My Testimony <<with some added context>> at the Scoping Meeting for the One LIC Rezoning

I am Danielle Brecker. I live in the Dutch Kills neighborhood in Long Island City (LIC)

I am a member of Queens Community Board 2 but not speaking today for CB2 because this hearing is in August and the period to submit comments ends before the two community boards impacted by this rezoning can have a public hearings. Please extend the comment time.

I will submit written testimony, today I share my key concerns.

I wanted comprehensive community planning but this now feels like just another rezoning.

Roughly 15k people, likely more, live in Council District 26 shelters. From what I heard in the last in-community planning meeting, perhaps different today, this plan creates 12K market rate units and only 4K affordable units. That is unacceptable.

All of this development, 100% should be affordable. More market rate apartments in an area that is already grossly unaffordable will lead to more unaffordability, wealth segregation, gated towers, and displacement.

<<NOTE: I didn’t say this in my testimony, but do some white men mansplain that we need more market rate housing because they make more than the rest of us, can afford market rate, and want to uphold the patriarchy?>>

LIC is one of nine NYC communities that has created the most new housing but it is majority market rate and with only limited investment in public infrastructure — now we want to build more with only a vague possibility of capital investment in infrastructure.

Increasing density by transit only works if that transit is not already totally overwhelmed and inadequate as it is in LIC. Likewise our sewers fail us every time it rains even if only a small amount, more towers will exacerbate this!

We have limited park space and the parks we do have are always packed. We can’t build schools fast enough for the number of students, as CM Won said we’ve been promised schools that have never been built.

We have been waiting for five years for a new Court Square library after it was shuttered for development. There are tax breaks to developers but no investment in public housing. We do not have a hospital in our council district! The Environmental Impact Study must take this into account!

One LIC Plan also ignores the climate crisis and a resiliency grounded plan put forth <<testified about just prior to me>> that offers real solutions for affordability, small businesses, artists, infrastructure, resiliency and should be incorporated into the One LIC Plan.

Today, I ask my government that works for me and my neighbors to do better for my community, and shift focus from pushing through this rezoning to planning and building communities that are affordable, liveable, resilient, fair and for all of us. Thank you.

<<NOTE: I didn’t say this in my testimony, but I feel like the One LIC Plan is the end of me in NYC. I won’t be able to afford to live here but also why would I want to live in an overdeveloped, wealth segregated community with overwhelmed, failing public infrastructure?>>