BY KYLIE VOLAVONGSA | news@queensledger.com
LONG ISLAND CITY — On the morning of September 15, the Brewster LIC Conference Center became a who’s-who of developers and investment in Queens.
This was in service of Building Queens, a conference organized by the Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC). Its purpose: to put over $62 billion of public and private investments into Queens (per Ben Guttmann, QEDC’s executive director) into context.
QEDC also made a point to numerically highlight the development of 38,000 new homes, 284 recently rezoned blocks and 5 new planned subway stops, among other happenings.
Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. delivered the opening remarks.
“It’s through this work that we become a magnet for global attention through events like Governor’s Ball, the World Cup, and the Olympics. When you invest in the potential of your people, the rest of the world can’t help but notice,” Richards Jr. said.
The featured event that followed was the Megaprojects Roundtable. It laid out planning and progress on airports, casinos, rezonings, and infrastructure. The City Reporter’s Samantha Maldonado served as moderator and was joined by four guest speakers:
Suzette Noble, as CEO of LaGuardia Gateway Partners, reiterated LaGuardia Terminal B’s progress since its 2018-2022 renovation, though Noble first entered her role in 2023.
“We added two pedestrian bridges, because why would we do one? And when we did that, what we actually did was add an additional 40 acres to LaGuardia Airport’s airfield,” Noble said.
Jennifer O’Sullivan, COO of New York City Football Club, shared updates and plans for NYCFC (and women’s professional team Gotham FC)’s future home — and the city’s first soccer-specific stadium — Etihad Stadium. According to O’Sullivan, the venue is 100% privately financed and built solely with union labor.
Chris Oh, VP of finance for Metropolitan Park, which is the project that will expand Citi Field’s parking lots into a Hard Rock location, a site for hotels, and other entertainment venues. Oh also mentioned plans to renovate Mets-Willetts Point into a fully ADA accessible station, bringing expenses to $8 billion in private funding. According to Oh, all of it would create over 23,000 union jobs in the process.
Michelle Stoddard, senior VP of community development at Resorts World New York City, meanwhile discussed community growth throughout Queens as a result of funds generated by the gaming industry.
When asked by Maldonado about skepticsm toward these projects, the four speakers’ responses came down to getting permits approved and taking local input as they proceeded — whether that be meetings with council members, public hearings, or surveys.
“It’s continued conversations, and it’s not just about getting your project done,” O’Sullivan said. “How are you going to be a good neighbor in that community?”
