City Council approves soccer stadium, small turnout for the team's season home opener in Citifield

 

 QNS

Willets Point’s long-awaited transformation from industrial wasteland to Queens’ newest neighborhood got the green light from the City Council Thursday.

The legislature approved on Apr. 11 a massive redevelopment that includes a brand new soccer stadium for the New York City Football Club (NYCFC), which has played home games at Yankee Stadium or Citi Field since its inception, and a 100% 2,500-unit affordable housing project that is the city’s largest in four decades.

Mayor Eric Adams called the plan “the goal of the decade” that will generate billions of dollars in new economic activity, and tens of thousands of jobs, through not only the new soccer stadium and housing, but also more than 20,000 square feet of retail and a 250-room hotel.

“We’re building a brand-new community out of the ‘Valley of Ashes’, and we couldn’t have done it without all our partners, including Councilmember [Francisco] Moya and the rest of the City Council, [Queens] Borough President [Donovan] Richards, NYCFC, Queens Development Group, our union members, and everyone living in Willets Point who made their voices heard and demanded a new future for themselves,” the mayor said on Thursday. “After today’s vote, we’re one step closer to delivering that future.”

For years, the city and the Queens community has debated the fate of Willets Point, which for decades has been home to junkyards, auto repair shops and light industry. Even as Shea Stadium rose and was eventually replaced by Citi Field, the industry in the “Valley of Ashes” persisted beyond the Mets outfield while visions for redevelopment never seemed to get off the ground.

 QNS

Thousands of New York City Football Club (NYCFC) fans packed Citi Field on Saturday, Apr. 6, for the team’s first home game in Queens this season, playing against Atlanta United FC. This match marked the beginning of a series of five straight home games, equaling the club’s all-time record for consecutive home matches.

Fans from across the five boroughs packed Citi Field to support their “Boys in Blue” for an eventful night. Kick-off was scheduled for 7 p.m., but fans, especially from NYCFC’s official supporter groups, arrived early for pregame celebrations outside the stadium.

The match started with NYCFC’s early possession of the ball to mount almost-immediate pressure, including a header from center back Thiago Martins that was parried away by the Atlanta United keeper.

NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese was impressive in his own right, saving multiple attempts from Atlanta. In the tenth minute, he showed the breadth of his skills, catching a header directed toward his goal comfortably.

In the 39th minute, NYCFC was awarded a penalty. Santiago Rodriguez put the hosts in front from the spot for his third goal of the season in the 42nd minute.

Tensions were rising in the second half and Atlanta pressure paid off in the 66th minute when Jamal Thiare found an equalizer that ultimately rescued a point for the visitors — the match ending in a 1-1 draw.

Rodriguez was awarded the Man of the Match honors, but NYCFC’s slow start to the season continued as they have taken just five points (1-2-4) from their first seven games of the 2024 MLS season.

Uh, oh...

Queens is burning again: Fire destroys Willets Point DOT warehouse building

 

 Eyewitness News

At least four firefighters were injured while battling a massive fire at a New York City Department of Transportation building in Queens.

FDNY officials say the five-alarm fire started at around 10 p.m. at the NYC DOT Harper Street Plant, a warehouse and maintenance space located on Harper Street in Willets Point.

Video from the Citizen App shows an orange glow lighting up the sky as smoke and flames pour out of that DOT facility.

As the fire grew in size, more fire crews were sent to the scene. Approximately 200 firefighters were tackling flames.

Officials say it took them over four hours to get the fire under control, with firefighters still dealing with hot spots into Tuesday morning.

Once all the hot spots have been put out, the fire marshal will investigate how the fire started.

Soccer trickle down housing

New York Times

The stadium would be the first significant major-league sports venue to be built in the city since 2012, and is set to be the focal point of a 23-acre project that includes a 250-room hotel and 2,500 units of housing. Officials say the project would be the city’s largest development of entirely affordable housing since the Mitchell-Lama developments of the 1970s.

The deal represents Mayor Eric Adams’s most ambitious economic development initiative and comes as he is about to complete his first year in office. It also spells the end of two sagas: the team’s decade-long search for a dedicated soccer stadium and an even longer conundrum about the future of Willets Point, a once thriving conglomeration of auto body shops.

“Queens, which is the world’s borough, now will become the home of soccer, which is the world’s sport,” Maria Torres-Springer, the deputy mayor for economic and workforce development, said in an interview on Tuesday.

Unlike many stadium deals, including one for the Buffalo Bills negotiated this year by Gov. Kathy Hochul that included nearly $900 million in public funds, city officials said subsidies for this project are largely limited to infrastructure improvements at the site and property tax breaks for the stadium.

The soccer team will pay for the entire construction of the stadium, which is estimated to cost $780 million, city officials said. Neither tax-exempt bond financing nor direct city capital infusions will be used, according to Andrew Kimball, the president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The developers are not getting abatements on mortgage recording or sales taxes, he said. But the stadium owners will not have to pay real estate taxes for the duration of the lease.

Soccer team is going to get a new arena

 

  Queens Chronicle

The possibility of a soccer stadium for the New York City Football Club at Willets Point seemed closer to reality this earlier this week.

During a webinar on the borough’s economic impact with Travis Terry, chief operating officer of the Capalino Group, and Queens Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Grech, Borough President Donovan Richards spoke about the future of tourism in Queens.

“Even if you like soccer, the redevelopment of Willets Point — which I think is gonna, we’re gonna have some announcements on — with the football club, New York Football Club,” Richards said.

Asked for further comment on the borough president’s remarks, a spokesperson for Richards wrote in an email to the Chronicle, “Borough President Richards was expressing his optimism about the future of various infrastructure, transportation and cultural investments in Queens — including the all-encompassing redevelopment of Willets Point.

“The Borough President is laser focused on ensuring Queens becomes a true live-work-play destination, and will work with any organization or entity to help make that happen.”

As the Chronicle previously reported, NYCFC’s owners have pitched a stadium to Mayor Adams, among several other elected officials. That prompted a protest from Corona residents and demonstrators from Nos Quedamos Queens and the Black Leadership Action Coalition, the latter of which is led by longtime activist Bertha Lewis.

FDNY raids congregate propane tank shelter

  

NY Daily News

One person was arrested after a business in Queens was caught storing hundreds of propane tanks illegally Thursday — just two years after FDNY inspectors found a massive stash of tanks in the same building, authorities said.

Inspectors with the FDNY’s Bureau of Fire Prevention found the tanks inside a business at 127-76 Willets Point Blvd., not far from Citi Field, during a routine check Thursday morning, FDNY officials said.

The address houses several auto repair shops and a welding and propane supply business.

Inside, the inspectors found about 500 canisters, “well beyond the location’s permitted storage capacity,” an FDNY source said.

An FDNY spokesman said the business owner was charged with reckless endangerment and issued a desk appearance ticket. However, the spokesman could not identify the person charged.

A Buildings Department inspector issued two violations, buildings department records show. Details of the violations were not available Thursday. The FDNY also issued violations, a department spokesman said.

Got a feeling this guy was in a bind after The Blaz decided to ban propane heating for restaurant shanties.

 

Developers clean up in a matter of days

Queens Post 

 City officials and local lawmakers celebrated the start of the environmental cleanup of Willets Point Wednesday — which paves the way for the redevelopment of the area.

Six acres of land near Citi Field is being remediated to prepare for the construction of three buildings that will include 1,100 affordable apartments, retail and community facility space. There will also be a stand-alone school and public open space.

The ceremonial groundbreaking follows nearly 15 years of wrangling over the fate of the area that has long been occupied by autobody shops and junkyards. The remediation work begins as the city looks to recover from the economic fallout caused by the pandemic.

“A recovery for all of us is happening right here in Queens,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio at the groundbreaking. “Willets Point represents the best of our comeback – new units of affordable housing, more school seats for our children, adding public space and detailed infrastructure improvements.”

The environmental remediation will remove contaminated soil in the brownfield-designated area and replace it with clean fill. Workers will also raise the ground so that the future buildings and infrastructure will be above the floodplain.

The remediation efforts will be completed in 2023. Infrastructure construction is expected to begin in 2022, followed by the construction of the apartment buildings and school in 2024.

The cleanup and first phase of construction will lead to more than 800 construction jobs, according to the city. Upon completion, nearly 200 permanent jobs will be created.

“The environmental cleanup is a critical step in the first phase of the Willets Point project,” said Council Member Francisco Moya, who noted that New York has been dealing with an affordable housing crisis and overcrowding in schools for some time.

“Today we are taking another critical step forward in tackling these issues,” he said.

Queens Post 

 A large development company has purchased the vacant lot next to St. Sebastian’s School in Woodside for $5.5 million.

United Construction and Development, which has a portfolio of mixed-use buildings throughout Queens, bought the vacant lot from St. Sebastian’s Roman Catholic Church on March 25.

The company confirmed that it purchased the 39-53 57th St. site under the name Woodside 57 Street Realty.

United Construction, located on Northern Boulevard in Corona, is a major player in several large developments in Queens.

It is part of a consortium of developers behind the 68-story Skyline Tower in Long Island City, the tallest building in Queens. It also is the developer of the Justice Avenue Tower in Elmhurst, near the Queens Place Mall.

The Woodside site, once a playground for school children at St. Sebastian’s, is large with a frontage on 57th and 58th streets. The property is 1/2 an acre in size.

On June 8, United Construction filed plans with the Dept. of Buildings calling for the site to be subdivided into 8 tax lots. The company has yet to file building plans.

Willets Point housing development can begin

  

QNS

 

The Queens Borough Board on Monday, May 10, voted to approve a long-term lease for Phase 1A of the Willets Point Development, which will contain affordable residential units, a public school, community facility space and public open space. 

Borough President Donovan Richards approved the motion receiving nine votes and one abstention, on the condition that the New York Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) conduct reporting on the school remediation cleanup to the local board and borough president’s office, a meeting every other month to address concerns of the community as the development proceeds, and that Community Board 7 receive a 50 percent allotment of affordable housing, unless there are changes under the federal, state or Housing Preservation Department (HPD). 

Councilman Francisco Moya, who is the chair of the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises and represents the area, said the historic vote is an exciting step toward getting affordable housing for residents. 

“After decades of bad deals and failed attempts, no project has gotten this far under Council members in past administrations. This is historic,” Moya said. “This historic project will bring the deepest levels of affordability: 1,100 units of affordable housing, zero market rate units, and units set aside for older New Yorkers and those transitioning out of the shelter system or formerly without housing. It will also bring a publicly accessible open space, a new public elementary school and environmental remediation.” With limited infrastructure and a history of environmental degradation, Willets Point — situated between Corona and Flushing — is located within the 100-year floodplain. The site is within proximity of the No. 7 train line, LIRR, major highways, LaGuardia Airport, Citi Field and Flushing Meadows Corona Park. It is also adjacent to Flushing Bay and Flushing Creek. 

The city has been working with community partners such as Queens Community Boards 7, 3 and 4, to reimagine Willets Point in ways that would create new opportunities for residents and businesses, according to NYCEDC, a major partner in the city’s efforts to continue growing and diversifying economic growth throughout Queens. 

During its virtual presentation, NYCEDC’s 384B4 proposal for the site includes their policy goals, lease business terms, and the next milestones for the area that will become a major new mixed-income neighborhood. 

“Queens deserves better and Willets Point could be a place that truly serves the borough and surrounding communities,” said Jana Pohorelsky, assistant vice president of NYCEDC. “Under this administration, the city has been focused on delivering the first phase of the entire 61-acre special Willets Point District.” 

NYCEDC’s business terms for the Willets Point Development include new utilities and streets; approximately 1,100 units of affordable housing with 220 units designated for seniors; 25,000 square feet of retail space; 3,000 square feet of community space; 310 parking spaces; 1 acre of open space; and the School Construction Authority (SCA) development of a K-8 school that will have 650 seats — a 44 percent increase from the number of seats announced in 2018. 

About 23 acres of the site is under city control, according to Pohorelsky, with a focus on the first 6 acres of land, that is referred to as Phase 1, kickstarting the remediation and infrastructure investment that will pave the way for long-awaited public benefits for the area. 

According to NYCEDC, the site will be leased to Queens Development Group, a joint venture of Sterling Equities and Related, pursuant to multiple ground leases each for a term of up to 99 years, on terms consistent with HPD affordable housing programs. QDG will participate in HireNYC, offering prevailing wage and setting a 25 percent target for hiring minority and/or women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) firms. 

Willets Point eyed for casino...again

Well, well, well. For years, we've been covering "rumors" that the Willets Point boondoggle will result in a casino.

Now, according to today's NY Post, it's no longer a rumor.

Three large casino companies are jockeying over a rare opportunity to bring a piece of the Las Vegas Strip to the Big Apple, The Post has learned.

Wynn Resorts, Bally’s Corp. and Las Vegas Sands are all quietly positioning themselves to compete for a New York City-area casino license in anticipation of Albany putting out a request for proposals as soon as next month, sources told The Post.

Efforts have included talking to potential developer partners and wooing local politicians for support, sources said.

Locations being scouted include Willets Point in Queens, where new Mets owner Steve Cohen leases the Citi Field ballpark and adjoining parking lots; the Belmont Park development in Long Island, which is already home to the Belmont Park racetrack and the Islanders stadium; and Staten Island’s St. George neighborhood — home to both the Staten Island Ferry and the New York Wheel, a proposed 630-foot Ferris wheel to be located next to the Empire Outlets retail complex.

So which pols have been lobbied?

Soccer at Willets Point?

Queens Eagle

A brand new professional soccer club will kick off at York College in 2021, the team owners announced Tuesday — thirteen months after the Eagle first reported on the team’s likely arrival.

Queensboro FC will compete in the United Soccer League Championship division, a tier below Major League Soccer in the hierarchy of U.S. soccer leagues. The ownership group includes businessman Jonathan Krane, the CEO of KraneShares, and legendary Spanish striker David Villa.

"I lived and played in New York for four years. I know what a special place Queens is," said Villa, who played for NYCFC after starring for Valencia, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at club level and winning the 2010 World Cup with Spain. "I love the cultures, the food, the people and their passion for life and, of course, soccer.”

“It's a dream to help build this football club in Queens and I couldn't choose a better location," he added.

The club will play its home games at York College, with a few matches taking place at Citi Field, the team said in a statement.

Councilmember Francisco Moya called the new club “exciting” and welcomed its arrival. In September 2018, Moya met with Villa and Borough President Melinda Katz at Borough Hall to discuss the team, and a potential new venue for the club.

The trio discussed a proposal “to build a 10,000 to 25,000-seat soccer stadium in the Willets Point redevelopment area that would serve as home for the Queensboro Football Club, a proposed new team that would play in the United Soccer League, a second division professional league,” read a statement provided by Katz’s office.

Apparently, now there's a Queens soccer team. Which could mean the City proceeds with a soccer stadium at Willets Point. (Could this be the reason for rumors of Mayor de Blasio stopping at Willets Point on Nov. 18th?)

Willets Point United: DOT Gives Mets Brand New Roadbed, “Stolen” from Willets Point

Willets Point United

On Thursday, June 27, 2019, the New York Mets will hold a ceremony to rename a portion of 126th Street “Seaver Way” – aided and abetted by the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT).

It’s no coincidence that DOT very recently repaved the seven-block stretch of 126th Street to be renamed “Seaver Way.” And DOT repaved it, even though the condition of that street beforehand did not require resurfacing.

 

 

Could it be any more obvious, that DOT repaved that street to beautify it for the photo op during the Mets’ street renaming ceremony? That's an unjustifiable expenditure of taxpayer funds

 

But for Willets Point, the biggest insult is that DOT needlessly repaved 126th Street, while not repairing the nearby, severely dilapidated streets in Willets Point, which property and business owners have pleaded with the City for decades to fix.

 

If these street conditions existed in any other neighborhood of the City, they would be deemed an emergency and repaired right away on that basis.

 

 

 

 

It's like this city is showing contempt for these businesses and telling them to get out right to their faces. This is no different than what a slumlord does to rent-stabilized tenants.

Francisco Moya, who represents this district, is not helping these businesses and doesn't seem to want to.

“Tom Seaver may not have laid the bricks of Citi Field, but he helped set the foundation this franchise is celebrated for,” said Councilman Francisco Moya, who sponsored the street-renaming legislation.

“Whether you were fortunate enough to watch Tom Seaver lead the Amazin’s to a World Series championship in 1969, or you grew up in the glow of that greatness, Queens residents have always known their ballpark was built on his right arm.”

 

Hey, Frankie, how about naming this neglected road after Pat Zachary? One of the guys the Mets traded for back in '77.

 

Willets Point businesses have had it with the broken roads

Queens Chronicle

 
Fifty businesses in Willets Point signed a petition sent out last week to Department of Transportation Borough Commissioner Nicole Garcia, requesting to meet with her about the industrial area’s dilapidated, cratered streets.

Decades have passed since most of the streets in the Iron Triangle were repaved. They have been compared to those of Kabul, Afghanistan.

The DOT did do some repaving work in the area several weeks ago. It fixed up the western border of Willets Point, 126th Street between Northern Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue, right by Citi Field. It also had workers resurface two blocks at the northern boundary of the area, 126th Place and 127th Street between Northern and 34th Avenue.

But Willets Point business owners didn’t respond with much, if any, praise. The vast majority of the area’s shops are located more centrally within it. The west side of the 126th Place block that the city repaved doesn’t have any businesses on it.

Critics charged the DOT just wanted to make 126th Street look nice for an anticipated ceremony celebrating the block by Citi Field being co-named for Mets legend Tom Seaver. They said the agency did the one-block repavings on 126th Place and 127th Street to placate business owners who might be upset.

The DOT says it does not have the in-house resources available to repave Willets Point at large.
The agency also hasn’t responded to the petitioners, according to Irene Prestigiacamo, an Iron Triangle property owner who wrote the letter to Garcia on behalf of Willets Point United.

“Being very frank with you, I don’t expect to [hear back] right away,” she told the Chronicle.

I highlighted this because the DOT did something similar in South Richmond Hill last October when they resurfaced three blocks days before a movie was being shot on Lefferts Blvd.

 

Revelers bring the noise at Willets Point and Forest Park parking lots

 

Queens Chronicle

 
Ed Sniadecki tried earplugs. He even bought a white noise machine.
Nothing has given him and his wife relief from the extremely loud music at night, though.

“It’s a pounding bass,” the Whitestone resident told the Chronicle last Thursday. “It resonates throughout the entire neighborhood.”

He and others say the problem ramps up in spring and summer. And according to Sniadecki, “It’s no longer a weekend thing.”

Affected residents say the main culprit is the music-blasting cars with big sound systems parked late at night in Willets Point and the World’s Fair Marina parking lot. And police responding to noise complaints have proved them right.

“Bump, bump, bump, bump,” said Dan Lamarca of Whitestone, imitating the bass sound from the cars. When he first heard it, back in 2013, he thought kids were banging on the door to his house.
It is relentless. Even at Easter dinner last month, the obnoxious noise blared in the background at Lamarca’s house.

“We’re considering selling our house and moving out,” he said.
Lamarca isn’t the only one, according to We Love Whitestone Civic Association President Alfredo Centola.

“People are literally moving out of their neighborhood because they can’t take the music anymore,” the civic leader said.

In June 2016, a South Richmond Hill man was arrested for blasting music late at night in Willets Point from a van. The vehicle — which had more than 50 speakers — was confiscated.

Queens Chronicle


Councilman Bob Holden (D-Middle Village) said he can hear people blaring music from the Forest Park Bandshell from his house.

To clarify, Holden lives in Middle Village north, two blocks away from the Long Island Expressway. In fact, when he first heard the music on a night about a month ago, he thought it was coming from Juniper Valley Park.

“It’s one thing to play music but it’s another thing to get stadium speakers and blast it where you can hear it for miles,” he told the Chronicle on Monday.

Holden posted on Facebook on April 23 that the 102nd Precinct was in the bandshell parking lot and would remain throughout the night.

One commenter posted, “This is our way of staying out of trouble .. we are in a open park not disturbing anyone in a parking lot .. yes i agree we leave a mess but add trash cans and it will be cleaner!! We aren’t there fighting killing shooting we just there playing music staying out of trouble!!...”

Holden told the Chronicle he didn’t agree with the post.

“Weren’t disturbing anyone? That’s ridiculous,” he said. “You’re disturbing people for miles away. That’s how bad it was. If they weren’t disturbing anyone, this wouldn’t be an issue. And the fact that these are grown men who said we’re staying out of trouble, what does that mean? Let us break the law and let us disturb the peace because we’re staying out of trouble. These guys have to grow up.”
Holden added, “These guys are not angels like they say on their Facebook posts. ‘Oh, we just want to hang out and have fun.’ Yeah, you want to have fun at other people’s expense and make a racket.”
He is working with the 102nd and 104th precincts to solve the problem.

“You can get a parking ticket within two minutes of your meter expiring, but the people who are actually creating a nuisance to the neighborhoods aren’t getting fined,” Holden said in a statement. “The NYPD needs to crack down on these complaints or else the disturbances will never stop.”

Meetings happening about soccer team

From the Queens Eagle:

A caption crafted by the press office and sent to media outlets for publication said that Moya, Katz and Villa met to “discuss the future of ‘The Beautiful Game’ in ‘The World’s Borough.’”

“One option that was discussed is a proposal to build a 10,000 to 25,000-seat soccer stadium in the Willets Point redevelopment area that would serve as home for the Queensboro Football Club, a proposed new team that would play in the United Soccer League, a second division professional league,” the statement said.

The proposal for a soccer-specific stadium in Willets Point is nothing new. Katz and Moya even formed a task force to study Willets Point stadium proposals in 2017 and Katz reiterated her support earlier this year.

“I have not made it a secret that I support a stadium there,” Katz told Crain’s in February. “I think it would be a great thing for the constituents of the borough of Queens.”

But the press statement generated significant attention among die-hard soccer fans who had never heard of a proposed “Queensboro Football Club” that would play in the United Soccer League, a 33-team professional league that is considered the second-tier of the American soccer pyramid after Major League Soccer.

The proposed club name was first reported by the website SoccerInNYC.com (full disclosure: the site is operated by Eagle managing editor David Brand).

Soccer writer Chris Kivlehan saw the post about the proposed Queensboro Football Club on SoccerInNYC.com and dug deeper into the proposal.

As of press time, Katz’ office did not respond to request for comment. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Moya said he would get back to the Eagle with more information about the meeting.

On Tuesday night, Kivlehan shared more about what he had heard about the soccer club proposal in a post on the NYCFC subreddit.

“I made contact with a person at DV7 soccer who confirmed to me that it was something they looked at but said it was not currently an active project,” Kivlehan wrote. “This chat was in early Sept. Clearly with Villa, Katz and Moya meeting it indeed appears to be active. I heard stadium was more like 10k. I can’t see them building more than 15k for anything but NYCFC.”

Willets Point may become giant parking lot

From Crains:

The justification for razing a collection of small businesses in Willets Point, Queens, as part of an economic development project a decade in the making was that the land needed to be cleaned of its toxic soil and would better serve as a mixed-use site.

Earlier this year, however, the city and a development team that included the owners of the New York Mets drew up plans to use publicly owned Willets Point property for parking lots that would appear to benefit the Wilpon family's baseball team and an unrelated renovation project at LaGuardia Airport. But the proposal would leave the contaminated ground beneath it untouched, official documents show.

The parking plan was never acted upon, although officials left open the possibility of pursuing it. Doing so would raise questions about the city's priorities for the site, and it would mark a shift in what the land was supposed to be used for when it was rezoned in 2008.

In February, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city would go back to the drawing board after the state's Court of Appeals struck down an earlier version of the Willets Point plan that involved building a shopping mall on parkland. The development team—The Related Cos. and Sterling Equities, the real estate arm of the Wilpon family—would build a 1,100-unit affordable-housing complex on 6 acres of city-owned property. A task force of elected officials and community stakeholders would come up with suggestions on what to build on the remaining 17 acres of public land.

"It's time to jump-start Willets Point, and we are doing that by building more than a thousand homes for seniors and families struggling to make ends meet," the mayor said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

But just a month later, the developers notified a state agency overseeing soil remediation at Willets Point that they planned to build parking within the area delegated to the task force, according to documents obtained by Queens filmmaker Robert LoScalzo through a Freedom of Information Law request and provided to Crain's. A roughly 6.5-acre swath of city-owned land would be paved over with three lots housing 665 parking spots and a large open space.

The notification suggested that the lots would be used by Delta Air Lines, which is launching a massive undertaking to replace its terminal at LaGuardia. Finding a place for the airline's contractors to park has been an issue ever since Delta's terminal project was announced.

While Delta said in a public document last year that it had reached an agreement with the Mets to use Citi Field parking to fill the need, paving new lots in Willets Point would serve the same purpose. It would leave parking at the Amazins stadium untouched—a win for the franchise—and would corroborate reports from 2016 that officials were eyeing space in the Iron Triangle to aid the airport's redevelopment.

"It is heartbreaking that hundreds of businesses were ejected from these 23 acres, and yet none of the promised benefits of doing that have come to pass after 10 years," said LoScalzo, who is working on a documentary about Willets Point. "Instead it seems the city has drifted over to other priorities."

City using strongarm tactics at Willets Point

From the Queens Chronicle:

Wais Mohibi doesn’t like to go down without a fight.

With his partner Jamie Sabeti, he owns A&B Repair Shop & Discount Muffler at 38th Avenue and 126th Street, the lone holdout in an otherwise barren section of Willets Point.

The Bloomberg administration made deals with other businesses in the area, so the properties could be cleared to make way for a since-killed plan to build a 1.4 million-square-foot mega-mall. Many of the businesses were given money and moved to the Bronx but ended up evicted from their new home.

Mohibi and his partner didn’t end up taking an offer.

“I fought with the city,” he told the Chronicle. “They wanted me out.”

Because the business stayed, its lease with the previous owner of their lot was still in effect and they had to start paying their rent to the city.

Mohibi said he doesn’t regret the decision to stay, and not take a relocation deal, but noted that it hasn’t been painless.

“We had a loss of business,” he said.

Not helping his company is its lack of accessible water — which is often a necessary part of auto work.

“[The city] cut off the water,” Mohibi explained. The issue is compounded by the fact that there is no meter the business can use to gauge its electricity usage, a problem he said was also created after the city took over the lease.

Because of the lack of services, Mohibi and Sabeti stopped paying rent to the city about a year ago, according to Ira Cooper, their attorney.

The de Blasio administration is suing them.

Katz & Moya to hold secret meeting on Willets Point

From Willets Point United:

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and Councilmember Francisco Moya are the co-chairs of the “Willets Point Task Force,” a cherry-picked group that is supposed to recommend potential uses for Willets Point land. The Task Force will hold its third closed-door meeting this Wednesday, August 22.

Katz and Moya are denying Willets Point United and all current Willets Point property or business owners the opportunity to attend any meeting of the Task Force – despite Queens Community Board 7’s recommendation that Katz and Moya consider allowing a Willets Point representative to attend. Even worse, Councilmember Moya’s office directly lied to us by telephone last Thursday, stating that no August meeting of the Task Force has been scheduled – when Queens Community Board 7 knew that the meeting is set for August 22.

Katz and Moya are shutting out not only Willets Point United, but also the press. We are aware that Borough Hall has rejected several reporters’ requests to observe Task Force meetings, and has been unwilling to provide even basic information regarding what land use options the Task Force is considering, or how it operates.

Per information furnished to Queens Community Board 7, the scheduled topic of the August 22 Task Force meeting is to “develop preliminary recommendations,” prior to the final September meeting which will “review final recommendations” to be sent to Mayor de Blasio.

In our view, Katz, Moya and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) are leading the Task Force to an outcome predetermined by them – and they are using public-sector Task Force members solely to create an illusion of community buy-in, not to solicit or seriously consider any creative Willets Point development ideas they may have. Given that Willets Point United has a wealth of knowledge about all that has happened with the proposed Willets Point development during the past ten years (and beyond), had we been allowed to participate on the Task Force we would have encouraged thorough consideration of all relevant issues and potential recommendations – not just the ones prioritized by Katz, Moya and NYCEDC. We believe it is for that reason, that Katz and Moya are deliberately excluding us (and in the case of Moya’s office, even lying to us).

While Katz and Moya are shutting us out of their meetings, they cannot stop us from informing Task Force members, via this writing, of issues we consider important, and recommendations we believe the Task Force should make to Mayor de Blasio regarding Willets Point. We hope that the more open-minded members of the Task Force (if any) will raise these issues during the Wednesday meeting as “preliminary recommendations” are formulated.

(Article continues at link above.)

Two acres of tweeding at Willets Point

From Willets Point United:

A new video released by Willets Point United demands that the de Blasio administration act before a December 2018 contractual deadline, to protect taxpayers’ interests by reclaiming two acres of Willets Point property which the Bloomberg administration gave to Queens Development Group.

In the video (below), Willets Point property owner Irene Prestigiacomo explains the give-away of the two acres to Queens Development Group; the comprehensive development project which the property was supposed to facilitate; the court decision that effectively prevents that project from proceeding; the contractual provision that allows the City to take back the property under present circumstances; the lack of action by the de Blasio administration thus far to reclaim the property; and City officials’ fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers to do so before the deadline lapses.

Ms. Prestigiacomo asks (06:38): "As corrupt as this City sometimes can be, have we really reached the point where a developer can keep public property worth tens of millions, without delivering any of the project that was the basis for it to receive the property in the first place?"

Cuomo decision allows Claire to rezone Flushing waterfront

From QNS:

A 62-acre portion of land on the Flushing waterfront may soon see substantial redevelopment after receiving a special designation from the state.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) designation for an area of land in the western area of downtown Flushing, bounded to the north by Northern Boulevard, to the east by Prince Street, to the south by Roosevelt Avenue and to the west by Flushing Creek and the Van Wyck Expressway.

The Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corporation (FWCLDC) presented the application for the BOA, which is described as a vacant, underdeveloped and/or polluted area where, under the program, economic environmental conditions are examined and redevelopment opportunities are identified in an attempt to attract public and public investment.

The designation opens up several benefits for future developers, including support from state municipalities and a potential for tax credits.

“I thank our entire board for its support during this process and now look forward to the next phase which will include a formal ULURP application to implement the zoning recommendations included in our nomination study,” said Claire Shulman, president and CEO of the Flushing Willets Point Corona LDC said in a letter to the LDC’s board. “The LDC thanks the Department of City Planning for its stellar work on our nomination study and environmental assessment report. Our staff at the LDC also deserve thanks for their hard work in overseeing and ensuring completion of this critical phase of our work. The LDC will apply for funding for the next phase of our work (implementation) as soon as it becomes available from the state.”

Disgraceful dealings at Willets Point

There's a really great photoessay on Curbed by Nathan Kensinger. Definitely worth a look.

Willets Point project is a 10-year long joke

Dear Editor (Queens Chronicle):

While a slice of bread is better than nothing, it is a poor substitute for the whole loaf, particularly if the single slice is stale.

The Feb. 8 Queens Chronicle editorial “Is the future of Willets Point finally here?” is legitimate in utilizing a question mark. It has been 10 years since approval of the 2008 Willets Point Plan, which involved 23 acres with 5,500 housing units. The current plan is limited to six acres said to accommodate 1,100 affordable units, a 450-seat elementary school, retail and some open space. Six acres is a pittance, hardly enough space to accommodate just a school, let alone what is planned. The bulk of the area consisting of 17 acres is left in political hands, and at this time is left open without the slightest transparency of what and when anything of substance will come to pass.

Given the length of time that has transpired since 2008 and continuation of involvement of the Queens Development Group, which consists of the Mets ball club owners, the Wilpons, their Sterling Equities and the Related Companies, one must have deep concern about the current proposal.

The QDG’s credibility is so slight it could not be visible even under a powered microscope. It was deceitful in accepting the original plan because what the developers really intended was to build a gambling casino, and when that failed, the project lay dormant until they came up with an even more absurd plan. They claimed they could not proceed with the original plan because they could not afford to do so, and needed to construct a 1.4 million-square-foot mega shopping mall on the Citi Field parking lot to generate the money they would need. The QDG’s owners had a portfolio of at least $20 billion consisting of many apartments and were in fact one of New York City’s largest landlords, and owned thousands of other properties in the country.

While there may well be “nothing rotten in the state of Denmark,” methinks there is something rotten in the City of New York. There has been no explanation for the current plan and no rationale for not including the left out 17 acres — nor any justification for why the original 2008 Willets Point Plan cannot now be accomplished. Mayor de Blasio’s support for an absurd six-acre deal is a sham for which he should be ashamed. The six-acre plan is the epitome of a lack of municipal transparency, and must be rejected.

Benjamin M. Haber
Flushing