By Ryan Schwach<\/p>\n
Long Island City residents say they are still in the dark about Mayor Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump\u2019s $21 billion plan to build over ten thousand homes atop Sunnyside Yard, a proposal that caught many by surprise when it was announced in February.<\/p>\n
Locals in Western Queens want more information about the future of Sunnyside Yard, and if, when and how Trump may pony up the billions to construct a deck and build 12,000 units of housing on top of the busy rail yard. <\/p>\n
They also wonder if the president will slap his name on the finished product.<\/p>\n
For such a major project, that, if built, would reshape a massive section of Western Queens, residents say they deserve more information about how it\u2019s being shaped. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems like no one really knows what’s happening,\u201d said Vishnu Reddy, a Long Island City resident. \u201cThis is internal between Mamdani and Trump. We’ll see if the Trump administration gives us the money. My guess is we’re not getting the money.\u201d <\/p>\n
Reddy was one of the nearly 200 local residents who ventured to Sunnyside Community Services on Monday night for an informational session hosted by City Councilmember Julie Won in the hope of getting some answers. <\/p>\n
Won, admittedly, did not have much to give them. <\/p>\n
\u201cI’m just being honest with you, I don’t have any answers for you other than what I know, which is pretty much what you know,\u201d Won said. \u201cWe had asked for a briefing with the mayor’s office, and we finally were able to get one this past week, and all we know is that currently, there is no funding that is trackable. \u201c <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no plan,\u201d she added later. <\/p>\n
Won has made a habit of questioning massive housing proposals in her district, and also has questions about this one. She has already called for more opportunities for community input on any future proposals for Sunnyside Yard. <\/p>\n
She said the informational session held on Monday night was organized in response to a litany of calls to her office from people wanting to know what was going on with the proposal. <\/p>\n
What is known is that in January, Mamdani was pictured alongside Trump \u2013 in what was the second meeting between the two Queens men \u2013 behind the president\u2019s desk, flaunting a mock Daily News tabloid headline.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump to City: Let\u2019s Build\u201d it read, with the subheadline reading, \u201cTrump delivers 12,000+ homes.\u201d <\/p>\n
The number of proposed homes was reminiscent of a stalled plan for Sunnyside Yard proposed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio, which faced significant pushback at the time, and ultimately fizzled out. <\/p>\n
Mamdani, with the help of his unlikely ally in the Oval Office, proposed resurrecting the project. <\/p>\n
But, the pair have not shared any information about what it would look like, the timeline to build or if the president will actually dole out the initial $21 billion that would be needed to make it happen. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe president shared his interest in the proposal, and I am encouraged by the fact that we will continue to talk about this proposal,\u201d Mamdani said last month. \u201cIt is going to be a long process.\u201d <\/p>\n
City Hall confirmed the mayor\u2019s meeting with local officials that Won mentioned, and said meetings have begun with partners to figure out the next steps for Sunnyside Yard. <\/p>\n
“Housing is the most urgent crisis facing our city, and the Mamdani administration is using every tool at our disposal to confront it head-on,\u201d said City Hall spokesperson Matt Rauschenbach. \u201cWe\u2019re encouraged by the early signs of interest in securing a historic level of federal investment in affordable housing here in New York, and continue to have conversations with partners across city, state, and federal government about what it would take to deliver 12,000 new homes, tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, and a once-in-a-generation investment in open space, transportation and infrastructure in Queens.”<\/p>\n
Sunnyside and Long Island City locals are no stranger to dealing with massive development plans, like OneLIC, which passed the City Council last year.<\/p>\n
But, they have long been burned by major developments that ultimately led to a scourge of luxury units that priced out locals. The history has left them wary of throwing their support behind a new plan, especially one they know little about. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ryan Schwach Long Island City residents say they are still in the dark about Mayor Zohran Mamdani…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-189637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}