Apart from the destruction of more than 200 small businesses with the loss of employment by thousands and even more so by the burdens placed upon their dependents, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Willets Point plan is replete with a lack of transparency ill befitting an elected official whose constituents should not be limited to large real estate interests.
A record of the shenanigans employed by the Bloomberg administration is set forth in a letter by Gerald Antonacci to TimesLedger Newspapers (“Boro Board must deny Willets Point to developers,” April 5-11).
The ball is now in the court of the Queens Borough Board, which has the right to clear the air of political malfeasance. More than 40 states have enacted legislation preserving the time-honored concept that eminent domain is to be limited to the taking of private property for a public purpose and is prohibited for private real estate development.
By reason of the connection between large real estate interests and far too many politicians, New York is not one of those states. As pointed out in Antonacci’s letter, there are a number of reasons why the Queens Borough Board should deny the application rejecting the city’s attempt to overcome serious deficiency in the proposal.
Unlike politicians, the Queens Borough Board is expected to be non-political and an advocate for the little people. It is urged that the board render a denial and let right be done.
Benjamin M. Haber
Flushing
