LICBDC Gets Update On Queens West Progress
BY THOMAS COGAN

Paul Januszewski, the new president of the Queens West Development Corporation, issued a broad survey of what has been built and is being built in the vicinity. That would include thousands of apartment units, a school, a library, retail shops and a ball field.

The Long Island City Business Development Corporation held a breakfast meeting in mid-February at the Riverview restaurant in Hunters Point on a day when a nor'easter was battering the city and drenching all those attempting to attend. But after checking their wet outerwear and having something to eat and drink, members heard Paul Januszewski, the new president of the Queens West Development Corporation, issue a broad survey of what has been built and is being built in the vicinity. That would include thousands of apartment units, a school, a library, retail shops and a ball field.

Januszewski, who became president of QWDC this year, formerly covered the waterfront for the city Economic Development Corporation, handling such projects as the renovation of piers in Red Hook for the Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mary II. Before that, at the Department of City Planning he played a part in the massive redevelopment of Columbus Circle. He told the breakfast audience that Queens West is a 74-acre project that runs from Newtown Creek to Anable Basin and has thus far conjoined city and state agencies with private developers, the latter of whom are putting up the housing and assisting in the building of schools and libraries. He described the various stages of construction, of which there are four.

Stage I runs from 50th Avenue to 47th Road and consists of three buildings with 1,600 apartment units; P.S. 78, which he toured with Assemblymember Catherine Nolan a week before; and Gantry Park. There is also Site 8, or the library. Initially, the library was to be housed in one of the apartment buildings, but it now stands alone. Currently it has $12 million in funding, with anticipated funds bringing the total to $17 million. Site 8 must be remediated and relieved of pollution; the QWDC president saw that being completed by late next year.

Stage II is the Rockrose project, which contains seven residential buildings. Two of the buildings are currently completed, two are under construction and all are expected to be finished by 2012. Part of this stage includes construction of parkland, however that element of the project will be delayed by remediation at the northern end. If remediation is completed in the next year, Januszewski said, the park should be completed in 18 months. Also in the works is construction of a freestanding school that was initially planned to be located in one of the buildings. The grade level of the school has yet to be determined, but most interested persons seem to favor a middle school, Januszewski said.

Stages III and IV are in the area south of 50th Avenue and take up 30 acres. This is the project currently known as Hunters Point South. The Economic Development Corporation is what Januszewski called the "main contact" on it. A draft environmental impact statement (EIS) is anticipated for issuance some time this year. This summer, a private-public transfer is to be effected, with the city withdrawing from the north end Stages I and II and all private developers leaving Stages III and IV.

Asked about parking, Januszewski had no comment, apparently having much to learn about it in his new job. Asked about water taxis, he said the city would be willing to aid private ventures for the first several years, helping them to get started. He was not sure where the landings are to be located on either the Queens or Manhattan side, though he was sure the Manhattan-bound waterborne traffic would mainly be headed downtown. He was also sure about the athletic field that is supposed to be built at the end of 46th Avenue, near the junction of the East River and Anable Basin. He said it should be ready for activity during the coming spring and summer, though a look at the lot as it now stands (vacant, though strewn with rubble and the inevitable pyramid of tires) makes that promise seem shaky. Whenever it is built, the New York State Office of Parks shall maintain it.