[NYguy]

https://www.timesledger.com/stories/...7_11_17_q.html

Plaxall hopes to have its plan certified by City Planning by the spring, which would start the seven-month public review process by Community Board 2, the Queens borough president, the City Planning Commission and the City Council.

“We are prepared to continue working with our neighbors, elected officials, and other local stakeholders to refine and improve the proposal through the rezoning process,” Kirby said.

There was negative reaction on social media Tuesday when a New York Times headline said the 65-story tower would be record-breaking, the tallest high-rise outside of Manhattan. But Matt Quigley explained during a briefing Tuesday that by the time the 695-foot tower is built there will be a number of taller towers in Queens and Brooklyn.

“At 695 it wouldn’t be the highest,” Quigley said. “Maybe we should put an exclamation mark on that.”

....“Paula, Matt and Tony care deeply about western Queens and have provided invaluable support over the years to help local residents break the cycle of poverty,” Urban Upbound Co-founder and CEO Bishop Mitchell Taylor said. “We hear a lot about new development, but what’s different here is that this plan was put together by people who have lived and breathed in this community for years. They understand what makes LIC work, what can help it grow responsibly, and what elements must remain to maintain its character. This plan accomplishes all three.”

http://www.qchron.com/editions/queen...0b158643a.html

If the rezoning is approved, Plaxall would give the School Construction Authority a site on 11th Street to be used for a new 700-plus seat school.

In a statement provided by Plaxall, LIC Partnership President Elizabeth Lusskin said, “We applaud the thoughtful, holistic approach that has gone into its preparation, so that this extremely important piece of NYC’s waterfront can be developed in a way that advances the community and the city it serves.”

The company’s rezoning proposal is the second major initiative announced for the manmade basin this year.

The city Economic Development Corp. in August picked TF Cornerstone Inc. and Greenpoint Manufacturing to develop two 44th Drive lots — one of which now is being used as a parking lot for the Department of Education near the waterfront, and the other, which is more inland, holds a Department of Transportation facility, both of which will be moved — into a 1.5 million-square-foot waterfront mixed-use development.

Between the two lots, there will be approximately 1,000 residential units, 25 percent of which will be designated affordable housing; 400,000 square feet for office space, which will be used for companies specializing in technology, the arts and design; 100,000 square feet dedicated to “light industrial space”; a 25,000 square-foot performing arts training facility; and 19,000 square feet for retail space. Additionally, there will be an 80,000 square-foot public school, with 600 seats, and a one-acre park.

Plaxall officials said their rezoning initiative will not affect Cornerstone’s development in any way.