The Willets Point Industry and Realty Association sent around a video today to back their claim that Community Board 7 Board ignored its own conditions of approval last June when it approved the Willets Point redevelopment plan.
No matter your beliefs, this is a wonderful clip of a local community board in action...
From the press release:
(New York, NY) September 4, 2008 – Willets Point business and land owners today released a video revealing the Queens Community Board 7 vote may have to be converted to a "No". The video, produced by the Willets Point Industry and Realty Association (WPIRA) can be viewed at: http://wpira.com/Behind%20the%20Curbline.htm or by going to www.wpira.com.
In June, the Land Use Committee of CB7 held several meetings to review the EDC's plan to rezone and redevelop Willets Point. After the final Committee meeting on June 23, it was very clearly stated by the Community Board Chair Gene Kelty and the Committee Chair Chuck Apelian that the Board required several "mandatory" concessions from the EDC before the Board would approve the plan. If these recommendations were not agreed to by the EDC or adopted by the CPC in its final approval, the CB7 vote would convert to a "no."
At the final hearing and board vote on June 30, 2008, the Chair Chuck Apelian, read a letter from Deputy Mayor Robert Leiber which he claimed addressed most—if not all—of the Board's concerns. The video provides a side-by-side comparison of the Board's Conditions set forth on June 23 and the EDC's response on June 30. It is clear from the Video that CB7 did not receive the mandatory concessions it required before approving the plan. WPIRA has distributed the video to the City Planning Commission and will distribute it to all members of the to NYC Council.
Dan Feinstein, President of Feinstein Iron Works, said, "If not for the strong-arm tactics of Board Chairman Gene Kelty and Willets Point Committee Chairman Chuck Apelian, it's clear the majority of board members would have voted against this illegal land grab. Kelty and Apelian clearly went over the line and IGNORED the interests of the very people they are supposed to represent."
"Kelty and Apelian should be removed from office immediately, and the board members should call for a new vote now that Kelty and Apelian's betrayal has been laid bare for all to see," Feinstein said. "Kelty himself said the board's approval would turn into a 'No' vote if its conditions are ignored. To date, there is no evidence the Administration will do anything but pay lip service to Community Board 7 and no evidence Apelian and Kelty will ever standup for the residents of Queens. While it's clear the board's 'Yes' vote really meant 'No,' it's time for the board to make clear that Apelian and Kelty's shameful sellout will not succeed."
As the video clearly demonstrates, the board members made clear with their conditions that they do not support eminent domain and the plan as currently proposed by the EDC. The Board's conditions for approval included:
· More affordable housing – the board wants 30 percent of the project devoted to real affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers, while the City has continued to offer only20 percent for low and middle-income families;
· A substantial traffic mitigation fund – the board has asked for 10 percent of the project cost for traffic mitigation (about $300 million) - the city has continued to offer the community board only $5 million to mitigate the impacts of this project. This in spite of the City's admission that the traffic impacts of the project are an incurable problem;
· Real Community Board oversight of the project – the board wants an ongoing and active oversight role in the project if it moves forward, while the city has promised only quarterly advisory meetings with an unknown developer who will have no obligation to heed the community's advice or concerns;
· Limited use of eminent domain to obtain private property for use by a private developer – while the Board acknowledged the possible need for eminent domain, it demanded the City exhaust all efforts to relocate current businesses before considering the use of eminent domain.
Anthony Fodera of Fodera Foods said, "The City will continue to make claims of good faith in dealing with the business owners of Willets Point, but we know their word is as good as Kelty's and Apelian's. We will take this fight to the City Council, and beyond if necessary. We will not relent in our efforts to fight for our rights and our private property."
Frank's Franks is a hot dog stand that is "on the scene for lunch" - but its blue-collar owners are wondering just how long they'll be able to stick around.
Frank Kasiaras, the eponymous hot dog purveyor, and his buddy, Phillip Wieczkowski, peddle wieners to hungry Mets fans from a dusty sidewalk at the edge of Willets Point, the industrial enclave near Shea Stadium.
"This is my livelihood," Kasiaras said one day recently as dogs sizzled on the curbside stand at the corner of 126th St. and 34th Ave. "There is money here."
But Frank and Phil, like the owners of some 260 businesses in Willets Point, are worried the good times may not last much longer now that the city is pushing to redevelop the gritty strip into a megadevelopment.
"All of my life I've been trying to do something," said Kasiaras, who first lit his grill on 126th St. earlier this year. "And then when I finally get a chance it may not be there anymore."
Kasiaras, 46, of Jackson Heights, and Wieczkowski, 56, of Elmhurst, are friends from their days tending bar at Donegal Tavern, a now-defunct Elmhurst saloon popular with cops from the nearby 110th Precinct.
When the tavern went belly up, Frank and Phil decided to start grilling for a living, and applied to the city for a wiener stand license.
They opened last year on Broadway and 51st. Ave. in Elmhurst - and nearly lost their shirts. But then Kasiaras "stumbled" upon solid-gold frankfurter real estate - a vendor-less sidewalk across from Citi Field, Shea Stadium's heir apparent.
"It was such a dream come true," Kasiaras said before the first pitch of a recent Mets home game - a sellout for Frank's Franks.
The apron-clad Kasiaras grills the $1.50 franks while Wieczkowski plays the role of salesman.
"Three for the price of one," he yells, stopping to explain two numbers - 1084 and 1063 - displayed next to "Frank's Franks" on the cart's front side.
"1084" means "on the scene" in cop lingo, Wieczkowski said, and "1063" is "meal."
"So we're on the scene for lunch," he said with a laugh. "That's what happens when you hang out too much at a cop bar!"
But their successful spot is in jeopardy if the City Council approves Mayor Bloomberg's controversial Willets Point redevelopment plan in November. But Frank's Franks could get booted in other ways.
The Parks Department, which owns the Citi Field land, has yet to talk with Mets honchos about the future of vendors who work the area surrounding the new ballpark, which is set to open next year, said a city source.
Though Kasiaras and Wieczkowski are versed in cop-speak, they don't know if police have a word for "limbo."
Apparently things got a bit heated outside the City Planning Commission's rezoning hearings Wednesday, according to the New York Times.
Protesters for and against the Willets Point development plan clashed and some council members are still saying the plan could fail.
32 council members have now said they won't vote for the plan unless there is more detail provided on issues such as low income housing and business relocation.
City officials are still throwing around the "E" word (as in "Eminent Domain") which doesn't help matters. The NYT article does a good job breaking down the milestones ahead for this plan. "The Planning Commission has until the end of September to approve the plan. The
proposal then would go before the City Council, which would be expected to vote
on it by the end of November." So as Shea is coming down, the vote on the future of Willets Point may be coming up. Wild stuff.
Here is the full article:
Supporters and foes of the Bloomberg administration’s plan to turn gritty Willets Point in Queens into a $3 billion development of stores, offices and apartments faced off Wednesday in a confrontation that grew emotional and raucous at times.
The City Council must decide this fall whether to approve the rezoning plan, which would require the removal of more than 200 small businesses, including auto-body shops and industrial outlets.
Thirty-two of the 51 council members sent a letter this week to the City Planning Commission, which held a public hearing on the plan on Wednesday, saying they would not vote for it unless significant changes were made. The commission will make a recommendation on the plan next month.
The hearing combined public testimony on Willets Point and two other rezoning projects, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and at south Hunters Point, along the East River in Queens. Opponents of the Lower East Side and Willets Point plans protested outside the auditorium where the hearing was held through most of the day. Councilman Hiram Monserrate led two dozen opponents of the Willets Point proposal two blocks east, to a spot in Washington Square Park, to confront city officials holding a news conference there.
The opponents interrupted the news conference, which was organized by the city’s Economic Development Corporation, and drowned out advocates for the proposal, chanting “Justice for Willets Point!” and “Save Willets Point!”
The police told the city economic development officials that they could not remove the protesters, saying they had a right to be there, even if they were being disruptive.
Rejection of a rezoning measure pushed by the mayor would be unusual; the Council typically agrees with mayoral plans, and the administration has rezoned one-sixth of the city since 2002. The recent rezoning of 125th Street in Harlem encountered similar resistance, but key opponents, mainly Councilwoman Inez E. Dickens, were won over after several modifications.
What is different this time is the organizational muscle of the opponents. In addition to the council members who have expressed concerns, a group of Willets Point property owners has hired a former Council speaker, Peter F. Vallone Sr., and a former mayoral candidate, Fernando Ferrer, to help them fight the plan.
“They have been floating this project for two years, and there are still questions that haven’t been answered,” Mr. Monserrate said.
Bloomberg administration officials said on Wednesday that they would go ahead with the plan, and that they were trying to negotiate with Mr. Monserrate and others to win their support. One issue is affordable housing; council members have said more is needed, and city officials have said they are open to adding more homes for low-income families.
Another concern among the opponents is eminent domain. The city’s deputy mayor for economic development, Robert C. Lieber, said in an interview that the city was trying to avoid using the procedure and was working to reach agreement with all the landowners at Willets Point, “but at the end of the day, if there’s one holdout, we’ll resort to eminent domain if we have to.”
Councilman Monserrate, who persuaded many of his colleagues to sign the letter, said in an interview, “We have a real problem with a project that threatens to take property from the people who own it.”
Mr. Monserrate’s support may be crucial, since his district includes Willets Point and council members traditionally follow the lead of the one who represents the area to be rezoned.
“If a compromise and a consensus is not reached, we will support Hiram, and what that means is that the zoning could be defeated,” said Councilman Robert Jackson of Manhattan, who signed the letter.
At an unrelated public event on Wednesday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg played down the Council opposition, saying, “I think you will find virtually all of the City Council in the end signing on.”
The mayor said that of the council members who signed the letter, “there was nobody or almost nobody from Queens.” In fact, 8 of the 14 members from Queens signed it.
At the City Planning Commission hearing, 54 people testified, 14 of whom spoke against the project. Proponents included union leaders, environmentalists, small-business owners and a representative of the Queens Chamber of Commerce.
The area known as Willets Point occupies an oddly shaped triangle in northeastern Queens sandwiched between Shea Stadium and the Van Wyck Expressway, close to a stop on the No. 7 subway line. The area has no sidewalks, sewers or houses. Its perennially potholed roads are home to auto-body shops, scrap yards, towing companies and various other businesses, like a manufacturer of Indian spices. Much of the soil beneath the shops is contaminated with oil that leaks from junk cars.
Under the rezoning plan, 5,500 homes would be built at the site, which comprises 62 acres. A fifth of the homes are supposed to be affordable to low-income families, although what the criteria will be for those who wish to live in those homes remains a matter of dispute.
As it stands, the plan calls for a hotel, convention center, offices and retail stores, which city officials say will create 5,300 jobs and generate $25 billion in economic activity over 30 years.
About 200 people attended the hearing, which was robust but not nearly as colorful as the scene outside, where a black garbage truck with a banner on its side reading, “Mayor Mike Only Cares About His Rich Developer Friends,” rode by repeatedly, tooting its horn.
The Planning Commission has until the end of September to approve the plan. The proposal then would go before the City Council, which would be expected to vote on it by the end of November. That process is likely to be contentious.
And on Wednesday, it was clear that emotions were already frayed. Claire Schulman, a former Queens borough president and a proponent of the Willets Point rezoning, was one of the speakers at the news conference organized by city economic officials. When Mr. Monserrate and his demonstrators arrived, she was forced to cut short her remarks. Before she walked away from the microphone, she grumbled, “Shame on you, Hiram Monserrate.”
To quote Shakespeare: "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
Bloomberg will get what he wants. Here's why:
"At the City Planning Commission hearing, 54 people testified, 14 of whom spoke against the project. Proponents included union leaders, environmentalists, small-business owners and a representative of the Queens Chamber of Commerce."
When business, labor, environmentalists and the mayor all want something, is usually gets done. My guess is that all the shouting is just an attempt to cut a better deal. The city ain't gonna let a big junkyard remain across the street from Citi Field.
Agreed but it's amazing it has dragged out this long. Bloomberg has had some defeats in his last year (including his green initiative, killed by Albany last spring). Ferrer and Vallone smell vulnerability.
Even by Bloomberg Administration standards, rebuilding Willets Point in
Queens is a massive development project.
This summer, the city proposal
to tear down the industrial district near Shea Stadium, known for its
auto repair shops, and build housing, retail and a convention center
has been steadily clearing hurdles. At the end of July Queens Borough
President Helen Marshall gave her approval, echoing the local community
board. But on the site, only a handful of the roughly 260 small
businesses have agreed to sell so far.
With eminent domain in the air, local businesses are somewhere between
resistance and resignation.
It's going to happen. They're not going to have junkyards across the street from a brand-new half-billion-dollar ballpark. I just hope they offer the businesses there a fair deal
WNYC put together a
To quote Shakespeare: "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
Bloomberg will get what he wants. Here's why:
"At the City Planning Commission hearing, 54 people testified, 14 of whom spoke against the project. Proponents included union leaders, environmentalists, small-business owners and a representative of the Queens Chamber of Commerce."
When business, labor, environmentalists and the mayor all want something, is usually gets done. My guess is that all the shouting is just an attempt to cut a better deal. The city ain't gonna let a big junkyard remain across the street from Citi Field.