Mayor Hopes Olympic VotersShea Yes To Queens Stadium

It could be the biggest thing to happen to Queens in a generation.
It certainly will make Mets’ fans happy, if no one else.
And it could bring the world’s attention once again to the stage that is Queens.
But we’re used to that here.
This week’s announcement that the Mets will build a new ballpark, which would be transmogrified in 2012 into an Olympic stadium should New York get the Games, will change the landscape of the heart of Queens.
Namely, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park would receive its most intense facelift since the building of the USTA National Tennis Center and the “Iron Triangle” in Willets Point would be transformed into a more useable plot of land.
“We can’t afford to have a piece of property that large to just have junkyards,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said of the triangle-shaped area just east of Shea Stadium.
Under the plan, that strip of land, which is currently home to chop-shops and auto parts stores, will be rezoned and developed. But the mayor added he wouldn’t leave its current merchants up Flushing River without a paddle.
“We’d [the city] be happy to provide a little help,” he said.
In addition, the city and state will pump in $180 million in infrastructure improvements in the area.
Local politicians are already salivating over the possibilities of this funding.
“It’s not just about the Games,” said Councilmember John Liu. “It’s about what we’re left with afterward. It’s about housing, transit improvements…The local community has to share the burden, so we expect there to be some great improvements.”
Liu, who called the Shea Stadium area “an island unto itself” in terms of its disconnectivity to Flushing on the east and Corona on the west, joined Assemblymember Jose Peralta and State Senator Toby Stavisky Tuesday outside the aging Shea to discuss community involvement in the decision-making process.
“We’re looking for broad outreach,” Stavisky said. “The goal is one seamless economic area across this whole path.”
“Look at the trains behind us,” Peralta added. “They need to be renovated. For two years we’ve been asking for support. We want baseball clinics right here. We don’t need them in Chelsea Piers and Long Island (where the Mets currently fund programs).”
Certainly with so many possibilities on the table, the wishlists are long. But plans for the stadium itself will not even be announced until later this week, making patience the name of the game.
“It’s only been a couple of days,” Liu said. “We’ll allow the mayor and the Mets some time, but then we’re going to need more information. Queens may have been the mayor’s second choice, but we will not be treated second-class.”
editrich@queenscourier.com