Modification allows businesses on portions of 37th Avenue to expand. On February 18, 2009, the City Planning Commission approved, with one modification, the Department of City Planning’s rezoning proposal for North Corona, Queens. The proposed rezoning impacts 100 blocks generally bounded by Roosevelt Avenue on the south, 89th to 95th Streets on the west, Northern and Astoria Boulevards on the north, and 114th Street on the east.

The current proposal is City Planning’s response to the out-of- character development that occurred after a broad rezoning of the area in 2003. To further limit the density of new construction, City Planning proposes to rezone portions of 68 blocks from R6B to R5 and R5A, and from R5 to R5A. The R5A contextual zoning district, which had not been created at the time of the 2003 rezoning, would limit new development to one- and two-family detached houses. The proposal would also create a contextual corridor along portions of Astoria and Northern Boulevards by rezoning these areas from R6 to R6A This action would encourage medium-density development and establisha fixed maximum building height of 70 ft. (more…)

Wide support for designation of 97- year-old synagogue. On January 15, 2008, Landmarks heard testimony on the potential designation of the Congregation Tifereth Israel synagogue located at 109-18 54th Avenue in the Corona section of Queens. Tifereth Israel is an example of the vernacular style, common amongst Lower East Side synagogues, and characterized by Gothic, Moorish, and Judaic design elements. Built in 1911 by Yiddish-speaking, Eastern European immigrants, Tifereth Israel today serves new arrivals from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and other Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union.

At the hearing, a representative for the Landmarks Conservancy argued that preservation is necessary to fend off rapid redevelopment, which has already led to the destruction of several historic buildings in the area. Benika Morokuma of the Municipal Art Society also testified in support of designation, bringing to Landmarks’ attention the building’s listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, State Senator John Sabini, and Queens Community Board 3 all provided written testimony in favor of designation. (more…)

Image Credit: SBS

Funding from the Avenue NYC and Neighborhood 360 grant programs will be awarded to 24 nonprofits working towards pandemic recovery in low to moderate income neighborhoods. On July 13, 2022, the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) announced it will award $3.8 million in multi-year grants through the Avenue NYC and Neighborhood 360 programs. This investment will be divided among 24 community-based development organizations working in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. (more…)

Architect’s self-certified plans omitted mapped street and did not disclose need for BSA approvals. Between September 2008 and April 2009 architect Jose A. Velasquez self-certified applications to convert two buildings into three-family homes and to build two new three-family homes on a zoning lot at the corner of 103rd Street and Alstyne Avenue in Corona, Queens. The lot was occupied by four unfinished buildings partially within the bed of an unused mapped street.

Buildings audited the plans and determined that they violated zoning regulations. Among the objections, Buildings claimed that the plans did not satisfy rear-yard requirements and increased existing non-compliance. The plans did not indicate that a mapped street went through the lot. Buildings also claimed that the plans violated the multiple dwelling law by including a water closet in the cellar of three buildings and contained error regarding fire-safety requirements. Buildings petitioned to have Velasquez barred from the self-certification program for submitting multiple incorrect self-certified applications within a year. (more…)

Development site is former Queens cemetery. Queens developer, AMF Machine Corporation, applied to BSA to construct a 201,633-squarefoot, 96-foot tall mixed-use building with 174 residential units in Corona, Queens. The proposed structure exceeded height limits by 46 feet and floor area limits by over 77,550 sq.ft. The development site, an oddly shaped, 14-sided, 62,041- square-foot lot, had street frontage along Corona Avenue and 90th Street, but a majority of the lot’s area stretched behind existing homes. The rear of the lot faced a LIRR right-of-way.

In support of its variance, AMF argued that the additional height and floor area would compensate for the added construction costs caused by the irregular lot. AMF also claimed that proximity to the LIRR, and the long corridors required by the site’s odd shape would significantly decrease the residential units’ value.

Queens Community Board 4 and neighborhood residents opposed, complaining that the building would overwhelm the two-story buildings adjacent to the site and any development on the site would potentially disturb remains from a Colonial-era cemetery once located on the site. (more…)