Fresh Meadows residents celebrate as city rejects hotel plan

Image source: shibainu on Flickr

When a developer faces resistance from both local residents and politicians, the chance of a building being built can be, well, low. Neighborhoods like Astoria and Long Island City have had local support and have thus seen rapid development that has dramatically transformed the areas. A plan to erect a 12-story hotel on a residential block on 186^th St. has, not had that kind of support, with both local residents and politicians opposing the plan, and the plan has been rejected by the city.

Developer Mayflower Business Group had proposed to build the hotel at 61-27 186^th St directly across from a number of one- and two-family residences. The hotel was to to stand 127-feet-tall, with 33 rooms and 49 parking spots on the adjacent 13,000-square-foot parking lot. The Fresh Meadows Homeowners Civic Association decried the hotel as unnecessary in an area that is neither near an airport nor home to any industries or business likely to draw conventions.

City Councilman Mark Weprin added that this particular block already has a reputation as not being the most aesthetically appealing. The area is also the location of motels and homeless shelters.

The Mayflower Business Group has 12 months to re-apply, but the Fresh Meadows Homeowners Civic Association has vowed to keep the hotel from being built.

This conflict stands in contrast to what happened in the Dutch Kills section of Long Island City, where residents wanting to keep hotels out of the neighborhood ultimately failed to prevent them from going up.

Fresh Meadows Hotel Plan Shot Down [NYDN]