Majority of Council opposes current Willets plans

Although the city’s plan for Willets Point has passed its first two public hurdles - albeit with a number of recommendations - and currently sits in the City Planning Commission’s (CPC) lap, the City Council sent a strong message that the project is in serious jeopardy of getting their vote.
Thirty-two Councilmembers, including nine of the 13 Queens representatives, fired off a letter to Amanda Burden, Chair of the CPC and Director of the Department of City Planning, telling her they are absolutely opposed to the current Willets Point plan.
“As members of the City Council, we are deeply disappointed that the process thus far has, in effect, negated previous efforts to create a standard for community engagement in city development projects,” read part of the letter sent on Tuesday, August 12. “Simply put, we will not allow the Willets Point model to become a precedent for future development projects in the city.”
One day after a majority of the City Council delegation sent the letter to Burden, opponents and supporters of the project took turns holding press conferences near Washington Square Park as members of the CPC held a public hearing inside New York University’s Law School regarding the project.
Hundreds of people lined the Manhattan streets to protest the city’s plan, and Dan Feinstein, owner of Feinstein Ironworks, one of the largest businesses in Willets Point, believes that the public’s opposition to the plan will only continue to grow. Feinstein also said he expects more Councilmembers to voice their opposition to the plans, particularly the use of eminent domain.
“[The Council is] telling the [Bloomberg] Administration that you cannot just go and steal the entire city,” Feinstein said. “We’re not going to let you do it.”
On the other side, the project’s supporters continue to say that the city has spent long hours coming up with a plan that will benefit the residents of Queens and New York City.
“The redevelopment of Willets Point comes at a critical time for our city’s economy,” said Claire Shulman, former Queens Borough President who is leading the Flushing/Willets Point/Corona Local Development Corporation who is supporting the project. “This creation of New York City’s next great neighborhood will help keep our economy moving - but we have to act now.”
Currently, the Willets Point project is in the third phase of the Uniformed Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) where the CPC will hold public hearings and within the next two months, it must approve, approve with modifications or disapprove the application. If the CPC approves the project it would go to the City Council for review, which would likely take place in November.
Last year, the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) unveiled its master plan for the approximately 60-acre site that would include 1 million square feet of retail shops and restaurants, 500,000 square feet of office space, 5,500 units of housing, a school and convention center in an area often described as blighted.