Editorial
Honors Past, Builds Future

The recent announcement by the Rockrose Development Corporation’s ambitious plans to construct seven residential towers in the mammoth Queens West development in Hunters Point was welcome news.

Of special interest was the revelation that the plan calls for retaining the huge, Pepsi Cola sign which has helped to identify that area of Long Island City for some three-quarters of a century.

Far too often, developers and builders come into a community with construction plans that would bulldoze everything in sight and remove every vestige of what existed previously, never pausing to inquire whether local residents might want to preserve some objects of the area’s history.

Rockrose has obviously taken a different approach. It seems apparent the Pepsi Cola Company wanted to retain the sign and Rockrose was amenable to negotiating an agreement to meet the soft drink company’s wishes. The brightly lit sign has long been a part of the Long Island City landscape and the Gazette feels it was a wise decision to keep it glowing.

Meanwhile, the Rockrose construction project, consisting of seven high-rise residential towers, to be built in as many years, will go a long way toward completing the Queens West development and bringing new life to the waterfront area.

The revitalized area will also include a middle school, a welcome addition that will help relieve the overcrowded schools in the area. There will also be new parks and playgrounds and continued development of the waterfront areas for recreational use for local residents.

The new residents that will be attracted to the area will also provide a spur to the local economy, no doubt creating new jobs in the food service and restaurant industries and benefiting most small businesses in the area.

Many years ago, when what was to be the Queens West development was in the formative stages, there was talk of creating a program to assist private homeowners and property owners in other portions of Hunters Point to improve and revitalize their properties too.

As Rockrose is set to embark on a project that will virtually complete the Queens West dream of replacing the blighted and decrepit waterfront area, now might be the proper time for the city administration to take a fresh look at the rest of Hunters Point to bring new life into that area as well.