Queens Community Board 2 Recommendations on the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan

CB2’s OneLIC plan calls for equitable development tied to affordability, infrastructure, open space, and community oversight

Community Vision and Priorities for OneLIC

The Queens Community Board 2 (CB2) OneLIC Working Group, comprised of members of the Land Use and Housing Committee and select members of other pertinent committees, has developed the following recommendations in response to the City’s proposed OneLIC Initiative. These recommendations reflect themes and findings from deep community engagement and an urgent need to ensure that new development meaningfully benefits existing residents, addresses historic underinvestment, and creates a livable, resilient neighborhood for generations to come.

Our vision for OneLIC is rooted in the belief that public growth must yield public good. This means aligning new housing with deep affordability, tying development to infrastructure delivery, and ensuring that public land is used to meet the community’s most pressing needs – including schools, public parks, and housing for vulnerable populations. It also means supporting LIC’s vital arts and culture community and making LIC a safer, greener, and more inclusive place to live and work.

While we support the City’s goals of affordability, sustainability, and accessibility, our recommendations highlight several critical areas where the plan must go further:

● Housing Affordability: Require Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) Options 1 and 3 throughout the rezoning area to ensure homes are affordable to the residents who need them most – those earning between 40% and 60% of Area Median Income (AMI). Prioritize family-sized units and 100% affordable development on public sites.

● Infrastructure Plan: Development must not outpace essential infrastructure. We call for an infrastructure sequencing plan, paired with remedies for the unmet needs left by past rezonings – including upgrades to sewers and transit and the addition of more schools and usable public open spaces.

● Public Land for Public Good: City-owned sites must be used to deliver multiple community priorities. We support a cohesive vision that includes affordable housing, a high school, arts facilities, and public park space.

● Zoning with Purpose: Adjust base zoning downward in key areas to encourage the use of bonuses for public benefits and remove unlimited height provisions to preserve contextual scale and livability.

● Oversight and Accountability: Establish a community oversight committee and formalize implementation through a binding memorandum of understanding (MOU), ensuring transparency, timely delivery, and lasting public trust.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get it right. The success of OneLIC depends on making good on the promise of planning with – not just for – the community. We look forward to working in partnership with City agencies, elected officials, and neighbors to achieve a truly inclusive and equitable Long Island City.

Recommendations

Deepen and Strengthen Housing Affordability

● Apply MIH Options 1 and 3, which require 20% to 25% of residential floor area to be permanently affordable, targeted at 40% to 60% of AMI. These options are essential to address the acute housing needs of low-income families and individuals, many of whom are currently cost-burdened or at risk of displacement from LIC. The community has seen a significant influx of high-income households in recent years, while housing affordable to longtime residents – especially those earning below 60% AMI – has become increasingly scarce. Options 1 and 3 ensure deeper affordability levels that are aligned with the economic realities of residents, including NYCHA households, essential workers, and seniors. Requiring these MIH options throughout the rezoning area would help counteract market pressures, promote economic diversity, and better reflect the needs and priorities of the existing mixed-income community. While we acknowledge that AMI is set federally, we urge the City and State to explore mechanisms that align local housing affordability requirements more closely with neighborhood-level incomes and cost burdens.

● Commit to developing a combination of 100% affordable housing, public parks with both active and passive recreation, and a new school across the City-owned development sites. Developers should adequately protect affordable housing from extreme flooding through stringent resilient methods and/or should consider other sites for vulnerable populations. This ensures that public land delivers maximum public benefit and can serve as a model for equitable development. Developers who do not provide meaningful community benefits—such as deeply affordable housing or public open space—should be subject to reduced maximum building heights to ensure all new development supports neighborhood priorities.

● Encourage the development of projects that significantly exceed minimum affordable housing requirements, particularly those offering majority or fully income-restricted housing, through strengthened zoning and financial incentives. Tools such as expanded density bonuses or transfer of development rights should be considered in partnership with developers and nonprofits committed to long-term affordability. These strategies can help deliver deeper affordability levels that reflect community needs and support mixed-income stability.

● To the greatest extent possible, prioritize family-sized units (2- and 3-bedroom apartments) to support the diverse household needs of LIC’s working families.

● Enhance access to affordable units by supporting application assistance programs, expanding local outreach, and creating clear pipelines for NYCHA and voucher-eligible residents.

● Require the Department of City Planning (DCP) and Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to publish an updated five-year review of MIH housing production in the city’s existing NYC Open Data system, including unit counts, AMI levels, and unit sizes. This will help assess the program’s effectiveness in Long Island City and citywide, and guide deeper affordability strategies within OneLIC.

● Encourage the sale of new market-rate units to first-time homeowners, particularly those using State and City first-time homebuyer programs, to help build intergenerational wealth, promote economic stability, and offer alternatives to long-term renting.

Tie Development to Infrastructure Delivery

● Develop and publish an infrastructure sequencing plan that outlines which infrastructure upgrades (schools, sewers, parks, and transit) City agencies must deliver before or alongside new development phases. This plan must include milestone dates and funding commitments to ensure timely delivery. Equally important, it should not only support future growth but also correct for historic underinvestment stemming from prior rezonings in LIC, which permitted rapid residential expansion without the corresponding infrastructure needed to support it. By addressing these legacy gaps alongside new development, the City can build a more equitable and resilient foundation for current and future residents.

● Develop and publish a coordinated and comprehensive phasing plan for the new public waterfront so that staggered development does not exacerbate inland flooding, optimizes coastal resiliency, and residents can immediately begin using sections of the new waterfront.

● Require developers to submit designs for all public and privately owned waterfront sites for WEDG verification.

● Require the Department of Education (DOE), Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Department of Transportation (DOT), and other relevant agencies to submit implementation plans tied to the projected buildout, ensuring that services grow proportionally to the population.

● Establish a public reporting mechanism, such as annual ULURP progress updates, to track delivery of key infrastructure investments, with findings reported to CB2 and made publicly available.

● Expand NYPD and FDNY services to match population growth from the rezoning, including additional personnel, equipment, and facilities where necessary, to maintain adequate emergency response times and public safety coverage.

● Initiate an emergency preparedness planning process in collaboration with NYC Emergency Management and local stakeholders. This process should identify a range of environmental vulnerabilities, notably both storm surge and intensive rainfall events, outline community mitigation strategies, and develop protocols for coordinated emergency response, especially in areas of greatest hazard.

● Identify a site for and commit to establishing a full-service hospital within or near the rezoning area, including comprehensive maternity and neonatal care. Long Island City’s growing residential population requires local, accessible healthcare infrastructure to meet basic and emergency needs, especially for families.

● Promote responsible land use and timely housing delivery by identifying priority sites where long-term vacancy or stalled development may be addressed through planning interventions or enhanced accountability. Projects that remain undeveloped or inactive for extended periods should be subject to review, with the aim of advancing public benefit and preventing speculative holding that undermines neighborhood goals.

● Address cumulative environmental impacts in Blissville, even though the neighborhood is not formally part of the OneLIC plan area. Blissville (Census Tract 199) is a historically marginalized community and must be included in the plan’s infrastructure and environmental justice framework. Targeted investments such as a dedicated street tree and rain garden initiative in Blissville would mitigate legacy underinvestment and support the goals outlined in the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice.

Expand and Improve Public Open Space

● Strengthen and formalize requirements within the Waterfront Access Plan (WAP) to ensure that all designated waterfront areas provide genuinely usable, inclusive, and climate-resilient public spaces. CB2 recommends that the WAP zoning text should be amended to require wider minimum waterfront open space, exceeding the 40' baseline. It should also ensure continuous connectivity, seating, shade, and recreational amenities; clear guidelines for maintenance responsibilities; and integration with upland access points to maximize community benefit and equitable access.

● Expand the footprint of parkland beyond the waterfront by identifying and acquiring upland sites suitable for passive and active recreation, particularly in underserved areas like Court Square and Queens Plaza. LIC falls far short of the City’s open space goal of 2.5 acres per 1,000 residents, currently providing only about 1.35 acres per 1,000. As one of the most park-deficient districts in New York City, this shortfall makes it critical that any new development be paired with major investments in public open space to support health, equity, and livability.

● Identify and commit to a site for a publicly owned, fully accessible neighborhood park of at least 2 acres within the Court Square area. This neighborhood is already among the most densely populated in the rezoning area and acutely lacks usable open space to serve a multi-generational population of local residents.

● Transform city-owned land beneath the Queensboro Bridge into permanent public park space. These parcels represent some of the most underutilized land in the rezoning area and are well-positioned to serve adjacent high-density neighborhoods. This land should be repurposed to create accessible, climate-resilient, and actively programmed open space that addresses longstanding open space inequities and connects to broader green infrastructure and pedestrian networks.

● Create a full-sized public outdoor community pool within the rezoning area. LIC currently lacks access to adequate public outdoor swimming facilities. The only option within CB2 is a small 40' x 20' pool at Windmuller Park, which does not meet the needs of the growing population.

● Utilize city-owned land along 44th Drive to deliver an integrated set of public benefits, guided by community-generated concepts such as the one illustrated in the sketch below. This concept proposes: a 2+ acre public park for active recreation; a renovated Board of Education building to accommodate a new high school and 75,000 square feet of community arts space; 100% affordable senior and supportive housing as currently proposed (~320 units); and passive open space with trees and seating along the Anable Basin waterfront. This conceptual vision demonstrates how a cohesive, site-specific plan can address multiple community priorities – housing, education, open space, and arts – in one of the neighborhood’s most strategic public locations at the main entry point to the new public waterfront. The City should work with the community to refine and realize a mixed-use vision that maximizes public value and embodies Long Island City’s unique character. Public land must be retained in public ownership and leased – not sold – to ensure long-term accountability and community benefit.

● Establish zoning requirements or design guidelines to ensure that new privately-owned and managed public spaces are truly usable, habitable, and welcoming, with minimum standards for size, seating, shade, and accessibility.

● Convert specific underutilized parcels (such as parking lots or city-owned properties adjacent to NYCHA developments) into new public parks, using tools like land swaps or the "Walk to a Park" site selection framework.

● Terminate or repurpose the City’s lease of the existing DOT-owned parking lot between 22nd and 23rd St south of Queens Plaza to prioritize its use for upland park space. This site, currently leased for private use, presents a unique opportunity to deliver meaningful recreational access in one of the most park-deficient parts of the neighborhood.

● NYC Parks and the City Council must commit to a funded street tree initiative in LIC, particularly in the Industrial Business Zone (IBZ), to address heat island effects. Budget should include not only planting but active long-term maintenance and replacement.

● Expand the footprint of parkland in the broader context area by including park investments in Blissville. Specifically, we support the creation of the proposed 29th Street Park at the head of the Dutch Kills Tributary, directly behind LaGuardia Community College. This location serves Blissville, Court Square, and South Sunnyside, and addresses a documented open space gap in an area designated as a disadvantaged community under NY State criteria.

See the open space map below (created with assistance from the Pratt Center for Community Development) to illustrate existing access gaps and inform equitable investment.

Expand School Capacity and Secure Physical School Space

● Commit to funding and constructing at least two new schools within the rezoning area, based on projected demand, in addition to the current School Construction Authority (SCA) plan for three schools for the existing neighborhood population. This should include elementary, middle, and high school capacity.

● Mandate that all new school sites include on-site outdoor play space, rather than relying on already overtaxed public parks for gym and recreation, to support holistic educational environments.

Improve Transit Access and Street Safety

● Partner with the MTA, and formalize in a transit coordination plan, to expand service on the 7, E, G, M, F, N, and W subway lines, including increased frequency and accessibility/circulation upgrades at nearby stations. This should be formalized in a transit coordination plan.

● Expand local bus service, express buses to Manhattan, and ferry service. Create dedicated bus lanes along major corridors, improving last-mile access and reducing commute times.

● Implement a comprehensive Vision Zero strategy tailored to LIC, including raised crosswalks, curb extensions, protected bike lanes, pedestrian refuge islands, and redesigned intersections to reduce injuries and fatalities.

● Create a long-term streetscape master plan, including the Queens Waterfront Greenway project and DOT's Citywide Greenways Plan (currently in development), that reserves right-of-way for future improvements, such as wider sidewalks, wide bike lanes, green infrastructure, and transit accessibility features.

● Actively apply the zoning frameworks that require or encourage developers to fund transit improvements like new station entrances or ADA-compliant elevators as part of their projects. This would leverage private investment to address transit accessibility and capacity needs, especially in high-growth areas near major subway hubs.

Upgrade Sewer and Stormwater Infrastructure

● Identify and fund a package of sewer capacity upgrades necessary to accommodate the additional population from rezoning. In addition, the City must provide a comprehensive plan for upgrading existing sewer infrastructure to meet the needs of current residents and buildings constructed under previous LIC rezonings, many of which continue to experience flooding and drainage issues due to outdated or insufficient capacity.

● Require developers to integrate green infrastructure elements (such as permeable paving, green roofs, rain gardens, and bioswales) into new projects to mitigate runoff and reduce pressure on the combined sewer system.

Preserve and Support Arts and Culture (AC)

● Modify the zoning text to include a floor area exemption for nonprofit arts and cultural facilities, similar to the exemption granted for new public schools.

● Encourage space partnerships between schools and local AC nonprofits in exchange for arts education, achieving both sustainable space for teaching artists and accessible arts education integration.

● Create a zoning incentive program that provides floor area ratio (FAR) bonuses to developers who provide street-level cultural space (minimum 2,000 usable square feet) under long-term, below-market leases to local AC organizations who can make highest and best use of designated spaces.

● Designate a local umbrella nonprofit or collective of nonprofits to serve as matchmaker between developers and local AC nonprofits

● Engage city agencies – including, but not limited to, DOE, Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC), and Small Business Services (SBS) to coordinate capital and programmatic funding earmarked for new AC spaces.

● Create and designate at least one flexible, outdoor public space specifically suited for a variety of performances (e.g., an open amphitheater with access to power and minimum 200 seat capacity) in the rezoning area, potentially within a publicly accessible waterfront park.

● Launch a pilot short-term lease initiative that connects arts groups with vacant storefronts for temporary cultural activation, reducing commercial blight, activating ground floors along the street, and supporting local creatives.

● Support the creation of a cultural and community-oriented facility in the rezoning area to provide flexible, multipurpose space for local organizations and neighborhood programming.

● Establish an Art Fund to be administered by a local IRS 501C3 arts organization existing with the new districts. This Arts Fund shall be funded by a $10/square foot surcharge on all residential non-affordable housing constructed in the zoning districts created as a result of the new One LIC zoning. The fund shall be used to subsidize artists, not for profit art facilities and not for profit cultural organizations within the created zoning districts.

● Incentivize developers to incorporate publicly accessible sites for arts and culture features such as murals and sculpture installations that honor and preserve the historic character of the neighborhood.

See map screenshot below (live Google map here) of the current concentration of more than one hundred arts and culture organizations and public art sites in and around the rezoning area. Many locations house dozens of individual artist workspaces or arts organizations, demonstrating the need for more space and vulnerability of adverse impact if not included in the rezoning plan.

Preserve LIC’s Industrial Core

● Maintain the character of the Industrial Business Zone (IBZ) by avoiding upzoning that incentivizes speculative development at the cost of existing businesses. New development should complement -- not replace -- LIC’s industrial, artisan, and creative communities.

● Apply a downzoning framework to M1-4A, M1-5A, M1-6A, and M2-3A districts, paired with targeted FAR bonuses that incentivize affordable creative, artisan, and maker spaces. This would promote economic diversity while retaining the area's unique mixed-use identity.

● Shift the district north to the north side of 46th Avenue (see diagram below). Preserve the midblock between 46th Ave and 46th Rd where dozens of established small businesses and artisans contribute to Hunters Point’s historic fabric.

● Keep the area between 46th Rd and 47th Ave as M1-4/R6B (see diagram below). Development here is already underway under existing zoning and reflects a healthy blend of residences and small businesses. Avoid rezoning that would intensify speculative pressure or destabilize this equilibrium.

● Mandate the NYC EDC and SBS to monitor commercial rent trends in at-risk zones and develop targeted grants for small businesses facing rent increases and employee hiring needs.

● Provide financial assistance for owners facing rising property taxes and mandatory sewer upgrades triggered by zoning changes or development-related infrastructure requirements.

● Redesign IBZ streets to support pedestrian movement, street trees, and goods movement, creating shared streets that reinforce the area’s industrial-residential mix.

● Promote full-service grocery stores, especially in underserved and walkable areas, including around NYCHA developments. This should include the use of ground floor commercial space in IBZ and mixed-use zones for food retail. Partner with EDC, SBS, and DCP to create rent subsidies or tax incentives for grocers and bodegas providing fresh food options, modeled after successful development in other cities. Establish a centrally located greenmarket that serves all LIC residents by utilizing a temporarily closed street grid to maximize accessibility without taking away parkland. Prioritize pedestrian access and community programming.

Calibrate Zoning Heights to Incentivize Public Benefits and Protect Sensitive Areas

● Lower the base zoning heights and densities in select areas (particularly along the waterfront and in inland areas currently proposed at R10) through the use of somewhat lower-density districts such as R9, to better align with the City’s incentive framework. Slightly reducing the as-of-right development potential – such as shifting from R10 to R9 – creates a meaningful tradeoff that steers developers toward using zoning bonuses in exchange for delivering critical public benefits. This adjustment preserves the overall development potential for approximately 14,700 new dwelling units but ensures that growth is contingent on tangible community benefits rather than guaranteed as-of-right. An R9 base allows the City to restore density via bonuses while more effectively leveraging private development to meet public needs.

● Remove Unlimited Height Provisions where they are currently proposed. While we support DCP’s goals of reducing building bulk and encouraging design flexibility, we are concerned about the unpredictability of unlimited height. We urge DCP to reevaluate and replace these provisions with defined height limits that balance flexibility with neighborhood context.

● In the block immediately east of Queensbridge Houses, reduce maximum residential zoning from R10 to R8, to respect the scale of this historic development and reduce shadow impacts on the historic grounds, residential buildings, and rooftop Community Solar installation on buildings at the southeast corner of the NYCHA development.

See illustrative views provided by DCP of the DEIS With Action scenario below.

Establish Ongoing Oversight and Accountability

● Establish a community oversight committee (convened with participation from CB2, local stakeholders, city agencies, and development partners) to monitor implementation progress, surface issues, and advise on course corrections. Developers participating in the rezoning must cover legal and administrative costs associated with drafting and finalizing a community benefits agreement (CBA), to be signed prior to ULURP approval.

● Hold quarterly public meetings of the oversight committee to ensure transparency and allow for regular community input on milestones and challenges.

● Publish annual implementation progress reports covering affordable housing delivery, school construction, open space completion, infrastructure improvements, and quality of life issues due to construction.

● Affirm support for union labor and fair employment practices. We encourage the use of union labor across rezoning-related projects to promote high-quality construction, worker protections, and equitable economic opportunities for residents.

● Ensure that community benefits from new development include reinvestment in public housing and local infrastructure. Explore opportunities to channel revenues or benefits from underutilized or inactive sites -- such as those reactivated through new planning efforts -- into a dedicated fund for capital needs at Queensbridge Houses and other public assets within the rezoning area. This approach reinforces equity and local reinvestment as core tenets of the OneLIC plan.

● Formalize a post-ULURP MOU that outlines agency responsibilities, funding timelines, and coordination protocols to guide post-approval accountability.

CB2 and the OneLIC Working Group appreciated the responsiveness and partnership of DCP and other agencies in responding to questions and providing additional data throughout the review process. We intend to hold the City and its agencies accountable for responding to these recommendations and, more broadly, to ensure that much-needed growth occurs responsibly, equitably, and for the benefit of LIC community members.