NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Steve Madden’s namesake shoe company could leave its Queens headquarters after nearly 30 years because of a parking issue, according to a report.
The company has long been headquartered on Barnett Avenue in Sunnyside, and many of its 400 employees at the site use spaces at a parking lot across the street.
But the lot is eyed for an affordable housing development, a project that the City Council approved rezoning for last week, according to the New York Post.
Under the plan, nonprofit Phipps Houses would build a seven-story building with over 150 units at the site.
Andrew Luskin, a lawyer for Madden, said the company rents about half of the 223 spaces at the lot and relies on it.
“Without the public parking, Madden would have no feasible way to maintain its Barnett Avenue presence,” Luskin told the Post, adding that the company isn’t against affordable housing but “just want to be able to remain in their place.”
A spokesperson for Phipps Houses told the Post that the new development would contain a “very large parking lot” and that there should be “ample surplus” for residents and Steve Madden workers.