Astoria Cove Plans Denied!

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Last week, we told you guys about the meeting held to discuss the Astoria Cove project – a new residential complex that was looking to take up home along the Hallet’s Cove waterfront. After another meeting the plans have officially been nixed – there will be no residential complex erected anytime soon.

LChung

LChung

One of the main reasons for the denial of the request to build was the clear lack of affordable housing. As quoted by the New York Times, the developer Alma Bank dropped the number of affordable housing units from 340 units to just 295 –  a drastic change that Community Board One understandably opposed. This is an extremely valid point – with Astoria becoming one of the latest destinations for New Yorkers to move to, rent prices have steadily been increasing. For many of the population that have lived here for upwards of a decade or two, even higher rent prices wouldn’t be feasible. We’ve already seen what the rising prices of real estate are doing to local businesses – they would be even more harrowing to local residents.

Other stipulations, such as ferry evacuation plans, medical center requirements, and job offers to locals and youths, were made in an attempt to make the plan more neighborhood friendly – but even with those stipulations the plans weren’t up to community standards. It looks like it may take another decade for the plans to come back to life – and with a lot of changes.