Frank St. Jacques: 158-06 Northern Boulevard land use and project details
St. Jacques describes the commercial character along Northern Boulevard versus residential mid-blocks, the site's corner location adjacent to Galaxy Plaza Shopping Center and Dar al-Taqwa Islamic Center. The proposed R7A with C2-4 overlay facilitates a 10-story mixed-use building with 73 apartments, 26 parking spaces, and an all-electric building system aligned with city housing policy.
Yes.
Yes, ma'am.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You may now begin your testimony, which is limited to 10 minutes, and you should start to conclude your presentation after eight minutes.
When you begin your presentation, please restate your name and organization.
Thank you, Councilmember Thomas Henry.
Again, my name is Frank St.
Jacques.
I'm with Ackerman LLP.
I'm joined by the applicant, Andrew Esposito, and some members of the community.
Next slide, please.
We are here to present a transit-oriented rezoning on Northern Boulevard to facilitate a new development of a 10-story mixed-use building with 73 apartments, 19 of which would be permanently affordable under MIH Option 1.
Next slide, please.
This zoning map shows that the rezoning area is located in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Queens Community District 7 on the south side of Northern Boulevard between 158th Street and 159th Street.
It's currently zoned R5B-C12 along Northern Boulevard and R2 on the southern portion of the block.
The area is within the outer transit zone.
And you can see, as indicated on the zoning map on the left-hand side of the screen, along Northern Boulevard, there's been several
medium density R6 and R7 districts mapped beginning in 1961 through as recently as
spring of 2026 with the R7X 147-14 Northern Boulevard about nine blocks to the west.
I'll also note that there is a large R12A zoning district mapped on the northern side of Northern Boulevard, north of Northern Boulevard, which was created in 2009 in the North Flushing rezoning.
To protect the interior blocks and was distinguished from Northern Boulevard as it's mapped about 100 feet from Northern Boulevard.
Next slide, please.
This land use map shows that along Northern Boulevard is mostly commercial, which is shaded in red, and residential, shown in yellow along the mid-blocks.
There are also several local community facility uses, shaded in blue.
Northern Boulevard is a major east-west corridor through Queens at 100 feet wide.
To the south, the combined width of Depot Road, the Long Island Railroad right-of-way, and Station Road is approximately 130 feet, creating a wide street condition on the southern edge of the block where the rezoning area is located.
The area is transit-oriented with bus and Long Island Railroad access connecting to subway and mass transit systems.
Next slide, please.
If we could just go one more slide.