You are reading

Plans Filed for 9-Story Building on Broadway by Socrates Sculpture Park

A 9-story development is going up at 11-20 Broadway and will replace the autobody shop and taxi company shown in this photo (GMaps)

March 22, 2022 By Christian Murray

Plans have been filed for a nine-story development featuring 148 apartments near Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria.

The development will replace several store fronts on Broadway—between 11th and 12th Streets—that have been slated for demolition since August 2021. The property, with an address of 11-20 Broadway, is currently occupied by an auto body shop, a taxi parking lot and a medallion leasing company.

The developer, Damien Smith of First Standard Construction, filed plans last month to develop a 100-foot-tall building yielding 104,890 square feet. The development would include 100,607 square feet designated for residential units and 4,282 square feet for commercial space. The plans include space for 50 enclosed parking spots.

The development is likely to be a rental building, with the average unit size being 680 square feet.

The plans make provision for affordable housing, in accordance with the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. The number of affordable units has not been specified in the plans although it is likely to be in the vicinity of 30-40 apartments.

The building will be designed by Gerald Caliendo Architects, a Queens-based firm operated by Gerald Caliendo, who is a long-serving member of Community Board 1 and is co-chair of the Land Use & Zoning committee.

The property was purchased for $7 million in March 2021 and includes most of the block. It is located by Vernon Boulevard, about a block away Socrates Sculpture Park.

The development site, 11-20 Broadway, is shown in purple (Dept. of City Planning)

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Longtime Queens jurist named chief administrative judge of New York State Unified Court System

Judge Joseph A. Zayas, who spent most of his judicial career presiding over Queens’ courtrooms, was officially installed as chief administrative judge of the New York State Unified Court System, the highest-ranking administrative position in the state judiciary.

Judge Zayas was appointed by Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson and approved by the Administrative Board of the Courts to succeed Judge Tamiko Amaker, who served as the court system’s acting chief administrative judge since December 2022.

“Judge Zayas has a stellar reputation for his keen judgment, hard work, integrity and deep knowledge of both the law and the complex workings of the New York State court system,” said Chief Judge Rowan. “He has demonstrated exceptional leadership and the highest ethical standards over the course of his distinguished judicial career. He is a forward-thinking, hands-on manager as proven throughout his tenure as administrative judge for criminal matters in Queens County, where he implemented numerous reforms and programs to improve the delivery of justice.”

The chief administrative judge supervises the daily administration and operation of the Unified Court System, which has a budget of $3.3. billion, with 3,600 state and locally paid judges and nearly 15,000 non-judicial employees in over 300 courthouses spanning 62 counties.

Queens Symphony Orchestra performs at Russo’s on the Bay in Howard Beach

Councilwoman Joann Ariola brought the Queens Symphony Orchestra to Russo’s on the Bay on May 22 for the Night at the Opera – a free concert event that drew more than 200 people to the Howard Beach events hall located at 162-45 Cross Bay Blvd.

“It was truly an honor to continue funding such a wonderful program, and to bring this great music to so many people,” Ariola said. “We were able to bring so many people together for a free night of music – that’s what this is all about, letting taxpayer dollars work for the taxpayer, and providing programs like this that give our residents a nice night out to just unwind and enjoy themselves.”

Advocates pen letter blasting Mayor Adams’ legal motion to suspend right-to-shelter

Homeless advocates penned a letter to a Manhattan Supreme Court judge opposing Mayor Eric Adams’ recent legal motion calling for the suspension of the city’s decades-old right-to-shelter law amid the ongoing migrant influx.

The letter, sent last Thursday and released Tuesday, comes in response to Adams last week filing a court motion to exempt the city from its legal mandate — established by the 1984 Callahan v. Carey consent decree — to provide shelter to single adults and adult couples when it “lacks the resources and capacity” to do so. The mayor and top administration officials say they’re not seeking to abolish the right-to-shelter, but rather “clarity” from the court that would give them more “flexibility” in finding suitable housing for tens of thousands of migrants.

Rockaway’s piping plovers among endangered species commemorated on U.S. Postal Service stamps

A day before the city reopened nearly 70 blocks of public beaches along the Rockaway peninsula for the Memorial Day weekend, the U.S. Postal Service and National Park Service hosted a special event at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel to honor the piping plover, an endangered shorebird featured on new stamps.

In attendance were members of the NYC Plover Project, a nonprofit with more than 250 volunteers, who have been on the beaches since March preparing for the summer swim season, who celebrated the newly released stamp sheet commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act.

Bayside High School hosts annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair

Bayside High School hosted its annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair Friday. Students from the Career and Technical Education Humanities and Nonprofit Management program each pitched their socially responsible products to students, staff and others in attendance.

Each of the 11th grade students in the program have been taking a college credit course from Farmingdale State College called Social Entrepreneur. The students were divided into 17 groups of five and tasked with coming up with innovative ideas to create businesses while also being socially responsible. The Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair grants them with the opportunity to work on pitching their products to potential customers.