{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/zw18k75z8r/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Elizabeth Lusskin Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eElizabeth Lusskin is the president of the Long Island City Partnership (LICP), the neighborhood development organization for Long Island City. Lusskin gives the background of the 40 year old LICP which started when the area was primarily industrial - through today where LIC is very much a mixed use community. She also discusses the history of the “rapid” development of LIC \u0026amp; Hunters Point, which has actually been in the works since the 1980’s. She gives details and different plans that were put forth for LIC before we got to what are now mostly residential towers mixed with retail.  The importance of maintaining space for manufacturing and jobs, arts, and healthcare, and improvement of transportation in the area, as well as local and LICP driven community building and improvement efforts such as tulip planting and donating to the food bank, are also touched on. She is predicts healthy and continued growth for the dynamic waterfront area in western Queens, that will look less and less to Manhattan and more to itself to fulfill community needs.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e Elizabeth Lusskin talks about city planning in general, NYC Zoning and development laws, infrastructure needs (like schools), how local development is often connected to Washington D.C., and what makes a healthy neighborhood.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/40576"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2021-01-21 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Audio"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Elizabeth Lusskin (Interviewee)","Jo-Ann Wong (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["Interview recorded as part of the Changing Landscape of Hunters Point project at Hunters Point Library."]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1980s-2021 (temporal)","Lower Manhattan, Hunters Point, Court Square and Long Island City, Queens, NY (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eElizabeth Lusskin is the president of the Long Island City Partnership (LICP), the neighborhood development organization for Long Island City. Lusskin gives the background of the 40 year old LICP which started when the area was primarily industrial - through today where LIC is very much a mixed use community. She also discusses the history of the \u0026ldquo;rapid\u0026rdquo; development of LIC \u0026amp; Hunters Point, which has actually been in the works since the 1980\u0026rsquo;s. She gives details and different plans that were put forth for LIC before we got to what are now mostly residential towers mixed with retail.\u0026nbsp; The importance of maintaining space for manufacturing and jobs, arts, and healthcare, and improvement of transportation in the area, as well as local and LICP driven community building and improvement efforts such as tulip planting and donating to the food bank, are also touched on. She is predicts healthy and continued growth for the dynamic waterfront area in western Queens, that will look less and less to Manhattan and more to itself to fulfill community needs.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;Elizabeth Lusskin talks about city planning in general, NYC Zoning and development laws, infrastructure needs (like schools), how local development is often connected to Washington D.C., and what makes a healthy neighborhood.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/130/391/small/Lusskin-Elizabeth-aviary.png?1637325301","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - HuntersPointAmbassadorsInterview_ElizabethLusskin_radioedit.mp3"]},"duration":3338.42286,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/130/391/small/Lusskin-Elizabeth-aviary.png?1637325301","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/130/391/original/HuntersPointAmbassadorsInterview_ElizabethLusskin_radioedit.mp3?1637325190","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":3338.42286,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: My name is Jo-Ann Wong. I'm a general librarian at Queens Public Library, and I will be interviewing Elizabeth Lusskin today. Would you mind just repeating the pronunciation of your name and spelling it for me?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=0.0,14.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: Elizabeth - E L I Z A B E T H. Lusskin - L U S S K I N as in Nancy, but you can call me Liz, also.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=14.0,24.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Perfect. Thank you, Liz. And so, just for whoever's listening, we are recording on January 21st of 2021. So we're just gonna jump straight into our interview. First, Liz, my favorite question always is just how are you doing today?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=24.0,40.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: I'm doing good. It's a good day. 1/21/21. A new beginning and lots of optimism in the air.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=40.0,50.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: Sounds perfect. And so, speaking of optimism and things of that nature, you are part of LIC Partnership. And so if you don't mind me asking, can you first explain what is Long Island City Partnership, how it started and how did you get involved with it?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=50.0,66.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: Absolutely. So, the Long Island City Partnership is the local development corporation for the Long Island City area of western Queens, which is a roughly three square mile area right along the border with the East River opposite Midtown, Manhattan. The Partnership was started 40 years ago as I mentioned and has been serving the neighborhood, grounded in business assistance starting when the area was primarily industrial area and on through today, where we're still a vital industrial area, but also very much a mixed-use community. I'm the president of the organization and I've been here since the end of 2013. We also manage the industrial business zone business services in the area and the Long Island City Business Improvement District (BID), which is along the key commercial corridor where we provide supplemental services.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=66.0,123.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so you mentioned the industrial waterfront. And so, prior to this interview, we were talking a little bit about kind of the changes of - originally especially in the Hunters Point area, where it was an industrial waterfront and what it's become today. So can you talk a little bit about those changes, specifically pertaining to the Hunters Point community area?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=123.0,146.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: Yes, absolutely. The history of Long Island City is one of - sort of fits and starts of changes or changes that were started and then took a long time to be implemented. But once they got started, it really happened quickly. So the waterfront is a perfect example. In the 80s, the State and the City started planning for that waterfront area. It's right opposite the UN and Midtown and so on. There was a Pepsi bottling plant and some other factories and the opportunity was there to take into government control of the land there and a series of plans were developed and settled on an ambitious plan for what was called Queens West, to have a mixed-use of development. So, it was originally the idea was a lot of office space, as well as some residential and others.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=146.0,210.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: It took a long time for that to get moving and going and eventually the northern part of that - so going from where the Gantries are, up to in Anable Basin - the State focused on redeveloping that and it ended up because of various market forces and different things, as being 100% residential except for retail use and so on. And so the plans had been for a mixed-use community. It became a residential community. All of the needs then come up for a residential community - schools, playgrounds, etc, a library, briefly before we get into all of that. Then when the city was developing its bid for the 2012 Olympics, they needed a place to put the athletes and also was developing as under Mayor Bloomberg, an ambitious affordable housing plan as well.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=210.0,270.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: So, the State gave the southern part of the waterfront there to the City to redevelop, with the idea that it would initially be athlete housing, that then would be turned into affordable housing. So, north of the Gantries that was developed under the State Queens West Development Corporation, a lot of market rate and some affordable and a variety of different kinds of occupancy and ownership. South of there, it's a large-scale development that's now significantly advancing. I think there's going to be 5,000 units of affordable housing - I may be getting the numbers wrong, but that's being developed under the City's \n[0phonetic] and some of those buildings are 100% affordable and low-income, and others are very, very high proportion. And then knitting all of this together, is this beautiful waterfront park that covers all parts of the development that's happened over time. And now the beautiful Hunters Point Library, which is really a centerpiece of this whole neighborhood within the neighborhood of Long Island City.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=270.0,339.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so it was funny when you mentioned the Pepsi Cola, because I remember growing up, I would see it always across the water and I'm like, what is that? And so, Hunters Point has dramatically changed in terms - especially how like you said, there's been a lot of growth in the neighborhood, a lot more businesses, lot of people coming in. So I just wanted to ask on a personal level, do you have any personal connections to the Hunters Point area and also, how has it changed since you first \"met\" Hunters Point versus now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=339.0,371.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: Well, I'm a lifelong New Yorker and have been involved in neighborhood economic development for a long time. And was actually, at that time that a lot was happening, the Queens waterfront was very involved in Lower Manhattan, which was another area which was confronting challenges on commercial occupancy and so on, even as we were watching Jersey City just go crazy. And a lot of that activity, frankly, it would have been wonderful if that had happened on the Queens waterfront. So, it's been in my sites for a long time and certainly know about it and connected in a lot of ways, but my much more personal connection came about when I took on this role at the Partnership, which I took on because Long Island City is really, both in size but also in use and everything, the city is really the dominant part of that name.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=371.0,435.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: And Hunters Point is a neighborhood within the city of Long Island City. It was its own city in the latter half of the 1800s before the five boroughs and Long Island City came together to form greater New York City. But I've worked on a lot of different neighborhoods and what fascinated me about Long Island City was that you had all the usual challenges of needing to have stewardship of commercial areas and make it attractive to people, but you also had this fascinating opportunity - and really urgent opportunity - to try and figure out how we can keep all these great uses operating together right at the heart of New York City. It's literally the geographic center because as we're seeing now, very dramatically, we need a resilient city.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=435.0,487.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: And that means: Yes, having great places for people to live. Yes, having affordable housing that's also great. But we need places for jobs. We need places to make things, and on one day that could be bread, but on another day, it could be masks. So, we've got to retain our manufacturing base and we also need artists and cultural organizations to inspire us everyday, but also through very dark times. And we need healthcare institutions like Mount Sinai Queens and we need transportation through and within, and within is really what was lacking in Long Island City, to make sure that the people of Long Island City can access all those things. We've got an incredible transportation network that is all about collecting people and delivering them to Manhattan. And we need an incredible transportation network that's all about getting people around and within Long Island City. And one of the imperatives about that is again, because the waterfront is so spectacular. It's so important and we want everybody to be able to access and enjoy that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=487.0,551.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so, you mentioned transportation and skipping to that question, I did want to ask to delve a little bit more into talking about how we can improve transportation within Queens/Long Island City/Hunters Point, and where can you see improvements being made in the future or things you would suggest?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=551.0,572.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: So, there's various modes of transportation, right? And obviously, we have a very dense subway system in Long Island City - eight different subway lines come through here. The Long Island Railroad does as well. A lot has been done to connect those subway lines, so it's good transit points. But some of the subway stations that were maybe peripheral before, like 36th Street on Northern Boulevard, work needs to be done to bring those up to modern level and so on, but we're not gonna build a whole new subway line, right? In these days, it's very expensive. I mean, look at the cost of the 2nd Avenue subway and how that's moving along. So, there are opportunities for light rail, potentially. So, I know people are talking about the BQX, but there's also the proposal to use some of the Long Island Railroad's underused freight lines and create something that goes up to the Triborough RX they're calling it, that it goes through.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=572.0,644.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: The bus network is incredibly vital. But again, the bus network in Long Island City has been about collecting people from north, south and east and bringing them to the trains in Queens Plaza and Court Square. And what we need to do is reevaluate that - which the MTA has done a bunch of - but again, it's very expensive. Like one new bus, I think, costs like a million dollars by the time you put all the expenses in and so on. So it's cheaper than subway, but it's still expensive. We have a lot more people riding bikes, so obviously the bike network has expanded, which is great but not every problem can be solved with bikes. A senior citizen going from the public housing to a doctor's appointment is not necessarily gonna get on a bike. And other kinds of journeys, people may want to recreationally bike, but not bike to work.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=644.0,701.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: And we still have a lot of real commerce activity that is vehicle-oriented. So how do we balance all those things? But there's another piece that other parts of the state are exploring, other communities, which is smaller vehicle, last mile kind of transit where instead of putting in a whole new route with a big 40-50 person bus, you may have a 12-passenger bus or a 6-passenger car - with multiple. There's a lot of companies that are working in suburban settings on providing that through a public light system. Maybe some of those things, for example, getting people from the ferry over to the core and into the area on the other side of the yards, maybe some of those things can be addressed better through more - it's not personal micro, which also has a role, it's public multi-passenger - but it's something in between that full-scale new route and a small.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=701.0,760.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: So I think that this is an area where we can explore and hopefully with government, maybe pioneer some exciting forward-thinking solutions, combining a public on-demand with small vehicle. There's a variety of things that you could think at, that you could potentially try here. But I think getting people, from the three ferry stops that are in Long Island City and Astoria, inward. In Manhattan, when they put in a ferry stop, they put in a shuttle that takes people from there. Generally, anything that will get you north, south without having to change vehicles and really doing all this in a way where we don't assume that there are no truck and no cars, because a lot of the activity that's going on in the neighborhood on the commercial side does involve moving goods and freight, or involves people making trips, that one part of that trip is not attached to mass transit, right?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=760.0,821.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: Or multiple parts of their day. If you're working for a company and you're visiting clients in all the industrial business zones in the city, they're all off the grid when it comes to transit. So, even though you may need to get from your house to your job in your car, all the work you have to do that day, you cannot. So until we solve having a much denser public transit system, we can't assume that all individual vehicle trips trips are discretionary and can be swapped out for vehicles. And this is a real challenge. We all want to see safe, extensive bike lanes. We want to find a way for scooters to operate. We want it, but we have to also have a city that functions. So I like to say, we need to find a place for everything, but everything can't be in the same place. It just doesn't become safe.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=821.0,880.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so, kind of going off of that, you had mentioned you want people to travel in Queens, into Queens, basically - that not everything is always in Manhattan. And so I wanted to talk to you a little bit about the Long Island City Business Improvement District, especially in Hunters Point specifically, and kind of how has that grown over the years and what are kind of the goals, initiatives and things like that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=880.0,908.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: So, the Business Improvement District was started in 2005, in just the Queens Plaza/Court Square area. So from 21st Street on Queens Plaza North and South, running to the corner and then down Jackson to Court Square. And then in 2017, we expanded it all the way down Jackson to Vernon, up Vernon Boulevard to 44th Drive and across 44th Drive. And a Business Improvement District is a special assessment district. So it's done by tax lot. So, it's very literal, very specific that these buildings are in and these buildings are not in. So as you can see - if you visualize that - that's all hugging the major commercial corridors and on those streets, we provide, based on an assessment that is collected from all the properties, supplemental sanitation services, graffiti removal, horticulture, holiday lighting, those sorts of things.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=908.0,975.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: And then because the partnership manages the BID, the BID also gets the advantage of the marketing operation and the economic development operation, the business services operation that that the partnership supports. So it has grown, but it isn't everywhere. And part of that is that as the movement evolved from getting started in the 80s when the city was in a very dark time to more recent decades, there was really - these were started when commercial districts were almost exclusively commercial. So the idea was that these were Business Improvement Districts. Well, as we've seen in Long Island City, if you look at Queens Plaza and Court Square, in particular, successful business districts are now mixed-use districts. And this was something that we had actually started working on in Lower Manhattan to help revitalize, in the 90s, Lower Manhattan which used to shut down at 5:00 PM.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=975.0,1043.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: But if you bring in residents, then you start to have the need for more retail and the demand for all those things enlivens the community. And now we see pre-pandemic, and even more dramatically now because of the pandemic, people want to live in that live-work-neighborhood, that zone where they can walk to work or bike, or get there easily. They can take their children to school. They can go get healthcare. They can go to the library. They can go to a park. So this is the kind of neighborhood that people want. So over time, we're gonna think about how we can serve the needs of the neighborhood, expanding beyond just the commercial corridors there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1043.0,1086.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: Because the Queens West Development was a state-owned property, they have to transfer some things at the street, over to the city, etc. The mega developments like Battery Park City, and so on were traditionally - the maintenance of public improvements and things was all sort of built in. So, the BID isn't providing services over there, but that whole area is very much part of the membership of the Long Island City Partnership. So, the LDC, which covers everything, we've cooperated and collaborated and we've done things like put banners up to help enliven the area with the sponsorship of adjacent property owners. But we really worked very closely with all the property owners there and very much with the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy to try and be helpful and supportive of their efforts and their need for resources and so on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1086.0,1141.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: So, it's an evolving neighborhood. I think the needs for services are evolving. As the community matures and really the scale of the number of people, I think there were like 14,000 people north of the Gantries and there's going to be another 14,000 beyond. Overall Long Island City - we did a 10 year look back on Long Island City and the rate of residential increased over the last 10 years has been over two times the rate of the city. And that goes for both jobs and residents. And that's even more on Hunters Point where there was nobody there. So, it's a very dramatic increase and it's not completely over yet. And, we're all figuring out what it will take to make that a successful neighborhood, as well as have Hunters Point be a successful neighborhood, within the neighborhood.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1141.0,1204.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so going off of that, like you say, Hunters Point has had a dramatic increase of population. In terms of small businesses when you walk on Vernon, there there's tons and tons of small businesses. It's really great to see them especially flourishing during this time, especially. And so my question would be in terms of small businesses, what does it mean for the longevity of growing communities like Hunters Point? What is their status in ensuring the longevity of communities like that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1204.0,1240.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: So, yes. I mean, this has been an extraordinarily fraught time for all of our small businesses in Vernon Boulevard. Absolutely. You asked me at the beginning how I was doing and I always feel bad saying positive things, because there's a part of me that is just in a state of anguish because our businesses, our friends are going through an unbelievably challenging time. And if it isn't one thing, it's another. And anybody who runs a small business is so resilient. If you're a successful restaurant owner or retail owner, you have a layer of resilience in your soul that most of us don't have. And just to see that be tested again and again. First we had the complete shutdown, then we had a partial opening and we had another part-","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1240.0,1299.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: Then, we have more of a shutdown and mismatch of relief packages to what people needed. But at the end of the day, what we've tried to focus on - we need the relief packages, we need changes in laws, we need opening, but at the end of the day, what makes a business successful: customers. You have to do business, in order to stay in business. And if you're not doing business - sorry, I'm working from home. I think my little poochie in the back, a \n[0unclear], by the way \n[0laughs]. So, what we've really tried to focus on is getting people to support the local businesses. And when it was just take out, get the takeout. When it's outdoor dining, go outdoor dining, whatever.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1299.0,1350.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: And I think that the Hunters Point community, the first phases of it, was very focused westward. And if you just look at the architecture, the early buildings - the backs of those buildings, the ones along 2nd Street and so on, are parking garages. There's no retail. It was all about looking to the West. If you look at the next phase, now you see retail around the whole building. You see something that looks to the East and the West. And I think that a lot of the early residents are people who worked in Manhattan. I mean, that's the natural connection there. So you have people who are focusing their lives and their purchasing power to the West, and what we've been trying to do in recent years and now very aggressively also in COVID, is try and have people focusing their purchasing power to the East. And that can, of course, mean the businesses along Center Boulevard.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1350.0,1401.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: But it's really not that far to Vernon. And it's not that far to 44th. It's not that far to Jackson. And so, some of that is that the businesses are very relevant now. There's a lot of things that are very kid-friendly and there's a lot of people on the waterfront now, who have kids. It's an incredibly dog-friendly neighborhood. I think we still have more dogs per capita than any other neighborhood in the city. So there's a lot of dog services. There's a wonderful dog park on Vernon as well as the dog parks along Center, but people really need to have that mindset that this is their community that they need to support. And, I live north of the bridge. I don't live down there, but we're not a family that generally orders out a lot in our ordinary thing, but we've been making a point to order out more during the pandemic, just to support the businesses.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1401.0,1453.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: And I think that people really need to embrace folks as their own. And what's wonderful about Long Island City is that - while yes, there's a lot of big buildings and the scale - it's still small enough as a community that you can get to know your business owners on a personal basis. And I remember we had done a panel we do at LIC Summit every year. And one of them was focusing on all the new commercial tenants who would come in and Vayner Media has this great production facility. They came over from the westside and the JetBlue people were saying, and others were saying, like when I get my coffee, they know my name. And I think that people have to that leap of faith into the neighborhood and get to know the name of the person who's got that store and that restaurant and make it a point, even in this time where we're not necessarily, like today I'm working from home, going into the office, go buy a cup of coffee.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1453.0,1513.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: Yeah. You can make coffee at home. Go buy a cup of coffee, go buy a Danish that maybe you need to work off at home \n[0laughs]. But all of these things add up. And that's how we keep our businesses going. Even as organizations like us, through the BID association and other things and the businesses themselves, through the Restaurant Hospitality Alliance, is we're all working on the big picture things. And we're also trying to make sure that the city and the state inspectors are treating people fairly and that the businesses know how to comply. None of that matters, if nobody buys your product. So please, everybody get out there and buy and keep buying and that's how we'll make do.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1513.0,1553.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so, when you're talking about community and the barista who knows - I know for me, it's at the local diner around here. They know I love French fries, so they know my order before I walk in, and that's the beauty of it. And so I also wanted to kind of dive a little bit deeper into that too, as well as you know, community is also seeing your local neighborhood as this is home. And so I know you were mentioning horticultural efforts that you guys were doing, the park, and I know that there's a bunch of - so for the library, we've worked with Newtown Creek Alliance before - there's tons of community volunteering efforts and things like that. Could you expand a little bit of what's happening with those and how that helps to create community in this growing neighborhood?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1553.0,1604.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: Absolutely. The Conservancy, which manages the parks, is an organization that depends very heavily on volunteers and contributions. And they're really wonderful at setting up a lot of volunteer days in the park and I strongly encourage everybody to do your civic duty. It's also really fun. In the BID itself, we've added horticulture over the years. We've been very fortunate that we've had some corporate volunteer days that we've been able to take advantage of normally to do like the big Begonia planting on Queens Plaza. But we've expanded - the BID is paying for professional Begonia planting for the spring months and so on. But we did add a few years ago, tulip planting in the late Fall and have made that a community day, doing it on the weekends.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1604.0,1663.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: So that residents, as well as people who work in the area can come. And we managed to do it this year, despite COVID. We did it socially distanced. We actually talked to Hunters Point Parks Conservancy cause they had done the tulip planting in the park a couple of weeks before we did ours. But we've had local Cub Scout troops, as well as random residents and random people who work in the area, and people have so much fun because you get to meet your neighbors. And now you are invested in - there's nothing like really rolling up your - once they get your hands dirty cause we supply gloves \n[0laughs] - but digging in the dirt and that tulip is going to come up in. And last year actually, the tulips came up just as the shutdown happened and it was heartbreaking that people weren't getting to see them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1663.0,1720.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: But on the other hand, it allowed us to really keep sending out happy images to people and for people who live in the area, just say, get out and take a look. It'll make you happy. So we've done that. When we expanded the BID, had the resources to add hanging baskets throughout the BID. So we've done that again. Those are professionally done. It's hard to do that on a volunteer basis, but there are a lot of opportunities. I think we connected Newtown Creek with you guys, or we connected them with the school. They're doing great things. There's more things they're going to be doing. So if you're interested, there are a lot of ways to find opportunities to do good things.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1720.0,1763.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: We've done a series of public art projects, which we did in partnership with different community groups. We're going to look to revive those. Unfortunately during COVID, it just wasn't safe. But again, whether you want to paint or you want to plant, or you want to pick up litter, there's a of things that are going on. I think a lot of people would love it if every week there was something. I will say that we are also really fortunate in this neighborhood to have some of the best non-profits and social service organizations in the city. Some of them very local-focused, but a lot of them doing both local and work beyond the borders here, and they have opportunities to volunteer as well. And we've been doing even more during COVID. If you go on our COVID pages, you can see non-profits that need assistance.\n\nElizabeth Lusskin (30:14]: It could be everything from, obviously they need money or they need food bank donations, or working at the food bank or reading to children or helping to do a resume workshop or a mock interview with people who are re-entering the workforce after being involved in the criminal justice system. We have all of these things in this neighborhood. And so depending on what you would like to do, there's an opportunity to get involved either for a day or on a continuing basis. And what's also nice is a number of the businesses here that have become corporate philanthropists have also become involved. Their employees have become the persons who do all those things that I'm talking about.\n\nElizabeth Lusskin (31:03]: So it's more than just a check. And I think for people who want to write a check, there's a lot of checks that need to be written. It's a lot of food insecurity right now in the neighborhood and a lot of other needs. But also if you want to get involved on a personal level, there are lots of great, great places that know how to handle volunteers. They will give you a great experience and it's part of building bridges across the different parts of the neighborhood, so that those who have can share with those who need.\n\nJo-Ann Wong (31:36]: And so to continue off of that, one thing I did want to delve in quickly is in regards to the zoning laws at Hunters Point. I try to understand - I tried reading what the zoning laws were and I was a little bit confused and I've seen it's changed a lot over time. And like you were mentioning, more residential people were moving in a certain point. And so maybe just explaining a little bit about what that is, and I know in New York City, there's always the question about gentrification. And so does that play a role in that and so on and so forth?\n\nElizabeth Lusskin (32:12]: Yeah. I won't go through every date and every -\n\nJo-Ann Wong (32:21]: Just a general summary.\n\nElizabeth Lusskin (32:24]: In general, since that plan for the waterfront in the 80s, there's been a series of zoning changes that affected different sub-areas of Long Island City. So it's not - the zoning. So, we have in New York City, all land that is city-controlled is covered by the zoning resolution, which delineates what kind of uses can be in an area and at what density and what size of buildings and other sorts of things. So there might be requirements like we have in Hunters Point. Now, there's this waterfront require- things you have to help do and contribute to and so on. So over the years, there were series of zoning changes, some affecting the waterfront, some affecting Court Square and Queens Plaza, some affecting areas outside of that, that had two basic themes in there.\n\nElizabeth Lusskin (33:28]: One was to take advantage of the transit density, particularly in Court Square and Queens Plaza, to reinforce the area as a fourth central business district for the city. So, much bigger buildings in that area with the intention of creating a big commercial hub. We do have some big commercial buildings, but they added in mixed-use as a way again to move with the times and have a more lively and robust area, but for a variety of reasons, it's more advantageous to build residential in New York, than commercial. And it's just easier from a financing point of view and a lot of other things. So we've seen a disproportionate growth, unplanned for, in terms of how much residential. That density goes down the farther you go away from the transit hubs and the more secondary the streets are.\n\nElizabeth Lusskin (34:31]: So, you will notice that on 5th Street, you're getting a much smaller building than you're getting on Center Boulevard or at Court Square. And that's because the zoning sets a different height limit and a different density, how many times up you can build. So if you have a lot, how many stories you can build on that lot, essentially. Very simplified. So, in different areas, there's also other things you have to do, whether it's a subway access requirement or contributing the parks maintenance or other things. But, the uses have been fairly broad within the context of, nevertheless, keeping people safe. So, you can't have a noxious industrial use inside a - there's building codes and safety and health kinds of things.\n\nElizabeth Lusskin (35:27]: There's been some requirements for community facilities and other things like that. And through zoning and people request and through bonuses, some of it is as of right. You just look at the rules, it says what you could do, you're doing those rules. You have a complete right to go do that. And if the government wants to change that, they have to compensate you for that. But other things come up in the context of if it's a discretionary action, you could get a bonus. So in some places, if you put a school in - so you take away part of your building envelope to put that school in - they're going to let you keep that building envelope. They're not going to take that away from you. So the school is a bonus for the community.\n\nElizabeth Lusskin (36:14]: It's not a reduction in what you can build necessarily, but that's different in different places. Again, there's a lot of lawyers and specialists who look at all these things, but what you saw in Long Island City and particularly, I was involved in Lower Manhattan when Battery Park City was really taking off. And that was an analogous community to what was originally envisioned for Hunters Point, as well, which is originally designed around the idea of young single people. And over a long period of time in Battery Park City, that became a family community and multi-generational, and so then they had to put schools in and so on, that hadn't originally been anticipated.\n\nElizabeth Lusskin (37:06]: In Long Island City, it took a long time for the development to get moving. When it really got moving on the waterfront, it much more quickly morphed into a family community. And it's still predominantly single, but a lot more people who were moving in - I joke with Battery Park City, they met, they mated, they procreated \n[0laughs] - in Long Island City, we had a lot more people who are already in couples who might have a child, who're thinking of having a second child. And so, there's been this mad dash to keep creating more schools to keep up with this growing population, even as we've had incredibly overcrowded schools in other parts of the area. So, everybody needs more. And that's the challenge. So one of the ways that the city finds a way to fund these things is by taking advantage of the opportunities, if you can incorporate it in a new development. So there will be additional schools coming on as more buildings come on, but I know we will all continue to think that it's not enough.\n\nElizabeth Lusskin (38:08]: But you've seen that baked in and I haven't really been talking enough about the library and what a difference that that's made. But when I was talking about volunteering, you guys have incredible programs there, right? And you also need volunteers to help with that. But the need for that library was really part of realizing that this was a family and multi-generational established community. It shouldn't be seen just as a transitory place for people. You want people to put down roots and we needed that iconic library, community center, etc. And so, people have been waiting with bated breath for a while for that to open. And it's such a tremendous statement about the maturity of Long Island City, that we now have the library there.\n\nJo-Ann Wong (39:01]: Yeah. I know that first day when we opened, there was a lot of people who came for our opening, which I always say it's a good thing because you rather have more people coming in than no one \n[0laughs]. So, we were very happy with the opening and even now during COVID, a lot of people are still coming in to pick up books, return books, coming to our virtual programming. So it's been very good so far. And you mentioned something about taking roots down into the neighborhood and so I wanted to ask, and just in your experience working in various neighborhoods, what inspires local community members to take down those roots and become multi-generational families like you said?\n\nElizabeth Lusskin (39:43]: Well, I think a couple of thoughts there, but one thing is it has to be possible, right? So I think because a lot of the early development was focused on the idea of young single people living together, you didn't necessarily - even if you had two bedroom apartments, they were designed with two master bedrooms and they weren't really designed for a parent and children. And over time, more recent developments they've been developed a little more flexibly. So that there's the opportunity for people to do that. I think all of the affordable housing has family apartments as well, which is going to be tremendous for the Hunters Point neighborhood. So again, there has to be a place to put your family roots down. I think that people make practical decisions, right?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=1763.0,2436.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: So when it comes to where their family is going to be. I mean, some of it - if you grew up in the suburbs, you very likely to decide when your children are small, like I need to be in the suburbs. I grew up in the city, so I never I never had that. But the interesting thing is if you look back to the early days of Long Island City, it was, even though it's not at the scale we see it now, but a lot of people who worked in those industries at the bottling plant or the gum factory lived in the neighborhood. And their kids went to school in neighborhood. So we're sort of trying to get back to that now. Unfortunately, not all the plants were clean, so it wasn't - part of what zoning was created to do was to try and segregate uses so that it was safer, to take heavy industry away from population centers and so on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=2436.0,2490.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: But now that industry is so much cleaner and people want a different sort of lifestyle, even in office jobs, we're trying to, in a sense, recreate that but in a safer and more robust way. So, it's gotta make sense for people. You've gotta be able to get to your job, if you're working and your children have to be able to get to school, they need to have a place to play, they gotta take swimming lessons, and you've got to have places to eat, places to hang out. You need things like libraries and hospitals. So, a lot of that has been happening in Long Island City. It's there - it's just that our street-scape is so confusing that you don't necessarily know it's there or feel connected to it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=2490.0,2537.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: And some of it - I mentioned transportation, streetscape improvements like we've done in the BID and worked with others to do outside help. We've developed this digital - really it's a neighborhood exploring system. I won't just say wayfinding called LIC Local. So the idea is that Google Maps can help you, but if you standing on a corner, you could be around the corner from a gallery opening, a Michelin-starred restaurant, an incredible bubble tea place, all of these but you don't know cause you can't see it. So this system, LIC Local, it's not an app, you just hold up your phone to the QR code and it'll geo-locate and tell you what's around and it'll tell you what's happening around you. So, trying to work on those sorts of things, so people feel ever more connected into the neighborhood cause they know what's there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=2537.0,2591.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: There's incredible climbing gyms. There's two of them. We have a whole cult of people who come to Long Island City for climbing, but if you're not in that cult, you may not know it's there. And so just helping people discover the neighborhood and then they feel that the neighborhood is meeting the needs that they have. But the other thing is, you want to be inspired and to live your life fully, to be creative and so on. And again, if we were sitting on our own, we would be a cultural capital of the world. We have 40 different cultural institutions, but we also have a lot of the industry that's still here, is built on pragmatic creative people, whether they're in the film and television industry or they're artisans who are creating everything from things for decorating to industrial design to high-end communication systems and so on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=2591.0,2655.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: I mean, these are people who are here because it makes sense as a place for them to do incredibly creative, high-quality things. And so I think that ethos runs through a lot of stuff. One of the things about our retail is a lot of the best, most beloved places are places that were started by people who weren't doing that. They might've been an artist or they might've just been living in the area and like, I need a place to go get wine and cheese. There's nothing here. I'm gonna create The Beast next door. I need a place to buy things, I'm going to open up Matted. I need gifts, I need things, you know? So, we've got all these great human stories here. This is a neighborhood that is full of incredible individuals doing creative things and seeing challenges and meeting them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=2655.0,2702.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: So the more people, again, get to know - that's the kind of neighborhood that people want to be in. And so the challenge in Long Island City is always breaking that down for people so that they can find it and connect with that. And then, they don't want to leave. I mean, most of the people I know who've left, left because they couldn't find the right physical apartment or some other need came up. But, I think people do get very passionate and very loyal to the area and we just have to keep working to make it possible for them to stay at every level of affordability.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=2702.0,2741.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so to continue, I forgot that was actually one of my questions was about neighborhood identity. Like you said, it's a very - Hunters Point is a very big dog friendly neighborhood. I know for all the staff members, we always come outside and there's tons of dogs and we all have to stop ourselves from hugging all the dogs that are outside \n[0laughs]. And so I wanted to just quickly ask when you've seen the neighborhood's identity change and especially you were saying, Long Island City, Hunters Point has been having this challenge of COVID-19. Have you seen neighborhood identities change during this time or has it continued to stay relatively the same?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=2741.0,2785.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: I think that it's been - definitely in Hunters Point, there's been some real quality of life challenges early on and over the summer. I think that it has helped a lot of people to feel a sense of connection to the neighborhood in an odd way, like wait a minute, I'm invested in this, I want to make sure. But it's also pointed out that we need to understand this is a resource for the larger community and how do we balance those things. And one of the ways we do that is by engaging with those should be stewards, whether it's the parks department or the police department or whoever, to make sure that the neighborhood is stewarded carefully by the city.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=2785.0,2844.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: And that takes involvement and it takes voting and it takes other things. And I think, honestly, one of the best ways that people can show that this isn't a new transitory community is, in Hunters Point, is to make sure that they register and vote in every election because you have to register your desires for them to be met. And if you sit back and you're like, well, you know, it's somebody else's problem, then you're not gonna have the neighborhood that you need and want. So I think that in many neighborhoods and also in Hunters Point and other places in LIC, people have realized how much the neighborhood means to them. And I've been hearing about a lot of people have been coming back from their sojourns elsewhere \n[0laughs] and just realizing sometimes absence clarifies things, right?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=2844.0,2900.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: It makes you see how lucky you are to live in this incredible neighborhood and all the great things that are there for you to do. And, so I think that coming out of this, there will only be a greater affinity with the neighborhood. I think people have done what we were talking about, which is explore more of the small businesses and take a sense of responsibility towards keeping it and have in the process, discovered what incredible offerings the small businesses of the area provide. And I think also that when you're working from home, having an incredible - one of the best parks in the world, right outside your door, as well as the ferry. Commuting by the ferry, if you're doing that is, what a gift both mentally, but also physically.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=2900.0,2961.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: So I think people will feel even more pride. I'm just smiling because when I talk to people about why do you live here? So, often the story is because a friend of mine moved here \n[0laughs] 15 years ago and it's been getting over here ever since and I love it, and then I finally decided to make the move myself. That's the best way to get people outside of Long Island City is to show them Long Island City. And I think that that is really true over on Hunters Point.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=2961.0,2993.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so on that note, I'm going to end on my last two questions, which is what are your final predictions for the neighborhood, in like five years, 10 years? And also my favorite question, which is always what're you most hopeful for in 2021?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=2993.0,3010.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: Well, five years, 10 years, I think right before COVID, a lot was happening that was going to kind of fill in the spaces in Long Island City, literally fill in the JACX, over 1 million square foot commercial building at Queens Plaza, was opening. And all these people were going to be there, but lots of other buildings were filling in and a lot of things were happening to kind of fill in, to help give that density to Long Island City that would make things feel closer. More people, more connected to the waterfront, more connected to Court Square, etc. All of the reasons why that was happening \n[0unclear] positioned Long Island City very well for the future. People want what we've got. They want to be in a mixed-use district with culture, with restaurants, where they can walk to work or easily get transit.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=3010.0,3071.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: All of those things are there and they're only reinforced in what people envision as the post-COVID world, right? The emphasis on being in that 15-minute city is going to be even greater. And we have those building blocks. And everybody I talked to, not from Long Island City - citywide - who know the different neighborhoods, always says Long Island City is very well-positioned. And you can see that now, even though we are deeply struggling. There is more life here than there is in Midtown and in other neighborhoods, other CBDs and neighborhoods where it's exclusively one use or the other. We have some of our residents, some of our commercial tenants, our hotel occupants, some of our visitors to museums, all of these things and the industrial, is its essential businesses is happening.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=3071.0,3122.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: So we have more life, not enough yet, but more life than we did. And all of those things are just gonna build. So I think long-term, we are what people want. And, I think it's very bright, I think in the short-term, we are in a race against time for a lot of our small businesses. Your dining is closed. People don't want to eat outdoors in the freezing cold. Where we haven't crested yet on COVID, the vaccine isn't fully distributed yet. People have got to make money, like no amount of government grants or anything, if there's no work for your waiter, if there's no work for your chef, if there's no business for your store. So we really all, as citizens of this neighborhood, have got to double down on supporting our local businesses to get through these next few months. What am I most hopeful for in 2020 - was it 21 or 22?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=3122.0,3183.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: \n[0Laughs] 21.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=3183.0,3187.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: I think that those of us who spend our lives in and around working on the city know that most people think that what we do is very esoteric. And I think that people really now see that stewardship of neighborhoods and cities and investment in people and infrastructure is essential. And you can't take it for granted. And I think that we are now going to start to have - and people also don't understand how much of what appears to come from the city and the state, actually starts in Washington. Well, it starts here because we send more taxes down there than we get back. But federal policy is the starting point for how that money gets distributed. And not only do we need more from Washington, as the governor and the mayor had said, but we needed it directed towards the investments that New York City needs.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=3187.0,3248.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: And I'm very hopeful that Long Island City, which does need investment, but also benefits from investment in the larger area, what's been done at the airports is directly important to Long Island City, which is a very global community, both in a business and a residential side. But we need investment in whether it's drugs or production of PPEs for schools or the workforce, you're going to start seeing that cascade of alignment happening from the top down. And that is going to make an enormous difference. And even if the money doesn't come tomorrow, it allows us all to start planning for a very robust future. So I think there's a lot that we'll see this year that's good, but our aspirations will be unleashed again. And that's part of hope, is believing that you can have a stronger and better future and that you can help make that happen. And I think that that's the biggest sea change that we're gonna see.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=3248.0,3316.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Jo-Ann Wong: And so on that note, Elizabeth, thank you so much for answering all of my questions and for giving your insight. I know I found it very interesting. I hope whoever's listening, finds it very interesting as well. I'm going to end the recording, please stay on the line for a few minutes, but just wanted to say thank you so much for providing your thoughts and expertise.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=3316.0,3335.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391/transcript/34536/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Elizabeth Lusskin: My pleasure. Thank you. And thank you for the library.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/56192/file/130391#t=3335.0,3338.42286"}]}]}]}