3 ms·

> politicians (most prominently AOC) were dragged The poor people living in public housing around LIC overwhelmingly favored the project which was going to bri

by ch4s3 3y ago

> politicians (most prominently AOC) were dragged The poor people living in public housing around LIC overwhelmingly favored the project which was going to bring new public spaces, upgrades to schools, and affordable housing. None of that got built and instead the new office lease happened in Hudson Yards where none of the poor LIC residents will benefit at all. She similarly helped kill a redevelopment in Industry City that included a bunch of affordable housing and light manufacturing jobs. Those jobs didn't go somewhere else in the city.

CalChris 3y ago
Long Island City is doing just fine. https://archive.is/gRA45 https://archive.is/gRA45
- paxys 3y ago
  It's funny how the biggest complaint from residents of Long Island, Astoria, Downtown Brooklyn, Williamsburg etc. is that their neighborhoods are getting gentrified and unaffordable, and on the other end politicians argue that big corporations need to be paid billions of dollars in incentives to come "save" them.
- ch4s3 3y ago
  No one is saying that real estate development is suffering. I pointed out correctly that the original proposal included investment in public amenities and schools that aren't happening.
  - CalChris 3y ago
    You sure about that? https://patch.com/new-york/astoria-long-island-city/long-awaited-new-lic-school-be-built-near-court-square-city-says https://patch.com/new-york/astoria-long-island-city/long-awa...
    - ch4s3 3y ago
      To my knowledge and based on some additional searching, that old office building is still sitting there and construction hasn't started.
nonameiguess 3y ago
Wikipedia seems to dispute any notion that the people of LIC are abnormally poor: > As of 2017, the median household income was $66,382 in Community Board 1[47] and $67,359 in Community Board 2.[48] In 2018, an estimated 18% of Community Board 1 and 20% of Community Board 2 residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. The unemployment rate was 8% in Community Board 1 and 5% in Community Board 2, compared to 8% in Queens and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 47% in Community Board 1 and 51% in Community Board 2, slightly lower than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, northern LIC is considered to be gentrifying, while southern LIC is considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.[43]: 7 [44]: 7 For what it's worth, my sister-in-law lives there (in a $4 million brownstone) and I visit with my wife for New Year's Eve every year. There may or may not be a ton of high-paying jobs literally in Long Island City, but it's on the bank of the East River, a two-minute train ride from Manhattan, maybe ten from Hudson Yards. They're probably better off converting all those old bottling plants to residences rather than office space anyway. Also, not that she shouldn't care about LIC to whatever extent all people should care about other people, but AOC's district does not include LIC.
- ch4s3 3y ago
  > but AOC's district does not include LIC. Yeah, exactly. My point is that the project included a lot of community upgrades paid for by Amazon that now won't happen at all.
- leetcrew 3y ago
  walking to work easily beats walking to the 7 and then to work, even if it's a short ride. imo NYC as a whole would greatly benefit from spreading office locations more evenly across the boroughs. if nothing else, it would help smooth one-way peaks for the subway. that said, I don't really understand the desire to put a major hub in LIC from amazon in the first place. it's a nice place, but the recruitment base for a location in LIC must be a lot lower than in midtown or hells kitchen. that would be a dealbreaker for lots of folks that currently commute from JC, Edison, etc.

by ch4s3 3y ago

CalChris 3y ago

Long Island City is doing just fine. https://archive.is/gRA45 https://archive.is/gRA45

paxys 3y ago
It's funny how the biggest complaint from residents of Long Island, Astoria, Downtown Brooklyn, Williamsburg etc. is that their neighborhoods are getting gentrified and unaffordable, and on the other end politicians argue that big corporations need to be paid billions of dollars in incentives to come "save" them.
ch4s3 3y ago
No one is saying that real estate development is suffering. I pointed out correctly that the original proposal included investment in public amenities and schools that aren't happening.
- CalChris 3y ago
  You sure about that? https://patch.com/new-york/astoria-long-island-city/long-awaited-new-lic-school-be-built-near-court-square-city-says https://patch.com/new-york/astoria-long-island-city/long-awa...
  - ch4s3 3y ago
    To my knowledge and based on some additional searching, that old office building is still sitting there and construction hasn't started.

nonameiguess 3y ago

Wikipedia seems to dispute any notion that the people of LIC are abnormally poor: > As of 2017, the median household income was $66,382 in Community Board 1[47] and $67,359 in Community Board 2.[48] In 2018, an estimated 18% of Community Board 1 and 20% of Community Board 2 residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. The unemployment rate was 8% in Community Board 1 and 5% in Community Board 2, compared to 8% in Queens and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 47% in Community Board 1 and 51% in Community Board 2, slightly lower than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, northern LIC is considered to be gentrifying, while southern LIC is considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.[43]: 7 [44]: 7 For what it's worth, my sister-in-law lives there (in a $4 million brownstone) and I visit with my wife for New Year's Eve every year. There may or may not be a ton of high-paying jobs literally in Long Island City, but it's on the bank of the East River, a two-minute train ride from Manhattan, maybe ten from Hudson Yards. They're probably better off converting all those old bottling plants to residences rather than office space anyway. Also, not that she shouldn't care about LIC to whatever extent all people should care about other people, but AOC's district does not include LIC.

ch4s3 3y ago
> but AOC's district does not include LIC. Yeah, exactly. My point is that the project included a lot of community upgrades paid for by Amazon that now won't happen at all.
leetcrew 3y ago
walking to work easily beats walking to the 7 and then to work, even if it's a short ride. imo NYC as a whole would greatly benefit from spreading office locations more evenly across the boroughs. if nothing else, it would help smooth one-way peaks for the subway. that said, I don't really understand the desire to put a major hub in LIC from amazon in the first place. it's a nice place, but the recruitment base for a location in LIC must be a lot lower than in midtown or hells kitchen. that would be a dealbreaker for lots of folks that currently commute from JC, Edison, etc.