A State Supreme Court judge ruled in favor of the city and against a group of business owners and workers in Willets Point, who were hoping the courts would block the project because of environmental impacts.
In a decision released on Friday, August 20, Judge Joan Madden ruled that the “information the city had provided is sufficient to allow informed consideration and comment on the traffic impacts of the project.”
“Today’s judgment on an Article 78 petition filed last year moves Willets Point one step closer to becoming New York’s next great neighborhood, a center of opportunity and a driver of growth for the city’s economy,” said city Economic Development Corporation President Seth Pinsky.
“It’s good news for Queens residents and the local economy, and it’s another affirmation for a project that has the overwhelming support of the City Council, local elected officials and the Community Board.”
However, Michael Gerrard, an attorney representing Willets Pointed United – a group of roughly 20 business owners and hundreds of employees who have not struck deals to sell their property to the city – called the judge’s decision a “two-edged sword for the city.”
“It stressed the terrible traffic effects forecast by the EIS; the need for federal approval for the Van Wyck ramps; and the fact that if the ramps are not approved, the project cannot go forward,” Gerrard said. “It will be interesting to see how the city will now back away from its recent claims that the project wouldn’t be so bad for traffic after all.”
The city’s plans for Willets Point are to transform a 61-acre blighted area into the next great neighborhood complete with 5,000 housing units, 1.7 million square feet of retail and 500,000 square feet of office space, a convention center, hotel and new school.
Currently, Willets Point United is still holding out hope that the city will not receive necessary federal and state approvals to build two new highway ramps on the Van Wyck Expressway, which are needed to address the additional traffic that will come with the new development. Opponents of the project believe that the city is underestimating the amount of traffic that would result both on the highway and on the mass transit system.
“If the ramps are disapproved then the entire Willets Point project must be reviewed,” said Willets Point United spokesperson Richard Lipsky.
