Grace Cheung/N.Y.C. Economic Development Corp.Dutch Kills Green is a nice-looking place.
Dutch Kills Green is not a headline about a crackdown on cannabis-friendly Amsterdam coffee shops. It’s the name of a newly opened 1.5-acre swath of open space at Queens Plaza.
The green was unveiled on Wednesday by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and a throng of other officials in a double ceremony: also to be celebrated was the ribbon-cutting of JetBlue’s new headquarters in Long Island City, Queens.
The green, at the east end of Queens Plaza on the site of the former John F. Kennedy commuter parking lot, includes wetlands, non-invasive and drought-tolerant native plants and stylish benches. It is part of a $45 million overhaul of Queens Plaza.
The green’s name was chosen in a contest; it was submitted by two contestants, Harry Charalambides and James Stark. Dutch Kills is a short tributary of Newtown Creek that juts up into Long Island City.