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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Cody Herman, Community Board 7 Member, on Queen's Futures Proposal
2:29:24
ยท
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Cody Herman, a lifelong Flushing resident and member of Queen's Community Board 7, testified against the Queen's Futures proposal. He expressed concerns about green gentrification, displacement, and the ecological vulnerability of the proposed development site.
- Criticized the project as part of a trend of green gentrification in the area
- Highlighted the site's history as wetlands and its vulnerability to flooding and sinking
- Argued that the project is not a "once in a lifetime opportunity" and that alternative development approaches should be considered
UNKNOWN
2:29:24
My name is Cody Herman.
2:29:26
I'm a lifelong resident of Flushing, and I'm testifying against the Queen's Futures proposal today.
2:29:31
I'm an appoint appointed member of Queen's Community Board seven, so I've been in a lot of meetings about this project.
2:29:37
And all the projects that are really setting out to change the face of a 50 acres of land surrounding Flushing Creek from Flushing to Willets Point to Citi Field.
2:29:47
Many of these projects are textbook green gentrification, and I wish the city would reconsider the long term outcomes of indirect displacement on existing surrounding neighborhoods.
2:29:57
At my community board, I've been repeatedly silenced during ULURP meetings for sharing my thoughts against the Queen's Future Project and other projects like this in the neighborhood.
2:30:06
As I know many others in different community boards have also been bullied and threatened sometimes by the applicant teams themselves.
2:30:14
I say this a lot, but it's not poverty that causes displacement.
2:30:18
It's massive injections of wealth like this that cause existing area residents and businesses to have to move out of their neighborhoods.
2:30:26
I would also like to emphasize that this is not likely a once in a lifetime opportunity.
2:30:31
Different iterations of this proposal have been proposed on and off over the last thirty years since the Downtown Flushing revitalization plan in the early nineties.
2:30:39
It's basically a false dichotomy to suggest that, you know, this could never happen again and we'll never have another chance at developing this land.
2:30:48
Sully noted that he thinks this is the best site in the city for a project like this, that this waterfront adjacent site and a historic wetland might be a great place for a massive 2,000 plus room hotel, a convention center, a concert hall.
2:31:03
In a NASA study put out in 2023, they actually noted nearby areas like LaGuardia Airport and off the Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium are sinking nearly half a centimeter a year.
2:31:13
They're sinking faster than any other areas in the city.
2:31:17
We know that this land this land used to be wetlands and is incredibly vulnerable to flooding and sinking.
2:31:24
Why are we building a mega project here?
UNKNOWN
2:31:26
Your time has expired.
2:31:29
Time has expired.
Kevin C. Riley
2:31:30
You could, wrap it up, miss Herman.
UNKNOWN
2:31:33
Thank you.
2:31:34
It's poor land used to approve these zoning districts to allow large commercial projects in such ecologically vulnerable places.
2:31:40
And ironically, the Coney Island Casino, another massive development, is in an area that's also notably stinking worse than other places in the city.
2:31:49
I really think that it's time to start thinking about a managed retreat, and rethinking how we build in Northeast Queens and really what the future looks like in terms of infrastructure
Kevin C. Riley
2:31:59
and ensuring
UNKNOWN
2:31:59
a safe place with climate change.