Mets world champion player and coach Bud Harrelson dead at 79

 

 Queens Chronicle

Bud Harrelson, the scrappy, switch-hitting shortstop for the 1969 Miracle Mets and the third-base coach for the 1986 world champions, died Wednesday night after a nearly seven-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

He was 79.

The two-time National League All-Star and 1986 inductee into the Mets Hall of Fame spent the first 13 seasons of a 16-year career in Flushing.

He also played for the 1973 “You Gotta Believe!” pennant winners, won the Gold Glove 1971, and received Most Valuable player votes in 1970, 1971 and 1973. He managed the club in 1990 and 1991.

“We were saddened to learn of Mets Hall of Famer Buddy Harrelson’s passing,” Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen said in a press release on the team’s website.

“He was a skilled defender and spark plug on the 1969 Miracle Mets. The Gold Glove shortstop played 13 years in Queens, appearing in more games at short than anyone else in team history. Buddy was the third base coach on the 1986 World Champs, becoming the only person to be in uniform on both World Series winning teams. We extend our deepest condolences to his entire family.”

The team said Harrelson passed away at a hospice house in East Northport, LI.

“The Harrelson family announced they will have a celebration of his life at a later date,” according to the statement.

“Terribly sad to hear of the passing of one of the finest human beings ever to be associated with the @Mets, Bud Harrelson,”  said Howie Rose, a lifetime Mets fan and longtime team broadcaster, on X. “Apart from being a World Champion and National League Champion as a player, a World Champion as a coach and a manager, the Mets have never had better ambassador. There was no fan to whom he would refuse an autograph, a handshake or a conversation, no charity to which he would refuse a request for help, or an appearance, and no one who was any prouder to be a New York Met during and after his playing days.”

Derrel McKinley Harrelson was born in California on June 6, 1944 — D Day. He was signed by the Mets in 1963 and joined the team in 1965. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1978 and 1979, and concluded his playing career with the Texas Rangers in 1980.

Harrelson was typical of the slick-fielding, light-hitting starting shortstops of his day, weighing 160 pounds. He hit six of his seven career home runs as a Met, and never more than one in a single season.

By comparison, Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver hit seven of his 12 career home runs as a Met.

But his defense never quit, nor did his fighting spirit, the latter never more famously on display than in the 1973 National League playoffs in which the Mets upended the heavily favored Cincinnati Reds.

In Game 3 at Shea Stadium, with the Mets drubbing the Big Red Machine 9-2, Pete Rose tried unsuccessfully to break up  a double play with a dirty, late side. 

Rose had taken exception to comments Harrelson made to the media after Game 2. Harrelson, giving away 40 pounds to Charlie Hustle, got right into Rose’s face before Rose grabbed him, slammed him to the ground and began throwing punches.

After the multiple-contest bench-clearing brawl was brought under control and the inning ended, Rose went out to left field to a four-letter serenade and a shower of garbage from the Mets’ faithful until Reds Manager Sparky Anderson pulled his team off the field.

Manager Yogi Berra, Seaver and Willie Mays had to go out to left field to quiet the crowd down.

The unlikely Eastern Division championship club that won only 82 games in the regular season proceeded to finish off the Reds before losing the World Series to the eventual three-peat Oakland Athletics dynasty team in seven games.

 

New Mets owner lobbying for a casino on Willets Point

 

THE CITY

Steve Cohen, who bought the team for $2.4 billion in the fall of 2020, hosted Mayor Eric Adams and other top City Hall officials at Citi Field this January, where he and others presented ideas for Willets Point, the 61-acre piece of land across the street, THE CITY has learned.

Portions of the neighborhood — known for its hamlet of auto-body shops and junkyards and decades of failed redevelopment plans — are currently getting an environmental clean-up as part of a plan from 2013.

The effort is expected to bring 1,100 affordable apartments and a new school by the end of the decade. Of the 61 acres of land, 23 acres are currently owned by the city. The rest of the land is privately owned.

Cohen’s alleged desire for a casino near Citi Field first made headlines last fall, and it was reported in February that casino operators were eyeing the Flushing ballpark as one of a handful of sites in New York City where they’d like to add slot machines.

In the meeting with top city officials, Cohen discussed potential support for a casino in Citi Field’s parking lot, officials told THE CITY. Cohen’s people also discussed broader plans to beautify the area around the stadium, including potentially adding hiking trails along Flushing Creek.

“For decades, New Yorkers have known that our city can get more out of the area around Citi Field,” Tiffany Galvin-Cohen, a (unrelated) spokesperson for Cohen, said in a statement on Tuesday.

 

Vaccination site coming to Citifield; also, Mets acquire superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor from Cleveland Baseball Team

 

 QNS

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Citi Field will become a 24/7 mega COVID-19 vaccination site during his daily press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 12.

The site will be run inside the stadium, located at 41 Seaver Way, by NYC Health + Hospitals, and will have a capacity to administer 5,000 to 7,000 vaccines a day. It will open in the week of Jan. 25, according to the mayor.

“This is going to be fantastic. This is going to help so many people get vaccinated,” de Blasio said, praising the Mets for stepping up and helping the people of Queens and New York City as a whole. “We welcome Queens residents. We welcome all New Yorkers. We even welcome Yankees fans. There is no discrimination.”

De Blasio said there is still work to do, but it will be a “game-changer.”

New Mets owner Steve Cohen joined de Blasio for Tuesday’s announcement.

“When we heard about your initiative, we were just so excited to participate in this program,” Cohen said. “It’s so important. We know the suffering that’s going on with COVID. Anyway the organization could help support this effort, we were going to do it. We talked about being involved in our communities and I can’t think of any way that’s more important than what this hub is going to do.

Cohen described Citi Field as the “intersection of Queens,” that can be reached by subways, trains and highways.

“The goal is to just get the vaccine in people’s arms so we can get this crisis over with and get back to living a normal life,” Cohen added.

NY Post

The new Mets regime isn’t messing around.

After weeks of feeding the fan base appetizers, the organization served a main course Thursday, completing one of the splashiest trades in franchise history.

The result was Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco headed to Queens in a blockbuster deal that sent Amed Rosario, Andres Gimenez, Isaiah Greene and Josh Wolf to Cleveland. The trade — the first “wow” moment of new owner Steve Cohen’s tenure — bolsters the Mets’ lineup and rotation, turning the team into an instant NL East contender.

The 27-year-old Lindor, who can become a free agent after this season, rates among the game’s premier shortstops. The Indians have been shopping Lindor the last two winters in an attempt to shed payroll. He is expected to receive around $20 million this season in his final year of arbitration eligibility.

 

BDB used Mets games to look like an everyman

From CBS 2:

In an August 27 email, de Blasio said, “Chirlane, Chiara will go to the Mets/Red Sox game Friday night – in very cheap seats… I will go the Sat game with queens bp (Borough President) Melinda Katz. I will go to the Sunday game with Queens councilmembers.”

Outside consultant Jonathan Rosen, of BerlinRosen, sometimes referred to as “Jro” in the emails, weighed in on August 28 with a political “tweak.”

“Can we also frame this as how BdB (Bill de Blasio) does his politics. Some pols do dinners and drinks… but he’s working the Queens delegation and the BP over Mets games. It’s work – him doing politics well,” he wrote.

Yet another stadium planned for Queens

From Bloomberg:

The New York Islanders are in talks with the owners of baseball’s New York Mets about building a hockey arena adjacent to Citi Field in Queens, people with knowledge of the discussions said.

Willets Point is emerging as a persuasive alternative to the team’s current home at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center if the Islanders’s owners and arena officials can’t agree on a series of hockey-specific improvements, said the people, who asked for anonymity because the negotiations are private.

The team’s first season at Barclays Center, which is owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, was marred by poor reviews from fans, who complained about obstructed view seats, and from players, who who said the quality of the ice was sub-par. The team’s owners also realized they couldn’t make as much money as their league counterparts, most of which play in bigger arenas.

The Islanders, who are owned by Value Retail Plc founder Scott Malkin and Jonathan Ledecky, and Sterling Equities, which owns the Mets, have been discussing a possible move to Queens for months, said the people.

What about those ramps? Affordable housing? Hmmm...

Telling it like it is on Willets Point

Letter to the Editor of the Queens Chronicle:

An apathetic public is a hack politician’s best friend. That cannot be said of a group of concerned citizens who took on former Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council, the City Planning Commission, former Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, the Wilpons of the Mets ballclub and their affiliates Sterling Equities and Related Companies, who are for all practical purposes a cabal trying to usurp a large portion of Flushing Meadows Corona parkland that houses a parking field so private developers can construct a 1.4 million-square-foot shopping mall. The Appellate Division: First Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, in a unanimous decision, hit a home run in holding the proposed development was not sanctioned by law.

In heralding the court’s decision, the Queens Chronicle’s July 9 editorial, “A major victory, just outside Citi Field,” pointed out the developers’ claim that the 1961 law that allowed the construction of Shea Stadium also authorized the mega-mall was nonsense, as indeed it was.

Equally nonsensical were the claims by the developers that they could not proceed with the 2008 Willets Point plan without the mega-mall to generate the necessary money. The developers are billionaires, and the claim they needed a mall to make money is the height of absurdity. While accepting the 2008 plan, it is evident they never had any intention to pursue it, but only to use it as a wedge for other purposes.

Not only did Bloomberg, the City Council, the City Planning Commission and Marshall approve this charade, but they rewarded the developers with the property for $1, millions in taxpayer subsidies and the right to forfeit $34 million and walk away from any obligation to construct affordable housing, which was the lynchpin in the 2008 plan to begin with. $34 million dollars for these billionaire developers is tantamount to the tip one gives the youngster who delivers your groceries. Make no mistake once they had a mega mall, they would walk. Equally outrageous was Bloomberg’s saying Willets Point was a blight and had to go, when it was the city that caused the blight, collecting sewer rent when there were no sewers and letting the infrastructure fail.

These officials’ complicity in this sordid municipal episode would cause the infamous Boss Tweed to tip his hat in admiration. Mayor de Blasio has remained silent on the subject. There now exists a good opportunity for him to demonstrate to the public whether there be any real difference between himself and Bloomberg.

Benjamin M. Haber
Flushing

Appeals court rules that mall on FMCP parkland violates law

(QUEENS, NY) Today, State Senator Tony Avella, along with the City Club of New York, Queens Civic Congress, members of Willets Point United Inc., and nearby residents/business owners opposed to the “Willets West” mega-mall proposal, announced that the Appellate Division of the First Department issued a historic decision in their favor which will keep parkland public.

The lawsuit filed by State Senator Tony Avella, City Club of New York, Queens Civic Congress, members of Willets Point United Inc., and nearby residents/business owners against the “Willets West” mega-mall proposal, challenged the give-away of 47 acres of Queens parkland worth an estimated $ 1 Billion to build the "Willets West" mega-mall adjacent to CitiField.

The suit sought a declaratory judgment to invalidate approvals already granted to the project, as well as a permanent injunction to prevent the construction of a megamall on City parkland without the proper State legislative authorization or proper zoning. The Supreme Court of New York had ruled against Senator Avella and Petitioners, and the group appealed last August.

Today, Senator Avella, along with appellants, declared that the appellate court had announced its ruling in favor of Petitioners. In a unanimous decision, the appellate court granted injunctive relief and declared that the development can go no further without state legislative approval.

“Today’s decision sends a message loud and clear – our parks are not for sale. The fact of the matter is, this land was intended to be parkland, not the development of a shopping mall. In a city where public land is in short supply, simply handing parkland over is a betrayal of the public trust. The court has affirmed what we have been fighting for all along, and I am thrilled to see this decision come down on the side of justice,” said Senator Tony Avella.

“I am very pleased that the Appellate Division, in blocking the development of a shopping mall on parkland next to Citifield, has upheld the ancient common law doctrine that requires any government agency to obtain the approval of the State Legislature before disposing of parkland. This extra layer of protection for parkland has evolved in recognition of the fact that parkland is a scarce and precious resource. It makes it a little bit more difficult for our government to give such land away. It makes sure that we think twice before doing so, no matter how worthy or expedient the proposed project may be,” said John Low-Beer, Attorney for the Petitioners.

“We’d like to thank Senator Avella for being part of this important suit. This decision confirms first that our parks are for our people, and second that city government must comply with the law, just like the rest of us. There are many people who have contributed enormously to this effort. The City Club of New York is delighted to have been instrumental in launching this case, together with Senator Avella, Save Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens Civic Congress, Willets Point United, and many other civic organizations and local residents, and in particular, the wonderful group of Plaintiffs” said Michael Gruen of the City Club of New York.

“Since 2007, we have battled the City at all times over its plans for Willets Point, which expanded in 2012 against the community’s wishes to include the gigantic proposed ‘Willets West’ mall on public parkland,” “Today the Appellate Division agrees with what we’ve said all along: The City and developers failed to follow lawful procedure and now as a result their whole project cannot proceed. If Queens residents knew as much as we do about the horrendous traffic gridlock and other negative impacts of this Willets West/Willets Point Phase One project, they would be celebrating this court victory together with us. Today’s court decision absolutely vindicates all of our efforts and strengthens our resolve to continue challenging and opposing bad development propositions for our area. We’re especially thankful to Senator Avella, who has always done right by his constituents, City Club of New York which spearheaded the lawsuit, and stellar attorney John Low-Beer,” said Gerald Antonacci, leader of Willets Point United.

"We are very pleased with the decision case. It is disgraceful that these developers are attempting to seize 48 acres of public parkland and the Mayor and City Council supported it,” said Geoffrey Croft, President of NYC Park Advocates, Plaintiff.

“The Queens Civic Congress is thrilled that justice has finally been served and Flushing Meadows Corona park will remain available for use by the people of Queens. QCC, as a party to this action is deeply indebted to Senator TonyAvella, our fellow parks advocates and especially to the City Club and its attorneys for their diligent hard work in making this happen,” said Richard Hellenbrecht, Vice President of Queens Civic Congress.

“The entire premise of this parkland having to be developed in order for the rest of the Willets Point development to be completed was proven wrong in this decision. This shows that the taking of public land cannot be used for private gain,” Paul Graziano, Plaintiff and Urban Planner.

Mets fans don't like de Blasio

From the Daily News:

Mayor de Blasio was met by a chorus of boos by Mets fans at the team’s home opener Monday.

Jeers broke out as soon as the mayor, who is open about his allegiance to the Boston Red Sox, was announced during pre-game festivities at Citi Field.

“Stop inviting him!” one fan yelled from the crowd.

The mayor donned a Mets cap and jersey with “DE BLASIO” on the back, with a No. 6 on it in honor of 1960s-era Red Sox player Rico Petrocelli.

Posturing over pavilion

From The Forum:

Borough advocates have been pushing for preservation at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park since the city secured funding to restore the New York State Pavilion, which stands within it.

In the latest chapter of ongoing efforts to beautify the northeast Queens park, state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) announced he helped secure $250,000 along with the city Parks Department to renovate two baseball fields there, officials said. Hevesi and Parks acquired the money through a Community Capital Assistance grant and said it will help install new backstops and fencing, re-grade the infield and add grass turf in the center to prevent flooding.

[Not the Pavilion]

Hevesi’s announcement came just days after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo rolled out more than $5 million in awards to 14 different historic spots that suffered damage from Superstorm Sandy in 2012 – one of them being the New York State Pavilion.

Cuomo allotted $127,000 of that money to the city Parks Department to help pay for a conditions assessment of damages to the pavilion’s cable roof structure.

[Wow! $127,000! That's like 1/10 of 1% of what's needed to restore it.]

This month, the New York Mets baseball club also announced it would be donating part of Friday’s home game ticket sales towards the People for the Pavilion advocacy group to help preserve the pavilion in celebration of the 50th and 75th anniversaries of the World’s Fair. In a statement, the team reflected on the historic site and how extra funding was needed to help keep it standing.

The team is playing like shit. I bet that was a huge haul of dough! And the Mets just noticed that the Pavilion needed help after being in the same park with it since 1964?

If anyone thinks these efforts are serious, there's a bridge in Brooklyn I'll sell you.

Mets try to be preservationists

From the Forum:

Queens preservationists are partnering with the Mets to save the New York State Pavilion, an iconic structure built for the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows Corona Park that has severely deteriorated over the years.

A portion of each ticket purchased for the Mets’ home game against the Giants on Friday, Aug. 1 at 7:10 p.m. will be donated to the People for the Pavilion, an organization dedicated to preserving and reusing the site.

Hmmm. The Mets have been sharing Flushing Meadows with the Pavilion in that condition for decades. But NOW they want to do something to help? I call B.S. on this. Save FMCP summed it up best:

Mets want to save the Pavilion? Then they should tell the city to keep the subsidies they're getting for the mall. http://t.co/HnKq7KVRze

— Save FlushingMeadows (@SaveFMCP) April 13, 2014

TRUTH.

Parkers strike out at Citifield

From CBS New York:

Ronnie from Danbury, Conn., says it took him three hours to drive to Queens for the New York Mets’ season opener on Monday.

But that was only the beginning. Ronnie told WFAN’s “Boomer & Carton” show on Tuesday that the parking situation at Citi Field was so bad that he never even made it to the gates.

“Yesterday was a freakin’ ridiculous fiasco,” he said. “When we got there, the entire road around Citi Field was a parking lot. Nobody could get into the stadium, and that’s why there was nobody there (for first pitch).”

“By the time we could have maybe parked at the tennis center and bused in, it was already the fourth inning,” he added.

With Cirque du Soleil occupying part of their parking lot, the Mets were urging fans to take mass transit to Monday’s game against the Washington Nationals. Citi Field didn’t appear to be holding anywhere near the announced crowd of 42,442 by the time the game started at 1:10 p.m.

Linda from Flushing said she left her house at noon for the short trip to the ballpark. It took her about 15 minutes and then she snaked around the stadium “for an hour and a half, only to wind up parking by Home Depot.”

See the attached Mets press release (web content), which indicates that there would be NO Cirque du Soleil performance on Monday "to accommodate as many fans as possible". When there's a mall there instead of the circus, will the mall be shut down just as the circus was, "to accommodate as many fans as possible"? These angry Mets fans have to understand that circumstances will be much worse after a mall is operating there.

All-Star Game advertises crumbling World's Fair

"So it's bad enough that the City of New York gave the Mets owners property worth $200 million for the paltry sum of $1. Now the Mets are incorporating World's Fair icons into their merchandising efforts to promote the 2013 MLB All Star Game being played at Citifield in mid-July. What really irks me about this is the New York State Pavilion is in a deteriorated condition that needs immediate remediation. With all the money that they'll be making, don't you think it would be appropriate to "step up to the plate" and repair the icon before it's too late? It can be a jewel in the Queens crown if done right. But then again...this is Queens!" - Alan

Council Members act clueless at park hearing

From the Daily News:

Hundreds of millions of dollars are being generated each year in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park by big-money operations like the Mets, but Queens lawmakers say the park isn’t getting its slice of the pie.

The Mets and the U.S. Tennis Association pay a total of $2.5 million to lease their sites from the city. Meanwhile, the 900-acre park operates on $11.6 million in city funds and counts only 18 full-time city maintenance workers.

“It’s incredibly frustrating that this city has not identified a way to have our park be able to collect on the revenue it generates,” said City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst), who called a Council hearing on Friday to address the lack of city funding to help pay for the park’s upkeep.

Ferreras said during the packed hearing that she is in talks with the city to create a public-private alliance — similar to the Central Park Conservancy — to fund much of the maintenance of the nearly 900-acre park, which is surrounded by predominantly immigrant and low-income communities.

Ferreras would like to fill the coffers of the alliance with private donations and a cut of the almost $7 million in annual concession fees and rents that are paid by the businesses and stadiums in the park.

Queens officials and parks advocates blasted the city after learning Citi Field pays only about $155,000 a year to lease its Flushing Meadows site from the city. That amount is slated to jump to $400,000 in 2014.

The U.S. Tennis Association, which hosts the U.S. Open in the park, pays roughly $2.4 million a year.

Meanwhile, Terrace on the Park, a banquet hall in Flushing Meadows, pays the city roughly $2.5 million a year.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Geoffrey Croft, president of New York City Park Advocates. Citi Field is “clearly not paying their fair share.”

City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) said, “there’s something fishy in those numbers.”

“It sounds to me like Citi Field and the USTA are getting off really easy,” added Vallone, who said he will introduce a bill requiring all park conservancies with more than $5 million of annual income to give 20% to maintain other needy city parks.

So let me get this straight... The City Council voted to give the Mets a sweetheart deal when they came to them for permission to build a new stadium, yet now this same legislative body is shocked that the Mets have a sweetheart deal? Nice try, but we weren't born yesterday. And what difference does it make how much rent each entity pays under the current system? It goes into the general fund and hardly any of it goes back to Flushing Meadows anyway.

Hey City Council, how about DOING YOUR JOB by budgeting adequate funding for ALL city parks as you are required to, so there will be no need to further privatize our parks or have dog-and-pony show hearings?

Meanwhile, we have Parks Commissioner Veronica White, who conveniently skipped the FMCP hearing, telling Brian Lehrer (at about 14:00) that Parks chose to fund the High Bridge instead.

Weiner really wants FMCP soccer stadium

From NY Post:

“I’m a pro-development Democrat. I think we should build and grow the city as we go and I want to do it smartly,” the ex-Queens congressman said when the topic of sports came up at the Terrace on the Park event.

“I would love to have major league soccer here in Queens. Heck, I’d love to have major league baseball here in Queens first..." Weiner said to guffaws.

Is there a Democrat running for mayor that isn't pro-development?

Some Mets live in Queens and the Post acts like it's a big deal

From the NY Post:

Blue-collar Mets stars have forsaken Yankee-style Manhattan condos to pitch their tents in two rental buildings on the Long Island City waterfront — a 20-minute drive or quick No. 7 train jaunt to Citi Field.

Neighborhood sources said the young players, along with manager Terry Collins, are concentrated in a shimmering 39-story building along the East River, where rents range from $2,200 to $6,000 a month, and a 32-story sister skyscraper two blocks away.

Residents say LIC has become an Amazin’ enclave.

“There aren’t too many areas of Queens where celebrities are living,” said Andrew Kleinberg, a portfolio manager and neighborhood blogger. “It adds cachet, and that’s hard to get here.”

Okay, just have to say that several members of the '86 Mets lived in Queens, some of them near where I lived. They hung out in local bars and lived among the unwashed masses. Most of the Brooklyn Dodgers lived in Brooklyn. This isn't something new so I have to wonder why it's newsworthy. Someone with a vested interest in filling buildings in LIC must have a friend at the Post.

Peter Vallone says CitiField area is not parkland

Video from SaveFMCP.org
From A Walk in the Park:

City Council Member Peter Vallone doesn't believe the mapped parkland in Flushing Meadows the City and developers want to build a mall on is parkland.

Mr. Vallone, one of six candidates running for the office of the Borough President, said last night he supports the Willets Point project, including taking 40 plus acres of Flushing Meadows parkland currently used for Citi-Field parking, in order to build the city's largest mall.

"It"s not parkland, and anyone saying that Willets Point is parkland is relying on some technical definition from the 60's," Vallone said.

"You know what Willets Point is….It also involves the Mets parking lot. I want to see that development happen," he said.

"I want to make sure what goes there is what you want but that needs to be developed. That can't stay the way it is, and it's not parkland," Vallone claimed.

The Councilmember was a bit confused last night as candidates squared off.

It is the City, in fact, that is desperately trying to rely on a 1961 bill that it used when it took over the parkland to build Shea Stadium.

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 to use the parkland without seeking State Alienation legislation as is required under state law to use parkland for non-park purposes.

The City and the developers are also attempting to bypass City Council approval.

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

Mr. Vallone's Bloomberg-esque moments came last night during the Bay Terrace Borough President Candidate's Night.

And Peter is considered to be the "smart" brother...

Protect FMCP from developers

Even allies think the EDC is full of crap

From the Queens Chronicle:

Although plans for Willets Point, also known as the Iron Triangle, were leaked last month, Bloomberg outlined a timeline at the Laguardia Marriott Hotel in East Elmhurst for development initially along 126th Street and eventually in the Citi Field parking lot. The first phase of the Willets Point development is expected to take up to 15 years.

Following completion, the developers will erect “Willets West” on the existing Citi Field parking lot and turn it into a million- square-foot retail and entertainment center with more than 200 stores, movie theaters, restaurants, a parking structure and surface spaces for 2,500 cars.

This is the part of the project that has some in the community scratching their heads. Gene Kelty, chairman of Community Board 7, who attended the breakfast, said he isn’t sure of the plan’s legality. Citi Field and its parking lot sit on public parkland, and Kelty doesn’t think putting up a commercial shopping center is the proper usage.

Jack Friedman, executive director of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, who organized the breakfast at the mayor’s urging, thinks such a use of the parking lot could be alienation of parkland.

But Seth Pinsky, president of the city’s Economic Development Corp., said following the mayor’s speech that a 1961 agreement with the Mets allows for development.

Really? Well then why hasn't it already been done? They waited this whole time to build a mall on the parking lot when they got approval for it more than 50 years ago? As usual, what's coming out of city officials' mouths smells like crap.

All-Star game coming to Citifield

From Eyewitness News:

Major League Baseball finally announced Wednesday that the 2013 All-Star game will be hosted by the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 16.

The announcement was made during a news conference at City Hall with baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, Mets owner Fred Wilpon, Mr. Met and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Baseball decided at least four years ago that the Mets would host the game at the ballpark, which opened in 2009, but held off an announcement until it reached agreements with the city and agencies for All-Star services and related events, such as the FanFest.

Selig said the Mets' financial problems caused by the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme didn't delay an announcement.

Does this stink or what?

From Crains:

Two of the area's most powerful developers and a real estate firm controlled by the owners of the Mets are among the firms that submitted proposals for the right to redevelop Willets Point, real estate and political sources said.

The Related Companies has teamed up with Sterling Equities, which is controlled by Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, to submit a proposal to redevelop the 12.75 acres included in the project's first phase, the sources said. Silverstein Properties, which is building three towers at the World Trade Center site, also threw its hat into the ring. None of the firms would comment. A real estate source said Sterling had teamed up on bids with more than one firm.

The Queens-based Times Ledger reported last month that Flushing-based TDC Development also made a bid.

City officials would not say how many proposals they received by last month's deadline, but indicated they were satisfied with the quantity and quality of the submissions. Twenty-nine firms were eligible to submit bids, based on an earlier qualifying round. Among those firms, the Westfield Group, the Richman Group of New York, Edward J. Minskoff Equities and Hamlin Ventures confirmed they did not submit bids.

“After receiving multiple responses for the first phase of development, we are another step closer to the new Willets Point,” a spokeswoman for the city's Economic Development Corp. said.

Hey remember when I told you about Wilpon's windfall 2 years ago? He already has dibs on taxpayer-owned lots B and D without having had to submit an RFP, but he wants Willets Point as well? He should be happy he survived Ponzi schemes, bankruptcy and having to sell off part of the team.

"Sterling had teamed up on bids with more than one firm"... I bet they did.