Mega-development
From The Peopling of New York City
DRAFT:
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Flushing Commons and Flushing Town Center
Currently, Flushing is undergoing more new development as well. For example, a proposed Flushing Commons will be built on top of a current municipal parking lot that will provide residential units, a hotel, retail space and recreational facilities for the citizens of Flushing. In essence, the project is intended to revitalize downtown Flushing once again and create another well-known and populated center. Another project that is intended to do more renovating is the Flushing Town Center developed at the intersection of College Point Blvd. and Roosevelt Avenue. Both sites are intended to boost Flushing’s economy but to what extent will these projects impact the periphery, the less recognized areas of the Flushing neighborhood? The Flushing Commons and Flushing Town Center are both demolishing part of Flushing’s lesser known community including a municipal parking lot and a sixteen acre industrial brownfield. In this instance, the new developments can be considered a type of “invasion landscape” created by interest groups of developers and ignoring the already stable landscapes of Flushing. Such developers are invading the space of Flushing residents but also; they are invading the old notion of Flushing as a residential, spacious neighborhood. Although many individuals are pushing for these two new developments, there are also individuals fighting against them, one being New York mayoral candidate, Tony Avella. Tony Avella is protesting the new developments because he believes they will only worsen the congestion in downtown Flushing, they are poorly planned and will be sitting atop inadequate infrastructure.
Interestingly, some store owners fear the beginning of development of Flushing Commons because of the parking situation of Flushing. If the parking lot is in use due to the project, no one will visit the small business owners' stores and slowly they will die off.
The Iron Triangle
An area of Flushing that has gone underdeveloped and been left barren for many years is about to undergo huge changes. This area has been named the "Iron Triangle" by residents of Queens for its abundance of scrap metal and lack of greenery and anything else for that matter. The area is unhealthy, unsafe, and could be one of the best prospects for development, according to Mayor Bloomberg. The Iron Triangle has been the gaping hole in the overdeveloped landscape of Flushing, but with ideas of a convention center, that will change soon enough. In this case, a new development may be the best decision. The few who could oppose it may fear changing rent prices that have been relatively cheap due to the reputation of the Iron Triangle. But with change like this, new prospects for business owners will be discovered.
Conclusion
These new developments are being built with the mindset of enlarging and reviving the core of Flushing. They are intended to go along with the perceived picture of Flushing as a thriving business district and not a residential paradise. If completed, these two projects will sit atop the list of well-known Flushing landscapes. This leaves one to imagine what the streetscapes of Flushing will look like after another decade of development and expansion.