By Ryan Schwach<\/p>\n
An entirely different type of starting gun was fired at Aqueduct Racetrack this week as the state began soliciting public feedback about what to do with the massive plot of state-owned land when it becomes empty later this year. <\/p>\n
The state held its first feedback session in Queens on Tuesday as it begins to craft its plan to redevelop the 100-acre site, which will become vacant when Aqueduct Racetrack combines with Belmont in Long Island this summer. <\/p>\n
However, community members and local officials were torn over what exactly should be done with the massive site. <\/p>\n
It’s all but certain that housing will be part of the state\u2019s development plan for the site, but how much housing and what goes up alongside it is still entirely unknown, and neighbors and community leaders have varying ideas. <\/p>\n
Most of the locals who attended Empire State Development\u2019s first public workshop on the Aqueduct redevelopment plan on Tuesday night at John Adams High School said housing was a top priority. Others suggested the state build open space and other community-centered resources. <\/p>\n
Members of the community board that represents the areas around the racetrack want Resorts World, which operates the casino next door to the track, to have a part in developing the land and turning it into a touristic destination. Fresh off expanding their racino into the city\u2019s first full-fledged casino, Resorts World is also hoping they can be the ones to develop on the land. <\/p>\n
Local electeds also want to see the site become a new economic engine for Queens. <\/p>\n
Mani Jadunath came to the workshop with his grandson just to make sure his house wasn\u2019t being torn down. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy backyard is next to the racetrack and we were concerned that they may want to move us from that area,\u201d Jadunath told the Eagle. <\/p>\n
He lives on 114th Street, directly adjacent to the site. <\/p>\n
Thankfully, his home won\u2019t be affected, but whatever winds up being built at the site certainly will concern the Ozone Park local of 30 years. <\/p>\n
He said the community needs housing \u201cfirst and foremost.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are living in basements, garages \u2014 we need more housing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
His 18-year-old grandson, Avinash Dhanraj, said he wants more places for the community to enjoy. <\/p>\n
\u201cParks and green spaces could be beneficial, especially because a lot of people might want activities to do in the neighborhood,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Most of the locals expressed the need for affordable housing and community spaces on Post-It notes on boards and maps of the site ESD set up to garner feedback. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need affordable housing for us,\u201d said Tneka, an organizer with 1199SEIU and housing-advocacy group Queens Power. <\/p>\n
The group was among the loudest pro-housing voices involved in ESD\u2019s development of Creedmoor, a similar state effort that is further along in the planning stage. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe really need that everywhere, because we work here, but we can’t afford to live here,\u201d she said. \u201cThat’s a big problem, and it puts a lot of strain on everyday working people.\u201d <\/p>\n
Beyond housing and other basic community needs, some had more grand ideas. <\/p>\n
Resorts World has expressed interest in using the site to build workforce housing for their on-site employees, rather than affordable housing. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe would love nothing more than to have all of our new employees be able to work, live and play in the community,\u201d said Stefan Friedman, a spokesperson for Resorts World. \u201cI’ll leave it up to people far smarter than I to talk about the wisdom of having affordable housing next to a casino.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friedman said Resorts World would be interested in doing more than just housing on the site, but that the workforce housing would be the \u201ccenterpiece.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ryan Schwach An entirely different type of starting gun was fired at Aqueduct Racetrack this week as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-231407","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\/231407","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=231407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}