Supporters and opponents of the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan hold signs during Thursday’s monthly Community Board 2 meeting. Photo: Shane O’Brien
June 6, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
Hundreds of people packed Sunnyside Community Services (SCS) Thursday evening to give testimony on the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan at Community Board 2’s monthly in-person meeting.
Dozens of local residents testified both in favor and against the neighborhood plan during the June 5 meeting at SCS, located at 43-31 39th St., with testimony lasting about two hours.
Many of the same arguments were made as at the joint Community Board 1 and 2 hearing on the OneLIC neighborhood plan at LaGuardia Community College last month.
Advocates for the neighborhood plan, which would transform a significant portion of Long Island City by introducing new zoning regulations that would allow for nearly 14,700 housing units—including 4,300 designated as affordable- said the plan would bring much-needed housing, jobs, and community amenities to LIC.
Supporters said the plan would help reduce housing prices in the area by increasing supply and reducing demand.
Critics, however, said it would favor developers and warned that the plan could force out existing residents by driving up prices with new luxury buildings.
Community members fill the room at Sunnyside Community Services during the June 5 hearing on the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan. Photo: Shane O’Brien.
In addition to housing, the plan proposes more than 3 million square feet of commercial space, new schools, expanded waterfront access, and increased open space, according to the Department of City Planning (DCP).
The plan, a collaborative initiative between Council Member Julie Won, DCP and the Adams administration, covers 54 full or partial blocks, stretching from Gantry Plaza State Park to the Queensbridge Houses and north to the Long Island City Industrial Business Zone. Its eastern boundary runs through Court Square and 23rd Street.
The plan aims to update outdated zoning rules to promote mixed-use development, increase housing supply, and improve infrastructure and climate resiliency.
The plan entered the public review process in April, and Community Boards 1 and 2 will cast non-binding votes on OneLIC later this month as part of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).
Several speakers gave impassioned testimony against the plan on Thursday evening, urging CB2 members to vote no and warning that it could accelerate gentrification and displace existing residents from the neighborhood.
Opponents to the plan held signs aloft throughout, promoting slogans such as “Don’t Displace Us” and “No Luxury Rezoning.” Supporters, meanwhile, held signs stating that the plan would bring “More Schools” and “More Housing” to the neighborhood.
Attendees hold signs both supporting and opposing the OneLIC rezoning proposal during Thursday’s Community Board 2 meeting in Sunnyside. Photo: Shane O’Brien
A number of critics commented that LIC does not need new market-rate apartments, arguing that building new units will not address the rising cost of accommodation in the city. They noted that prices have risen even though New York’s citywide population has decreased in recent years, additionally noting that the city has more housing units than ever before.
Long Island City resident Joanna Levinger said any community plan relies on families and residents being able to stay in their homes.
“The last thing that these predatory developers care about is community,” Levinger said.
She added that the plan does not have enough iron-clad commitments to new schools, green spaces, and tree planting.
“This plan reeks of concrete and sky-high buildings made of glass,” she added.
Josselyn, an organizer with Queens Neighborhoods United who asked for her second name to be omitted, said LIC has “already” been at the “front lines” of gentrification in Queens and said the OneLIC plan will accelerate gentrification and displacement.
“The solution is not building more fancy housing to bring more wealthy people in,” she said. “It’s creating sustainable housing for people that are already here and offering the services that they need.”
Opponents of the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan hold signs reading “Don’t Displace Us” and “No Luxury Rezoning” during the June 5 Community Board 2 meeting at Sunnyside Community Services. Photo: Shane O’Brien.
Ed Bonfanti, a long-term Queens resident, raised concerns that the OneLIC plan will “raise rents” and displace thousands of New Yorkers. Bonfanti encouraged CB2 to vote against the plan and said he was surprised that people advocating for the plan were “excited” by the potential of “50 luxury towers.”
“I know so many people who want to leave Queens just because of how unaffordable it is,” Bonfanti said. “Bringing in 50-plus blocks of luxury towers and luxury apartments will drastically worsen it.”
Several people who spoke out against the plan argued that no building should take place until the neighborhood’s infrastructure has been improved and expanded.
However, a number of people also spoke out in favor of the plan on Thursday night.
Ciaran Gallagher, a 10-year resident of Sunnyside, said the city is in a housing crisis and added that the OneLIC plan will prevent communities from being displaced by increasing housing supply in the area. He said the only solution to the housing crisis was to lift restrictions on building new homes.
“If you’re in a water crisis, the first thing you would do is make sure you hadn’t made it illegal to dig a well. Why have we made it illegal to build housing?” Gallagher said.
He described the OneLIC plan as a “great step” toward creating more housing and making the neighborhood more affordable.
“If you were concerned about the price of affordable cars, the last thing you would do is ban all new cars being sold; the price of a 10-year-old Corolla would go through the roof.”
Several members of the Bangladeshi community in Western Queens expressed support for the plan, with a number of them holding signs to show their support for the development.
Shiver Khan, an LIC resident of 50 years who spoke on behalf of the Bangladeshi community, said local Bangladeshi residents are currently being forced to relocate due to rising prices in the area. He also said the neighborhood plan promises more open space for the area, which is a top priority among the Bangladeshi community.
“Bangladeshis come from a very dense country, so they just love open space,” Khan said, noting that the plan also promises a prayer space for the local community.
He additionally noted that many members of the Bangladeshi community come from large families, making dining out “prohibitive.” Parks, therefore, offer members of the community a place to socialize, Khan said.
“Going out for dinner is prohibitive, but going to the park is not.”
Supporters of the OneLIC plan call for “More Housing” and “More Schools” during the CB2 forum in Sunnyside. Photo: Shane O’Brien.
However, several opponents countered that there are no guarantees that any of the public amenities will be included in the final plan, expressing skepticism about whether open space, school seats, or infrastructure improvements would ever materialize.
In response, officials close to Council Member Julie Won clarified that such skepticism is not entirely accurate—explaining that Won has made clear she will vote against the proposal during the final City Council ULURP vote unless it includes explicit commitments to community priorities.
Won’s priorities include a fully connected waterfront esplanade stretching from Gantry Plaza State Park to Queensbridge Park, in addition to a commitment to permanently affordable housing at a range of income levels. She is also calling for new capital funding for sewage and plumbing infrastructure to address current flooding and support future development, as well as expanded school seats and park space, particularly underneath the Queensboro Bridge.
Won has stated that she will vote against the plan if those priorities are not included, thereby guaranteeing that any plan that makes it through ULURP will include explicit commitments to the local community. Officials close to Won said she has made these issues her “line in the sand.”
“I will not green light this project if the City fails to meet our collective demands,” Won said in a statement issued after the hearing,” Won said in a statement after last month’s joint hearing.
Won’s office emphasized that a “clear majority” of participants have consistently called for the city to “double down” on the priorities identified through the 18-month community engagement process that informed the plan’s early stages.
As part of the ULURP process, Community Boards 1 and 2 are required to issue their advisory recommendations within 60 days of the plan entering public review on April 21. These will be followed by a non-binding recommendation from Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
Next, the City Planning Commission will hold a public hearing and vote, after which the proposal will head to the New York City Council for a final decision. The mayor retains the authority to veto the plan within five days of the Council’s vote.
Community Board 1 is scheduled to vote on the plan on June 17, and Community Board 2 will vote the following day, June 18.
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