Development Plan Includes Bridge to Willets Point

A pedestrian bridge from Flushing to Willets Point, a revamp of College Point Boulevard, river development and a Long Island Rail Road station upgrade were among the local public works projects Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corp. President and CEO Claire Shulman named as top priorities at a Queens College business forum on Friday.

The former borough president reported that her agency is looking into "transportation-oriented development," opining that Flushing has "wonderful people, but not-so-good infrastructure."

The 7 train,which runs from Manhattan's Times Square to Flushing's Main Street is overcrowded and the LIRR station is "almost inaccessible," especially for handicapped individuals, Shulman said.

She's hoping to upgrade a parking lot near the station and create some housing at the site.

"This project is very important for the future of Flushing," Shulman said.

Community Board 7 has already approved a plan to change zoning from C-4-2 to C-4-4 around Flushing River to attract more businesses to the area. Shulman said the Local Development Corp. is looking to get state money to build a pedestrian bridge to connect both sides of the river.

She also also mentioned a renovation of College Point Boulevard from 32nd Avenue to Fowler Avenue that would include pedestrian safety islands with planters.

"New York City is the most exciting city in the world," Shulman said to applause. "Flushing is the second most exciting place."

Gayle Baron, executive director of the Long Island City Business Development Corporation,  also said that her neck of the woods is booming.

Jet Blue recently decided to relocate its world headquarters to Long Island City and CUNY School of Law is also planning a move to the neighborhood. In the past few years, a total 17 hotels have gone up in the area, including the largest outer-borough hotel - the 13-story, 500-room Toyoko Inn.

Also on the horizon are a new streetscape on Jackson Avenue, an off-street bike path, a new dog run in Gantry State Park, various new apartment buildings and restaurants and a plan to build housing, a school and shops in Hunters Point.

"It's a fabulous place," Baron said of the community.

Kevin W. Alexander, executive director of the Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation, reported that the Arverne by the Sea project will bring 2,300 housing units to the Rockaways. The already completed Wavecrest Gardens established 20,000 square feet of commercial space and a new Stop & Shop has increased produce options for local residents.

He mentioned the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's plans to renovate the Far Rockaway A train station, an upcoming revamp of O'Donohue Park, where there will be a skateboard area and a concert space, and efforts to improve the public space around Beach 20th Street.

"What was once a jewel can return to shine again," Alexander said.

Ridgewood Local Development Corporation Executive Director Theodore M. Renz said that the breweries and knitting mills that once provided so many jobs are gone, but "the area is ripe for development."

Renz noted gentrification along the L subway line and a new, 19-unit condo project in Ridgewood. In 2008, the MTA finished work on the Myrtle/Wyckoff tranist hub, where six bus lines -- Q55, Q58, B13, B26, B52, and B54 -- and the L and M trains converge near the Ridgewood-Bushwick border. Renz praised the hub.

"Next stop is looking at our economic base," he said.

F. Carlilse Towery, who runs the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, said that there are four business improvement districts in his area, plus the Jamaica Alliance, which supplements the BIDs in terms of security, hospitality and horticulture.

There has been a lot of public investment in Jamaica recently, Towery said, mentioning improvements related to the AirTrain and the E-J-Z subway station by Archer Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard. Now he's focussing on the next step.

"We are wooing the private sector," he said.