You are reading

Weigh in on the Future of Two Publicly Owned Buildings in Western Queens Saturday

An outdoor event will be held Saturday discussing the future of the Dept. of Education building, pictured, located at 44-36 Vernon Blvd. (Provided by the Western Queens Community Land Trust)

Sept. 17, 2021 By Michael Dorgan

An outdoor event that seeks to provide residents with an opportunity to weigh in on the future of two publicly-owned properties in Long Island City will take place Saturday.

The event, which will be held at Queensbridge Park from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., aims to solicit opinions on the fate of the Dept. of Education building on Vernon Boulevard and the city’s sanitation garage on 21st Street.

The gathering, called Public Land in People’s Hands, will also provide attendees with information on how community land trusts (CLT) work—as well as tenants’ rights with regard to NYCHA housing. A number of tables will be set up inside the entrance to the park at 41st Avenue and Vernon Boulevard.

The event is being organized by three local groups – Western Queens Community Land Trust (WQCLT), Justice For All Coalition and Ravenswood Community Land Trust – that advocate for keeping New York City’s public land and buildings in public ownership.

For instance, the WQCLT wants to see the Dept. of Education building, located at 44-36 Vernon Blvd., repurposed for community use. The six-story building sits on public land that had been promised to Amazon when it announced plans in 2018 to build a sprawling campus at the Anable Basin inlet.

Jennifer Robinson, a coordinator for WQCLT, said that the group enlisted an architectural firm earlier this year to come up with different designs for the DOE building. Bagchee Architects, a Manhattan-based firm, will present the plans to attendees at the event.

The WQCLT is looking for feedback from the community on the plans and how residents would like to see the building used in the future.

“This would be the first step before going to the city and proposing a plan [for the building] that would be for public use versus a development that would be for private use,” Robinson said.

The conceptual plans include a rooftop farm, affordable spaces for music and arts, a workforce training center and a youth center.

A rendering of new plans for the Dept. of Education building on Vernon Boulevard, designed by Bagchee Architects (Provided by WQCLT)

Additionally, the Ravenswood Community Land Trust, a recently formed group, is looking for attendees to suggest ideas about the future of 24-28 21st St. where the Dept. of Sanitation garage is currently located, Robinson said.

The DSNY plans to vacate the dilapidated facility and move its operations to an industrial site by Luyster Creek in Astoria. The city has pledged not to sell the 21st Street site to private developers.

The Dept. of Sanitation garage on 21st Street (Photo: Google Maps)

Volunteers for the group will also explain how community land trusts operate. CLTs involve non-profit groups managing public land with the primary goal of providing affordable housing to communities.

Meanwhile, the Justice For All Coalition will be on hand to provide information on the benefits of public housing and why NYCHA should not be privatized.

Western Queens Community Lan posterd Trust

Western Queens Community Land Trust

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

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

Recent News

Hollis man charged with raping 14-year-old told teen, ‘I can help you get work’

New details have emerged in the case of the Hollis man accused luring a 14-year-old boy into his car in St. Albans and then allegedly raping him on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 1.

Virgilio Taveras, 63, of Hillside Avenue, was arrested by detectives from the Queens Special Victims Squad two days later and booked at the 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows. Taveras was arraigned on the Fourth of July in Queens Criminal Court on a complaint charging him with rape in the second degree, luring a child as an E felony, endangering the welfare of a child and other related crimes.

Deadly Belt Parkway crash claims lives of Springfield Gardens man and Manhattan mother: NYPD

A Springfield Gardens man and a passenger in his car died after they were involved in a multi-vehicle chain-reaction crash on the Belt Parkway near Kennedy Airport on the morning of Saturday, July 5.

Noah Thompson, 24, of 179th Street, was behind the wheel of a white BMW 428i traveling eastbound on the Belt Parkway in Howard Beach at 6:05 a.m. when he failed to navigate the roadway approaching the Nassau Expressway exit.

Man in his 50s sought for exposing himself to 13-year-old on E train in Forest Hills: NYPD

Police from the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills and Transit District 20 are looking for a suspect who allegedly flashed a 13-year-old girl on a Queens subway train last month.

The victim was riding a southbound E train approaching the Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike station at around 1 p.m. on Monday, June 30, when she saw a stranger exposing himself to her, police said Wednesday. The perpetrator ran off the train at the Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike station and fled in an unknown direction. The youngster was not injured during her encounter with the stranger.