The City Council voted to pass a rezoning plan for Jamaica, Queens, on Wednesday, clearing what may be the final hurdle for a major transformation of around 230 blocks in the multicultural neighborhood.<\/p>\n
While there are concerns about gentrification and rent increases pricing people out of the neighborhood, supporters of the plan say it\u2019s a game changer because it will create affordable housing and better jobs.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
The full City Council voted Wednesday to approve the Jamaica, Queens rezoning plan, which goes into effect almost immediately
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The plan will increase the density of new buildings permitted in residential and commercial space, which will generally\u00a0allow for taller construction
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The Department of City Planning says that will lead to the creation of 12,000 new homes, including around 4,000 affordable units<\/p>\n
City leaders say there will be upgrades to transit, streets and sidewalks as well
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Some are worried the plan will cause gentrification, an increase in rents for existing apartment buildings, and force long-standing small businesses to shut their doors or move out of the neighborhood<\/p>\n
Hillside Avenue \u2014 also known as Little Bangladesh Avenue \u2014 in Jamaica boasts storefront signs in Bangla and English.<\/p>\n
Traditional clothes on display, and the aroma of Bangladeshi food lures customers inside the restaurants.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing connected to the Bengali food, being connected to the Bengali people, it just makes me feel like it\u2019s Bangladesh all over again,\u201d said Asm Goni, a Jamaica resident.<\/p>\n
decadeGoni has lived in the neighborhood for more than a decade, and works for a nonprofit there called BHALO, which aims to help Bangladeshi New Yorkers.<\/p>\n
\u201cJamaica is a neighborhood that is very close to my heart,\u201d Goni said. \u201cThat\u2019s something I\u2019m really looking forward to \u2014 a much more cleaner neighborhood \u2014 as well as something more beautiful: skyscrapers, the tall buildings, the rezoning, those things excite me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The plan will increase the density of new buildings permitted in residential and commercial space, which generally will allow for taller construction.<\/p>\n
The Department of City Planning says that will lead to the creation of 12,000 new homes, including around 4,000 affordable units.<\/p>\n
It will also boost commercial space for businesses. City leaders say there will be upgrades to transit, streets and sidewalks as well, plus two new plazas added to downtown Jamaica.<\/p>\n
Mohammed Kabir has been living in Jamaica for half a century. He\u2019s run Jamaica Pharmacy off 169th Street and Hillside Avenue for around two decades.<\/p>\n
He says he\u2019s concerned about keeping his small business afloat and believes the rezoning will lead to an increase in his rent.<\/p>\n
\u201c[I] worry because [there\u2019s] not business that much [and] because rent I used to pay $3,400, now I am paying $10,000,\u201d Kabir said. \u201cIt is very hard to survive our business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salma Haque works with Goni at BHALO. She says she understands the concerns, but she supports the plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do hear from residents that they are afraid of their taxes going up. There\u2019s worries about gentrification, but as a community-based organization, I think, this is something that\u2019s going to be good for everyone here,\u201d Haque said.<\/p>\n
Pastor Latricia Davis of the Community Church of Christ says she prayed for this day to come, and now it\u2019s here.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe transformation of our community, I believe, that it\u2019s for the [betterment] of our people. And I believe that it will provide more opportunities for our communities, especially the Black and Brown community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a message that resonates with community members like Goni.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see the great potential in this plan to revitalize this neighborhood,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re putting a lot of money into it, so to a level that we haven\u2019t imagined before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Developers can begin construction almost immediately after the mayor\u2019s five-day review period. He can veto the plan, however, that is unlikely, since he appointed the chairman of the city agency that helped create the plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City Council voted to pass a rezoning plan for Jamaica, Queens, on Wednesday, clearing what may be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[2908,109,25,2907,9,24,12,6019,63,87,122,124,123,27,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-22105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-app-housing","9":"tag-app-local-state-politics","10":"tag-app-top-stories","11":"tag-housing","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-noorulain-khawaja","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-queens","19":"tag-queens-headlines","20":"tag-queens-news","21":"tag-top-stories","22":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22105","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=22105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}