A proposed development project in Queens would be the largest housing project built in New York City since the 1970s.
Vince Guerrieri details the long history—back to the 1910 opening (on the same day as Penn Station)—of Sunnyside Yard in Queens, which outlived Pennsylvania Station but could now be headed for new life as a massive development. Guerrieri summarizes the recent developments in the life of Sunnyside Yard:
In 2014, Amtrak, while making its own upgrades to the yards, developed a partnership to use the land, and three years later, a study outlined the possibility of building a concrete deck over the yards to allow development on top of it. A steering committee made up of various stakeholders went through a series of neighborhood consultations and public workshops, and on March 3, the group released its Sunnyside Yard master plan. The development promises 12,000 homes, plus schools, libraries, a new commuter railroad station, a new subway line and a new bus line.
As for the future of the site, the article includes insights from the lead planner for the project, Vishaan Chakrabarti, the founder of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU). "Chakrabarti touts the plan as a forward-thinking idea for a holistic neighborhood, which will be carbon-neutral and optimized for walkability and transit, not cars," according to Guerrieri.
A press release announcing the new master plan provides additional details on the project proposal.
Previous Planetizen coverage of Sunnyside Yard.
- Tricky Planning Politics for New York's Sunnyside Yard Mega-Project (July 2019)
- Previewing NYC's Next Big Megadevelopment (December 2018)
FULL STORY: The Many Megaprojects of Sunnyside Yard
Revisiting New York’s Massive Sunnyside Yard Master Plan
You might have lost track of the Sunnyside Yard Master Plan—a proposal for 12,000 new housing units in Queens—because it was announced to the public in March 2020 and has since been shelved.
Tricky Planning Politics for New York's Sunnyside Yard Mega-Project
An 18-month planning process is unfolding in a part of New York City that has not taken kindly to large, corporate visions of the future.
Previewing NYC's Next Big Megadevelopment
Sunnyside Yard, a 180-acre railroad yard in Queens, is in the initial stages of a planning process that may eventually bring development surpassing the scale of Hudson Yards. This time, it is hoped, there will be greater focus on affordability.
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