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Groups ask city to fund Willets Point street repair

By Madina Toure

Willets Point United is calling on the Queens Borough Board to allocate funding to repair streets that will not be affected by the $3 billion Willets Point Development plan in the immediate future.

Irene Prestigiacomo, a WPU member and a private property owner in Willets Point for the past 26 years, testified at the Feb. 23 budget hearing for the Queens Borough Board, which is chaired by Queens Borough President Melinda Katz.

During her testimony, she commended Community Board 7 for including the reconstruction of Willets Point streets in its list of top capital priorities for fiscal years 2015 and 2016.

But she questioned the city Department of Transportation’s $15 million price tag for the project and accused the Queens Borough Board of neglecting the area.

“I don’t know how they arrived at that figure,” Prestigiacomo said. “I think their arithmetic is really bogus.”

Gerald Antonacci told the TimesLedger in December that problem areas are in the northern and eastern ends of the area, noting 34th Avenue, 126th Place, 127th Street, 127th Place and 35th Avenue and Willets Point Boulevard. Concerns include the large number of potholes, uneven roads and a dearth of litter baskets and sewers.

The $3 billion plan, which expanded from 62 acres to 108.9 acres, includes a megamall to be built on parkland, mixed-income housing, a convention center, a hotel and community facilities.

Because the current Willets Point Development Plan refers only to the first phase of Willets Point — 23 acres of the entire 62-acre site — the remaining 39 acres will not be affected in the immediate future. About 100 businesses operate outside of the first phase.

In a letter dated Dec. 20, 2012 to City Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing), the DOT said the $15 million estimate covers costs for the agency and that funds would also be required from the city Department of Environmental Protection for sewers and stormwater management, which would increase the cost.

“Streets in the Willets Point area are in severe disrepair and require substantial work beyond basic reconstruction and as a result, would require more than $15 million for repair,” a DOT spokeswoman said in an email. “DOT is working on an updated estimate for infrastructure repair at Willets Point.”

David Antonacci of WPU wrote a letter dated Feb. 23 on behalf of WPU to Katz requesting that the city dedicate the $15 million to the project. Marilyn Bitterman, CB 7’s district manager, also sent a letter dated Oct. 8, 2013 to then Borough Commissioner Dalila Hall asking the DOT to perform a “wear and tear” on streets within the second phase of the development plan.

CB 7 declined to comment on the matter.

Ralph St. John of St. John Enterprises, Inc., a general contractor in Willets Point with 30 years of experience specializing in excavation, shoring, concrete, structural and site work, said the company could undertake the street repairs, regrading and new asphalt paving at a cost less than what the DOT projected.

“We can perform this work with our own forces and equipment,” St. John wrote in a letter dated Jan. 9, 2013. “This service can provide an upliftment for our own neighborhood, as well as provide a cost savings to the NYC DOT, the City of New York and its taxpayers.”

WPU is currently appealing a case in which City Group, wanted to take property to the left of the stadium, which is parkland. The appeal will be heard in April.

Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtoure@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4566.