Queens West is a district and redevelopment project along the East River in Long Island City, Queens, New York City. The project, located on Hunter's Point south of the Anable Basin, is a joint project sponsored by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) [1] and the Empire State Development Corporation (ESD). The Queens West Development Corporation (QWDC), a subsidiary of ESD, [2] was established in 1992 to facilitate implementation of the approved development plan.
The project on 74 acres (30 ha) was first announced in 1983 when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced a new development along Long Island City's underused industrial waterfront, much of it brownfield land. [3] There were no specific proposals, but one plan would include 11 residential buildings with about 4,500 units on 44 acres (18 ha), as well as 13 acres (5.3 ha) of state park land, a public library, two public schools, and 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) of retail space.
Legislation authorizing the development was passed in 1983 or 1984, but delays arose due to the need to purchase land from several owners, as well as the fact that roughly a quarter of the proposed development was underwater. [4] The Empire State Development Corporation joined the project in 1989, by which time the Port Authority had only purchased about a third of the necessary land. [5] The proposals for the Long Island City waterfront development changed during the planning process. By 1990, when the project was sent to the New York City government for review, the development was slated to contain 6,300 apartments, a hotel, office space, and a school spread across 15 buildings, as well as 19.2 acres (7.8 ha) of open space. About 80% of the space would be residential, and the rest would be commercial. [6]
The Queens West master plan ultimately called for three office towers, a hotel, apartments, and 28 acres (11 ha) of waterfront space, which were to be developed incrementally. [7] The project officially began construction in with the start of Hunters Point Community Park. The park was constructed first partially because developers wanted to convince the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide funding for the first apartment buildings, and HUD would only provide that funding if amenities were guaranteed for the apartments. [8] Gantry Plaza State Park first opened in May 1998 and was expanded in July 2009. [9] The Pepsi-Cola sign in Gantry Plaza State Park was made a New York City designated landmark in April 2016. [10] Queens West is home to the Hunter's Point Community Library. [11]
In May 2009, 30 acres (12 ha) were transferred to the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) for construction of the development renamed Hunter's Point South. It was completed in 2014 with 5,000 residential units, an 11-acre park, and 96,000 square feet of retail space and 46,000 square feet of public and community facilities. [12] [13]
In November 2018, Amazon.com announced that it was going to construct one of two campuses for its proposed Amazon HQ2 on the Long Island City waterfront, near Queens West. The campus would have 25,000 workers. [14] [15] [16] However, in February 2019, Amazon announced it would withdraw its plans to build the HQ2 location in Queens West due to community opposition. [17]
The district lies west of the Long Island City station, served by the Long Island Rail Road, and the Vernon Boulevard–Jackson Avenue station, served by the New York City Subway's 7 and <7> trains. The district also contains the Long Island City ferry stop, which is served by NYC Ferry's Astoria route. [18] [19] [20]
Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City in the United States. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek—which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brooklyn—to the south.
Throggs Neck is a neighborhood and peninsula in the south-eastern portion of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by the East River and Long Island Sound to the south and east, Westchester Creek on the west, and Baisley Avenue and the Bruckner Expressway on the north.
Red Hook is a neighborhood in western Brooklyn, New York City, New York, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. It is located on a peninsula projecting into the Upper New York Bay and is bounded by the Gowanus Expressway and the Carroll Gardens neighborhood on the northeast, Gowanus Canal on the east, and the Upper New York Bay on the west and south. A prosperous shipping and port area in the early 20th century, the area declined in the latter part of the century. Today it is home to the Red Hook Houses, the largest housing project in Brooklyn.
St. George is a neighborhood on the northeastern tip of Staten Island in New York City, along the waterfront where the Kill Van Kull enters Upper New York Bay. It is the most densely developed neighborhood on Staten Island, and the location of the administrative center for the borough and for the coterminous Richmond County. The St. George Terminal, serving the Staten Island Ferry and the Staten Island Railway, is also located here. St. George is bordered on the south by the neighborhood of Tompkinsville and on the west by the neighborhood of New Brighton.
Water Taxi Beach was an artificial temporary beach operated from 2005 to 2010 on a wharf on the East River in the Hunters Point section of Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens. It was operated by the New York Water Taxi Company and was open to the public for free during the summer months. The beach was also rented for private parties. In concept, Water Taxi Beach is similar to Paris Beach in Paris, France. The beach was operated by Harry Hawk and Tony Rosciglione and partners who ran the beach owned by NY Water Taxi, now Harbor Experience Companies. It was part of a public-private partnership with the Port Authority of NY and NJ.
New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is a nonprofit corporation whose stated mission is to "strengthen confidence in NYC as a great place to do business; grow innovative sectors, with a focus on equity; build neighborhoods as places to live, learn, work, and play; and deliver sustainable infrastructure for communities and the city's future economy."
Gantry Plaza State Park is a 12-acre (4.9 ha) state park on the East River in the Hunters Point section of Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens. The park is located in a former dockyard and manufacturing district, and includes remnants of facilities from the area's past. The most prominent feature of the park is a collection of gantries with car float transfer bridges, which in turn were served by barges that carried freight railcars between Queens and Manhattan.
The Boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that compose New York City. The boroughs are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New York: The Bronx is Bronx County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.
Hudson River Park is a waterfront park on the North River that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park, a component of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, stretches 4.5 miles (7.2 km) and comprises 550 acres (220 ha), making it the second-largest park in Manhattan after the 843-acre (341 ha) Central Park.
Brooklyn Bridge Park is an 85-acre (34 ha) park on the Brooklyn side of the East River in New York City. Designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park is located on a 1.3-mile (2.1 km) plot of land from Atlantic Avenue in the south, under the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and past the Brooklyn Bridge, to Jay Street north of the Manhattan Bridge. From north to south, the park includes the preexisting Empire–Fulton Ferry and Main Street Parks; the historic Fulton Ferry Landing; and Piers 1–6, which contain various playgrounds and residential developments. The park also includes Empire Stores and the Tobacco Warehouse, two 19th-century structures, and is a part of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, a series of parks and bike paths around Brooklyn.
Hunter's Point South is a mixed-use development situated on approximately 30 acres of prime waterfront property in 30 acres (120,000 m2) in Long Island City, the westernmost neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. Up to 5,000 housing units, 60 percent of which will be affordable to middle class, are expected to be developed on the site. As of Spring 2017, the project had attracted $2 billion from private investors.
The East 34th Street Ferry Landing provides slips to ferries and excursion boats in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located on the East River in New York City east of the FDR Drive just north of East 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The facility, owned by the city, received Federal Highway Administration funding for improvements for docking facilities and upgrading the adjacent East River Greenway in 2008. A new terminal building was built and opened in 2016.
Pier 11/Wall Street is a pier providing slips to ferries and excursion boats on the East River in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located east of South Street and FDR Drive just south of Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The ferry terminal has five landings, each with two berths, and is used by four privately owned companies.
Ferry Point Park is a 413.8-acre (167.5 ha) park in the Bronx, New York City. The park site is a peninsula projecting into the East River roughly opposite the College Point and Malba neighborhoods of Queens. The park is located on the eastern shore of Westchester Creek, adjacent to the neighborhood of Throggs Neck. The park is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The Hutchinson River Expressway crosses the park to the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, splitting it into east and west sides.
Anable Basin is a 500-foot-long (150 m) artificial inlet of the East River located in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, New York City. It was carved in 1868 to serve the large concentrations of industrial firms in the neighborhood.
NYC Ferry is a public network of ferry routes in New York City operated by Hornblower Cruises. As of August 2023, there are six routes, as well as one seasonal route, connecting 25 ferry piers across all five boroughs. NYC Ferry has the largest passenger fleet in the United States with a total of 38 vessels, providing between 20 and 90 minute service on each of the routes, depending on the season.
Amazon HQ2 is Amazon's corporate headquarters in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia and is an expansion of the company's headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Phase I, which has capacity for 14,000 employees, opened in June 2023. Construction on Phase II is delayed and there is no timeline for development.
Spring Creek Park is a public park along the Jamaica Bay shoreline between the neighborhoods of Howard Beach, Queens, and Spring Creek, Brooklyn, in New York City. Created on landfilled former marshland, the park is mostly an undeveloped nature preserve, with only small portions accessible to the public for recreation.
Calvert Vaux Park is an 85.53-acre (34.61 ha) public park in Gravesend, Brooklyn, in New York City. Created in 1934, it is composed of several disconnected sections along the Belt Parkway between Bay 44th and Bay 49th Streets. The peninsula upon which the park is located faces southwest into Gravesend Bay, immediately north of the Coney Island Creek. The park was expanded in the 1960s by waste from the construction of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and was renamed after architect Calvert Vaux in 1998. It is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also known as NYC Parks.
The Pepsi-Cola sign is a neon sign at Gantry Plaza State Park in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The sign, visible from Manhattan and the East River, was built in 1940 and originally installed atop PepsiCo 's bottling factory nearby. It is composed of a 50-foot (15 m) depiction of a Pepsi bottle, as well as lettering that reflected PepsiCo's logo when the sign was commissioned.
