Based on a previous feasibility study that proposed very tall point towers be placed wherever foundations could be poured between complex track layouts at Sunnyside Yard, the City of New York subsequently engaged a planning team led by PAU who strongly believed there had to be a different approach that could better respond to the surrounding neighborhoods and could create a pedestrian-scale street grid over 180 acres. PAU handpicked an interdisciplinary team that included stakeholder engagement experts; engineers specializing in rail, structures, geotechnical analysis, environmental planning and transportation; landscape architects; researchers who study the future of urban environments; finance specialists including experts in modeling, market analysis, cost estimation, risk analysis, and public finance; and legal advisors. Working closely with best-in-class rail and structural engineers, PAU devised a structural strategy that could allow for mid-rise building foundations to be placed independently from the deck foundations below, resulting in a more human-scale proposal. PAU also oversaw a robust stakeholder engagement effort to determine what to build. The resulting plan answers six pressing “needs” identified during the outreach process: creating open space and social infrastructure like schools, libraries and clinics; improving transportation and mobility; building truly affordable housing; creating workforce development opportunities; setting new green building standards; and perhaps most importantly, “keeping it Queens.” The plan is anchored by a central greenway lined with social infrastructure; the spine in a network of neighborhood-scale parks. A multi-layered transportation strategy envisions streets that prioritize pedestrians and quality of life over vehicles. Block-sizes were developed to respond to the scales of surrounding neighborhoods while accommodating many different program types and configurations.