At 2nd Sunnyside Yard Public Meeting, Locals Express Skepticism

SUNNYSIDE, QUEENS — Skepticism was the overwhelming response at the second community meeting on the city's Sunnyside Yard megaproject Tuesday evening.

The Q&A period following a presentation by the project's lead consultant, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism, devolved into a brief but heated shouting match across the P.S. 166 auditorium.

When Sunnyside Yard Director Cali Williams tried to wrap up the Q&A, a woman stood up and shouted that people have more questions, garnering a loud "hear, hear!" from another attendee. Then, as attendees headed from the presentation to one of three breakout sessions, a woman yelled: “Our voices are being shut out!”

Before the program began, members of anti-gentrification group Queens Neighborhoods United passed out flyers entitled, "Raising Questions About Sunnyside Yard."

The Sunnyside Yard project envisions a 180-acre parcel of new land built over one of the busiest train yards in the United States. Last year, the city's Economic Development Corporation launched a public input process to collect suggestions on what people would want to see in the space if the city decides to move forward with the development.

Judy Zangwill, who leads Sunnyside Community Services and is a member of the Sunnyside Yard Steering Committee, said she understands the skepticism and the frustration voiced at the Tuesday meeting.

“Some people have felt that they’ve been sold a bill of goods before, and that then things just didn’t materialize," Zangwill told Patch. "They felt that these companies came into the community and made all sorts of promises and nothing came of it.”

"People have to trust that this is not lip service, and it needs to be shown to them that it’s not lip service," she added.

In an interview with Patch, Williams reiterated that the city is trying to engage as many people as possible — including skeptics.

“Truthfully and honestly, our goal here is to have as inclusive and collaborative and transparent process as possible," Williams said. "I think we’ve shown that through the work that we’ve done so far.”

While the skeptics were the most vocal contingent, other attendees just wanted to learn more about the possibilities for the development.

Astoria resident Ji Yeon Lee, 29, said she's curious about Sunnyside Yard because she and her husband might buy their first home in Sunnyside.

"We were wondering whether it'd be good enough to invest in the area," she said of the project.

Instead of investing in our existing neighborhoods that the city has long ignored, why does the EDC want to build an entirely new neighborhood over #SunnysideYards? pic.twitter.com/HCYQAEo9L8
— QNU (@QueensBarrios) March 26, 2019

The three-hour meeting at P.S. 166 in Astoria was the second such gathering co-hosted by the Economic Development Corporation and Amtrak, which owns most of the rail yard.

Attendees received a briefing on the project from Practice for Architecture and Urbanism founder Vishaan Chakrabarti, then split up for three breakout sessions on transportation and mobility, open space and urban design.

The feedback will inform the Sunnyside Yard master plan, a guiding document that will inform any future development.

"If there is to be a Sunnyside Yard development, it will be one that we, the neighborhood, created," Queens Community Board 1 chair Marie Torniali told the audience on Tuesday.

The first community meeting in October 2018 saw about 375 attendees, according to Williams.

A 2017 study showed it was possible to build a deck over the train yard to create a new, fully planned neighborhood. In May 2018, the EDC and Amtrak launched an 18-month process to gather community feedback, which includes one-on-one meetings with local organizations and public workshops this summer and fall.

The master planning process will wrap up at the end of 2019.