The Daily Dirt: Another crack at rezoning Long Island City

Long Island City, the land of abandoned plans.

Amazon backed out of building a headquarters in the Queens neighborhood, but we don’t need to go there.

The de Blasio administration’s attempt to rezone the area is still memorialized as an active but sad page on City Planning’s website. Long Island City was one of 15 neighborhoods his administration wanted to rezone, but was among seven abandoned amid fierce community opposition.

On Tuesday, the Adams administration and City Council member Julie Won rebooted and rebranded discussions around rezoning Long Island City as “the Long Island City Neighborhood Study.”

It is not immediately clear to me how this process is much different from the one launched back in 2017. The previous study included two more words: “Long Island City Core Neighborhood Planning Study.”

But it is key that the local Council member is on board with the process, and that she and the administration launched the discussions as a united front. That may bode well for the outcome.

The backlash to previous attempts to rezone Long Island City seem to have informed  Tuesday’s announcement. The new study is framed as a start to discussions, aimed at creating a “transparent, accessible and equitable planning process.”

Zoning and rezoning are each mentioned only once in the press release. The phrase “Mandatory Inclusionary Housing” did not make the cut at all.

“With comprehensive planning underway, the community — and not real estate developers — will determine how we use our land so that our neighborhood grows with us affordably and sustainably,” Won said in a statement.

The comment drew some criticism on X, formerly Twitter. 

A second study will examine stretches of Northern Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue, though it does not appear zoning changes are part of that plan.

What we’re thinking about: Is Andrew Mathias’ departure from SL Green Realty the result of the company’s desire to cut costs? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com. 

A thing we’ve learned: The Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea, known as the “Hotel of Doom,” is the world’s tallest unoccupied building, according to CNN. The pyramid-shaped building rises more than 1,000 feet and has been uninhabited since construction was completed in 1992. LED lights were added in 2018 because…at least that’s something?

Elsewhere in New York…

— Rep. George Santos is facing 10 more federal charges, Politico New York reports. Prosecutors updated the 13-count indictment against the Long Island Republican, bringing the total to 23. The new charges include allegations of identity theft and fraud.

— Last year’s Open Streets initiative, which closed 11 city streets to vehicles, generated about $3 million in additional spending at businesses on those streets, Gothamist reports. On Tuesday, the Adams administration tapped a team, including Arcadis, “Gridlock Sam” Schwartz, Field Operations and Public Works Partners, to consult on the redesign of Fifth Avenue between Bryant Park and Central Park as a pedestrian-focused thoroughfare.

Closing Time

New to the Market: The priciest residence to hit the market Friday was a co-op at 778 Park Avenue in Lenox Hill asking $25 million. Sotheby’s has the listing.

Breaking Ground: The largest new building filing of the day was for a 4,000 square-foot, two-family house at 145-43 20th Avenue in Queens. Hirise Contracting Group filed the permit application. — Jay Young