK EARNS $33K+

RHONDA | BOYCE TECH COMPANY CHEF LIVES IN ASTORIA, QUEENS SSUBWAY TO WORK EARNS $66K+

AIDAN | SHAPEWAYS MANAGER LIVES IN NEW JERSEY COMMUTER TRAIN TO WORK EARNS $100K+

JOSE | RAPID STEEL TRUCK DRIVER LIVES IN QUEENS SUBWAY TO WORK EARNS $35K+

DAN | IFRESH FORKLIFT OPERATOR LIVES IN BAY TERRACE, QUEENS SUBWAY TO WORK EARNS $50K

AM

6:00

Latchman Terminal Manager SIMS

Jimmy Manager MANA Cosmetics

Amy Factory Worker MANA Cosmetics

Charles Owner Boyce

Rhonda Chef Boyce

David Owner Fifth Hammer

Mitch Journalist/Historian Self Employed

Ralph Owner Ranieri Sculpture

Harriet Director Materials for the Arts

Kwame Assistant Materials for the Arts

Nima Manager Green Asphalt

Lisa Education Coordinator Newtown Creek Alliance

Mike Manager General Insulation

Johnny Truck Driver General Insulation

Victor

1 2 3 4 5

DRIVE TO WORK

6 7

SLEEP

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

PM

8:00 9:00

12:00 1:00

4:00

6:00

8:00

DRIVE HOME

LUNCH

AM

10:00

12:00

5:00

SLEEP

BREAKFAST

DINNER AND LEISURE TIME

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

LUNCH

DRIVE HOME

BREAK

DINNER AND LEISURE TIME SLEEP

DINNER AND LEISURE TIME GROCERY SHOPPING

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

DRINKS AND DINNER

LUNCH

DRIVE HOME

SLEEP

LEISURE TIME

TRAIN TO WORK

BOWLING WALK HAPPY HOUR AND DINNER

LUNCH

BREAKFAST

BRUNCH DRIVE TO WORK

BUS/TRAIN TO WORK

BREAKFAST

SLEEP

TRAIN HOME

LUNCH

TRAIN TO WORK BREAKFAST

LEISURE TIME

DRIVE HOME DINNER AND DRINKS LEISURE TIME

SNACK

DINNER

LUNCH

SLEEP

WALK HOME

BUS HOME

SLEEP

SLEEP

DINNER AND LEISURE TIME

GYM

DINNER AND LEISURE TIME DRIVE HOME

LUNCH

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

DRIVE HOME

DINNER WITH DONORS

LUNCH

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

SLEEP

GALLERY OPENING

SLEEP

LEISURE TIME

DINNER AND CONCERT GYM

TRAIN TO WORK BREAKFAST

LUNCH

LEISURE TIME

DRIVE HOME LEISURE TIME GYM

LUNCH

BREAKFAST WALK TO WORK

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

SLEEP

TRAIN HOME

COFFEE BREAK

SMOKE BREAK

WALK TO LCC

SMOKE BREAK

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

LEISURE TIME

WORK EVENT AT LCC

LUNCH

LUNCH

SLEEP

DINNER

DINNER

TRAIN HOME DRINKS LEISURE TIME

SLEEP

DRIVE HOME LEISURE TIME

DINNER AND DRINKS DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

LUNCH

LUNCH

SLEEP

DRIVE HOME

100

LEISURE TIME

DRIVE HOME LEISURE TIME

LEISURE TIME

SLEEP

SLEEP

Amy Factory Worker MANA Cosmetics

Charles Owner Boyce

Rhonda Chef Boyce

David Owner Fifth Hammer

3 4 5

GROCERY SHOPPING

BREAKFAST

DRINKS AND DINNER

LUNCH

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

BOWLING WALK HAPPY HOUR AND DINNER

LUNCH

BREAKFAST

6 7

SLEEP

LEISURE TIME

TRAIN TO WORK

BRUNCH DRIVE TO WORK

SLEEP

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

DRIVE HOME

SLEEP

WALK HOME

LEISURE TIME

DRIVE HOME DINNER AND DRINKS LEISURE TIME

SNACK

SLEEP

Over the course of early 2018, we visited a range of businesses, and met a variety of business owners and workers to learn about their work life, and the challenges and opportunities in the IBZs as they see them. After speaking with over 30 people working in the IBZs, we developed these profiles to give you a taste of the different types of workers who spend most of their time in LIC’s IBZs. The corresponding timeline expands on our research to imagine what a typical day in each worker’s life might entail.

Mitch Journalist/Historian Self Employed

Ralph Owner Ranieri Sculpture

Harriet Director Materials for the Arts

Kwame Assistant Materials for the Arts

Nima Manager Green Asphalt

Lisa Education Coordinator Newtown Creek Alliance

Mike Manager General Insulation

Johnny Truck Driver General Insulation

Victor Manager Navillus

Krystal Office worker Nouveau Elevator

Kenny Greenberg Artist Krypton Neon

Mr. Deng Owner iFRESH

Dan Forklift Operator, iFRESH

Joe Manager Hunters Point

Aidan Manager Shapeway

Jose Truck Driver Rapid Steel

Alex Manager Edison Price

Wesley Owner Depp Glass,

BUS/TRAIN TO WORK

BREAKFAST

DINNER

LUNCH

BUS HOME

SLEEP

DINNER AND LEISURE TIME

GYM

DINNER AND LEISURE TIME

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

DRIVE HOME

LUNCH

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

DRIVE HOME

DINNER WITH DONORS

LUNCH

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

SLEEP

GALLERY OPENING

SLEEP

LEISURE TIME

DINNER AND CONCERT

GYM

TRAIN TO WORK BREAKFAST

LUNCH

LEISURE TIME

DRIVE HOME LEISURE TIME GYM

LUNCH

BREAKFAST WALK TO WORK

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

SLEEP

TRAIN HOME

COFFEE BREAK

SMOKE BREAK

SLEEP

DINNER

WORK EVENT AT LCC

LUNCH

WALK TO LCC

SMOKE BREAK

LUNCH

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

LEISURE TIME

SLEEP

TRAIN HOME DRINKS LEISURE TIME

DINNER

SLEEP

DRIVE HOME LEISURE TIME

DINNER AND DRINKS SLEEP

DRIVE HOME

LUNCH

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

LEISURE TIME

LEISURE TIME

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

DRIVE HOME

LUNCH

SLEEP

LEISURE TIME

DRIVE HOME

LUNCH

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

SLEEP

LEISURE TIME DINNER, MUSEUM OPENING, DRINKS SUBWAY WALK HOME

LUNCH

WALK TO WORK BREAKFAST

SLEEP

LEISURE TIME

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

SLEEP

DRIVE HOME

LUNCH

LEISURE TIME

DINNER AND DRINKS TRAIN TO WORK

SMOKE BREAK

SMOKE BREAK

LUNCH

SLEEP

TRAIN HOME

BREAKFAST

LEISURE TIME

SLEEP

TRAIN HOME

LUNCH BREAKFAST

TRAIN TO WORK

LEISURE TIME

TRAIN TO WORK BREAKFAST

SLEEP TRAIN HOME DINNER AND DRINKS LEISURE TIME

LUNCH

DRIVE HOME

LUNCH

BREAKFAST DRIVE TO WORK

SLEEP

LEISURE TIME

GYM

AM

6:00

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

LUNCH

DRIVE TO WORK BREAKFAST

LUNCH

8:00 9:00

DRIVE HOME

SLEEP

LEISURE TIME

DRIVE HOME

SLEEP

LEISURE TIME

PM

12:00 1:00

4:00

101

6:00

8:00

10:00

AM

12:00

5:00

41

ALL

35

38

32

36

29

44 ALLEY D GRAN

29

32

29

ALLEY

ALLEY

WEST

ALLEY

ALLEY

50

ALLEY

ALLEY 48 ALLEY

ESPLANADE

Rhonda Boyce Astoria, Queens

ALLEY

31

COSTCO

ALLEY

43

MITCH, from Astoria 30 min train+walk

31

45

ALLEY

GRACIE

GRACIE

ALLEY

ALLEY

30

ALLEY

83

82

ALLEY

ALLEY

41 30

31

84

ALLEY

ALLEY

30

ESPLANADE HALLETS COVE

recreatio options

85

ALLEY

G

STEINWAY

HENDERSON

food options

86

ALLEY

46

ALLEY

28 ALLEY

27

29

FERRY

MARTHA'S VYD HIGHLANDS

87

BROADWAY STATION 33 ALLEY

NE W TO W N

50

ALLEY

49

47

34

PEDESTRIAN

PEDESTRIAN

TRIAN

CHEROKEE

78 STREET PEDES

PEDESTRIAN

33

14

13

RAINEY PARK

33

ALLEY

12

77

BROADWAY

33

DRIVEWAY 78

PEDESTRIAN

ALLEY

33 EAST

E

PEDESTRIAN

79

BIK

NO

F ROOSEVELT

80

NA ME

ALLEY

81

ALLEY

24

76

ALLEY

39

33

49

68

ETT RN BA

IAN STR PEDE

39

NO NAME

37

37

NO NAME

47

69

ROOSEVELT IS GREENWAY

DRIVE SB EN

NAME

E 73 ST ROOSEVELT

NO

NO NAME

14

70

Hunters Point Recycling Long Island

36 IS

RD

22

29

30

27

QUEENS PLAZA

CONNECTOR

HU NTE R

12

CK SO N

SK IL LM A N

23

22

24

JA

TENTH

BIKE

WESLEY, from long island 1h

ALLEY

RO AD W AY

33

35

Y ALLE

AP PR

34

PU RV ES

36

UP PER

ALLEY

BR

M

COURT SQUARE

QU EE NS O RO

DA VAN

ALLEY

11

54

QU EE NSB

38

13

ALLEY

RD

41

NINTH

12

LOOP

43

OR CH A

Y ALLE

56

55

BIKE

42

CRESCENT

RAMP

42

SUTTON

BR UPPER RY ET

ALLEY

43

Jin Mana Cosmetics Flushing, Queens ALLEY

33 ST RAWSON ST

Y ALLE

QUE ENS

MAYOR E KOCH

57

DEPP GLASS

BRIDGE

RAM P

Y ALLE

RIVERVIEW

ROADWAY EN

BRIDGE PLAZA SOUTH

43

KOCH BR UPPER

RA M P

MA

NORTHER N BL

IN ST

60 ST F ROOSEVELT

YORK

iFRESH Queens (far)

39

58

W ELL

41

NAVILLUS

MAYOR EDWARD I KOCH ED KOCH QUEENSBORO BR PED MAYOR EDWARD I KOCH MAYOR EDWARD I KOCH

59 ST

QUEENSBORO

PEDESTRIAN QUEENS

41

KOCH BR PEDESTRIAN AND BIKE PATH

59 ST

40

44

EDISON PRICE LIGHTING

MAIN

HO NEY

CRESCENT

FDR DRI

HELIP ORT

PEDESTRIAN

40

41 PEDESTRIAN

45

QNSBORO BR EXIT RAMP

QUEENSBRIDG E PARK GREEN WAY

41

60

59

ALLEY

39

TENTH

WEST

ALLEY

VE GRE ENWAY

65

59 ST QUEENSBORO BR APPROACH

Y ALLE

13

11

NINTH

28

NO NAME

61

48

46

DA

ALLEY

Y ALLE

66

62

Y ALLE

Y ALLE

N STRIA PEDE

STAN

38

67

64

50

ROOSEVELT

42

BIKE

71

NW TRAIN

E

32

BIK

NO NAME

ALLEY ALLEY

RIDGE

ROOSEVELT IS GREENWAY

F ROOSEVELT

VERNON

73

72

RIVER

74

38

EAST

ALLEY

75

3

E

28

ALLEY

LI N WEL

Q

HOBART

PEDESTRIAN

public transportation station

88

B

25

28

IN MA

ASTORIA

E

50

EIGHTH

END

B B Q

ALLEY

RI A TO

ALLEY

ALLEY 29

89

CE S

ALLEY

ALLEY

EN ST EB

GCP PK WY RAL CENT

49

24

23

18

Y ALLE

14

BLACKWELLS

FIRST

NEWT OW N

27

28

28

E EN TR AN

42

T 3 WB

ASTORIA

90

BQ E

ALLEY

NINTH

AS

BL

Q

32

EB 33

27

RIA ASTO

BL 48

33

26

28

IT 3

EXI GCP

25

22

ALEX, from Long Island 1h

BLVD

27

14

G REE NW AY AS TO RIA

RIA ASTO

24

26

FOURTH

THIRD

N IA TR

EN

SECOND

NB

G RE EN W AY

DORO THY

HOYT

B

E

RV TD VEL SE O RO

E

A ORI AST

Q

FD

DES PE

DR IV

GCP

BQE EXIT 44 WB

23

GCP EB EXIT 4

HOYT

26

FD R

ALLEY

K

26

26

home

91

24 RF

GCP EX

E AV

N TRIA DES PE

RK YO

92

ALLEY

E PA TH

25

26

work place

93

BI K

B

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

94

NS PE D AN K D

ALLEY

SHO

F

EN

STREE T NB E 96

ASTORIA 96

95

RF

BOYCE, ASTOR from Westchester IA 1h

UND

97

48

44

44

N THOMSO 30

34 15

W-E

EN BORD

34

ST

34

GR EE NP T

35

MANAGER, Long Island

35

SIMS METAL MANAGEMENT GR EE NP T JJ

BY

E RN

SC

AN M EE

CH ER RY

FR

G AR DN ER

ST VO O PR

R TO EC NN CO

AN

BRIDGEWATR

RIC VA

GLE

CA LY

GRE

N

STE W AR T

S A M O TH

Q

Mike General Insulation Company

B

ER

N EE GR

M DA

AN M EE

N VA

FR

E

K

EA

O TT

SE N

GLE

Y

B W

3 ET

4

SK IU SC KO

O

AN TH O NY

ND KLA OA E BIK R

102

TT HA AN M

NT PO DU

EA

HI LL

TH D O M A S KOSC IUSKO KOSCI USK O KOSC IUSKO

NT PO DU

56 EL UR LA

Navillus, Queens (near)

IB

CIA L

ED M NA UN

Y CLA

BIKE

CO MM ER

GR EE NP OIN T

HENRY

KINGLAND

PAIDGE

ASH

iFRESH, Long Island

REVI EW

RA ILR OA D

TO W N

53

N TNL TOW TOWN TNL QN MID QN MID

GR EE NP OIN T

51

37

I4

95

EB

11

LATCHMAN, Jamaica

MITCH’S BLOG OFFICE

VERNON BLVD JACKSON AVE

IFRESH

FRY

BR AD LE Y

31

51

NB

WN E -MI DTO

AR R

29

EN

TRUCK DRIVER, Bayside

EE KE R

FDR FOUR FREE DOMS

F ROOSEVELT

DRIVEWAY

EX IT

T 17

Rapid Steel Supply

LI

EN

B W

SK LA PU

E 34 ST ENTRAN CE FDR DRIVE

27

PARK

5

BIKE

34

35

EAST

NO NAM E

F ROOSEVE LT F ROOSEVELT FDR DRIVE NB E 48 ST EN

BEEKMAN

NB DRIVE EXIT 9

49

I PULASK E 11

F D ROOSEVELT

ATE

E BIK I BRIDG

IS CITY

QNS MIDTOWN

PULASK

QNS MIDTOW N

11

RST TE

X BO 35

WB

EB EXI

GA LE

21

TUDOR CITY

KI

I-

54

LONG

LI

23

PULAS

FIRST

11 IN

TNL WN TO MID QN EB 14 EX IT 495

N VERNO

OW N

LI

Y ALLE

11

QNS MI DT

N VERNO

102

D SECON

36 ST

ALLEY

25

FIFTH

49 50

H AC O PR AP

I 495

ST

48

Y EENWA LIC GR

37 ST

Y ALLE

MANA PRODUCTS

R ST CTO 21 NNE CO

EB IN 495 EXIT 17 EAST

LI

49

50

Nima Long Island City, Queens

W Jersey

W Jersey

39

HUNTERS POINT

I 278 EXIT 35 EAST WB

HUNTER'S POINT

GA LE

I 495

DA VIS

47

41

40

47

ALLEY

32

AR CH

51

SHAPEWAYS

PE AR SO N

BOYCE TECHNOLOGIES

46

FIFTHHAMMER

EL L

Y ALLE

31

AU ST

CR AN E CENTER

46

Y ALLE

37

DA VIS

Y ALLE 50

HUNTERS POINT RECYCLING

45

30

S UNITED NATION

47

ON

31

48

45

47

29

49

PE ARS

NOUVEAU ELEVATOR

28

MITCHELL

44 FIFTH

50

CO UR T

45

51 STREET PEDESTRIAN

21

51

29

COURT SQUARE

52

STE W A RT

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

A D AY I N T H E L I F E : B Y T H E N U M B E R S 48%

Long Island City

52%

Other parts of QNS + BK

48%

50%

Brought Lunch

Take-out

Manhattan

Spending $$$ After Work

Commuting From Half of workers’ waking hours are spent in the IBZ

30%

9%

61%

LIC Area Far QNS

BK

LI

Westchester

Mode of Commute

Y

B

DESIGN PRINCIPLES 1. Keep the ‘real’ industrial side of Long Island City

3. Leverage existing assets and policies

2. Prioritize LIC workers’ needs across the spectrum of workers

4. Utilize public private partnerships to expand the public realm

The decision to design for these problems resulted from over 30 interviews that we conducted with workers and business owners in LIC’s IBZs. We repeatedly heard complaints about the surrounding food desert and the impact that it has on quality of life. The public space issue is inextricably linked to the food desert problem, especially when we consider workers who may not be able to afford to purchase food – even if people are bringing their lunch from home, where do they eat it? Where do they spend their breaks? When we consider the density of employees and business owners who commute to the IBZs each day and how much time they are spending in these neighborhoods, it becomes clear that they deserve basic amenities such as delis, cafes, bars, and public spaces.

103

NJ

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

g

Le

ra ve

he

t ing

ICAP

Industrial & Commercial Abatement Program

Do you own an industrial or commerical building in Long Island City?

Nope

Yeah!

Cool, are you interested in improving and/or expanding?

Sure!

Nevermind.

I don’t think so

Great! We think that’s an awesome idea.

Well, listen to this before you decide.

All you have to do is • Keep less than 10% of the total floor area for retail uses • Spend at least 30% of the property’s taxable assesed value and then you get

25 YEARS OF TAX ABATEMENT BENEFITS Into it?

To Improve the Food Desert in Long Island City’s IBZs

Take advantage of that 10% of retail that’s allowed, and give LIC workers some food options!

Collaborate with other businesses in LIC’s IBZ to leverage that space for new revenue streams

These charts explain the policy side of this proposal. The left outlines the nuances of the existing ICAP policy, while the right illustrates our proposed addendum to the policy and how it could be used.

104

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Proposed Addendum to ICAP Have you, or are you planning to participate in the ICAP program?

Nope

Yeah!

Great! Extra great if you have or are planning to use the 10% retail allowance to provide some affordable food options for LIC’s workers.

That’s ok, you can still participate in this addendum

But LIC’s IBZs also need more public space, and we think this addendum to the policy can help. Are you interested in reaping some extra benefits to help with this issue and improve the public realm?

Read the 2nd paragraph right here for more info.

Sure!

No thanks, I’ve done my part.

Ok, thanks,no prob!

Amazing! Whether you’ve renovated yet or not, you can recieve additional benefits if you create a new public space that is: • Within or on top of your building • On your plot of land • On city-owned vacant land in the IBZ (and conforms to NYC standards for public spaces) But what’s in it for you?

Remind me again, are you doing the first part of ICAP?

Yep

•Additional 10 years of tax abatement •5% density bonus •Expedited review and permitting process •Waiver of development fees •Reimbursement for park furniture and amenities

105

No

•25-year tax abatement •Expedited review and permitting process •Waiver of development fees •Reimbursement for park furniture and amenities

TYPOLOGY 1: FOOD AND PUBLIC SPACE IN ONE BUILDING l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

TYPOLOGY 1 Food and Public Space in One Building

TYPOLOGY 2 Food Court and Adopted Vacant Land

+ ‘ADOPTED VACANT LAND’

TYPOLOGY 3 Food and “Friend Building”

TYPOLOGY 3: FOOD + ‘FRIEND BUILDING’

106

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

TYPOLOGY 1 The first typology is a ‘Self-sufficient’ model, with food retail and public space placed in the same building. The main criteria for this typology is a building with enough square footage to allow for both of these amenities to fit within the 10% allowance. Depending on size, some of these buildings can accommodate larger food-oriented spaces (such as restaurants or a food court with a shared seating area) as well as larger public spaces like rooftop gardens or urban farms. This typology of buildings would significantly contribute to Long Island City’s public realm network by providing a community hub that workers from surrounding factories and businesses could enjoy. Plus, this model provides many options for food production businesses seeking to become customer-facing.

TYPOLOGY 2 The typology is geared towards buildings with limited space. This typology envisions companies that would use ICAP to integrate a food business into their building, while taking further advantage of the incentive program to develop a nearby piece of city-owned vacant land into public open space. Though the nearby open space could be used by anyone, it would be beneficial for the business to have the seating area nearby for people to enjoy with their recently purchased refreshments.

TYPOLOGY 3 The third typology is the ‘Food and Friend Building’ model, which caters to two separate buildings that each have limited space, both of which would be good candidates for the expanded ICAP program. Through collaboration, this typology achieves the goals of increased food access alongside an expanded public space network, but splits these amenities up across two adjacent buildings. For example, while one building may only have enough space to support a new deli counter, a nearby building could develop an indoor seating garden to support the deli’s customers.

This model would also allow companies that don’t have the resources to provide both food and public space to focus on one or the other, and could result in some unexpectedly charming results – such as a seating area for lunch in Ranieri Sculpture’s building.

107

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

The amended ICAP policy would result in an accessible network of new food and beverage establishments near both indoor and outdoor public spaces. Highlighted in orange are proposed spaces for food and beverage retail, while the shaded areas with trees represent new public spaces. The proposal prioritizes new spaces near public transportation and larger factories to ensure that they are easily reachable by Long Island City’s workers. Though we envision the pilot program targeting food retail and seating areas, we have also looked beyond this beginning to imagine other creative uses for the 10% of flexible space allotted by the ICAP program. Below are some ideas that illustrate what could be created, and how the local workers might use these places.

GROCERY

CATERING

T N

E

R LUNCH B

EAK

ZO

RK O W

IC L B PU

IN A R T T

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

IC L B PU DE

LI

K

RE

ST AU

RA

NT

B H C N LU

R

NE O Z EAK

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

OTHER P OTENTIAL USES. . .

The Nap Room Aidan knew it was a bad idea to go for Happy Hour drinks with his soccer buddies on a work night, but he never seems able to say no to them. This explains why he is in the ever-popular Nap Room in the building next door during his lunch break. Looking across the room through the glass panes that look out onto the factory floor, he becomes hypnotized by the whirring machinery and as his eyes close, he realizes that he’s starting to become a regular here.

110

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

The Factory Cafe Dan likes coming to the Factory CafĂŠ for a quick coffee for two reasons: 1. The coffee is super cheap if he uses his Long Island City Employee card for a discount, and 2. He gets to see the TruLaser 2030 Laser Cutting Machine at work.

111

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Childcare The only problem with having Joey’s childcare right next to--no, almost integrated with the diner in the building across the street is that Amy can no longer indulge in a milkshake without Joey spotting her and demanding one too. The last time this happened, he raised such a ruckus in the childcare center that she knows she must bid NYC’s best milkshakes farewell.

112

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Gym Ever since the outdoor gym in the empty lot next door opened, Rhonda has been a regular there, fitting her daily workouts in in the mornings before work. She wonders when this little gym will be discovered by some Instagram Influencer and become overrun with those kids posing for the ‘gram, and hopes that day will never come.

113

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Rooftop On days when his deliveries don’t go so well, or when every stop light seems to conspire against him, Jose retreats to the rooftop garden on the building around the block from his company for some quiet time.

All of that greenery surrounding him with the Manhattan skyline in the background has a really calming effect on him.

114

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Arcade Dan cannot believe his eyes that “MADMAX” from Boyce Technologies has beaten his top score at Pac-Man. He devours the rest of his sandwich, takes a swig of his beer, and cracks his knuckles as his co-workers from iFresh gather around to watch him reclaim his throne, and the company’s honor. Game-on.

115

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Mini-Library After stopping by to blow kisses at Joey and leaving him happily in the care of his childcare teachers, Amy decides to walk over to the mini-library down the street. She hopes that she can find some children’s books there because she really needs to wean Joey off Goodnight Moon for the sake of her sanity.

116

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Happy Hour Aidan isn’t quite sure how he found himself back at Happy Hour for the second night in a row, but since his boss is buying drinks for everyone tonight he’s not complaining. Plus, it is pretty nice to see some familiar faces from the neighborhood and meet other LIC locals as they all sip local craft beers and unwind after a work day.

117

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

118

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Four Long Island Cities Graham Lazar

Four Long Island Cities considers the place of Queensbridge in the development of Long Island City. The project offers an urban design framework for four blocks to the east of the Queensbridge Houses that encompass a broad range of the land use challenges and opportunities facing Long Island City: rising costs of land and rent; underused and vacant parcels; historic, productive, yet under-serviced industrial buildings; and a proliferation of unrestricted uses, namely hotels and self storage facilities. These systemic dynamics are considered in the context of their critical adjacency to the Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing project in North America.

Opposite photo: Texti les bui ldings courtyard near Queensbridge

119

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

IBZ

Introverted Industry

BID

Extroverted Industry

NYC Owned Recreation

Nodes of Human Capital

NYC Office

Human Capital Corridor

NYC DOE/CUNY/Cornell

Big Projects

NYC Residential

This project takes advantage of the neighborhood’s unique built fabric to conduct a thought experiment on how to design for this evolution of freight. It proposes a division of modes through a new street hierarchy in order to ease movement for all, while simultaneously allowing for changes to those spaces over time.

120

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Four Long Island Cities anticipates significant changes on the horizon for LIC, including the arrival of new industries, land uses, and economic activities. In particular, the project considers Cornell Tech’s future in relation to LIC. With its mission to advance economic and social impact through the integration of technology, business, law, and design, Cornell Tech is a natural institutional partner in the development of LIC. Four Long Island Cities envisions a broader corridor of community and capital exchange between Manhattan and Queens, with vital nodes at Cornell Tech’s Roosevelt Island campus, in Queensbridge, and at Laguardia Community College. The long term vitality of LIC, the project argues, hinges on greater physical connectivity and exchange between these vital centers of human and industrial capital.

121

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Jacob Riis Settlement House

Queensbridge Library Tech Lab

The Floating Hospital

40th Ave. Commercial District

Fine Fare Supermarket

Queensbridge Park

Interior Recreation

Western Queens Nursery School

Urban Upbound Queensbridge Anchor

Existing conditions within the Queensbridge Houses

122

Informal Markets Surrounding F Subway

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Historic Warehouses

Underbuilt Parcels

Hotel Dispersion

Edison Price LIghting

Vacant Land

UOVO Art Storage

Existing conditions in the four blocks east adjacent to the Queensbridge Houses

123

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals Renovated Queensbridge Core

Renovated 41st Ave. Corridor

Removed fences allowing for more flexible open space usage Cornell Tech and Industrial Jobs Pavilion

Food truck stop

Queensbridge Baby Park and bike lane to Queensbridge Park

Queensbridge Park renovated Comfort Station

Cornell Tech Urban Agriculture Lab

124

O Ro

One stop from oosevelt Island

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Subtracted parcels converted to Queens Public Library and Cornell Tech Cornell Tech Lab and adjacent Industrial open space Capital Lab

Four Long Island Cities is, specifically, a proposal to position Queensbridge as a natural point of exchange between Cornell Tech as an aspiring academic institution and the wealth of human and industrial capital in Long Island City. Each of the four blocks suggests a different physical approach to building this kind of connection.

Upzoned residential

Given the range and complexity of these dynamics, the proposal suggests varied strategies in each of the four blocks: preservation (of historic, product industrial facilities;), addition (to productive industrial facilities), subtraction (of underutilized buildings), and redevelopment of vacant land. These various strategies will necessitate careful orchestration of land use instruments of up zoning and swapping of development rights in exchange for the funding of community and public realm benefits.

Anchor industrial tenant, Edison Price, below expanded commercial and Cornell Tech Classrooms

Anchor tenant, Boyce Technologies below universal pre-K facility

An urban design proposal for the four blocks east of the Queensbridge Houses along with district improvements and a revisioning of the 41st ave. connection to Queensbridge Park.

125

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

126

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

A 22nd Century Logistics Hub Annie Hudson

Lying at the crux of technological developments in transportation and the connected city, the freight industry is primed for disruption. The advent of autonomous vehicles promises a new form of the truck itself, while the growing demand for speedy last-mile delivery begs a diversity of delivery forms ranging from drones to bikes to even pedestrians.

Yet we are not there yet; indeed, how can cities prepare for that future while still satisfying the needs of today’s freight movement system?

Opposite photo: LIC f latbed waiting to be loaded

127

D

D

D

D

D

D

D

D

D

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

This project explores exactly that question in the context of Long Island City. The neighborhood is uniquely located within the region to experiment along the above lines as a result of both its proximity to Manhattan and its easy accessibility to major transportation routes. Yet its current transportation hierarchy makes movement for today’s freight difficult and is hardly prepared to take on the challenges of tomorrow.

D

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

DRONE The logistics of tomorrow will be taking place on many levels within the urban environment. Drones promise to revolutionize package delivery, introducing a new role for roofs and requiring new delivery stations.

BIKE/HUMAN As speedy, personalized deliveries grow in importance, last-mile delivery promises to grow in creativity. Streets will be navigated by pedestrians, bikes, scooters and more in order to ensure the speedy and personalized arrival of packages.

TRUCK Yet distribution of goods more generally will still require a larger-scale form of transportation. Roads will still need to be prepared to handle large vehicles, but lanes and design can be much narrower with the increased accuracy that autonomous technology offers.

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l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

C U R R E N T

FUTURE

xx 120,000 60,000

xx 120,000 60,000 x 60,000 x 60,000

x 60,000

x 60,000

xx60,000 60,000 Jack Jack Jim

Jack

Jill Jill

Jim Jim Jane

Jane Jane

Jack

Jill Jack Jim

Jack

Jill Jack Jim

Jack

Jill Jack Jim Jill Jack Jane Jim xx11 Jake Jake

Jill x 13 x 13 (300) (300)

Jim Jack Jane Jill x 15 x 15 (150) (150)

x2 (40)

Jim Joe

Jack

x2 (40)

Jill

Jim Jane

x 60,000 JakeJoe

Jake

JakeJoe

Jake

JakeJoe80 drones Jake JakeJoe

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JakeJoe

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x2 (40)

x1

Joe

Jake x 60,000

Jack Jill

Jack Jim Jill

(40) (300)

(40) (300)

x 60,000

Jack Jane Jim Jill

x 60,000

Jack Jane Jim Jill Joe

x 60,000

Jane Jim Jill Joe Jake

people x600 60,000

Jane Jim Joe Jake

x2 x 1 x 15 (40) x x2 13 x 1 x x2 13(150) x 1x x15x2 13 x 1x x15 x2 13 x 1x x15 x2 13 x x15 x2 13

Jane Joe Jake

Joe Jake

Joe Jake

Joe Jake

Joe Jake

x 13 x 15 x 13 (300) x 15

(40) (150) (300)

(40) (150) (300)

(150) (300)

(150)

x (

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x x15 x2 13 (40) (150) (300)

x 15 x 13 (150) (300)

x 15 (150)

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x 15 (150)

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Jane Jake

x 13 x(300) 1 x1 x1

x2 (40)

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131

(40) (150) (300)

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x 1 x x2 13 x 1 x x2 13 x 1x x15 x2 13 (40) (40) (40) (300) (300) (150) (300)

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Pedest Corrido

Storefro

Loading docks Storefronts Multi-tenant buildings (existing + potential) Pedestrian corridors

This project takes advantage of the neighborhood’s unique built fabric to conduct a thought experiment on how to design for this evolution of freight. It proposes a division of modes through a new street hierarchy in order to ease movement for all, while simultaneously allowing for changes to those spaces over time.

132

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Excess of truck traff ic combined with limited parking result in clogged streets for trucks and cars and pedestrians ali ke.

Indiscriminate parking on sidewalks creates a nonwelcoming environment for pedestrians.

Absence of clear markings on streets for alternative vehicles means that the largest vehicles—trucks—wi ll invariably win out.

Nonetheless, these vehicles are essential for the operation of industry in the area .

133

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

One block buildings

One block buildings

Logistics hub districts

134

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

D D

D D

Phase 4 D

D

D D

D D

Phase 3

D D

D D

D D

Phase 2 D

D D

Phase 1

Proposed Buildings

Proposed buildings to enclose freight courtyards

Proposed Public Space Proposed Courtyard

0

Proposed public space

0.05

0.1

Miles 0.2

Proposed courtyard

The proposal re-organizes street hiearchy to create a new sequence of delivery courtyards to allow for easy truck freight movements and thus a more vibrant public space on the external streets for the movement of alternative delivery modes such as bikes and drones.

135

Total capacity: 24,210,000 l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

CURRENT Uninviting building face

Underutilized loading docks

MEGA

FUTURE

Public freight pick-up window

136

A

Total capacity: 23,730,000 l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Car-centric streetscape

Elevator Parts & Supplies

Storefront for personalized good inspection

Inviting building face Safe multi-modal movement

Yet the creation of a logistics hub (and better future coordination for freight more generally) offers the possibility of a more limited need for truck freight in the future; the proposal thus offers a path for an evolution in the purpose of the courtyards as well.

Looking to the future, the most successful logistics hubs will be the ones that can support a diversity of modes and uses. This plan not only offers a new strategy for compatibility, but also a design that offers greater longterm stability in its flexibility. When combined with the iconic nature of the courtyard structures, the plan serves as a platform from which to take advantage of the great potential of the neighborhood, while highlighting its existing unique and lively personality.

137

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

D E V E L O P M E N T D E TA I L

2025

Proposed buildings to enclose freight courtyards Proposed public space Proposed courtyard

By creating the courtyard and allowing for the movement of trucks within the semi-enclosed space, the roads surrounding the buildings are freed up for human-scale use. Trucks are able to circulate freely within the courtyard, parking and delivering their goods without complications from parked cars or pedestrians. Meanwhile, the external faces of the buildings can be evolved for pedestrian-scale use, with warm storefronts and safe, clear sidewalks.

138

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Hourly Capacity of a Truck-Oriented Street

CURRENT STREET PLAN

4,500/h

x2

1,350,000 apples/h

900/h

x3

4,860,000 apples/h

Hourly Capacity of a Truck-Oriented Street apples/h 100/h x3 18,000,000 4,500/h 0/h

x2

1,350,000 0 apples/happles/h

900/h

x3

4,860,000 apples/h

100/h

x3

18,000,000 apples/h

0/h

x2

0 apples/h

Total capacity: 24,210,000

Hourly Capacit

Hourly Capacity of a Truck-Oriented Street Total capacity: 24,210,000

8,000

4,500/h

x2

1,350,000 apples/h

900/h

x3

4,860,000 apples/h

7,000

x3

18,000,000 apples/h

200/

x2

0 apples/h

PROPOSED STREET PLAN 100/h

rly Capacity of a Truck-Oriented Street rly Capacity of a Truck-Oriented Street 0/h 4,500/h x2 1,350,000 apples/h 4,500/h x2 1,350,000 apples/h 900/h x3 4,860,000 apples/h 900/h x3 4,860,000 apples/h 100/h x3 18,000,000 apples/h 100/h x3 18,000,000 apples/h 0/h x2 0 apples/h 0/h x2 0 apples/h

Total capacity: 24,210,000

Hourly Capacity of a Multimodal Street

tal capacity: 24,210,000 tal capacity: 24,210,000Proposed buildings 8,000/h

Hourly Capacity of a Multimodal Street 200/ Hourly Capacity of a Multimodal Street 8,000/h x2 2,400,000 apples/h 8,000/h x2 2,400,000 apples/h 900/ 7,000/h x2 5,040,000 apples/h 7,000/h x2 5,040,000 apples/h 100/ 200/h x1 900,000 apples/h 200/h x1 900,000 apples/h 0/h 200/h x1 12,000,000 apples/h 200/h x1 12,000,000 apples/h 900/h x2 3,240,000 apples/h 900/h x2 3,240,000 apples/h 100/h x?

150,000 apples/h 100/h x?

150,000 apples/h Total capacity 0/h x1 0 apples/h 0/h x1 0 apples/h Total capacity: 23,730,000 Total capacity: 23,730,000

x2

2,400,000 apples/h

7,000/h

x2

5,040,000 apples/h

200/h

x1

900,000 apples/h

200/h

x1

12,000,000 apples/h

900/h

x2

139 apples/h 3,240,000

100/h

x?

150,000 apples/h

Proposed public space Proposed courtyard

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

140

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Beyond the Waterfront Johanna Greenspan-Johnston | Gonzalo Ortega

The Newtown Creek waterfront along the southern border of Long Island City is currently dominated by heavy industrial uses, but this land is vulnerable to flooding risks, posing significant environmental, economic, and safety risks. This has led to a community-driven call for flood-resilient interventions as well as increased public waterfront access.

While many plans have already been created to address these issues, the strategies currently proposed or underway are largely insufficient or infeasible in the long term. This project presents a framework for supporting the retention of sustainable industrial uses, creation of public space, and overall resilience of the area through a long-term coordinated re-development strategy along Newtown Creek that leverages public land ownership, private capital investments, and natural building cycles.

Opposite photo: Working waterfront edge of Long Island City

141

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

The proposal primari ly makes use of the highly underuti lized publicly-owned rai l corridor which currently disrupts continuity and connectivity in the area , as well as the large water-adjacent parcels adjacent land parcels which are largely underdeveloped, low-valued, aging, and overall incompati ble with a future of increased f lood risks.

142

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Key steps to this proposed strategy include: • Improving accessibility through the construction of primary and secondary roads • Leveraging publicly owned rail land and informal driveways • Adjusting zoning to encourage relocation of higher-impact industry farther inland, and • Redevelopment of higher-density lower-impact industry and mixed use spaces • Creating pathways of resilient infrastructure and public space, using opportunities made available through redevelopment to form contiguous lines of elevation and connection; and supporting expanded maritime use through the introduction of shared-dock infrastructure to enhance industrial operations and logistic.

To facilitate the integration a contiguous line of resilient infrastructure into new developments, the project also presents a number of redevelopment typologies with flexible and responsive urban design strategies that can accommodate a range of development interests, industrial needs, and varying types of land ownership.

143

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

These maps show an assessment of industrial vulnerability based on value, sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and exposure to coastal flooding risks.

This methodology takes into account specific risks posed both to industrial businesses (in terms of asset damages and business interruptions) and by industrial businesses (in terms of potential to cause environmental and safety hazards), and envisioned how the risk landscape would change over time with increasing exposure due to sea level rise.

ÂŻ

2020 vulnerabi lity

ÂŻ

2050 vulnerabi lity

ÂŻ

2100 vulnerabi lity 144

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Estimated industrial vulnerabi lity of the 600+ analyzed businesses

This proposal began with an investigation of natural and built systems related to the water—identifying tensions in the intersection of industrial, commercial, recreational, and environmental needs, which result in inefficiencies and overburdened systems, which will be exacerbated with future growth and climate change.

145

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

R E S I L I E N T L A N D S WA P The project proposes to leverage an under-utilized rail easement, offering a contiguous line of property ownership parallel to Newtown Creek, to create a more resilient and publicly accessible water’s edge to protect current and future development in LIC.

Most eff icient: Flood infrastructure along public rai l line easement

Most effective : Flood infrastructure along water’s edge

Most responsive : Flexi ble and adaptive f lood infrastructure

146

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Line of resiliency Shared lines between parcels

New road Existing parcels Protected surface

Land swap New parcels

147

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Newtown Creek working waterfront

M3-2

Dutch Kills

M3-1

light industrial / mixed use

M2-1

M1-4

Sunnyside Yards

LIC HUB M1-3 R6A

mixed use

R1-3 R7X

M3-2

M3-1

heavy industrial

Hunters Point

Industrial

M1-3 R7-3

Current

R1-3 R10

M1-4

light industrial

M1-3

R1-3

commercial mixed use

IBZ

R6A

R7X

medium density residential

R7-3

R10

high density residential

Residential

+

+

Creek Park high density residential

M2-1

Future

The project leverages development pressure to create a more resi lient industrial mixed-use zone along the edge of Newtown Creek

Dutch Kills light industrial / mixed use

Newtown Creek working waterfront

LIC HUB

mixed use

Typologies high density residential

medium density residential

commercial mixed use

Creek Park high density residential

New zoning gradient of uses and bui lding typologies to support new development whi le preserving industrial activities 148

light industrial

heavy industrial

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Dutch Kills

light industrial / mixed use N E W T Y P O L O G I E S

Key steps to this proposed strategy include improving accessibility through Newtown Cree the construction of primary and secondary roads, leveraging publicly owned working waterfront rail land and informal driveways; adjusting zoning to encourage relocation of higher-impact industry farther inland, and redevelopment of higher-density lower-impact industry and mixed use spaces; creating pathways of resilient infrastructure and public space, using opportunities made available through redevelopment to form contiguous lines of elevation and connection; and supporting expanded maritime use through the introduction of shared-dock Typologies Newtown infrastructure to enhance industrial operations and logistics. Creek working waterfront high density medium density commercial light residential residential mixed use industr

ek Park

density ential

Newtown Creek

Typologies high density residential

working waterfront

medium density residential

High-density residential

commercial mixed use

light industrial

Medium-density residential

medium density residential

commercial mixed use

commercial mixed use

light industrial

light industrial

heavy industrial

Commercial mixed-use

heavy industrial

Light industrial

149

heavy industrial

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

150

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

INLAND INDEPENDENT -Private development farther inland at same height.

-Flood proofing required, standards variable depending on area timeline and associated risk.

-Waterfront land handed over to public ownership, sometimes traded for more rail-adjacent land.

Upgraded storm water system

-Prepared for future elevated waterfront pathways, with option to plug-in if desired.

Temporary flood wall Public pathway

F U L L C O O R D I N AT I O N Upgraded storm water system

-Privately developed whole site with greater flexibility.

-Landscaped or hard engineered strategies to achieve designated resilient elevation across whole site.

-Ready and able to intentionally plug into future waterfront pathway and resilience strategies.

Landscaped flood wall Dual fronting buildings Integrated public spaces

WAT E R F R O N T R E S I L I E N T Buried flood wall

-Development along waterfront and reserved for active waterfront use.

-Strictest standards for flood proofing, environmental hazard mitigation, and continuity of operations planning.

Elevated building Ramped access road and pathways Upgraded storm water system

-Leave space along rail and sides for public continuation of resilient and accessibility pathways.

-When raised path is constructed, ramping over for vehicle accessibility, yielding to pedestrian right of way.

151

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

Dutch Kills

light industrial / mixed use

Montauk Rail elevated

LIC HUB

mixed use

Creek Park

high density residential

Newtown Waterfront green infrastriucture

152

l o n g i s l a n d c i t y | proposals

The key component of this project is the “phase construction� part where we propose a piecewise development process that leverages natural building cycles, adapting in vision to account for future transportation needs, technologies, capital availability, development concerns, and flooding projections.

resilience line of elevation

Newtown Creek working waterfront

153

REFE R E N C ES 1916 Zoning Resolution. City of New York, 1916. Retrieved from www1.nyc. gov Designing for Truck Movements and Other Large Vehicles in Portland. City of Portland Office of Transportation, 2008. Retrieved from www. portlandoregon.gov Engines of Opportunity: Reinvigorating New York City’s Manufacturing Zones for the 21st Century. New York City Council, 2014. Retrieved from www. council.nyc.gov Forman, Richard. Urban Ecology: Science of Cities. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. p. 336 – 342, “Industrial areas.”

Freight NYC: Goods for the Good of the City. New York City Economic Development Corporation, 2018. Retrieved from www.nycedc.com Hatuka, Tali. 2017. Industrial Urbanism: Exploring the City-Production Dynamic. Built Environment, 43 (1).

Hatuka, Tali, Eran Ben-Joseph, and Minjee Kim. 2017. “Industrial Urbanism: Typologies, Concepts, and Propsects. Built Environment, 43 (1).

Leigh, Nancey, Nathanael Hoelzel, Benjamin Kraft, Christopher Dempwolf. Sustainable Urban Industrial Development. APA Planning Advisory Service, 2014.

Long Island City Business Improvement District Annual Report. Long Island City Partnership, 2017. Retrieved from www.longislandcityqueens.com Long Island City Comprehensive Plan Phase 1. Long Island City Partnership, 2016. Retrieved from www.longislandcityqueens.com

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Long Island City: Connecting the Arts. Design Trust for Public Space, 2006.

Long Island City Waterfront Mixed Use Redevelopment (RFP). New York City Economic Development Committee, 2016. Retrieved from www.nycedc. com Love, Timothy. 2017. A New Model of Hybrid Building as a Catalyst for the Redevelopment of Urban Industrial Districts. Built Environment, 43 (1).

Newtown Creek Brownfield Opportunity Area Report. Riverkeeper, Newtown Creek Alliance, Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, 2012.

Retrieved from www.newtowncreekalliance.org Newtown Creek Vision Plan. Riverkeeper and Newtown Creek Alliance, 2018.

Retrieved from www.riverkeeper.org New York City Industrial Action Plan. New York City Office of the Mayor, 2015. Retrieved from www1.nyc.gov New York Works: Creating Good Jobs. New York City Office of the Mayor, 2017.

Retrieved from www.newyorkworks.cityofnewyork.us Rappaport, Nina. Vertical Urban Factory. Actar Publishers, 2015. “Factory City” p. 62-113, “Industrial Urbanism” p. 238-329.

Resilient Industry: Mitigation and Preparedness in the City’s Industrial Floodplain.

New York City Department of City Planning, 2018. Retrieved from www1. nyc.gov Reynolds, Elisabeth B. 2017. Innovation and Production: Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, Trends and Implications for US Cities and Regions. Built Environment, 43 (1).

Sunnyside Yard Feasibility Study. New York City Economic Development Corporation, 2017. Retrieved from www.nycedc.com Urban Freight Initiatives. NYC Department of Transportation, 2015.

Retrieved from www.nyc.gov Urban Waterfront Adaptive Strategies. New York City Department of City Planning, 2013. Retrieved from www1.nyc.gov 159

Vision 2020: New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, chapter 3, “Support the Working Waterfront,” “Reach 13: Newtown Creek,” Appendix B “Significant Maritime Industrial Areas”. New York City Department of City Planning, 2011. Retrieved from www1.nyc.gov Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines. Waterfront Alliance, 2018. Retrieved from www.waterfrontalliance.org Why Goods Movement Matters: Strategies for Moving Goods in Metropolitan Areas. Regional Plan Association and Volvo Research and Educational Foundation. Retrieved from www.goodsmovementmatters.org

The authors have attempted to acknowledge credit for all images, and apologize for any errors or ommissions.

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URBAN DESIGN STUDIO SPRING 2018

REWORKING INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS

IN LONG ISLAND CITY

DUSP/MIT