You are reading

Op-Ed: Beware the Comprehensive Plan, One Plan to Rule Us All

District 26 City Council Candidate (right) Emily Sharpe speaking to a Sunnyside resident at Lou Lodati Park. (Photo: Emily For City Council)

June 10, 2021 Op-Ed By: Emily Sharpe

I met Alicia Boyd in Brooklyn at a meeting to save the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s flora from dark shadows cast by luxury towers. I had gotten a flyer to attend from her colleague when he toured Sunnyside Yards at an event sponsored by the group I founded, “Stop Sunnyside Yards”.

What compelled me to travel to Crown Heights on a hot summer night was my incredulity that a rezoning was about to be approved that would purportedly kill 50% of the plant collection in a garden that I had enjoyed through the years.

Perhaps like most people, there was a time when I thought our built environment was entirely dependent upon the whims of powerful developers who decided when, how and where they chose to build. Now I know it is, in fact, our government that determines what happens with our land – even private property – and it can choose to regulate land-use for many different reasons.

Sometimes it’s so an odiferous pig farm can’t coexist with a retirement village. But sometimes, like now, it’s to allow developers with easy access to international financial capital to build virtually unchecked in every neighborhood in New York City. (To be discussed another time…)  In a nutshell, this is “The Comprehensive Plan” (Intro 2186) – a citywide Master Plan that is currently winding its way through community boards and is scheduled to be discussed further in the early fall.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson introduced this bill in December 2020 on the same day a citywide group gathered at city hall to implore Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYC Council members to stop approving rezoning plans that have occurred at an accelerated pace over the past 15 years, causing skyrocketing rents and displacement of residents and small businesses.

By February 17, 2021, Tom Angotti, a well-respected expert on Urban Policy & Planning, had largely discredited the plan as being too top-down and developer-driven, similar to current planning; and I was a panelist on a virtual workshop discussing the dangers of the plan.

At its core, this plan is a power-grab by the Executive Branch, giving control over land-use to the mayor instead of individual council members and the community they represent. Furthermore, this plan would force every community district in the city to engage in one of three 10-year development plans that a mayor’s commission would create for us after just one public hearing!

The borough president, community board, and a newly formed steering committee would each cast their non-binding vote for one of the three options. Afterwards, city council would hold one additional public hearing and make its selection from the three. If, however, city council refuses to choose any of the options, the mayor’s commission would decide for it.

Emily Sharpe (Photo: Emily For City Council)

Imagine having to choose between three pre-determined plans as your only option for the community. Imagine asking yourself where new luxury high-rises would displace the fewest number of people or cause rents and property taxes to rise a little less. Imagine neighborhoods within your district competing with one another to be the one to resist more overcrowding and strain on its resources.

Should we build out Astoria or could Sunnyside stand a dozen more large-scale buildings? What about LIC – maybe they won’t notice.

With LIC being the fastest growing city in the nation and desired home to massive tech companies with virtually no additional infrastructure or rent protections, it’s easy to guess what’s in store for western Queens with this new plan.

We have our own gardens, residents and diversity to protect, but the next council member won’t be able to do that if the Comprehensive Plan passes.

At a rally in March, I spoke out against Corey Johnson’s plan and asked like-minded candidates from other districts to join me in a pledge to stop (or repeal) this plan once in office. This I promise to do if elected.

I will also stand up to the power players who want to see top-down planning to allow for more towers to benefit their portfolios, but don’t actually care about the people who live and work here.

Yes, I also want (and will work for) other things, like more green space, better public transportation, and education equity. But if we don’t save our city from big real estate, many of us may not even be here to enjoy them.

*Emily Sharpe is a Sunnyside resident of 23 years, public interest attorney & founder of Stop Sunnyside Yards. Sharpe is the only city council candidate in D26 to be given an “A” rating by Human-Scale NYC, an organization dedicated to stopping the influence of big real estate.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

4 Comments

Click for Comments 
MRLIC

Most people can fIgure out that development and displacement is a combonation of Albany NYC. And the developers and their big pocketed lobbyists.Illegals have their. groups NY immigration coalition Make The Road NY.
NYC will only change when you the votetr get the Democrats to change their tune and. VOTE THEM OIT OF OFFICE. Try a Republicam or Independent with good sane ideas mot WOKE BS.

Reply
your_neighbor

I participated in some of the meetings too and far as I can tell, the development of Sunnyside Yards is not going to force even one person to move out of their current residence, it is just adding new housing, new businesses and new park land. This is a city and cities are like living things and need to grow. Not all development and developers are bad, the city does not have the billions of dollars to put a roof over acres of train tracks or would you prefer to have the inaccessible train yards there for another 100 years rather than new parks that can be used by us, our children and grandchildren in our lifetimes?

4
1
Reply
Jon

But wasn’t Sunnyside Yards going to be 100% affordable, include 60 acres of parks, a new train station, 10 schools, 2 libraries, 30 childhood cares centers and a new hospital?

Reply
YIMBY

Anti development will only make rent higher. Just let it build and the market will adjust. I will never vote for any NIMBY candidates.

Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Fall fun in western Queens: Your guide to the best seasonal events

Aug. 29, 2025 By Jessica Militello

With beach days and summer BBQs behind us, the start of September rings in the start of magnificent Fall foliage, Halloween and more fun activities that come with the start of Autumn, including a list of Fall events in the area. From apple picking to seasonal ciders and more, there is tons to explore in the community. From Mystic Markets to scary movie meet-ups and more, here is a list of Fall events you do not want to miss.

MTA opens three new modernized elevators at the Queens Plaza subway station in Long Island City

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced the opening of three new modernized elevators at the Queens Plaza E/M/R subway station in Long Island City earlier this month as part of a larger accessibility and safety upgrades throughout the transit system.

The work included a full replacement of the cab and equipment within the cab, shaft and pit, along with two new elevator head houses located at street level. Crews also made modifications to the shaft and pit as needed to allow for new equipment. The elevator machine room and electrical and mechanical equipment received replacements and other modernization efforts for reliability.

Queens Together launches ‘Unofficial US Open Dining Guide’ encouraging fans to sample restaurants along the 7 line

Aug. 20, 2025 By Shane O’Brien

The US Open returns to Flushing Meadows Corona Park this Sunday, with more than 1 million attendees anticipated to take mass transit to the iconic annual tennis event. With hundreds of thousands of fans set to take the 7 out to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, there is a world of delicious local eateries lying beneath the elevated train tracks should any fan wish to stop en-route to the US Open.