Houses along 222nd Street in the proposed Cambria Heights-222nd Street Historic District. Image Credit: Google Maps.

Both historic districts feature Tudor Revival row houses with whimsical features. On August 10, 2021, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar two historic districts in Cambria Heights, Queens for future designation. The Cambria Heights-222nd Street Historic District and the Cambria Heights-227th Street Historic District are both well-preserved examples of the Tudor Revival and Storybook styles and of the 1930s suburban expansion in Queens. (more…)

Houses along 222nd Street in the proposed Cambria Heights-222nd Street Historic District. Image Credit: Google Maps.

Residents raised concerns about the cost and difficulty in maintaining special details and features. On September 14, 2021, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing for two proposed historic districts in Cambria Heights, Queens. The Cambria Heights-222nd Street Historic District and the Cambria Heights-227th Street Historic District are both well-preserved examples of the Tudor Revival and Storybook styles and of the 1930s suburban expansion in Queens.  (more…)

Local council member supported 193-block contextual rezoning in suburban Queens. On August 25, 2010, the City Planning Commission approved the Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone 193 blocks in Rosedale, Queens. The triangular-shaped rezoning area is generally bounded by Merrick Boulevard to the north, Idlewild Park and Hook Creek to the south, Nassau County to the east, and Brookville Boulevard to the west. The plan seeks to preserve the neighborhood’s low-density character and builds on three recent rezonings in the nearby neighborhoods of Brookville, Cambria Heights, and Laurelton. The Commission certified the proposal in June 2010. 7 CityLand 91 (July 15, 2010).

Sunrise Highway bisects the rezoning area. The northern portion is zoned R2 and characterized by single- family detached homes. Rosedale’s southern portion is zoned R3- 2, which allows a variety of housing types, including low-rise attached houses, small multi-family apartment houses, and detached and semi-detached houses. This area is also characterized by single-family detached homes, but the flexibility of the R3-2 zoning has resulted in pockets of over development out of character with the area’s prevailing suburban nature. Planning would replace the majority of the R3-2 zoning with contextual zoning districts in order to better reflect existing development. The plan would rezone 146 blocks throughout the southern portion of Rosedale to R3X, thereby limiting building types to detached one- and two-family homes. (more…)

196 blocks of Cambria Heights down-zoned. On July 27, 2005, the City Council unanimously approved a down-zoning, impacting 196 blocks of Cambria Heights, Queens. It is the first rezoning initiative in this neighborhood since 1961 and the fifth Queens neighborhood down-zoned by the City in 2005.

Designed to closely match the size of existing development, the down-zoning’s new residential districts (R2A, R3A, R3-1, and R4B) decrease the size and density of asof- right buildings. The existing commercial overlay district along Springfield and Linden Boulevards would be decreased in depth to prevent commercial uses from expanding away from these Boulevards onto smaller residential side streets. (more…)

Cambria Heights community expressed concern about impact of proposed one-story commercial building on adjacent community garden. Prior to a public hearing before the City Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee, Ryan Pedram withdrew his rezoning proposal to extend a C1-3 commercial overlay to an existing R3-2 district at the northeast corner of Linden Boulevard between 226th and 227th Streets in Cambria Heights, Queens. Pedram had requested the rezoning in order to develop a one-story, 8,100 sq.ft. commercial building on a vacant lot adjacent to a community garden owned by the Trust for Public Land.

Linden Boulevard is the main commercial corridor in Cambria Heights and is characterized by low-rise commercial, mixed-use, and residential buildings. In 2005 the City approved a contextual rezoning of Cambria Heights. 2 CityLand 100 (Aug. 15, 2005). Pedram’s property was residentially developed at the time and its R3-2 zoning was left unchanged. East of Pedram’s property, Linden Boulevard is zoned R3-2 with a C2-3 commercial overlay. To the west, Linden Boulevard is zoned R3-2 with C1-3 commercial overlay. Pedram initially proposed extending the C1-3 overlay 90 feet east to include his lot and ten feet of the community garden. (more…)