Council approved plan after EDC made further concessions on affordable housing. On November 13, 2008, the City Council voted to approve the NYC Economic Development Corporation’s Hunter’s Point South plan, a mixed-income 30-acre waterfront development in Long Island City, Queens. The project met with controversy at Council’s October 24th Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee public hearing and at the City Planning Commission’s August 13th public hearing. Opponents testified that the project lacked a sufficient amount of affordable housing units, and that the already-proposed affordable units were priced beyond the reach of most Queens residents. 5 CityLand 125 (Sept. 15, 2008).

At the Subcommittee meeting, EDC representatives announced that 200 low-income senior housing units had been added to the plan following negotiations with Council Member Eric N. Gioia, whose district includes Hunter’s Point. EDC also agreed to 330 additional on-site low-income units through inclusionary zoning, and promised to review other sites supplied by Gioia for new affordable housing in Queens.

Though the Subcommittee questioned EDC’s reliance on federal funding to pay for the newly added senior housing, an EDC representative stated that it would be funded somehow, most likely by the City, if EDC failed to secure federal funding. The Subcommittee unanimously voted to recommend approval, as did the Land Use Committee. The full Council approved the project later that day.

Review Process
Lead Agency:Dep.Mayor’s Office,Eco.Dev.,
FEIS
Comm.Bd.: QN 2,App’d, 20-0-0
Boro.Pres.: App’d
CPC: App’d, 12-0-0
Council: App’d, 45-0-7

Council: Hunter’s Point South (Nov. 13, 2008).