Programs Call for New Commercial And Recreational Area
by VICTOR ROSS
One of the boroughs most notorious eyesores finally may be in line for a facelift. A three-day conference sponsored by the city Dept of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has called for the cleanup and redevelopment of the industrially battered Willets Point or "Iron Triangle" area.
Entitled "Transforming The Landscape," last weeks conference brought together elected officials, community leaders and planners from the United States, Canada and Europe, who recommended innovative land uses and design options for the development of Willets Point. The proposals ranged from a landscaped restaurant overlooking a Flushing Bay marina, coupled with a new international commercial district adjacent to a rebuilt Mets stadium, and a bridge linking parts of a newly-developed downtown Flushing across the flushing River.
If just a small segment of these redevelopment proposals is adopted, over 100 businesses and their 2,000 employees, currently on this site, will be compelled to relocate or shut down. Also slated for elimination is the city Transportation Dept.s massive harper St. garage, where the boroughs highway repair equipment is stored.
Sitting on a huge mound of ashes and garbage, the potentially lucrative 55-acre commercial site in north central Queens is bounded by the Flushing River, Roosevelt Ave., the Shea Stadium parking lot and flushing Bay.
Culminating a 40-year effort by local officials to dislodge the tenants of the "Iron Triangle," this conference was jointly sponsored by Queens borough President claire Shulman, the U.s. Environmental Protection Agency and the Deutsche Bank, a huge international investment and development conglomerate.
Shulman welcomed the new proposals since, for the past decade, she has actively called for Willets Point to be designated as an Urban Renewal area. the area, she claims, meets the following three federal criteria that warrant the start of renewal work:
Buildings and structures are either abandoned, vacant, substandard, underutilized or obsolete, with high levels of code violations, defective construction, outmoded designs and lack of proper sanitary facilities.
Empty lots are abandoned, vacant, underutilized or unsanitary.
Signs of illegal uses and conversions are evident.
Shulman said that as New York City heads into the 21st century, every location within its environs should be maximized to its full potential. "this area can be transformed into one of the more desirable locations in New York City," she said.
Although the final recommendations were not published, The Queens Courier learned that the projects will be divided into two categories.
The first is an incremental, or gradual, implementation of such proposals as the impact of the new Mets stadium on the surrounding installations such as the 126 St. commercial and retail facilities. Other installations, such as a Flushing Bay marina, pier or restaurant, could follow.
The second, and more complex, plan could include the simultaneous installation of an international commercial district, hotel, a bridge linkage with downtown flushing and a pedestrian shopping area.
Both approaches will also include emphasis on such recreational activities as fishing, a new parkland trail and the ecological cleanup of the areas wetlands and waterways. While the plans do not call for construction of housing, they do have provisions for a "green market."
Watching intently, Councilwoman and Democratic borough presidential candidate Helen Marshall, in whose district the "triangle" lies, declared that the proposals "were good for both the areas commercial and recreational needs."
"These recommendations make it a park of the new century," Marshall said.
The conference also brought into focus the needs of resident business leaders, such as John Fodera, general manager of the House of Fodera, a bakery supply firm in Willets Point. Fodera pointed out that the basic need of the local business was an improved infrastructure a problem that could have been solved years ago. Nevertheless, Fodera senses a more accommodating approach between the government and business communities.
Willets Point has a checkered and , for the most part, unsavory history.
Originally a swamp, the site became a dumping ground for ash and garbage well over 100 years ago. by 1939, a portion of the landfill was converted into the Worlds Fair grounds by Robert Moses. Ten years after the Fair closed, machine shops, garages and "chop shops" began to spring up on the grounds, and Willets Point assumed its current character.
Adding to its flavor of neglect, sanitary sewers were never installed, and the storm sewers that were installed are now either clogged or collapsed by the shifting mounds of accrued mud and sand. Resembling downtown Kabul, its streets are still mostly unpaved, sidewalks are non-existent, street lighting is inefficient and a high water table gurgles just five to ten feet below the unpaved streets hindering the installation of adequate electrical, sewer, water and toilet systems. during the summer months, the murky and polluted waters of the Flushing River emit foul odors on the eastern perimeter of this industrial area.
Neglect also has resulted in potholed, filthy streets during dry weather and flooded roadways during snowy and rainy weather. Back in 1993, City transportation and sewer maintenance officials told The Queens Courier that an estimated $25 million would be needed to correct the areas sewer and pavement problems. During the previous year, heavy December rains, coupled with an inefficient sewer and drainage system caused the low-lying area to be covered with a five-foot blanket of water.
As if to make it even more hopeless, merchants have also complained that the Sanitation Dept. rarely visits their area to clean the streets.
Eight years ago, harried members of the Willets Point Merchants Assoc. announced that they were taking the City of New York into court via an "Article 78" proceeding, which is a judicial review of the Citys decision to withhold needed services such as sewers, road repairs and street cleaning from this industrial community.
While these proceedings are rapid, the appeals process is fairly lengthy, and in the area of this magnitude and complexity, where time is of the essence, would involve millions of dollars, according to legal scholars.
This is the fifth time that official dispossession proceedings have been used to try to take over the "Iron Triangle" business community. Robert Moses unsuccessfully tried it nearly 40 years ago to make room for the second Worlds Fair. The New York State urban Development corp. tried it in on behalf of the ill-fated Donald trump football stadium in 1985-87, although news of the leagues failed finances was common knowledge.
Later, trial balloon requests to build a domed stadium by the N.Y. Mets have been floated intermittently all through the past decade. When the proposal was made in 1993, Parks Commissioner Betsy Gotbaum called the idea "fabulous."
Finally, Shulman proposed the construction of an upscale, multi-business complex with such interactive functions as conference and convention centers and wholesale/retail showrooms all with emphasis on world trade. It would be linked to the boroughs two airports via the Port Authoritys proposed "train to the plane" rail system.
Potential developers have pointed out that this area is easy to reach. It is directly linked to a wide variety of transportation options. It is within 20 minutes of midtown Manhattan via the #7 flushing subway line and is serviced by the Q44 and Q48 bus lines. It also is easily accessible to both LaGuardia and JFK airports and is adjacent to the Grand Central Pkwy, Van Wyck Expwy, the Long Island Railroad, Northern Blvd and Roosevelt Ave.
