The image above shows the Western Queens Community Land Trust's vision for the building at 44th Drive and Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City. Currently occupied by The Department of Education (DOE). We worked with architect Bagchee Associates to create a plan for the Queensboro People's Space, which would feature  much-needed deeply affordable manufacturing spaces, artist studios, a rooftop garden, a shared commercial kitchen for street food vendors, a food co-op, music studios for the local community, a community tool lending library, and more. The rents would be permanently affordable, because the building would be stewarded by the not-for-profit, community-controlled Western Queens Community Land Trust (WQCLT).

This Building is a publicly-owned building on the LIC waterfront, on a site called Anable Basin. This building was going to be given to Amazon as part of their HQ2 deal with former Governor Cuomo. Now, there's a city-led redevelopment/rezoning plan called OneLIC, which seeks to build tall luxury towers throughout LIC— including on Anable Basin—which includes three additional publicly-owned sites. 

 
When Amazon ditched their deal (thanks, in part, to a strong community push against the proposal) local activists and community members realized we needed to come up with an alternative proposal before the city decided to give the land to another private entity. The DOE building is just a few blocks away from Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing project in the country, which has already been impacted by massive disinvestment and encroaching luxury development. This development has caused increases in nearby residential and commercial rents, and small businesses, artists, and community services are being priced out of the neighborhood. This is how the Queensboro People's Space proposal was born! 

Please sign this petition to tell the City that public land should go back into the hands of the community, and drive local economic development from the bottom up—ensuring that people of color, immigrants and working artists are not displaced. This project could become a symbol for many other cities to preserve, harness, and support economic justice.

To learn more, please visit our website, https://wqclt.org/current-projects