The DOE building at 44-36 Vernon Blvd. Via Google Maps
Jan. 30, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
The future of 44-36 Vernon Blvd., a 672,000-square-foot Department of Education building in Long Island City, is taking a significant step forward as the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) plans to issue a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) on behalf of the City.
The NYC EDC is inviting proposals for its redevelopment—a move that could transform the long-debated site into a vibrant community space.
Council Member Julie Won, alongside representatives from the Department of City Planning and WXY Studio, announced the forthcoming RFEI at a town hall for the One LIC Neighborhood Plan on Saturday, Jan. 25.
According to Won, the RFEI will allow interested parties to submit concepts for converting all or part of the building into commercial, light industrial, and community-serving spaces.
She also emphasized the importance of community feedback, stating that input from residents will help shape the Request for Proposal (RFP) that follows, ensuring the project aligns with neighborhood needs.
“Planning for our city’s public sites should be a community-led effort, and we are excited to announce plans for an RFEI for those who want to share their vision for the DOE building on Vernon Boulevard in Anable Basin,” Won said at Saturday’s workshop.
NYCEDC CEO and President Andrew Kimball said the redevelopment of the DOE building has the potential to provide Long Island City with vital amenities.
“The redevelopment of the 44-36 Vernon Boulevard building has the potential to provide Long Island City with additional waterfront access and amenities that the community has longed for,” Kimball said in a statement.
The six-story DOE building is a centrally-located hub for Department operations across the five boroughs and is used for storage and warehousing, office workstations, and trade shops for several divisions.
Several community groups have called for the DOE building to remain in public hands, with a coalition of community groups holding a community sleepout and potluck on Vernon Boulevard in September, calling for the building to be transformed into the Queensboro People’s Space. Advocates said at the time that creating a community space at the DOE building could provide an outlet for children and young adults living in Queensbridge today while also creating a permanently affordable hub for street vendors, artists and small businesses.
Separately, the Western Queens Community Land Trust, a non-profit group that aims to promote deeply affordable housing and low-cost commercial space, held a rally outside the building in May 2022, calling for it to remain in public hands.
The City said it will not select a development team for the DOE building at this stage but anticipates learning from responses to inform future approaches to the building. The City, NYCEDC, and Council Member Won’s office will release more information about the RFEI process in spring 2025 as ULURP certification of the neighborhood plan gets closer.
The OneLIC plan includes a number of zoning changes for the neighborhood and aims to create new housing, park and community spaces as well as improving connectivity and street safety within the neighborhood.
Representatives from the Department of City Planning said the One LIC plan will create 16,000 new homes, at least 4,000 of which will be affordable, and 16,000 new jobs across various sectors.
DCP officials said the plan would also create 7-9 acres of public space on the LIC waterfront, several new schools, safer streets, support for existing businesses, and protection for existing tenants.
DCP Director Dan Garodnick said events such as Saturday’s workshop are crucial to shape a “more equitable and resilient Long Island City”.
“Through the OneLIC plan, including the RFEI for 44-36 Vernon Boulevard, we can deliver more active, community-serving uses for the neighborhood. Input from this workshop will be invaluable in making that vision a reality at city-owned sites,” Garodnick said in a statement.
The Department of City Planning also released a new survey in order to solicit feedback for the public sites near Anable Basin at the Jan. 25 workshop. This survey follows the first round of surveys created by Won’s office to gauge the community’s priorities for the entire OneLIC project area.
The Department of City Planning’s survey will collect community insights about specific priorities for public sites, including affordable housing, waterfront open space, school seats, commercial space, community facilities and more.
Won encouraged members of the LIC community to take part in the new survey.
“We also encourage the public to participate in the next round of surveys to provide feedback for the types of housing, businesses, community facilities, open spaces, and amenities they want to see built on our public sites,” Won said in a statement.
Visit licplan.nyc/public-sites-community-survey to take the survey. Visit licplan.nyc to get the latest information on the Long Island City Neighborhood Plan.
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2 Comments
Just want to point out that the sleep-out and the rally are not separate groups- they are part of the same coalition of community groups that want to make sure this public building isn’t given to a private developer, or that this public land isn’t rezoned (and then given to a private developer.) The city has a responsibility to keep public land for public benefit, and the only proposal that ensures that is the one from Western Queens Community Land Trust. Anything else is a huge profit giveaway to private interests, which should be unacceptable to anyone who cares about the future of this community.
Should be sold forthwith to the highest bidder with no restriction on development.