Information about this lot
Political Boundaries
Why is this lot here?
We posted this lot because:
- The lot is being used as a community green space.
- Neighbors got access to it with the help of 596 Acres.
Government Agency
John Coyne is the MTA real estate fellow.
Steward
This land is being stewarded by the following group:
A group of us have been farming and gardening here since February 2011. If you would like to get involved send an email or find us on Facebook. We would love to have more participation as we build capacity and community around this space!
Pathways
News feed
Smiling Hogshead Ranch is part of the Long Island City Industrial Business Zone (IBZ): https://www.nycedc.com/industry/industrial/nyc-industrial-business-zones. The IBZ program is intended to protect manufacturing businesses and jobs from the pressures of the residential and commercial real estate markets by creating zones in the outer boroughs where manufacturing is incentivized, commercial uses are limited, and residential rezoning is not allowed. These protections are not enshrined in law, however, and depend on the priorities of politicians for enforcement.
We hosted over 35 community members last month to begin our discussion. We created the Cutoff Coalition and scheduled our next meeting for:
Wednesday, December 2nd
6:30-8:30pm
Nomad Cycle | 47-16 Austell Place, Long Island City 11101
Dinner provided (courtesy the Awesome! Foundation & Smiling Hogshead Ranch members)
https://www.facebook.com/events/919716811450392/
Join us as we review ideas and resources, review the RFEI timeline and critical milestones, discuss the Cutoff Coalition's structure, review or shared visions and the MTA's responses to the questions we posed at the walkthrough and at our last meeting.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1636826966606827/
Help create a new vision for the old Montauk Cutoff spur in LIC. Join community stakeholders to collectively craft a vision for the adaptive reuse of the Montauk Cutoff spanning the LIC Industril Business Zone from the Sunnyside Railyard to the Dutch Kill.
Some good coverage of the opportunity: http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2015/39/highline_2015_09_25_q.html
"... the notion that Queens could get its own Highline-style park, which has been mentioned in some published reports, completely misses the mark.
“Please don’t get me wrong, I and other members of Smiling Hogshead Ranch all love city parks and absolutely adore the Highline,” Lopez said. “It is almost endearing to have the comparison made, but it creates a public expectation for a richly designed and opulently constructed, passive park while we have been working to create something very different. If you mention Highline to the specialists I’m engaged with they’ll move on to other projects. We have the opportunity to develop something much bigger here that would better serve the population. Now we have to come up with a serious business model to figure out how to pay for it all.”
We are excited to be working in with other groups who are hoping to enter agreements with the MTA to activate more urban space in the city!
If you live in W. Queens, N. Brooklyn or Midtown and would like to get involved with our group please email or find us on Facebook. In SOILdarity...
the weekly Wednesday workdays continue... https://www.facebook.com/events/393563460729666/
We are planning to start meeting to compost and work in the garden once a week. We are going to start doing this each Wednesday from 9am-noon.
https://www.facebook.com/events/454978601232974/?context=create
I just wanted everyone to know that I will be on site this Saturday, October 13th from 10am-3pm. There may be some big earthwork going on courtesy of our neighboring concrete mixing plant owner. Other than that we will be planting garlic and cover crops in preparation for fall and the coming winter.
please find us on FB as well: http://www.facebook.com/SmilingHogsheadRanch