QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11)– Can crumbling parts of the former Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens become a thriving community of affordable homes?
The New York Empire State Development held a meeting Thursday night in Bellerose to get community input on design plans to rebuild 55 acres of the more than 100-acre campus in Queens Village. Renderings show green spaces, walkways, senior living, single-family homes and townhouses.
NYC plans to build affordable housing complex in the West Village
June Forde, who attended the meeting, told PIX11 News she’s hoping for plenty of affordable homes so her 31-year-old son, who is a city firefighter can move out of her South Ozone home.
“It’s awful that you love this city and you want to be here, and we have nothing,” Forde said.
Members of the community advocacy group Queens Power also weighed in.
“New York City and people in my congregation are moving out of town because young professionals can’t afford to live here,” Rev. Patrick O’Connor, the leader of the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, said.
The project is still in its initial stages. An environmental impact study will need to be done, and a request for proposal approved before development can begin.
A spokesman for the Empire State Development told PIX11 News the earliest construction date would start would be 2025, adding 2026 was more realistic.
