The Velez Organization spearheaded the Community Participation Plan for the Greater Jamaica Development Corporations Brownfield Opportunity Area Program. The BOA grant supported the development of an Implementation Strategy for an area of approximately 40 acres characterized by 70 potential brownfield sites located around the JFK AirTrain Station in Jamaica, Queens.
Strategic sites within this area have been selected for a focused effort to achieve mixed use, sustainable, transit-oriented development around AirTrain, a light rail system connecting the five counties served by the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) and linking them and downtown Jamaica with JFK International Airport.
Community participation was an integral component of the GJDC BOA Program. The measures used to maintain effective and meaningful communication between GJDC and the community utilizing widely promoted public information meetings and the use of an Advisory Committee.