Contextual rezoning would impact 130 blocks in Sunnyside and Woodside neighborhoods. On May 25, 2011, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on the Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone 130 blocks in the Sunnyside and Woodside sections of Queens. The proposal would impact approximately 2,800 tax lots generally bounded by the Sunnyside Rail Yard and 37th Avenue to the north, Roosevelt and Woodside Avenues to the south, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and 72nd Street to the east, and 39th Place to the west.

The Sunnyside and Woodside neighborhoods were established after the opening of the Queensboro Bridge in the early 1900s and the subsequent extension of what became the elevated No. 7 subway line. Sunnyside, located in the western portion of the study area, is predominately characterized by large, multi-family apartment buildings. Woodside is primarily characterized by one- and two-family homes and small apartment buildings. (more…)