New Willets would draw sports fans, tourists

When the Mets kick off their pivotal three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night September 5, just across the way, the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament will be starting their semifinal and final round matches. With more than 50,000 expected at Shea each night, and sellout crowds expected to pack Arthur Ashe Stadium throughout the weekend, the area will no doubt be bustling.
However, some business experts in the area can’t help but wonder if the crowds that flock to Flushing to see baseball and tennis would be permanent if the city’s dreams for Willets Point turn into a reality.
“You get to see what Willets Point would be like as a destination spot by watching the U.S. Open,” said Queens Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Jack Friedman. The Queens Chamber, who represents 1,500 business organizations of all sizes throughout the borough, has been one of the leading advocates for the Economic Development Corporation’s (EDC) plans to turn the current site at Willets Point into the city’s next great neighborhood.
Throughout the past year, EDC has been pushing the city’s 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 it often describes as blighted.
If the plan were to receive approval, proponents believe that having restaurants, stores, a hotel and convention center available to residents and tourists would give a new option before or after the event.
“Instead of people just spending money on a ballgame or parking, they would be spending money in the area,” Friedman said. “This is new for Queens. People would change their habits when they go to a ballgame.”
Mabel Law, Executive Director of the Flushing Business Improvement District (BID), offered a little more tempered approach saying that a new Willets Point would add competition in terms of destinations already reaping the benefits.
“Hopefully, it won’t be a competition, but it’ll be a complement.”
Meanwhile, Michelle Stoddart, Director of Marketing and Tourism for the Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC) pointed to the 5,300 permanent and 18,000 construction jobs the project would create.
“I know Willet Point will have an impact,” Stoddart said.