The Struggle of Gentrification in Queens County.

Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood in Queens that is currently experiencing gentrification like other parts of New York City (NYC) including Bushwick, Astoria, and Central Harlem. LIC is now a tale of two sides of a city. New York residents have watched the neighborhood evolve from a working industrial zone to an up and coming “destination neighborhood." The Queens Anti-Gentrification Project is a volunteer effort that aims to keep neighborhoods in the area affordable by organizing around issues of unaffordable real estate development, zoning, and other aspects of gentrification.

Long Island City has been revamped with residential skyscrapers that mirror buildings across the river in Manhattan. More apartments have been built in Long Island City than any neighborhood in the United States from 2010 to 2016. The Queens West Project is the major player in the state-facilitated gentrification, as it has created plans to bring new luxury commercial, residential, and office space to the area.

The Queens Anti-Gentrification Project has started campaigns to stop the BQX, Sunnyside Yards, and Long Island City core rezoning, which are all propositions that would increase land value. The Brooklyn-Queens Connector is a proposed streetcar that is planned to operate along the East River. The Sunnyside Yards is one of the busiest rail yards in the city. Private developers have three different options that they could pursue. The first option aims to produce as much housing as possible. This plan entails building 18,000 to 24,000 units, of which 5,400 to 7,200 would be affordable. The second alternative offers fewer apartments with large amounts of retail and office space. The last option offers no office space and provides more room for the development of retail and hotels. The rezoning of Long Island City will enable the development of more luxury real estate.

Mitch Waxman is a Newtown Creek Alliance historian and NYC waterfront expert. He believes the people representing the Anti-Gentrification Project have their hearts in the right place but they do not necessarily know what they are dealing with. “It’s like wrestling with the political establishment in the business community and particularly the banking community is like walking over to a dragon and punching it in face,” said Waxman.

There has been an explosion in high rise development for singles and couples looking for cheaper alternatives than Manhattan. Apartments geared towards families are in demand. New waterfront properties with elegant features entice New Yorkers to move to Long Island City. It is also a short commute for parents who want to keep their children in Brooklyn and Manhattan schools.

According to Waxman, gentrification is what happened in South Harlem, Park Slope, and a part South Williamsburg back in the 1990's. One racially diverse group of people who were of a lower socio-economic status, suddenly had their housing rise in value, as a richer group of people who were also racially mixed had moved in.

“This was not a residential neighborhood where people were put out. This was an industrial neighborhood that fell on hard times and the city flipped the script. It is now being turned into a residential neighborhood without any idea of restriction,” said Waxman.