ISSUE: OVER DEVELOPMENT

DOWN ZONING

OVER DEVELOPMENT

Eastern Queens is being downzoned now. But what about Western Queens?

Due to old zoning laws that have not been updated since 1969, when the city was zoned for a population of 21 million, almost any building on any LIC street can be demolished without legally requiring notice to inform neighbors or the community board…even if the building in question is a 100-year old church started with a donation by John Jacob Astor.

In the place of demolished buildings, a 10-story low-income housing unit can be placed on a leafy residential street where nothing else is higher than 3 stories. Most of the time, the developer or building owner conceals their intentions from neighbors until it is too late for concerned residents to unify and lobby against it.

To be more specific about the bulldozing of pre-civil war homes in Old Astoria Village: in the last couple of years, 12th street has lost at least three pre-civil war mansions, replaced by non-descript multi-family dwellings, 27th Ave. recently lost a treasured 1835 historical home, and 14th street is consistently loosing it's lovely Victorian homes to new development. The parsonage of St. George's church on 27th Ave., the building for which Astoria was named, is in danger of being replaced by a seven story building. Therefore, those architecture buffs you mentioned are about to be out of luck. Maybe they could join us at the Long Island City Alliance in our fight against the invasion of thoughtless development and in the saving of Astoria's history. We're a community group with a goal to improve the overall quality of life here in Western Queens.