Upcoming Events
Make Your Voice Heard to DCP
The Department of City Planning (DCP) held a Scoping Meeting on August 12 for their “Long Island City (LIC) Neighborhood Plan” (formerly called OneLIC), which would upzone much of LIC for taller, unaffordable housing.
Many of us testified against upzoning and advocated for the inclusion of the Queensboro People’s Space, the Resiliency Plan drafted by LICC & Hunter’s Point, and preservation of the IBZ (Industrial Business Zone).
We had petitioned DCP to postpone this hearing until the fall when more people would be available, but they went ahead with it anyway. However, they have extended the deadline to submit written testimony until 5:00 PM, Friday, September 13, 2024. Please send your comments to 25DCP001Q_DL@planning.nyc.gov
Thank you, Representative Nydia Velazquez, for testifying in support of the QPS project and equity in LIC!
Sign Our Petition and Survey
If you haven’t already, please sign our QPS petition demanding that city agencies and the Adam’s administration allow WQCLT to transform the DOE building into a lively, affordable space that benefits the community. Please sign on today and share widely!
And share your thoughts about the DCP-led “LIC Neighborhood Plan” in our independent planning survey.
Save the Date: September 14th Potluck and Sleep Out
Join us on September 14th at 5:30pm for a Community Potluck, and if you are able, stay for the Sleep Out.
Along with our allies, we will share good food, music, and build community: we need the Department of Education building for community use as envisioned in our Queensboro People’s Space proposal, and we need a resilient, public waterfront as outlined in the LICC/Hunter’s Point Community Coalition’s Resiliency Plan. We want community-driven development that is equitable and sustainable. No more luxury towers!
Bring some food or drinks to share, instruments to jam with, and if you want to stay the night, bring a tent and bedding. We’ll be right in front of the Department of Education building at 44th Drive and Vernon Blvd. Rain date is 9/21.
Flyer with more information coming soon! If you’d like to help us organize this exciting community event, please reach out to Pam Herrera (pamela.herrera@wqclt.org)
Can’t join us? Donate today to support the WQCLT’s grassroots campaign to acquire our first property.
The WQCLT Board is Recruiting
We are accepting nominations – including nominating yourself – via this form here. We are accepting applications on a rolling basis but hope to fill by October 15th. Read the overview of the ideal candidate and our process for filling the position here.
Past Events
June 1, 2024: Queensboro People’s Space Block Party
On June 1st, we hosted a rocking block party outside the city-owned Department of Education building on the former Amazon HQ site in LIC, Queens. This vibrant event demonstrated the deep need for affordable space in western Queens, and made it clear that we want a Community Land Trust to steward this massive publicly-owned building, not more luxury development. We are fighting to make the Queensboro People’s Space (QPS) a reality! On a beautiful sunny afternoon, hundreds of community members browsed and purchased goods from food vendors, artists, and local entrepreneurs, as well as community organizations sharing their important work. We had incredible music, dance, deejaying, and even a fashion show! There were too many performers, vendors and artists to list individually, but check them all out here. We are a diverse, powerful community!
Special shoutout to Suga Ray Marston and DJ Kodak for emceeing the performances and speakers: we could not have done this without you. And WQCLT was able to raise over $1,000 thanks to a raffle, made possible by our generous community donors: Long Island City Ballet, Queens Jiu Jitsu, Ora La Casa De Las Flores floral arranger, Yoga Agora studio , and the Queens Botanical Gardens: thank you to our local small businesses and public garden!
We’re also grateful to have political support from many of our local elected officials who were either present or sent representation at the block party: Julie Won, Zohran Mamdani, Kristen Gonzalez, and Nydia Velazquez.
This event was made possible, in part, with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant program, a program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature and administered by Flushing Town Hall.
March 23, 2024: Community-Led Town Hall in Long Island City
WQCLT organized a people’s town hall to discuss the impacts of the proposed OneLIC rezoning on the Long Island City waterfront. Participants learned about how past real-estate development and rezonings transformed the neighborhood, causing racialized displacement due to rising rents. Concerns were raised about the upcoming city-led development plan OneLIC, which many feared will only create more luxury towers with almost no affordability. Participants discussed what the community truly needs, providing feedback via an open mic, giving interviews, and writing their ideas on a community “bulletin board.”
May 27, 2023: Woodside Queens Festival
WQCLT co-sponsored Woodside on the Move’s Woodside Street Festival on May 27. Festival goers checked out the QPS building model, learned about CLTs, and got their own WQCLT T-shirts for a small donation. Our very own Memo Salazar and Suga Ray Marston spoke at the event. There were also performances by CLT board member Daniela Cardona (Rude Mechanical Orchestra) and CLT member Ernie Brooks (Tape Hiss).
March 7, 2023: Queens Community Land Act Town Hall
On March 7, we co-hosted the Queens CLA Town Hall with NYCCLI, the New Economy Project and Chhaya in Jackson Heights. We had a full house with a stellar line-up of Queens CLT superstars including our very own Memo Salazar and Jenny Dubnau, Jessica Balgobin (of Chhaya & Queens CLT), Lorenzo Brea & Shemika Jones (of Ravenswood CLT), and Alexis Smallwood Foote (of the Real Edgemere CLT). Many electeds also came out in support of the CLA including Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas (NYS Assemblymember, District 34), Shekar Krishnan (NYC Council Member, District 25), Isaac Blasenstein (from NYC CM Julie Won’s office, District 26), and Jumaane Williams (NYC Public Advocate). NYCCLI made an easy to use action page for people to send emails to their Council Members. So, please send one to your rep and feel free to share this link with your friends and networks: Take action!
If you missed the event, you can watch it all here: video
Feb 28th to March 14th, 2023: Suga Ray’s hunger strike and sleep out
From February 28th to March 14th, Suga Ray Marston staged a hunger strike and sleep out in front of the DoE building that we want to turn into the Queensboro People’s Space. Many WQCLT members visited Suga Ray over the two weeks, as did our City Council Member Julie Won, to express their support of the WQCLT plan to convert the 600,000+ square foot building into a community space for small businesses. On the last Sunday, he was joined by many musicians and friends to call on Mayor Adams to meet with the WQCLT.
You can read more about it here: Hellgate, Gothamist, Patch
Our co-chair Memo Salazar cut a short video about it that you can watch here:
May 14, 2022: Queensboro People’s Space Public Launch
On Saturday, May 14th at the DoE Building in LIC, we were joined by an incredible group of local Queens activists, non-profit organizations, small business leaders and city-wide CLT members who spoke in support of the Queensboro People’s Space.
We are immensely grateful to all who came and made the event such a success. Shout-out to New York City Community Land Initiative (NYCCLI) and land trust organizers from across the city who demonstrated there is a growing land justice movement. And much gratitude to our local NYC Council Members Julie Won, Shekar Krishnan and Tiffany Cabán who also spoke in support of our QPS project. We collaborated with the Street Vendor Project to give away dozens of free meals, heard fabulous freestyle from hip hop artist Eddie Krueger, and rallied the community around our collective vision for the Queensboro People’s Space.
Read more about the event in Patch.
Sept 18, 2021: Public Land in People’s Hands Community Festival
Thank you so much to the Justice For All Coalition, Ravenswood CLT, Connected Chef, Street Vendor Project, and Woodside on the Move as well as all of the amazing volunteers, musicians and artists who brought their energy, support and ideas to this celebration!
We gave away over 200 meals, had tons of insightful conversations and heard your vision for a collectively-owned and managed Department of Education building.
Jan 21, 2020: WQCLT First Public Meeting at Jacob Riis Center
It was great to have such an enthusiastic group of community members committed to a vision and structure of Western Queens that truly benefits us all!
We discussed the CLT’s vision for a community-led manufacturing, artists, and community space hub in the publicly-owned Department of Education building on the LIC waterfront. The meeting also featured an in depth presentation by professor James Defilippis’ grad students, who studied the DOE building for a semester.
We also shared other potential CLT sites in Western Queens, including residential units. Between the speakers, the questions, and the crowd, it couldn’t have been a more dynamic beginning to this endeavor.
