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  #41  
Old Posted Oct 5, 2009, 10:45 PM
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http://www.observer.com/2009/real-es...estion-funding

City Closes on Willets Point Land as Opponents Question Funding

By Eliot Brown
October 5, 2009

In the past month there’s been a fair amount of deals closing at Willets Point, with the Bloomberg administration finishing up the acquisitions that it negotiated with some of the property owners on the industrial site by Citi Field that’s slated for a major redevelopment.

In the run-up to a City Council approval of the redevelopment plan last year, the Bloomberg administration made deals with more than a dozen property owners, most of the major owners, shelling out undisclosed sums in order to gain control of much of the land.

By our tally, more than $78 million in nine separate transactions have closed—though far more have previously been negotiated and yet to show up in city records.

There’s a number of things that aren’t told in that number, particularly what the city is spending in terms of relocation costs. There’s been $424 million allocated for both acquisitions and off-site infrastructure, an amount that would seem to be too small to do everything the administration has discussed.

The city has said the off-site infrastructure will cost about $150 million, for one.

And then there are land costs, which are substantial. Here’s the most recent closed deal: $11,993,825 for a lot that is 57,000 square feet (on the less valuable northern end of the site), according to the real estate tracking firm PropertyShark. That comes out to $210 a square foot, which, if extrapolated across the full 45 or so acres that are privately held on the site, would come out to $412 million.

The city’s Economic Development Corporation, which runs the Willets Point project, contends it would be misleading to apply these early deals' costs outward for the whole project, as the city paid more to find early sellers, and different sites have different values.

“We’ve paid a premium for early acquisitions,” David Lombino, an EDC spokesman, said.

The city also seemed to be responding to the pressure put on it by the City Council just before it approved the project, as Council members urged the city to control a large portion of the land in an apparent attempt to avoid a “land grabber” label.

According to an EDC document from December 2008, there was language written into some of the larger land purchases that would seem to give the landowners a pretty good deal.

For both businesses, House of Spices and Fodera Foods, two of the larger property owners on the site, an EDC board action said that EDC “must use its best efforts” to “promptly purchase replacement property,” then sell the property to those businesses for $1. Given that EDC would be condemning their land, then buying them new land (though “best efforts” seems a loose term), this could get expensive as well.



THE NEXT MAJOR STEP in the Willets Point plan is the eminent domain process, which the city expects to begin with hearings in the next few months. As that process readies, the business owners—the bulk of them automotive repair—are trying to apply new pressure on a number of legal and political fronts.

The businesses, which have formed a group named Willets Point United, are pursuing an environmental lawsuit with the firm Arnold and Porter, have hired Michael Rikon as an eminent domain attorney—who submitted a brief in support of the property owners in a lawsuit over Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards project—and have brought on the rabble-rousing lobbyist Richard Lipsky, who has been beating the drum over allegedly improper/illegal uses of local development corporations. (The city, in effect, funded a firm to lobby the City Council and community boards to win approval at Willets Point. The state attorney general’s office is said to be investigating the use of local development corporations.)

Mr. Lipsky said that the efforts of the businesses—which organized a cohesive opposition after the project was approved by the Council—are aimed at raising questions about the broader viability of the project, the unrealistic budget, fighting the use of eminent domain, and raising concerns about the business relocation plan.

“There is no strategic plan in place that would pay for this,” he said. “There is no relocation plan that will enable these jobs to be safe.”



GOING FORWARD, THE Bloomberg administration has taken a phased approach to the project, attempting to develop the southwest corner first, likely to be followed by two other phases. This would seem to suggest the city is learning from some of the turbulence experienced at other major development sites—Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards project, for instance, has one developer controlling all 22-acres, but few or no assurances that everything will be built out in full.

Still, the prospect of a phased development directly contradicts statements made by the city in the run-up to Council approval: officials insisted that everything had to be developed at once, lest the pollution in existing properties seep into the rest of the development (the city even had an environmental consultant emphasize this point). This was a major justification for the use of eminent domain.
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  #42  
Old Posted Oct 6, 2009, 11:53 PM
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http://www.newsday.com/long-island/n...ders-1.1502971

Queens first in line to make pitch for Wang's Islanders

October 5, 2009
By EDEN LAIKIN AND JIM BAUMBACH


Charles Wang said this weekend he's ready to "explore all options" for his New York Islanders and the proposed Lighthouse project.

The executive vice president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce said Monday the search should begin in his borough.

"Option Number One should be Queens," Jack Friedman said. "We are ready for him."

Friedman renewed his contention that a new home for the Islanders would be the perfect centerpiece in the city's plans for the Willets Point area. Groundbreaking probably won't take place for another four or five years, he said, which dovetails nicely with the Islanders' lease, which stipulates the team must play at Nassau Coliseum through 2015.

Wang could not be reached for comment Monday, but Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi - a major proponent of the Lighthouse - said he thinks "there will be many municipalities that are going to go out of their way to roll out the red carpet [for Wang].

"It's absurd that the Town of Hempstead wouldn't do the same thing," he said.


City development officials said they have not been approached by Wang but would welcome discussing the Islanders' future with him.

Sources close to Wang say he also has received an offer from "politicians in Brooklyn" to facilitate a move there.

Hempstead's town board must approve new zoning for the project, a proposed mixed-use development on 77 acres around a renovated Coliseum. Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, a Republican, has said there still are unanswered questions about traffic, water and density.

On Friday, Wang accepted a request from Murray to discuss "amending the project."

Monday, Murray said, "Mr. Wang made it clear he was going to explore his options and so we're not surprised. The town is going to remain focused on reasonable development at the Coliseum site."

Friedman said the 62-acre site in Queens would be a perfect fit for the Lighthouse as it has access to "the Long Island Rail Road, the subway system, the airports. It already has a huge parking lot because of Citi Field. It already has the parkway access."

Friedman said he sent Wang a letter in March and never received a response. At the time, the Islanders released a statement saying they were focused only on working with the town.

That's changed now.

Wang set this past Saturday - the Islanders' opening day - as his deadline for "certainty" on the project. It passed without a decision from Hempstead so Wang announced he would begin exploring his options.

He added he would continue negotiations with the town.


Town officials have said they wouldn't be swayed by an applicant's self-imposed deadline.

Democrat Kristen McElroy, Murray's political opponent for supervisor, said Murray "is pushing the Islanders out of the Town of Hempstead." McElroy said if she were supervisor, building the Lighthouse project would be her "Number One priority."

Friedman said early plans for the Willets Point area include a 400,000-square-foot convention center that could become a new arena for the Islanders.

"So the footprint is already there," he said. "There's also many of the things Wang wanted in his Lighthouse project - hotels, family entertainment centers, restaurants."
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  #43  
Old Posted Nov 3, 2009, 2:32 PM
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http://www.archpaper.com/e-board_rev.asp?News_ID=3996

The Iron Trapezoid
City takes phased approach to Willets Point redevelopment



The city is moving forward with its redevelopment plan for Willets Point, albeit in a phased approach.



Matt Chaban
Oct. 28 2009

Despite the stagnant real estate market in New York City, the Bloomberg administration has decided to go ahead with plans for one of its landmark redevelopment projects, the transformation of Willets Point from a down-and-out mechanics row to a gleaming new community complete with a mid-size convention center. At the same time, because of the stagnant real estate market, the city is taking a different approach with its plans, having released on Monday a request for qualifications for the project that focuses on redeveloping an 18-acre swath of the 62-acre area that rezoned almost a year ago.

The RFQ is seeking developers to build a retail and commercial hub along the western edge of Willets Point, known as “Area A.” This staged approach presents a number of potential advantages beyond its lesser cost compared to a wholesale redevelopment. Area A is on parcels bordering the new Mets Stadium as well as being the densest part of the development because it is outside the LaGuardia flight path, both of which make it more appealing for investment. Also, the city controls the most property out of the three areas, as it has been working to buy out the scrap yards, auto body shops, and factories that have dominated Willets Point for decades.

“Area A is envisioned to become an urban residential community with fantastic views and a dynamic skyline,” according to the RFQ. “Residential and commercial uses are stacked above retail to create an integrated (24/7) neighborhood.” The area would include 980,000 square feet of retail space, 500,000 square feet of office space, 430 hotel rooms, 2,100 residential units, and possibly a school. Building heights are planned to rise as high as 215 feet, providing quite the views over Citifield’s right field wall.

And while the convention center, seen as a linchpin to the project’s success, will not likely be built in the first phase, its location has been determined as part of the RFQ. The city had been considering both the eastern and northern edges of the site, though the latter, now known as “Area C” won out. The eastern parcels of “Area B” will be dedicated to residential uses—roughly 3,000 units—and local retail.(Oddly enough, the alternative proposal is the one shown on the cover of the RFQ.)

The entire development is one of a handful being put forward by the city as pilot for the U.S. Green Building’s new LEED for Neighborhood Development program. As part of this effort, the city’s Economic Development Corporation, which is developing the project, is creating a special set of design guidelines with Beyer Blinder Belle. “Willets Point Design Guidelines are being developed to supplement the Special Zoning District and convey additional goals for urban design, pedestrian experience, streetscape, open space and architectural character,” according to the RFQ. The city expects to release those guidelines, which are being developed by Beyer Blinder Belle, next year along with a more formal request for proposals, assuming the RFQ generates enough interest.

“The release of this Request for Qualifications once again moves the Willets Point project, one of the largest in our borough’s history, another step forward and closer to reality,” said Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, a long-standing proponent of the project. “Each step forward gives us a clearer vision of a plan that will redevelop Willets Point in way that will capitalize on the resources surrounding it, including recreational uses and a network of highways, while strengthening the entire region.

The city is proceeding cautiously with its plan, but it makes clear in the RFQ that the project could change at any point, getting bigger or smaller as the market dictates. A big factor in its progress is the businesses that remain in Area A. As opposition to the rezoning of the area reached a groundswell last year, with local business contending the only blight in the area was caused by longstanding neglect from the city, the Economic Development Corporation began negotiating with landlords in the area in order to avoid eminent domain at the site.

The agency has paraded out announcements every few months or so, and ownership in Area A now stands at 70 percent. “We are in active discussions with several additional land owners within the first development stage and would like to acquire all the privately-held property by negotiated acquisition,” Janel Patterson, and EDC spokesperson, said in an email. She noted that the city also controls roughly 60 percent within the entire 62-acre district. Representatives for two local business groups did not return requests for comment.

One thing is clear, however. Despite the changing economy, the city has not drastically reconsidered its plans. While the RFQ notes that a 4-acre buffer zone would be created between Area A and the remaining businesses, Patterson said there was little chance those businesses might be allowed to stay for good. “Industrial users in the eastern portion will eventually have to be moved,” she said.
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  #44  
Old Posted Nov 3, 2009, 2:33 PM
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Another graphic from the above article...


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  #45  
Old Posted Nov 4, 2009, 7:16 AM
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What's the huge area labeled "MTA Parcel"? It seems the MTA is a huge landowner in the area - Corona Yard is surrounded by random grass and parking lots. It would look appropriate in some random Cleveland suburb, but not Queens. I can't believe New York viewed that as an appropriate gateway for visitors to two different Worlds' Fairs, the US Open, and Mets games.

Why is the city trying to buy out a whole bunch of active businesses which constitute an urban (if third-world) neighborhood, and ignoring the large areas of land that MTA is using in an extremely inefficient way? There's also the parking lots of Shea Stadium. WTF? The city provided hundreds of millions in subsidy to the Mets for Citifield, so why didn't they encourage the formation of a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood there? (with parking placed in garages) The city already has a substantial interest in these areas of land. Why acquire more and refuse to develop the already vacant areas?

Also, I read a little bit - the derelict image of Willets Point is largely due to the city's failure to provide paved streets, sewers, or sidewalks. Again, I question the wisdom of a city that spends hundreds of millions on eminent domain instead of a few million on street construction in Willets Point and almost-free land around Citifield and Corona Yard.

EDIT: Apparently MTA wants to use the parcel along the Van Wyck as an expansion of Corona Yard - probably to service the additional trains required by the 7 extension. Again, shitty idea... it cuts any Willets Point development off from the waterfront, and MTA already has massive parking lots that could easily be accommodated elsewhere (like across the street?) Why do MTA workers need lots of parking, anyhow? Shouldn't they be the workers who are most willing to ride the subway to work?
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Last edited by ardecila; Nov 4, 2009 at 7:30 AM.
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  #46  
Old Posted Nov 7, 2009, 8:06 PM
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Originally Posted by ardecila View Post
Corona Yard is surrounded by random grass and parking lots. It would look appropriate in some random Cleveland suburb, but not Queens. I can't believe New York viewed that as an appropriate gateway for visitors to two different Worlds' Fairs, the US Open, and Mets games.
The one area of desolation is far removed from anything (actually closest to Shea's vast parking lot), which is why it is what it is. Obviously, since the new CitiField was built on the parking lot site, things have changed, which is the reason we are seeing this development now. As far as the world's fairs site, it's actually one of the largest parks in the City, more than appropriate for a stadium or fair.


Holdovers from the world's fairs...

chibeba




g fung




Ed Gaillard




wallyg




In this old aerial, you can see how Willets Point (triangle to the right of Shea) is cut off from the park and the rest of the city...

dsearls



Quote:
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_..._the_park.html

Flushing Meadow Corona Park is one of the greatest places in New York City. It has become the keystone park of Queens and a recreation and cultural hub for the region; yet, it was once just a dusty wasteland, "a valley of ashes" as F. Scott Fitzgerald dubbed it in the Great Gatsby. Its poetic, phoenix-like transformation from ash dump to oasis was driven by Queens' residents, the City and 1939 and 1965 World's Fair held in this park. These fairs put this park on the world's stage, and it has stayed there, hosting the United Nations General Assembly for five years, three baseball World Seres at Shea Stadium, and the U.S. Open.

Today, Flushing Meadows Corona Park is 1,255 acres of athletic fields, landscaped meadows, lakes, fountains, playgrounds, stadia, museums and a zoo.

Prior to 1939 the park was a massive dumping ground for ashes. Parks Commissioner Robert Moses and other city planners laid out an elaborate scheme to replace these ashes with beauty and excitement. They proposed transforming the site into a World's Fair.
Years from now, it will be remembered what the old Willets Point was, and how the City once again transformed land into something else.
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  #47  
Old Posted Nov 7, 2009, 10:06 PM
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I understand that... it just seems like the area along Roosevelt Avenue is especially ugly and desolate, so why not redevelop the ugly parking lots that surround the subway station, instead of building a neighborhood that's cut off from that station? Acquiring the land would be easier.
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Old Posted Nov 8, 2009, 2:26 PM
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^ That parking for the stadium isn't going anywhere. The new stadium was built on old Shea parking, right next to Willets Point. There really is no other location in the immediate area that needs the redevelopment. Willets Point is long overdue for development, its amazing that it went so long without being integrated into the city system (there isn't even plumbing in some cases). And the city desperately needs the new housing that will be built there - something you aren't going to build in the middle of the park.
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Old Posted Nov 10, 2009, 3:49 AM
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I can't possibly believe that it's EASIER for the city to force hundreds of businesses out of Willets Point than it is to strike a deal with the Mets where the parking lots become garages and the rest of the land gets developed.

The city already agreed to subsidize the Mets for hundreds of millions when they agreed to help fund CitiField.... so now the city will lose all that land from the property tax rolls. If the city wanted, they could have made their financing deal contingent on a redevelopment of Shea's parking lots into a combination neighborhood and garage complex.

But no, everyone jumped at the chance to replace Shea on the taxpayer dime, and now the city has to scrabble with Willets Point to replace the lost tax revenues at CitiField. It's good to know that even New York makes stupid, bumbling decisions, despite its unprecedented revival in the last decade.

The other irritating point here is the actions of the MTA, which has been hoarding land here and using it extremely unproductively. I really don't see why they need a massive tract of land along Flushing Creek in order to add one station onto the line. I'm really hoping that they intend to use it as a replacement for Corona Yard and not an expansion, so that the current site can be redeveloped later.
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Old Posted Nov 11, 2009, 9:51 PM
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Originally Posted by ardecila View Post
I can't possibly believe that it's EASIER for the city to force hundreds of businesses out of Willets Point than it is to strike a deal with the Mets where the parking lots become garages and the rest of the land gets developed.

The other irritating point here is the actions of the MTA, which has been hoarding land here and using it extremely unproductively. I really don't see why they need a massive tract of land along Flushing Creek in order to add one station onto the line. I'm really hoping that they intend to use it as a replacement for Corona Yard and not an expansion, so that the current site can be redeveloped later.
The area where the Shea Parking stands would become more parkland before it was developed into anything, and Willets Point would still have to be integrated into the rest of the City. We're talking about New York, not some third world country where it's totally acceptable for a large tract like Willets Point. It's really a wonder it's been allowed to exists as is for so long, much like Manhattan's west side, but in a far more degraded state.

As far as the MTA I doubt the MTA will do much with it's portion, which in itself is of little use regarding the development of the rest of Willets Point.
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  #51  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2009, 1:49 AM
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As far as the MTA I doubt the MTA will do much with it's portion, which in itself is of little use regarding the development of the rest of Willets Point.
Well, they bought it, didn't they? I'm sure they have some use in mind for it. It's landfill, like the rest of the area, but was only filled in in recent years. MTA (or somebody) paid to cap the landfill with soil.

If MTA is making huge land purchases in the outer boroughs with no clear intention, then maybe that's why the Second Ave Subway continues to languish...
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Old Posted Nov 19, 2009, 3:19 PM
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^ The MTA isn't the most sound agency in New York.


http://www.yournabe.com/articles/200...c812059968.txt

Bridge to Willets Pt. pushed
Corona, Flushing leaders say structure would help business district



View of Flushing River facing north from Northern Boulevard Overpass. Area leaders are considering
the construction of a pedestrian bridge across the river connecting Flushing and Willets Point.



By Connor Adams Sheets
October 28, 2009

Flushing and Corona leaders continue to make incremental progress on the plans for the revitalization of the Flushing River waterfront to accompany the redevelopment of Willets Point.

The board of the Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corp. met last Thursday with other leaders, including Maura McCarthy, Queens borough commissioner of the city Department of Transportation, to discuss options for the long-neglected area.

Possible plans discussed at the meeting include one which is not well-known among nearby residents but could have a significant impact on the area’s character: the construction of a pedestrian bridge connecting Flushing’s business district to Willets Point.

Such a bridge would serve the purpose of bringing the two areas together as a cohesive whole, said Fred Fu, former president of the Flushing Chinese Business Association and current president of the Flushing Development Center.

“We Flushing people are concerned about Willets Point. We don’t want Flushing and Willets Point to be competitors, two cities,” he said. “If we have a bridge, they will be one city.”

Current city plans for the Willets Point redevelopment project do not include a bridge or money to build one, however, so Fu and other local business leaders are pushing through various channels to boost support for one.

The state awarded the Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corp. a $1.5 million grant earlier this month through its Brownfield Opportunities Area Program, money it can use to study future development plans and pollution remedies along the Flushing River.

Former Borough President Claire Shulman, who now heads the development group, said she and the group’s board plan to secure funding, maybe even from the federal government, for the bridge and that they “intend to do everything we can to make sure it happens.”

The city Economic Development Corporation announced Monday it has issued requests for qualifications for potential developers for the project. The requests will determine whether the developers are sufficiently knowledgeable about the project and able to carry out the work. The eligible developers can respond to requests for proposals which are expected to be issued next year.

The city also took another major step toward moving forward with the project, the EDC announced Monday, buying three more parcels of land in Willets Point totaling more than 65,000 square feet.

Shulman said she is optimistic about the development project’s chances of including a bridge.

“We would like to have a major improvement to the waterfront in downtown Flushing, and we want to have a comparable situation on the east side of the river in Flushing to match the west side of the river in Willets Point, and the pedestrian bridge is part of the plan,” she said. “And we are very hopeful. It will take a while, it doesn’t happen overnight, but if you don’t start it you’ll never finish it, so we are getting started.”
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Old Posted Nov 19, 2009, 3:33 PM
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Old Posted Nov 20, 2009, 12:08 AM
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Well, at least they're doing something right. I like the bridge idea, although the Van Wyck is a rather unsightly blemish on the river, since they decided to take it UNDER Roosevelt Avenue instead of over.

Seriously, I think that's the first time I've seen an expressway go underneath a major avenue that's underneath an elevated line, all taking place over a river. Gotta love NY.
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Old Posted Nov 20, 2009, 12:54 PM
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Well, at least they're doing something right. I like the bridge idea, although the Van Wyck is a rather unsightly blemish on the river, since they decided to take it UNDER Roosevelt Avenue instead of over..
I used to live around the Van Wyck, but all the way at the other end where it's below street level, and before they put in the Airtrain, which is above street level, and the multiple street bridges that cross the Expressway.


Here's an idea of some of the zoning the City is putting into place:

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Old Posted Nov 24, 2009, 7:51 PM
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With the recent court decision at Atlantic Yards who long until the EDPL hearings on Willets Point kick off?

I say shortly after the RFQs are due in mid December.

Wanger.. are u listening? submit something!!
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Old Posted Nov 27, 2009, 1:54 AM
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GREAT NEWS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT

Court Upholds Willets Point Redevelopment Plan

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...elopment-plan/

A federal judge on Wednesday upheld New York’s $3 billion redevelopment plan for Willets Point, an industrial section of Queens dominated by car-repair shops and waste-management businesses, finding that although the city had neglected the neighborhood’s infrastructure for decades, the constitutional rights of the businesses there — many of which will be forced to relocate under the plan — were not violated.

The plaintiffs, who organized themselves into an entity called the Willets Point Industry and Realty Association, and who “have established thriving businesses (notwithstanding the grossly inadequate infrastructure of the area)” and employ hundreds of people, “are understandably aggrieved by the fact that the plan that the city is in the process of implementing has no place for them,” the judge, Edward R. Korman of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, wrote. However, he ruled, it was not the place of federal judges to intervene in the dispute.

Judge Korman’s 22-page ruling did not dispute that the area has long suffered from neglect.

Originally a swamp, and later a dumping site for ash and garbage, Willets Points first underwent efforts at redevelopment in 1939, when part of the landfill was converted into fairgrounds for the World’s Fair, and machine shops and garages started to be built in the area. By 1950, Judge Korman wrote, small factories, auto-related shops and storage facilities “cemented the industrial character of the area.”

By some lights, however, Willets Point has made little progress from its swampy origins. It lacks a sanitary sewer system, its streets are unpaved or riddled with potholes and its curbs and sidewalks, if they can even be called that, have worn away. Broken fire hydrants and an absence of trash removal round out the picture of blight, Judge Korman wrote.

Robert Moses, the development czar, contemplated turning Willets Point into parking for nearby Shea Stadium (now replaced by Citi Field) and a fairground for the 1964 World’s Fair — a plan that Mario M. Cuomo, then a young lawyer, helped frustrate. In 1991 and 1993, the Queens borough president, Claire Shulman, commissioned studies that confirmed that the deplorable infrastructure would hinder development.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s redevelopment plan was approved by the City Council, 42 to 2, last November. It calls for new sanitary and stormwater sewers, more power lines and new roadways and bicycle lanes. It also seeks new mixed-use development — including, possibly, a hotel and convention center — but envisions sweeping away the current industrial uses through eminent domain.

Judge Korman expressed sympathy for the plaintiffs whose property would be acquired by the government (with compensation) but found that they lacked a federal claim. “The timing of this lawsuit as well as plaintiffs’ own admissions at oral argument suggests,” he wrote, that the “real purpose of their lawsuit is to obstruct and forestall the implementation of the approved plan.”
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Old Posted Dec 17, 2009, 5:38 PM
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http://www.yournabe.com/articles/200...qf12162009.txt

Boro bikers go hog wild in Willets Point

WP United member actively looking to do land swap deal and escape the rat infested Iron triangle.

Article 78 Petition decision should be coming soon.
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Old Posted Dec 17, 2009, 10:55 PM
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Originally Posted by BiggieSmalls View Post

Intersting piece...



Quote:
Based during the 1930s in a clubhouse on a piece of land that became the grounds of the World’s Fairs in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the group left the site at the behest of the fair committee before the first World’s Fair in 1939. It eventually moved to the current site and is now facing relocation once again as the Bloomberg administration plans to redevelop the entire 62-acre Willets Point district for mixed uses.

Club leaders are in ongoing negotiations with city officials to sell or swap the property, which they have owned since moving there. QBMC President Bill Goldstein said the club would love to find a taker for the lot and well-appointed clubhouse.

“Seventeen years ago when I started in the club, it was a great spot. Now it’s a rat-infested, pothole-infested, gross area,” he said. “We’re probably one of the few businesses down there that would move if given the right opportunity. We have been speaking to the EDC, who’ve been very nice to us, but nothing seems to be going on at this time. We were looking for properties up until last year, in fact, and then the economy failed and everything kind of just stopped.”
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Old Posted Apr 8, 2010, 4:21 PM
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The thin line between CitiField and the wilds of Willets Point...

Gary Dunaier







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