News explainer
A proposal to build apartments above shops at 100-12 Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills cleared a City Council committee on Tuesday. The Committee on Land Use voted 9–0 on each of the project’s two zoning applications, approving both with changes and referring them to the City Planning Commission. Both applications were still listed as reported from committee on Wednesday morning. Committee minutes, map application, text application.
The scale of the plan is visible in the City Planning Commission’s June 1 agenda. It describes a 21-story building with ground-floor commercial space and about 389 apartments, including about 97 income-restricted homes. That is roughly one in four of the apartments in the June proposal. The committee minutes record the referral without spelling out the changes, so the June figures are a baseline for comparing the next version. June planning agenda, November committee minutes.
The commission’s September decision still described 389 apartments, including 97 that would be permanently income-restricted. It also recorded a different target from Queens Community Board 6. The board voted 22–16, with two abstentions, to recommend approval with conditions in June. It asked for 30% to 37% of the apartments to be affordable and for the developer to help existing businesses relocate during construction and return afterward where possible. September Planning Commission decision.
The two applications do different jobs on the same site in Queens Community District 6 and Council District 29. As filed, LU 0150-2026 sought to change part of the zoning map from R7-1 to R9X and redraw commercial overlays. LU 0151-2026 would amend the zoning text to designate a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing area, which would put the site under the city’s affordability rules for qualifying residential development. To track what could be built, look for the revised map. To track what affordability rules would apply, follow the companion text amendment. Map application, text application, zoning resolution.
Under the City Charter, the Planning Commission has 15 days from the filing of proposed modifications to tell the Council in writing whether the changes require further environmental or land-use review. If it finds that further review is unnecessary, the Council can approve the modifications. For residents following the project, the documents to watch are the filed changes, the commission’s written response and the action recorded in the two Council files. City Charter § 197-d(d), map application, text application.