SEVERAL LOCATIONS—Need a free bike? Well, the Bike Share Project, which will be offering free 30-minute bike rentals from July 10-1 kicks off tomorrow. The locations for the bike "rentals" and, hopefully, returns are the Storefront for Art and Architecture at 97 Kenmare Street and three City Bakery/Birdbath locations at 3 West 18th Street, 223 1st Avenue and 145 7th Avenue South. More info about the brave experiment here. The Department of Transportation is actually looking into creating a citywide program. [CurbedWire Inbox]
WILLETS POINT—There's another protest tomorrow about the city's $3 billion redevelopment plan for Willets Point, which recently gained the support of the local community board. The protest will happen at the Queens Borough President's office before a public hearing on the plan. (The Borough President is expected to give the plan a thumbs up.) The Willets Point Industry and Realty Association (WPIRA) is leading the protest. Oppoents are calling for the ouster of the head of Community Board 7, who is said to have used "strong-arm tactics" to get members to vote for the city's plan. About 3,000 people work in Willets Point. [CurbedWire Inbox]
The city's $3 billion Willets Point redo plan won its first key vote last night after a marathon community board meeting that lasted until 1AM. When it was all over, the board voted 21-15 to back the plan to transform the Iron Triangle from a tangle of business and chop shops auto-related businesses to a mega-development with hotels, offices, apartments, shopping and more. (A Land Use Committee voted in favor the plan last week.) The vote happened after the city promised to use eminent domain as "a last resort" (which it may have to do as many business owners are dead seat against leaving) and promised Community Board 7 it would be involved in planning and overseeing the project. The meeting may not have been as much knee slapping fun as last week's Coney Island free-for-all, but it had its moments, according to a tipster who reported the un-air conditioned room was stiflingly hot and that opponents of the plan were chanting "hell no we won't go." One of the more prominent anti-Willets Point plan agitators came dressed as George Washington. There are many more meeting and hearings to come before the plan can ever come to a City Council vote, which would precede the eminent domain lawsuits that are certain to follow.
· Community Board Backs Willets Point Plan [Crain's]
· Bloomberg Wins Early Community Endorsement for Willets Point [TRE]
· Willets Point Coverage [Curbed]
The bitter battle over Willets Point being fougt between the city and local business owners in the so-called "Iron Triangle" is heating up to the point where we've stopped caring about the Mets season entirely, and instead are completely honed in on what's going on next door. Last week, the first two dominoes fell, and the city's Economic Development Corporation predicted that more Willets Point businesses would be selling their land to make way for the big redevelopment. However, the Daily News reports that the resolve of the holdout property owners has been strengthened by the news that some of their comrades have sold out to the city. Against this backdrop, the Land Use subcommittee of Queens' Community Board 7—which lords over Flushing and Willets—met last night to vote on the plan, which certainly seems headed for a lengthy eminent domain battle. A Curbed tipster who apparently loves cramped quarters and chop shops sat in on the proceedings, and sent us the following report on the vote, which was only advisory.
TIMES SQUARE—The facade of the Henry Miller Theater on W. 43 Street is seeing the light of day again with the removal of protective steel supports. The tipster who sent the photo notes that "the facade was one of the only things preserved on that block." [CurbedWire Inbox]
WILLETS POINT—It's hard to say whether it's a sign of confidence or an omen of just how bad things are with the embattled $3 billion plan to remake the Iron Triangle, but the NY Economic Development Corp. sent out a press release this afternoon noting that it had reached an agreement with two landowners in the area, one of which controls 52,000 square feet of land and other which owns 22,000 square feet. The deals, NYEDC's presidents says "provide tangible evidence that we will make good on our promise to achieve fair, negotiated deals with as many businesses and owners as possible in connection with the Willets Point redevelopment." So, that makes 74,000 square feet of land down and 2,583,160 to go. [CurbedWire Inbox]
Eminent domain may be coming to Willets Point, aka the Iron Triangle or iTri, the little corner of Queens near Citifield that the city wants to turn into a $3 billion mixed used development with hotels, apartments, retail and a convention facility. The Daily News got hold of 790-page "blight study" of the area. This is interesting in that such documents usually precede efforts to condemn and seize property. The study says that Willets Point is a "burden on the health of the city's residents and economy." In the meantime, a look at the New York Economic Development Corp. website reveals the city has issued an RFP for a Willets Point Relocation Services Specialist. It notes that "Approximately 60% of the land is occupied by owner-occupant business, with the remaining 40% occupied by tenant businesses. These businesses would need to be relocated." The deadline for submitting a bid to help relocate businesses is June 23. There is a long road ahead, including a city land use process and what are likely to be numerous and complicated lawsuits, before a single chop shop business moves a hubcap.
· Eminent domain bid seen as study slams Willets Pt. [NYDN]
· Willets Point Relocation Services RFP [NYEDC]
· Willets Point Rendered, Local Love Included [Curbed]
One important voice left out of the white-hot Willets Point redevelopment controversy: What do Mets fans think? Hey, it sounds weird, but given that the new Citi Field will be a stolen hubcap's throw away from the Iron Triangle/proposed mixed-use village, it's Mets fans that have to stare at the thing, right? Up until now, the Willets Point opposition has been getting all the press, thanks to a coordinated and highly-effective media campaign. Now, however, we hear from someone who actually wants Willets Point cleared and cleaned: a guy named Chris McShane, author of a blog called Develop Willets Point. From right up top: "Take Action to Make Willets Point the Best Neighborhood in Major League Baseball." From the About Me section: "I'm a Mets fan who would like to see Willets Point complement Citi Field." As far as we know, he doesn't work for City Hall. Or the Mets. But maybe his real name is Johan Santana?
· Develop Willets Point [developwilletspoint.blogspot.com]
· Starting Bell for Willets Point & Hunters Point South Fights [Curbed]
The fight to stop the city's big $3 billion redevelopment of Willets Point is going legal. Right now, property owners and opponents of the plan are having a press conference at City Hall to announced they're filling suit against the city over its "negligent, reckless and willful refusal to provide" basic services including streets, gutters, storm sewers, fire hydrants, snow removal, trash and sanitary sewers. They say the lack of services, in turn, will be used by the city to condemn property, evict businesses and turn the parcel over to developers. The suit asks the city to provide basic infrastructure and asks for damages for "past neglect." The city plans a huge housing, retail, hotel and convention complex on the site, which is next to Citi Field. Yesterday, opponents protested outside Shea Stadium on opening day. The Willets Point Industry and Realty Association and 10 of the biggest landowners have hired a major environmental lawyer to pursue the suit. Per a release from the group: "WPIRA maintains that the City of New York has planned to rezone and redevelop for many years and has been waging a campaign of intentional neglect to create and perpetuate an eyesore for the eventual justification of the use of Eminent Domain."
· Willets Point Plan Rendered, Local Love Included [Curbed]
That big city plan to tear down all the auto shops and other businesses in Willets Point and replace it with housing, hotel rooms, shopping and a convention center is still generating a lot protest. So much so that opponents plan to demonstrate at opening day at Shea Stadium tomorrow and organizers are predicting 1,000 people could show up to give Mets' fans something extra to watch. In the meantime, the city recently floated out some renderings, a photo gallery of which appears above. The rezoning the city is considering would allow up to 5,000 units of housing and 1.5 million square feet of commercial space in a 13-block area. A lot of the property would have to be seized by eminent domain, however, and up to 3,000 workers could lose their jobs. Opponents also say the plan doesn't include enough affordable housing. In the meantime, there's a letter writing campaign to city officials from members of the Willets Point Industry and Realty Association. One says, "We object to you taking our land and selling it to a private developer while profiting from our blood, sweat and tears." Another calls the plan "a disgrace." The plan could be headed into the land review process within a month and hopes to break ground in 2010.
· Willets Point Redevelopment [NYCEDC]
· Willets Point land owner rip land grab [NYDN]
· Willets Point Plan Hits More Bumps on Road to Hotels, Etc. [Curbed]
Who knew that something as sordid as that Client 9 thing would have implications for something as dry and legalistic as eminent domain? But it does. This morning's Sun considers the possible implications of Gov. David Paterson--who has been an opponent of eminent domain--on a number of projects including Atlantic Yards, the big Columbia Expansion and the city's plan to take Willets Point and redevelop it with a huge convention, hotel, retail and residential complex. Opponents of Atlantic Yards aren't wasting any time. The postcard here to "Dear Gov. Paterson," which isn't specifically about eminent domain, is already in circulation.The Sun notes that the incoming governor was part of a 2005 rally on the steps of City Hall "during which he called for a statewide moratorium on the use of eminent domain." The issue--along with a Brooklyn Museum Gala honoring developer Bruce Ratner--were major topics of conversation at a meeting on Atlantic Yards last night. The Atlantic Yards postcards are already in the mail, with anti-Columbia Expansion and Willets Point likely to follow.
· Paterson Could Derail Development: Opposes Eminent Domain [Sun]
· At DDDB update, Brooklyn Museum honor for Ratner raises ire [AYR]
Given the turmoil on the Far West Side about the property that was supposed to be used for the expansion of the Javits Center, it's no surprise that it's revived interest in moving the center a bit to the east. Well, a lot to the east. Like to Willets Point next to Citi Field. Followers of big New York City projects will no doubt note that the big plan for the 61 acre Willets Point site, which is renowned for its Tijuana-like atmosphere and car-related businesses, is also the subject of serious ongoing turmoil. In any case, the Willets Point strategy includes a convention facility of 400,000 square feet. Hence the natural interest in making it a possible Javits East. The other possible location is the Sunnyside Yards site near Long Island City, but like all good huge NYC development sites it would require an expensive deck over rail yards. Maybe they could call it the ChopShop Center?
· Javits Expansion May Decamp to Queens [Sun]
· Willets Point Plan Hits More Bumps on Road to Hotels, Etc. [Curbed]
· iTri Plan Closer to Junking Chop Shop Row? [Curbed]
It's too early to say if the city's huge redevelopment plan for the Iron Triangle in Willets Point is doomed or if opposition to it is only background noise, but hearings have now been postponed and history isn't encouraging. Yesterday, the dreaded word "stalled" was even used. As for the history of this part of Queens lacking in paved streets and sewers, in today's Observer, Eliot Brown outlines the failed efforts to redo Willets Point by virtually everyone to wield power in New York City in the last half century: Mayors Robert Wagner, Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani, plus Robert Moses. Moses wanted to turn the 61 acres of auto shops and businesses into a park and parking for the 1964-65 Worlds Fair. Owners hired a Mario Cuomo to stop him. Interestingly, the city is pushing for a rezoning before having any developer or real plan in place, which fueled opposition among local politicians, housing advocates, organized labor and the local businesses and workers already fighting displacement. Public hearings on zoning changes that would allow hotels, retail, housing and a convention facility will get started at some point in the next few weeks. On the bright side, there's a new indie movie about the area called "Chop Shop."
· Willets Point, A Development Waterloo? [NYO]
· Redevelop plans for Willets Pt. stalled [NYDN]
· iTri Plan Closer to Junking Chop Shop Row? [Curbed]
The city's plan for a massive project next to the new CitiField in Willets Point is moving forward, with the New York Economic Development Corp. set to start the clock ticking on public review by the end of the month. In the meantime, there was a demonstration against the project by business owners that would be displaced and workers that could lose their jobs if the city seizes property for it. The $3 billion project would cover an area of 65 acres and would include up to 5,000 units of housing, a 700-room hotel, a 400,000 square foot convention center, 1.8 million square feet of retail space, 500,000 square feet of office space, a school and parks. Business owners say they have no interest in moving and that 1,500 jobs will disappear if the plan goes forward. They say the area is "an economic engine."
· Willets Point workers and owners rally against redevelopment plans [NYDN]
· Crowley endorses Willets Pt. plan [Times Ledger]
· Iron Triangle Ready for Its Extreme Makeover [Curbed]
Over the summer we checked in with the city's redevelopment plan for Queens' Willets Point—housing, retail, office space and a convention center to be plopped down near the Mets' new CitiField. We asked if the auto body shops and junk yards now occupying the Iron Triangle would go peacefully, and of course, that answer turned out to be a resounding no. Now, the Daily News reports on the offers the city is making to Willets Point business owners to get them to relocate, and the iTri folks say the deals aren't very tantalizing. Said one bakery supplier who requested a new location in northern Queens but was presented with offers anywhere but, "Why would I even entertain moving to a multistory building in Sunset Park?" That's right, even the inhabitants of an area known as the "Iron Triangle" think Sunset Park is beneath them. That's gotta sting!
· Willets Point busines owners accuse city of empty promises on development [NYDN]
· Battle Over Willets Point Iron Triangle Goes Video [Curbed]
· Will Iron Triangle Auto Body Shops & Junk Yards Go Peacefully? [Curbed]
The battle over Willets Point in Queens, aka the Iron Triangle, where the city is planning a $3 billion redevelopment, has gone video. This is a long, but fascinating look at some of the businesses that aren't anxious to get out of the way of up to 1.7 million square feet of retail, thousands of units of housing, a hotel, convention center and other things, across the street from the new Citi Field. (The vid, which sort of stayed below the pre-Thanksgiving radar, comes from the Willets Point Industry & Realty Association.) There's a hearing later this week on the plan and a long way to go, especially if the landowners and tenants get organized and become, you know, litigious about that whole eminent domain thing.
· Willets Point: Neglect, Not Blight [Brit in Brooklyn]
· The third world of Queens [Queens Crap]
· Will Iron Triangle Auto Body Shops & Junk Yards Go Peacefully? [Curbed]
The momentum for developing Willets Point, aka the Iron Triangle (or iTri, for short), seems to be growing. The 75-acre parcel, which is next to the current Shea Stadium parking lot and the future Citi Field is currently the home of 250 car-related businesses. It also features no sewers and semi-paved streets. Toxic treasures unknown. The plan is for a $2 billion mixed use develoment and 8 firms, including Tishman Speyer, have submitted proposals. A development corporation headed by a former borough president is being formed and developers are talking about building a "city within a city" and Queens Crap expects eminent domain will be used to get the land. The Bridge & Tunnel Club put together a little photo tour of the Triangle last year.
· Beginning of the End for the Iron Triangle [Queens Crap]
· The Iron Triangle [Bridge and Tunnel Club]
· Shulman to Lead Willets Point Group [Queens Chronicle]
SEVERAL LOCATIONS—Need a free bike? Well, the Bike Share Project, which will be offering free 30-minute bike rentals from July 10-1 kicks off tomorrow. The locations for the bike "rentals" and, hopefully, returns are the Storefront for Art and Architecture at 97 Kenmare Street and three City Bakery/Birdbath locations at 3 West 18th Street, 223 1st Avenue and 145 7th Avenue South. More info about the brave experiment here. The Department of Transportation is actually looking into creating a citywide program. [CurbedWire Inbox]
Comments
The bitter battle over Willets Point being fougt between the city and local business owners in the so-called "Iron Triangle" is heating up to the point where we've stopped caring about the Mets season entirely, and instead are completely honed in on what's going on next door. Last week, the 
It's too early to say if the city's 
The momentum for developing Willets Point, aka the Iron Triangle (or iTri, for short), seems to be growing. The 75-acre parcel, which is next to the current Shea Stadium parking lot and the future Citi Field is currently the home of 250 car-related businesses. It also features no sewers and semi-paved streets. Toxic treasures unknown. The plan is for a $2 billion mixed use develoment and 8 firms, including 
