Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Gotham Gazette yesterday published a worthwhile and intriguing article,  What Happened to the Sunnyside Yard Master Plan? , following up on the official silence toward the March 2020 release, by the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, of "an ambitious $14 billion infrastructure project that would deck the 180-acre rail yard in Queens and effectively create a new community with thousands of affordable homes and dozens of acres of green and public space situated atop a new regional rail hub." That's a tall order. Consider that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) Vanderbilt Yard in Brooklyn, key to the buildout of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, is 8.5 acres, and the delays in creating the Vanderbilt Yard platform But it does offer a huge opportunity, including connecting regional rail with the subway system.  Today, the yard is owned jointly by Amtrak (142 acres), the MTA (31 acres), and General Motors (7 acres), according to the New York City Economic D...

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal had the scoop about a huge project at Sunnyside Yards,  New Queens Project to Include 12,000 Affordable Apartments . Or, as the website proclaims , accenting the most politically enticing feature, "A once-in-a-century opportunity to bring 12,000 affordable homes and a regional rail hub to Western Queens through the creation of new public land." It's far more than that, with 140 acres, including 115 acres of new land created by decking, including a planned: new regional rail station 60 acres of new public open space—over 40 percent of the Plan 30,000+ construction-industry jobs 12,000 affordable homes 7,000 permanent new jobs 10-12 new schools 2-3 new libraries 30+ new child/healthcare centers 1 new subway station on future new subway line 1 new bus rapid transit (BRT) line There are huge questions about funding, feasibility, and more--see this exchange --and I hope to look deeper. Given the need for new "land," i...

Is a Rail Yard in Queens the Site of New York’s Next Mega-Development? , the New York Times asked, in an article published in print today: [Deputy Mayor Alicia] Glen, along with Amtrak and a team of architects and city planners, is leading the charge for Sunnyside Yard — a 180-acre potential development site in western Queens. Not far from the geographical center of the city, the massive site is surrounded by Long Island City, Astoria, Dutch Kills, Queens Plaza and Sunnyside itself, with Greenpoint on the periphery. With a feasibility study already completed and a steering committee formed, the city will hold meetings starting in the fall to develop a master plan for building a deck on top of the yard and placing a small city — on the scale of Battery Park City — on top of it. The idea is not unlike the deck built over the rail yards on Manhattan’s West Side on which the Hudson Yards development now stands. The Sunnyside Yard from above, looking southwest. All graphics via NYC Ec...