Jackson Heights to get its first community center and public pool, with $33.8 million lined up

Jackson Heights, a neighborhood with famously little open space and no community pool, is a step closer to getting both.

Gov. Kathy Hochul joined Queens officials at P.S. 398 on Wednesday to announce $10 million in state money for a new Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens community center across the street, at 70-02 34th Ave. With other public and private commitments, the project now has $33.8 million, according to the governor's office. The state grant will be administered by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.

What's planned

The roughly 30,000-square-foot center is planned with the neighborhood's first community swimming pool, an indoor gym with basketball courts and an auditorium-style theater, amNY reported. It would host after-school and summer programs, early childhood education, senior programs, workforce development, arts and community events. The state says it could serve up to 10,000 kids, and residents will be invited to weigh in on other possible uses for the site, including affordable housing, child care, outdoor recreation and a rooftop farm.

The site, which until recently housed BQE Billiards, sits along the 34th Avenue open street known as Paseo Park. amNY published concept images by SHoP Architects.

Who is paying

• $10 million from the state
• $10 million from Metropolitan Park, the Queens casino project, to buy the site
• $9.3 million secured by Council Member Shekar Krishnan and the City Council
• $2 million in federal money from Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand
• $1 million from Rep. Grace Meng and $1 million in state funding secured by Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas
• $250,000 each from Assembly Members Catalina Cruz and Steven Raga

A Metropolitan Park representative told amNY its contribution is part of the $1 billion in community investments tied to its downstate casino license.

What's still missing

Krishnan said the project is more than halfway to its total target of about $60 million, according to amNY. The money now in hand covers buying the property and the next phase of planning, design and community engagement, which Variety expects to start right away, alongside a capital campaign for the rest. Variety hopes to finish the building toward the end of the decade.

"We have the least amount of green space and open space in all of New York City. We don't have a single community pool," Krishnan said, amNY reported. Variety CEO Costa Constantinides called the center the community's "holy grail" and said it would let the club serve "probably 5,000-10,000 kids per year."

Hochul, who faces Republican Bruce Blakeman in next month's election for governor, denied that the announcement was campaign-season politics, pointing to the $8 million the state put toward Variety's Astoria clubhouse last year, amNY reported.