The mayor’s office has signed off on a $180 million spending plan in Long Island City that will be used to build schools, fix roads and improve the area’s sewer system.
Pooling funds from its Environmental Protection, Transportation and Parks departments as well as its School Construction Authority, Mayor Bill de Blasio is hoping to enhance services in the one-time industrial district where the construction of glittering towers has outpaced quality of life investment.
This latest infusion of funds joins close to $3 billion worth of capital outlays that aim to elevate Long Island City from a back-office hub and luxury housing haven into a proper, thriving community.
“Long Island City is New York’s fastest growing neighborhood. It has seen thousands of new homes, including affordable homes, and jobs spring up over the past decade,” Marisa Lago, director of City Planning, said in a statement. “This impressive growth requires a coordinated City strategy for making needed public investments in schools, parks, roads and local arts organizations.”
Financial commitments in the spending plan include $95 million from Environmental Protection to renovate the sewer system and water mains to help with flood management in the areas waterfront districts.
Also, $60 million has been committed for a new school in the Court Square district, $15 million has been set aside to improve a handful of pocket parks built along public right-of-ways and $10 million has been tacked on to the ongoing street reconstruction in Hunter’s Point.
The fresh commitments come on the heels of a deal struck last week that will allow the city to build public space and an elementary school along Jackson Avenue in exchange for granting additional air rights to a the Lions Group, which plans to construct a pair of high-rise residential towers in Court Square.
