OK so here is a sum of the link I posted.
Apparently Bayside used to be jam packed full of high density urban slum homes, built on awkwardly shaped lots, ranging in height from 2 1/2 story greek architecture homes to 4 decker flats. The neighborhood housed over 5,000 people, mostly workers who could walk to work. after WWII the area was deemed a slum, then in the 1970s, it was razed and never really replaced with anything. So, that explains how this vast amoutn of land is now available to be redeveloped. The comprehensive "vision for bayside" plan may have originated in 1999 or 2000, but the plans to redevelop bayside date back to 1944.
