Jackson Heights Life

Affordable housing is the Mayor’s and city Council’s requirements if you want to exceed what is allowed “as a right” under current zoning. It is not my idea or goal. I personally feel that a building that has a high volume store like a Target should not be allowed to get any bigger because it creates more problems with traffic and deliveries.

Paul, take a minute to refresh yourself on how to quote a previous post. I had to put glasses on to read yours.

Why Thank You, best of luck with your jitter bug as well

Queens Neighborhood United shared this on Facebook this morning:

QNU- Facebook

Family, we’d like to share some exciting news-- as of August 29th, the Department of Buildings will be issuing a stop work order and move to revoke the permit at 40-31 82nd Street. See the attached photos of the document signed by the Queens Borough Commissioner at the Department of Buildings, Derek Lee.

What does that mean? It means a few things:
(1) The Department of Buildings (DOB) confirmed our belief that big-box, department stores like Target are not legally allowed to be tenants at 40-31 82nd Street, based on the city’s land-use laws at the site. Currently, the site only is supposed to accommodate local or small businesses. In spite of this, the developers had been marketing the space as a “regional destination” and “a rare outdoor shopping mall experience in the outer boroughs.”

(2) Because the DOB has revoked the permits for the site, the developer’s plans for the site are no longer legal and that means ALL CONSTRUCTION AT THE SITE MUST STOP. If you see or hear any construction at the site, CALL 311 immediately to report a “violation of a stop work order”!!

(3) We believe the DOB’s decision for our site may have huge consequences across the city in the fight against corporate chain and big box store takeover. If the DOB believes that sites zoned similarly to ours cannot legally accommodate a big box store like Target, what does that mean for the planned, but unbuilt Targets like those in Astoria and the Upper East Side? What could it mean for Target locations that have already been built, like the East Village location?

This decision is a major blow to the plans of the developers, Sun Equity Partners and Heskel Group, the politicians who have been in lock-step with them since day one (Council Member Francisco Moya, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, and Ari Espinal), and the corporate lackeys at the 82nd Street Partnership who have been fronting like they support small businesses while systematically welcoming corporations and developers into the neighborhood with open arms.

We’d like to thank the community members who submitted challenges and supported the research in this, as well as those who have continued to sign the pledge to not shop at the 82nd Street Target, should it ever be built! Stay with us, family, and keep your eyes and pressure on the developers and their minions.

I have to admit that I always thought the zoning there would not allow a big box store like Target to open. What is the zoning there? I believe that the Sterling bank site at 73rd Street and Broadway which is zoned C4-3 would allow a small target to open. Target will probably look at that site next.

I'm not sure the Queens United folks have their facts right.

I went to the DOB website and there is no evidence that the project is not going forward. There is a filing showing that the contractor has been fined $2400 and is in violation of DOB rules due to creating excessive debris at the site. The contractor has been ordered to rectify the matter.

With regard to "big box" stores, Target and other retailers are opening stores throughout the U.S. that are of a variety of sizes. Some are the standard massive big box stores like you might see in the suburbs. Others aren't. Target, for one, has been creating smaller stores for urban markets...so to say that Target will be prohibited from building there is incorrect. I don't see anything in the zoning that prohibits Target. Based on the renderings that have been submitted by their architects it looks like they are planning three floors of commercial. Maybe that's a big box, maybe not.

Personally, I don't think that's a great site for any large development whether it be an office building, apartments or a multi-story retailer. That street is already a disaster.

That said, I don't see why there is such opposition to a Target. The neighborhood needs better stores that offer a variety of merchandise at reasonable prices. Target has a pretty good selection and pretty good prices. But if you disagree you're free to shop elsewhere.

If you look at the snippet of the DOB document it cites 40-19 82nd st.

The old theater was 40-31.