Rep. Carolyn Maloney announces $37 million in Federal funding for Queens Plaza improvements

New York – Today Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney
(D-Queens & Manhattan) heralded the infusion of $37 million in federal
stimulus funds for infrastructure improvements and beautification efforts in and
around Queens
Plaza.  The $37 million
will allow the city to expand the Queens Plaza Roadway Rebuilt
Project.
“Queens Plaza
is a critical gateway in New York
City.  It should be an elegant, graceful boulevard that
links the great borough of Queens with the densely urban metropolis of
Manhattan. 
Thanks to the infusion of $37 million in federal stimulus funds, we are now
poised to welcome Queens Plaza into the 21st Century and turn our dreams for
Long Island
City into a reality,” said
Congresswoman Maloney. 

“Coupled with more than $19 million
in federal funding for the Queens Plaza Roadway Rebuilding Project that I
previously helped to secure, bringing the total federal support for the project
to more than $56 million, we will now be able to extend the improvements in the
area all the way down to the waterfront.  This funding will effectively allow
the City to revitalize the entire area surrounding Queens Plaza
and the Queensborough Bridge. 

“This renovation will do more to
change the character of this neighborhood than any other government investment
in a generation.  The private sector has made this neighborhood into one of
New York’s
great business districts. It’s time for the public sector to step up and make
sure that the traffic flow and amenities match a flourishing residential and
business district.

“The improvements made possible by
the infusion of federal funds will replace traffic snarls, frightening crossing
areas and a forbidding landscape with green spaces and improved traffic
conditions.  Not only will the growth potential of Long
Island City as a
commercial business district be limitless, but Queens Plaza will also become a more attractive
amenity for residents and visitors, with more green, open space in a more
pedestrian-friendly and cyclist-friendly environment,” said Congresswoman
Maloney. 

Background:

This new infusion of roughly $37
million in federal funding will be made available for the Queens Plaza Roadway
Rebuilding Project under the auspices of the recently passed federal stimulus
package.

Prior to this latest infusion of
federal funding, Queens Plaza Roadway Rebuilding Project was largely relying on
federal funding.  Working with other members of the New York Congressional
delegation, Congresswoman Maloney secured $500,000 for the project in Fiscal
Year (FY) 2003, $750,000 in FY 2004, $1 million in FY 2005 and $800,000 in FY
2006.  Additionally, Congresswoman Maloney ensured that another $6.4 million for
Queens
Plaza (to be delivered over
five years) was included in SAFETEA-LU, the federal government’s five-year
highway capital plan, which was passed in 2005.  An additional $9.6 million in
federal funds were obtained by the Department of City Planning through the
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Program, part of the federal
transportation budget approved by Congress.  All of this funding will be used
for Phase I of the project.

The project consists of two phases,
the first of which is projected to cost $46.9 million, of which $19.05 million
will be the federal funding previously obtained, $22 million of the federal
stimulus funding and the remainder from city revenues.  The second phase will
cost $15 million and will be derived entirely from federal stimulus
funding.

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