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?"

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

Islanders moving to Belmont

From Metro:

The state announced on Wednesday that the bid submitted by the Islanders, Sterling Project Development and Oak View Group won the right to build a state-of-the-art arena on the 43 acres of land in Elmont, NY between Hempstead Turnpike and the Cross Island Parkway.

It is a $1 billion investment which is being completely funded by the Islanders, Sterling and OVG. The team is expected to get a 49-year lease and pay $40 million in rent, per Randi Marshall of Newsday.

The 43 acres of developed land will also include a hotel that will allow fans and opposing teams to stay at, 435,000-square feet of retail space and a cultural center.

AG comes up with bogus reason for mall support

From the Queens Chronicle:

After the Chronicle mentioned that Schneiderman has received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from members of the Queens Development Group — a joint venture between Sterling Equities and the Related Companies — a Schneiderman spokesman, Doug Cohen, cited innocuous government interests as the real reason the Office of the Attorney General is involved.

“As the lawyer for the State, OAG is acting at the request of State [Department of Environmental Conservation] and the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which identified State interests related to future environmental clean-ups, and the proper uses of parkland,” he said.

AG Schneiderman lobbied on mall in park; submits court brief in favor

Dear Editor (Queens Chronicle):

(An open letter to state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman)

For many years I and many other residents of Queens have fought to protect the integrity of Flushing Meadows Corona Park as an urban park. We successfully defeated an attempt to construct around Meadow Lake in the park a Grand Prix racetrack. We were not successful in opposing the usurpation of parkland for the USTA stadiums and their expansions. We made it clear we would oppose any attempt to place in the park a soccer or hockey stadium.

There is currently pending before the New York State Court of Appeals, our highest state court, litigation that seeks to prevent the construction of a 1.4 million-square-foot shopping mall on the parking lot adjacent to the Citi Field stadium, on the grounds the lot is on land that is part of FMCP and there can be no alienation of parkland without New York State legislative approval and the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure before the community boards whose areas touch upon the park. The developers claim that with regard to use of the Citi Field parking lot they have no obligation to seek legislative approval nor any requirement to engage in the ULURP process. While we lost our case in the lower court, our attorney, John Low-Beer, was successful before the Appellate Division First Department in having the lower court reversed and construction of the mall prohibited. The developers then appealed to the Court of Appeals.

We recently became apprised of the fact that you as attorney general of New York State have injected yourself into the litigation and are submitting an amicus curiae brief in support of the developers and their projected mega mall. We find your 11th-hour entry into this litigation indeed strange, given that at no time while the issue was being debated before the public was there any participation by you or your office. As the attorney general we expect you to be the defender of the public trust doctrine as it relates to parkland. We are certain you are familiar that in the past the AG office has invoked the public trust doctrine in the cases of Friends of Van Cortlandt Park v. City of New York and Capruso v. Village of Kings Point. We fail to understand how you differentiate a mega mall on parkland from the cited cases.

We do not know if your initiative was prompted by yourself or as the result of lobbying from the developers or at the behest of Gov. Cuomo, who in the past has sought to settle the pending litigation and permit a mall. In this connection, we think it relevant and important to take note of the fact that, according to the Board of Elections’ website, Sterling Equities, Sterling Mets LP, Related Companies, Stephen M. Ross, Kara Ross, Jeff T. Blau and Lisa Blau — all related in various ways with the developers of the mall project — have contributed to election campaigns of both you and Cuomo a total of $187,300 since 2010. That is a large amount, which raises serious questions regarding the obligation of both you and the governor to protect the interests of your constituents and not that of billionaire real estate moguls.

Benjamin M. Haber
Flushing

City Council desperate to have mall built on parkland

From Capital New York:

The New York City Council, which often sides with Mayor Bill de Blasio, is breaking ranks over a planned development at Willets Point in Queens.

The Council plans to vote on Wednesday on a resolution that would authorize it to file an amicus brief defending the plans, which were initially approved by the Council, as land-use applications must be.

The amicus brief itself has yet to be written, and the resolution gives the Council six months to file it in court, but the legislative body will side with the developer in arguing that a mall should be built on existing parkland outside Citi Field.

The Queens Development Group, a partnership of the Related Companies and Sterling Equities, is appealing a decision from earlier this year that would have banned the construction of the mall. The state Court of Appeals last month decided to consider the developer's case.

The Council seems to have no problem disregarding clear public sentiment since 2012, exemplified by Queens Civic Congress being a plaintiff in litigation opposing the Willets West mega-mall on parkland. The Council may be soliciting this vote of its members based on a misrepresentation, as council never considered or voted to approve the mega-mall. (All the council did approve was a special permit to temporarily use Willets Point as a parking lot.) Council must solicit this vote based upon the facts, not upon Queens Development Group's inaccurate revisionist history.

I guess we should be checking campaign contributions in a few months?

Judge questions developers' sweetheart Willets Point deal

From the Daily News:

A judge for a state appeals court questioned the city’s plan to build a mega-mall on parkland in Queens, raising a concern that developers were getting an overly sweet deal.

Officials helped win over the City Council for the $3 billion Willets Point development in 2013 — which is slated to include a 1.4 million-square-foot shopping mall and a hotel near Citi Field — by upping the amount of affordable housing included in the project.

But one of the appellate panel’s judges said Wednesday she feared the relatively modest $35 million penalty that developers would incur if they don’t build the housing isn’t enough to see it through.

She said she was concerned that the deal could be a “win-win for developers and owners of malls.”

“We have a lot of those,” the judge said.

Avella calls Willets Point developer out for double-dipping

From the Times Ledger:

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) has called on the state Department of Conservation to reject an application by the developers of Willets Point for millions of dollars in tax credits.

Avella slammed the Queens Development Group, a joint venture by Related Co., and Sterling Equities, for applying for credits from DEC’s Brownfield Cleanup Program in addition to $40 million they received from the city for clean-up costs associated with their $3 billion redevelopment of Willets Point.

“The QDG is attempting to take advantage of the BCP tax credit program by trying to apply for millions in tax credits for costs that will already be paid from the taxpayer’s pocket. It’s absolutely disgraceful,” Avella said. “The DEC’s response is alarming, as it completely disregards the fact that the QDG is already required to clean up the site and will already be receiving taxpayer funds to do so.”

Avella said he contacted the DEC after he learned the developers had been granted the city funds despite having already applied for Brownfield credits.

In a recent letter the DEC said, “The public interest is served by allowing these properties to participate in the BCP.”

The DEC did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokesman for the developers said that any tax credits they received from the DEC’s Brownfield program would not necessarily overlap as not all eligible clean-up areas were being reimbursed by the city.

Oral arguments heard in megamall lawsuit

From WPIX:

New York State Supreme Court Judge Manuel Mendez will rule shortly on a coalition of Queens community group’s lawsuit to block the development of the Willets West Mega Mall.

“We don’t want another mall. We need parks for kids,” Darryl Steckler, a Holliswood resident told PIX 11.

Many Met fans going into the game say they’ve heard enough about the proposed Willets West megamall in the shadow of Citifield to know they don’t like it.

“There are enough malls around here. We don’t need another place to buy shoes,” Jennifer Quinn said.

The proposed 1.4 million square-foot mall to be developed by Sterling Equities, the owner of the New York Mets and the Related companies would replace the auto-body shops and build on more than 47 acres of Queens Parkland, currently part of Citifield parking lot. The area has been the scene of numerous protests over the last seven years.

Opponents of the proposed mega-mall argued in New York State Supreme Court against what they called the “give-away” of parkland without the required approval of both the New York state legislature and the city’s uniform land use review commission.

“You have five malls already in Queens and they are not doing well,” State Senator Tony Avella told PIX11. “Why do we need another one?”

Outside the courthouse after oral argument. Visible (left to right): Harbachan Singh, Queens Civic Congress; Irene Prestigiacomo, Willets Point United; NYS Senator Tony Avella; Joseph Ardizzone, Willets Point United; Michael Gruen, City Club of New York; John Low-Beer, plaintiffs' attorney; Phil Konigsberg, Queens Community Board 7; Ben Haber, activist/plaintiff; Len Maniace, Jackson Heights Beautification Group. Copyright 2014 LoScalzo Media Design LLC.

Mega mall on parkland being defended by former top judge

From Willets Point United:

The court case, Sen. Tony Avella v. City of New York, is pending before Justice Manuel Mendez in New York State Supreme Court. Oral argument will take place on July 30, 2014 at 2:15PM at 71 Thomas Street, Room 210.

QDG must be so nervous about the prospect of an adverse court decision, that it has resorted to bringing in the ultimate New York judicial juggernaut – former Chief Judge Judith Kaye – to attempt to persuade the court to see things QDG’s way. Frankly, we think this is also a not-so-subtle attempt to intimidate Justice Mendez into siding with QDG, and to make it uncomfortable for him to do otherwise. After all, the legal issues raised by this case are clear-cut, and could be very well presented by any competent attorney who doesn’t happen to be a former Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals. What, then, does QDG gain by retaining former Chief Judge Judith Kaye for this case?

Well, for Justice Mendez to rule in favor of Plaintiffs/Petitioners (against QDG and Willets West), he would have to disagree with not just any QDG lawyer, but with Judith Kaye, former Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals. It is as if the former Chief Judge is telling Justice Mendez on behalf of QDG: “I find that this mega-mall is legal and may proceed. Who are you to disagree with me, the former Chief Judge at this state’s highest court, two levels above yours?”

With all due respect, it should be noted that Justice Mendez is at the Supreme Court – the lowest level of trial court in New York State. Above that is the Appellate Division. And above that is the Court of Appeals, where Judith Kaye was an Associate Judge from 1983 through 1993, and then Chief Judge for 15 years from 1993 through 2008, when she retired because of age restrictions. She is now of counsel, and apparently for hire, at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP.

We also note that Judith Kaye was first appointed to the Court of Appeals, and later designated its Chief Judge, by then-Governor Mario Cuomo – the same Mario Cuomo who, in 2012, brokered settlement talks on behalf of Mets owners including Fred Wilpon who were involved in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard had sued the Wilpons to recover $386 million in swindle profits. Cuomo not only reduced the amount the Wilpons owe to $162 million, but also got Picard to drop his claim that the Wilpons were willfully blind to Madoff’s fraud. Now, Cuomo friend Judith Kaye is assisting the Wilpons’ Sterling Equities to lay claim to 40+ acres of Queens park land, to supplant it with a mega-mall.

We pray that Justice Manuel Mendez sees right through QDG’s attempt to strong-arm his decision in the Willets West matter by inserting former Chief Judge Judith Kaye into the case – and that Justice Mendez will have the fortitude to disregard undue pressure and render a decision that is based, as it should be, on the relevant facts and law.

"Mayor's Fund to Advance NYC" is full of notorious developers

From Capital New York:

Mayor Bill de Blasio wants the city's parks and playgrounds to offer year-round equipment and recreational activites for adults and senior citizens, not only children.

The mayor presented that idea Monday morning, when he laid out several of his fund-raising goals during a closed-door meeting of the newly formed, 58-member board of advisers to the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City, according to a document obtained by Capital.

His wife, Chirlane McCray, chairs the Mayor's Fund, a 20-year-old organization that solicits donations to bolster initiatives run out of City Hall.

The three-page document outlines three priorities for de Blasio and McCray, who met with the board at Gracie Mansion.

The first idea is upgrading parks, pools and playgrounds.

"In addition to the conventional park equipment for children and passive recreation space, the model envisions: multi-purpose equipment for adults and seniors; year-round programming for kids and adults; wifi connectivity; site specific apps complementing on-site programs; unique public safety elements grounded in community policing models - all of which will build on local community partnership and park 'ownership,'" according to the memo, which was distributed to those attending the meeting.

That program will be run jointly by the city's health, education and parks departments, the mayor's Community Affairs Unit and the NYPD.

And here are the members of the Fund. Miss Heather has the poop, er, scoop:

The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City Board of Advisors:

Husam Ahmad, HAKS Construction
Marisol Alcantara, West Harlem District Leader
Jo Andres, Artist, Filmmaker & Choreographer
Gina Argento, Broadway Stages
Barry Berke, Kramer Levin
Anthony Bonomo, Physicians’ Reciprocal Insurers
Barbara Bowen, Professional Staff Congress
Jill Bright, Conde Nast
Steve Buscemi, Actor
Derrick Cephas, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Janet Dewart Bell, Communications and Policy Consultant
Cheryl Effron, Founder, Conjunction Fund & Founder, Greater NY
Jay Eisenhofer, Grant & Eisenhofer
Steven Feldman, Bullion International
Hal Fetner, Sidney Fetner Associates
Marian Fontana, Writer, Performer & Founder, 9-11 Families Association
Charlene Gayle, Macon Realty
Aron Govil, Ducon Technologies
Beth Green, Attorney
George Gresham, 1199 SEIU
Jon Halpern, Halpern Real Estate Ventures
Fred Heller, Metro Systems
Louis Hernandez, Former President, NYPD Hispanic Society
Anne Hess, MADRE & Philanthropist
Lorna Brett Howard, Philanthropist
Laura Imperiale, Tully Construction
Amabel Boyce James, Philanthropist
Orin Kramer, Boston Provident
Pam Kwatra, Kripari Marketing
John McAvoy, Con Edison of New York
Mary McCormick, Fund for the City of New York
Cheryl McKissack, McKissack & McKissack
Ron Moelis, L+M Development
Rud Morales, Primary One, Inc.
Mike Muse, Muse Recordings
Charles Myers, Evercore Partners
Cynthia Nixon, Actor
Ronald O. Perelman, MacAndrews and Forbes
Bruce Ratner, Forest City Ratner
Steven Rubenstein, Rubenstein Communications
Bill Rudin, Rudin Management
Bill Samuels, Effective New York
Mary Sansone, Congress of Italian-Americans Organization
Chris Shelton, CWA, District 1
Harendra Singh, Singh Hospitality Group
Daisy Soros, Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
Jerry Speyer, Tishman Speyer
Rob Speyer, Tishman Speyer
Mary Alice Stephenson, GLAM4GOOD
Stuart Suna, Silvercup Studios
Ken Sunshine, Sunshine Sachs
Carol Sutton Lewis, Carol Sutton Lewis and William M. Lewis, Jr. Charitable Foundation
Jon Tisch, Loews
Dan Tishman, Tishman Construction
Estela Vasquez, 1199 SEIU
George Walker, Neuberger Berman
Jeff Wilpon, Sterling Equities
Steven Witkoff, The Witkoff Group

The names highlighted should get your attention. So much for the DeBlasios being real progressives. They're nothing but tweeders. Filling an advisory board with folks that have resisted and/or gotten around providing promised affordable housing, taken advantage of eminent domain for private gain, as well as a chick with an on-the-record a shady past, patners-in-grime with a slumlord who plans to use Newtown Creek environmental settlement money to build a hotel? What a joke.

You simply can't make this sh*t up.

Avella, activists, file lawsuit to stop shopping mall at Flushing Meadows

Notice of Petition & Petition

From Save FMCP:

State Senator Tony Avella of Whitestone, Queens, The City Club of New York, park advocacy groups, and an array of residents and business people neighboring the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, filed suit today to cut off the threat of construction of a 1.4 million square foot shopping mall within the Park.

The complaint alleges that the project cannot proceed without approval by the State Legislature under the “public trust” doctrine that protects all parkland throughout the State against any form of transfer or introduction of non-park uses without consent of the Legislature. It does not appear that any such approval for the shopping center use has been requested or obtained.

The complaint also alleges violations of the City’s Zoning Resolution and Charter, and seeks annulment of approvals granted by the City to date for the related Willets Point plan.

The site is 30.7 acres near the northerly end of the Park. From 1964 to 2006, the site was occupied by Shea Stadium. When Shea was demolished and replaced in 2009 by Citi Field at a location slightly east of the Shea site, the project site became a parking field for visitors to Citi Field. The site has also been used for a variety of public recreational events including foot races, circus performances, an annual wheelchair baseball game, and concerts.

In 2012, Sterling Equities and the Related Companies, both well-known developers, convinced the Bloomberg administration to allow the shopping mall on Park property, although the City Council had approved a plan in 2008 to place the intended retail development in the neighboring Willets Point development project along with affordable housing.

The project has moved forward without the customary public review. There have been no hearings on it before community boards, the Planning Commission, the City Council, or the State Legislature. The Bloomberg administration appears to have acted on the assumption that no public review is required because in 1961 the State Legislature approved construction of Shea Stadium and provision for parking, with wording broad enough, say proponents of the project, to allow replacement with a shopping center. The Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the project on the parking field declares that the parcel is on designated parkland and that legislation permits the shopping mall project. It lists approvals that the City and developers expect to seek, but State legislative approval is not among them.

The contention that the 1961 law exempts this transaction from the public trust doctrine, says John Low-Beer, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, is wrong. “The 1961 law was intended to allow a stadium and uses directly related to a stadium, such as parking, concessions, and other commercial activity typically incidental to a professional sports arena.”

Low-Beer adds that the 1961 law “says nothing about a shopping center. In fact, the Legislature explicitly prohibited any purely commercial uses other than ones strictly related to the stadium, such as concession stands. The public trust doctrine requires that any legislative consent be very specific about what it will allow. If it doesn’t specify a use, then that use is not permitted.”

Senator Tony Avella stated that “Parks are intended to serve the people, to provide open space, landscaping, opportunities for recreation, playgrounds for children, and escape from the hordes and noise of a busy commercial city. The only commercial uses that belong in them are those, such as snack stands, that enhance the park experience. A shopping center is not one of them. We have a wonderful law that is supposed to assure all of this, known as the ‘public trust doctrine.’ I’m outraged when the people who are supposed to administer parks for everyone turn them over to private interests without seeking the State Legislature's consent as the public trust doctrine requires. So, I am very pleased to be a party to this action.”

The plaintiffs include Paul Graziano, Al Centola and Ben Haber who have prominently opposed a spate of recent proposals for new or enlarged sports venues in the Park, as well as the shopping center. The efforts of “Save Flushing Meadows Park,” a coalition of many Queens civic groups put together by Graziano, Centola, Haber and others, thwarted the proposed professional soccer stadium, though it was unable to stop a half-acre expansion of the Tennis Center. They have also led opposition to the shopping center.

Because 23 acres for $1 just isn't enough corporate welfare

From the Daily News:

The developers of a mega-mall slated to rise on the parking lot at Citi Field are seeking almost $43 million in tax breaks, but opponents of the project — including many auto body shops in the area — argue they should get no breaks at all.

The city will hold a public hearing on Thursday to evaluate the request for the exemptions for the $3 billion Willets Point redevelopment, which includes the one-million-square-foot mall and housing.

The city plans to sell the 23-acre site near Flushing Meadows-Corona Park for $1 to the Queens Development Group, which is composed of Sterling Equities and Related Companies.

The city’s Industrial Development Agency will decide whether to grant the tax breaks to the group on Tuesday — and there is plenty of opposition. “This whole thing has been a disaster from beginning to end,” said state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside.) “How do you justify (giving) tens of millions of taxpayer money when you’re selling the property to the developers for a dollar?”

Sorry, that $43M is needed for the NYS Pavilion. Take a hike.

The land that the Wilpons' mall will be built on is parkland that was never officially alienated, and is basically being handed over as part of the $1 package deal. The city can point to an outdated Robert Moses contract mentioning the Board of Estimate, but I can see this ending up in court.

Here's Tony Avella's testimony on the matter:

Testimony for NYC Industrial Development Agency Straight Lease Transaction for Willets Point Development

Selling off public parkland is now common practice

From City Limits:

The audacity of the mayor's final development campaign has been unprecedented. "I can't recall any comparable push by lame-duck mayors to cement their ‘legacies' with such chutzpah," says Tom Angotti, a professor of urban planning at Hunter College. Angotti had worked in city government under Koch, Dinkins, and Giuliani, and he was on the inside when two of those administrations drew to a close. "It really does seem that Bloomberg is trying to make it difficult for the next mayor to take a different path," he says.

But will the next mayor take a different path? The candidates have their own ideas, but both de Blasio and Lhota would essentially build on Bloomberg's development agenda, supporting such current initiatives as the rezoning of Midtown and the expansion of public-private partnerships in parks. De Blasio has even said the Flushing Meadows soccer stadium is "worth discussing" if the league provides funds to fix up the rest of the park. Both candidates would allow new construction on public-housing property, though de Blasio insists any towers must contain affordable housing and Lhota says developers would not be allowed to take playgrounds.

Also from City Limits:

While Manhattan and Brooklyn have ended up with some showplace parks, no one is interested in operating, say, Highland Park on the Brooklyn-Queens border or Ferry Point Park in the Bronx. Donald Trump has struck a deal to take about half of the 413-acre Ferry Point to build a private club and a "world-class" golf course on what had been a garbage dump , but he won't be sharing the revenue with the park, and it's unlikely the patrons of his luxury facility will be the residents of the neighboring public housing project.

Even middle-class and well-heeled areas have been forced to pick up the slack, with volunteers maintaining such parks as Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village, Queens, and Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in Manhattan, right across the street from the United Nations. Half of the city's 1,800 parks and playgrounds now depend on some type of private group to at least chip in on maintenance, according to the Parks Department, but many, if not most, of these groups struggle.

Some people, like Public Advocate and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio, have pinned their hopes for more equitable parks funding on legislation proposed by state Senator Dan Squadron that would create a Neighborhood Parks Alliance to take 20 percent from the budgets of large park conservancies and distribute that money to the parks most in need. "It will make for a fairer city," says de Blasio, "and I think it's a great idea."

But the proposed alliance would be blocked from accessing a large part of the nonprofit funds, says James J. Fishman, a professor at Pace Law School. Endowments would be off-limits, and if donors make restricted gifts, then that money can't be diverted to another use. Nonprofit-law experts consulted by City Limits say the legislation is sure to face legal challenges.

Fact is, the proposed fund would draw from the same private-money system that led to the great disparities it seeks to correct, and the redistribution of money simply won't be enough to right the deeper wrongs. There is no such thing as a free lunch: Taxpayers still cover a portion of the budgets for even the biggest park conservancies, and that means they would end up funding the Neighborhood Park Alliance too. In the end, most public parks remain the responsibility of the public.

Though Ferreras compared her new nonprofit to the Central Park Conservancy and the Prospect Park Alliance, she had created a new model, funded not by philanthropic contributions but by extracting money from businesses that want parkland.

When Ferreras told City Limits of her plans to ask the Willets Point developers for money, she listed other businesses located in the park, including the Mets and the Terrace on the Park banquet hall, noting that all of these businesses already operate under agreements with the city—the Terrace on the Park, for example, pays the city $2.5 million a year, or $100,000 more than the U.S.T.A.

But some park advocates fear Ferreras's forging of separate deals will now set a dangerous precedent, encouraging more development in underfunded parks. The Willets Point deal was "shameful," according to Richard Hellenbrecht, president of the Queens Civic Congress, an umbrella organization of 106 civic and community groups. The Congress opposed the mall plan not only for its taking of parkland but for the harm it could cause to local small businesses, not to mention the likelihood of more traffic and congestion.

"It's taking parkland, mapped parkland," Hillenbrecht says of the "Willets West" shopping mall. "It makes me angry. I worry about this in a lot of ways, and it upsets me that it could have been approved so quickly, ignoring all the concerns of Queens residents. We're going to have a new administration in a few more months. Why couldn't it wait?"

Several community groups have told City Limits they're contemplating a lawsuit over the city's claim that the shopping mall is permitted under a 1961 law that allowed for the financing of Shea Stadium. They claim the administration wants to avoid the burden of alienating that parkland, which would require state legislation to strip the land of its legal protections. Alienation legislation mandates the replacement of lost parkland or a payment for other park improvements equal to the land's fair market value.

As for the combined $25.5 million for Flushing Meadows from the mall and tennis projects, more than half of it will be spent on one-time capital improvements while the rest gets spread over two decades. That might sound like a lot of money, but it amounts to an annual $550,000 over most of the life of these two deals.

"That really won't do much," Hellenbrecht says. "It might pay for some more staffers, but not many. It's not enough to make a dent in what needs to be done, either operationally or even capital-wise. It's better than nothing, but I'd rather not have somebody taking parkland."

Food court to replace Willets Point businesses

From the Daily News:

Fledgling businesses will be able to avail themselves of some incubator space at the massive Willets Point development, officials said Tuesday.

The 18,000-square-foot space — to be split between two different sections of the development — will be operated by the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

“You’re giving businesses a chance to learn the ropes while they’re actually conducting business,” said Jack Friedman, the Chamber’s executive director.

The companies will receive a 30% to 40% discount on rent at the space and receive free trainings and other services, he said.

The plan for the incubator was a little-known detail buried in the list of concessions agreed upon by the developers, the Related Co. and Sterling Equities.

The duo will give the Queens Chamber $165,000 to help fund the start-up costs for the entrepreneurial space.

One possibility, he said, would be to utilize the space as a local food court, which would enable area eateries to share one industrial-sized kitchen and save on costs.

The Queens Economic Development Corp. operates a similar food incubator in Long Island City.

If space permits, the incubator could also house smaller storefronts, which would be occupied by merchants who hope to appeal to the area’s ethnic enclaves. For example, an Indian Sari shop from Jackson Heights.

This makes a whole lot of sense, doesn't it? Evict currently operating businesses that provide something useful in order to open a fast food court and recreate 82nd Street. What would we do without innovative ideas like this?

Willets Point on the brink

Quotation of the clergyman at the end: "Julissa -- We are your people.
This will destroy our neighborhoods; change our lives. Council members,
listen to us: Vote "NO" on October 9."

Willets Point: Yes indeed, the fix is in

Dear Editor [Queens Chronicle]:

The Chronicle’s report on the Willets Point public hearing held September 3 by the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises (“Willets vote delayed; hunger strike ends”; Sept. 5) focused on the tenant businesses’ grave complaint about their eviction without group relocation, but omitted many other newsworthy aspects of the hearing.

At issue was not just relocation, but the application of developers Sterling/Related, which if approved by the Council would result in a 1.4-million-square-foot “Willets West” mall being constructed on Queens parkland, Willets Point property worth $200+ million gifted to Sterling/Related for just $1, an additional $99 million grant of taxpayer funds, no contractual obligation to construct new Van Wyck access ramps, and therefore no clear path to construct any housing — among many abrogations of promises made in 2008.

At the hearing, those opposed to the Sterling/Related application significantly outnumbered those in favor. Testifiers in opposition included the Queens Civic Congress, representing 100+ civic associations; individual community organizations; the Property Rights Foundation of America, whose president traveled from Albany to testify; and New York City Park Advocates, among others. Testifiers said why constructing a mall on parkland is illegal; explained how it doesn’t deliver benefits touted during 2008, or makes them susceptible to contractual escape clauses; summarized the severe, unavoidable traffic impacts; and recounted how the state Attorney General determined that NYCEDC and Claire Shulman’s local development corporation illegally lobbied for approval of the development — and yet the development not only proceeds but is awarded to Sterling, owned by the owners of the Mets: premier financiers of Shulman’s development corporation as it illegally lobbied.

The circumstances of the hearing were also newsworthy. With minimal advance notice, it was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on the morning after Labor Day, when many people were away. Less than half of the committee members were present for the Willets Point portion of the hearing. Subcommittee Chairman Mark Weprin only allowed each speaker two minutes, and prohibited Willets Point United from showing its PowerPoint presentation — even though people would have ceded their time for it. In our opinion, all this demonstrates the Council’s contempt for public comment about the proposed development.

These latest examples of bias come on top of expanding the development from 62 to 108.9 acres including a mall on parkland, in a private process that shut out the Queens-based Willets Point Advisory Committee from participation, contrary to multiple written promises.

The fix appears to be in; let the Council now show us otherwise.

Gerald Antonacci
For Willets Point United Inc.
Flushing

CPC also approves shopping mall on parkland

From the Daily News:

The City Planning Commission approved a plan to build a mega mall near Citi Field as part of a larger redevelopment of the gritty stretch of auto body shops.

The 13-member panel gave its overwhelming approval for the proposal — paving the way for a City Council vote within the next 50 days.

Board member Michelle de la Uz was the lone dissenting voice during the meeting.

She argued that there are a glut of malls already in Queens and said “questionable and weak” efforts have been made to relocate the immigrant shop owners working in the auto body shops.

The development group — a joint venture between Sterling Equities and the Related Co. — said Wednesday that they will begin “briefing Council members” on the “support the plan has received from local civic leaders.”

What civic leaders are those? Chuck Apelian and Paul Vallone?


New York City Planning Commissioner Michelle de la Uz explains her "NO" vote -- opposing the proposed Willets West mall / Willets Point development of Sterling Equities and Related Companies -- during the Planning Commission meeting on August 21, 2013. Commissioner de la Uz is appointed by the New York City Public Advocate. Her predecessor, Commissioner Karen Phillips -- who was appointed by the prior NYC Public Advocate -- similarly voted against the original proposed Willets Point development during 2008.

Copyright 2013 LoScalzo Media Design LLC. All rights reserved.

Shulman, Ferreras, called out at Willets Point press conference

From A Walk in the Park:

Opponents of the Willet's Point West attempted land grab in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park gathered on the steps of City Hall on Wednesday and voiced their overwhelming opposition toward the mega-development project planned on more than 30 acres of public parkland.

Under the proposal a massive 1.4 million sq. ft. mall would be built in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park on parkland currently used for Citi-Field parking. The majority of the land for the $3 billion Willets Point project would be taken from the public parkland.

Critics of the plan argue that if the 40-plus acres being proposed for mall use are no longer needed for parking then it should revert back to its original recreational use.

The City and Bloomberg-preferred developer the Related Companies in partnership with Sterling Equities, the real estate firm controlled by the owner of the Mets - are attempting this without seeking State Alienation legislation as is required under state law to use parkland for non-park purposes.
Critics denounced numerous issues regarding the Willets Point redevelopment project including:

1. This was not the deal that the Council approved: The affordable housing component has been delayed and subject to escape clauses, and the agreed living wage provision has been eliminated;
2. No project - let alone a 1.4 million square foot mall - should be built on public parkland;
3. The City Administrative Code does not authorize or provide any legal basis for the construction of a mall on 30+ acres of parkland, in violation of the parkland Public Trust Doctrine;
4. No massive development should be built in this area without new access ramps being built to and from the Van Wyck Expressway before any other construction;
5. No private property should be taken to merely be paved over as a parking lot;
6. Developers Sterling and Related were selected via a process that excluded the Willets Point Advisory Committee and Queens officials – contrary to written promises made by the City administration in 2008;
7. The City must be compensated for the $200 million it has spent to buy Willets Point property;
8. No team of billionaire developers should be given said property as a $1 gift;
9. No developer who was part of an illegal lobbying scheme should be allowed to profit for engaging in the illegality;
10. No development deal based on an illegal lobbying scheme should be approved by the City Council

Press Conference Statement from Irene Presti, Willets Point property owner:

My name is Irene Presti and I own property at Willets Point that is threatened by the illegal and unethical deal that the Bloomberg administration has put forward to develop the Iron Triangle. 

That’s right, the entire development was promoted by a violation of not only the not for profit lobbying laws of New York State; but by the brazen violation of Federal law as well.

In order to promote this dirty deal the city helped to set up a phony not for profit local development group headed by Claire Shulman. The group, made up of rich developers with the names Muss, Wilpon, Mattone and TDC, was never anything but a not for profit but in name only-it was put in place to advance the special interest of its real estate company members.

Incredibly, NYC EDC forwarded $500,000 in tax payer funds to finance this illegal lobbying scheme.

Unfortunately, this LDC was barred from doing any legal lobbying from the standpoint of the NY State law on local development corporations. Don’t just take my word for it. In July of 2012, the NY State Attorney General cited the violation of the law but, shamefully, failed to do anything to sanction the illegal behavior.

Apparently, some people are considered to be above the law and the AG even failed to demand that the Shulman group refund the illegal contribution from EDC and the tax payers. So small property owners like myself were forced to fend off the big real estate companies who were publicly funded in the campaign to take away my property.

But it gets worse folks. When the Shulman group filed for tax exempt status with the IRS there are two important boxes it checked. The first was: Will you be doing any lobbying? The second was: will you be doing any economic development? The group, lying through its teeth, answered no to both questions-even though Shulman told the NY Times that the entire purpose of the group was to lobby for the Willets Point project.

Did the IRS act on this blatant violation of the federal not for profit laws? Not on your life. It was busy chasing the Tea Party and didn’t have the time to investigate and punish a clear violation of law. So on the state and the federal level, law enforcement is a partisan activity and justice be damned!

Now, however, it gets much worse. We see that Mr. Wilpon of the Mets-the prime mover of the illegal lobbying group- has been awarded the development rights to Willets West and $200 million worth of property for $1. And there is no one with the courage to step in and put an end to this criminal scheme. Who says crime doesn’t pay?

Not only that, but the entire original development deal has been changed in a breathless bait and switch that has eliminated the affordable housing and living wage pledges that were the heart of the approval in 2008. Instead of the “next green neighborhood” we have been given a huge mall and a parking lot. For this we are abusing the eminent domain process?

I am a proud member of Willets Point United. If my group had done what EDC, Wilpon and Shulman have conspired to do, we would be under arrest and awaiting trial. Instead, Shulman remains at large and Wilpon is poised to reap billions of dollars for evading the law and ripping off the tax payers.

Willets West is a scandal and the conspirators should not be rewarded for their illegal scheme. The city council must vote, No-and let the next mayor sort out this scandal.

Marshall demands taxpayers build ramps for Wilpon's shopping mall

Save FMCP has a copy of the Borough President's ULURP decision with respect to the Mets shopping mall on mapped parkland.

QBP WilletsWest ULURP by Save Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

Here are the highlights:

- "There were 2 speakers in favor and 20 speakers opposed to the application" at the Borough President's hearing.
- "Phase 1A/1B will be a $3 billion dollar private investment..." Okay, but the mall first has to turn a profit and recoup this money before "affordable housing" - which is used interchangeably with "low-income housing" will be built. In other words, nothing will happen after the mall.
- "The full buildout and impacts of this construction will occur over the next few decades." Hmmm. I thought this was all supposed to be done by 2025. Sounds more like 2125 now.
- "Funding must be committed to the design and construction of the Van Wyck Expressway Access Ramps." That's right, Helen is demanding that our tax dollars be used to build ramps so that the Wilpons can build a shopping mall in a public park.