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Rapid development concerns local organizations, public meeting to discuss topic Sunday

Development plan for 48th and Greenpoint Ave.

Development plan for 48th and Greenpoint Ave.

Oct. 28, 2016 By Hannah Wulkan

Development has been on the rise in Western Queens in recent years, bringing with it rising prices and transportation issues.

Residents will have the chance to voice their concerns on these issues on Sunday, at the second “Community Conversation About Jobs, Homes and Small Business,” hosted by the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce, community group Woodside on the Move and the Artist Studio Affordability Project.

The meeting, which will be held Sunday at Woodside on the Move at 39-42 59th Street at 3 p.m., will follow up on a similar discussion on September 18, where nearly 200 residents gathered in Sunnyside and discussed issues of gentrification and overdevelopment.

“It’s a collaboration between groups concerned about over development and fact that a lot of development is not catered towards longtime residents who are invested in neighborhood, and a chance to talk about concerns and begin a longer conversation,” explained Amy Paul, the Executive Director of Woodside on the Move.

She said that the purpose of the meeting would be to discuss concerns and brainstorm community driven solutions.

“Most seniors who come in to our office are seniors who make less than $20,000 per year, and even the affordable developments don’t come close to catering to their needs,” Paul said.

“And with the increased development, a lot of small business owners are feeling strapped and don’t know how to negotiate their leases, and we’re seeing more transportation crowding and issues,” she added, mentioning that the L train shutdown will only increase problems with the 7 train.

Paul said that this discussion is the beginning of a much larger conversation, and it would mostly be a chance to begin to discuss the most pressing issues to the community, many of which are due to development encroaching on Western Queens.

“All these neighborhoods in Western Queens are sandwiched between Long Island City and Flushing where there is massive development, and right now there is a little bit of time to talk about it before the development and gentrification moves here,” Paul said.

Details

Sunday, October 30

aWoodside on the Move

39-42 59th Street

Time: 3 p.m.

Development on 43rd Street

Development on 43rd Street

email the author: news@queenspost.com

16 Comments

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El loco

J-Ass. Why don’t you be quiet. Maybe where you came from is not free but this country still is. I’ll say what I want. USA, USA!

Reply
Jp

El joke-o you dont know much about anything do you? This issue is not your strong point so shhhhh!!!!!
??????????????
(New look on qb)

Reply
Southside is a slum

I like it. It cleans up the rat infested mess that was previously there. Southside is a mess so this is a good start.

Reply
Anonymous

That is wholly unfair! If you don’t think that we have been encompassed by a long-planned, steadily executed plan to turn Queens into an extension of Manhattan that will benefit foreign money, real estate interests, corporations and individual members of city and state government, then you are seriously uninformed. Read about the long-term plans for Western Queens before you insult people who have. There is a lot to learn.

Reply
John

Seriously it appears that you don’t go by the sites in Woodside and look at the posted site info. The majority are not the big boys but front men for Asian investors.

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El loco

You’re generalizing. I’m sure you’re a Donald Trump supporter with you’re conspiracy theories. Almost all of the new buildings in LIC are rentals. How is that benefiting foreign people. Before you saying anything try something new. It’s called thinking.

Reply
A.Bundy

whats wrong with gentrification? i invested in the area, so i make money off of my investment.

“Most seniors who come in to our office are seniors who make less than $20,000 per year”

they should have bought a co-op when it was $1000 for a 1bdrm in the 80s. are they still waiting for prices to come down?

Reply
Anonymous

You consistently overestimate people’s pocketbooks and completely ignore the part of the population who for innumerable reasons do not have your financial success. If you are happy reaping obscene profits by pushing the sick, old and weak into homelessness, we don’t have much to talk about. God bless.

Reply
Anonymous

Gentrification is a plan by a nexus of government and industry to evict a long-term settled low income population so wealthier people can move in. It destroys lives. And whether or not those lives matter to you, they matter to the people living them. It causes unemployment, tears families apart, sickens the already weak and literally kills the very weakest. It is an ugly, greedy thing that pits one innocent population against another. NYC’s population is 75% renters and 25% owners. Three fourths of the population is under the gun so one fourth can get rich? That is not how a healthy nation works.

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El loco

When was a co-op 1,000 for a one bedroom apartment – the 1780’s? There is a lot wrong with gentrification. Exhorbitant commercial rents leaving stores empty. Exhorbutant apartment rents forcing lower income families out of the area. Big box stores replacing smaller mom and pop stores that give a neighborhood character. I’m not against change and often it is for the better but don’t make things so simplistic. There is a lot wrong with gentrification.

Reply
Anonymous

It feels like an invasion of marauding pirates scooping up the gold in the streets, our homes.

Reply
Yeppers

It would be one thing if these developments weren’t horrific eyesores
Who pays these architects and submits these plans? These developers should be ashamed of themselves. Hire someone who can commission a design that will mesh with the surrounding area

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