Stay On Point!

Now that the city has certified its plan and begun the Uniformed Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) - a nearly seven-month (200 day) review process - for the 60-acre site that is Willets Point, everyone will have a say in the outcome. This project is too important to the future of Queens and especially to the transformation of downtown Flushing into a true gateway to the city.
It is time to end the war of words and get on with the process.
Politicians have chosen their sides in the argument. The owners of the Willets Point property have spoken out publicly and one of their groups, the Willets Point Industry and Realty Association (WPIRA), had filed suit against the city.
The clock is ticking and has been since Monday April 21.
Community Board 7, has sixty days to review the proposal to transform what is ostensibly a garbage dump sitting in a swamp surrounded by a sewer into a mixed use neighborhood which would include 1 million square feet of retail shops and restaurants, 500,000 square feet of office space, a hotel, a convention center, 5,500 units of housing and a school. The city’s most recent plans call to set aside 20 percent of the 5,500 units for affordable housing.
We are sure that CB 7 will approve the project that would transform this black hole, this blight on the face of Queens, which has been growing increasingly worse decade by decade into a useable, livable community. It means an investment of $2 to $3 billion and jobs and growth for all of Flushing’s downtown.
The clock is ticking. Following the CB review there will be a thirty-day review by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. Marshall has expressed her desire to see this project begin. Speaking for the Queens Chamber of Commerce, President Al Pennisi agrees with the Beep saying, “While we must insure that current business owners and employee’s needs are met by the city, the Queens Chamber of Commerce fully supports this project as presented. We must not bow to pressure to alter a plan that conceivably could be the most important in Queens history with regard to the borough’s economic vitality.”
The City Planning Commission would then have sixty-days to review the Willets Point plans and offer any changes they would like to make.
The City Council gets the plan for fifty-days and will probably pass the plan if Mayor Michael Bloomberg exerts enough pressure - remember congestion pricing arm twisting - to get an amended plan past the council.
Bloomberg would then be able to veto any changes he did not like to the plans and send the revision back to the council. We expect the plan to be approved and we hope that the city aggressively works with the owners of the site and that they can avoid the use of “eminent domain” or the seizing of the land for the betterment of the city.
Let us all work together to remake this area - this Hell on Earth.