Ferrer Joins Monserrate to call on Queens Borough Board to

"Stop the Clock" on Willets Point

WPIRA calls for Ouster of Community Board 7 Chairman

 

(New York, NY) July 8, 2008 - Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer will join Councilman Hiram Monserrate and other Queens elected officials to support Willets Point business owners fighting to protect their private property from an unprecedented and potentially illegal land grab by the Bloomberg Administration.

Business owners from the Willets Point Industry and Realty Association (WPIRA) and hundreds of their supporters and workers will protest on Thursday, July 10 prior to a public hearing at the Queens Borough President's office where the City's Willets Point redevelopment plan will be reviewed for recommendation. WPIRA will be joined by ACORN, which opposes the administration's take-over plan because it lacks significant affordable housing, as well as members of several unions who oppose the plan because it will destroy local jobs.

"When any government says it has a plan to take a massive amount of private property through eminent domain and then turn it over to private developers who they have not even identified, without first engaging in any meaningful negotiations with the land owners, you have to stop and ask some hard questions," Ferrer said. "While Community Board 7 voted by an extremely narrow margin for a development plan, board members correctly raised serious questions about the project. It's time to stop the clock on this project so all these questions can get answered, including just how much of this land will the city attempt to take by eminent domain and just how much truly affordable housing will be included."

Councilman Monserrate said, "It is irresponsible for the Borough Board to approve this project in its current form. We need answers to hard questions before we write a blank check for this project. I have made it clear that this project falls short on affordable housing, and I am not satisfied by the vague promises to address that issue we have received to date. We will not allow this community and its concerns to get steamrolled into approving this project in its current form."

At last week's Community Board 7 vote, members raised serious questions about the use of eminent domain to take private property, as well as questions about the board's ability to have any meaningful oversight of the project and the fact the administration has all but ignored the board's demand for a significant traffic mitigation fund.

Dan Feinstein, President of Feinstein Iron Works, said, "If not for the strong-arm tactics of Board Chairman Gene Kelty and Willets Point Committee Chairman Chuck Apelian, it's clear the majority of board members would have voted against this illegal land grab. Kelty and Apelian clearly went over the line and trashed the interests of the very people they are supposed to represent. This is a board that represents the interests of Queens residents, but instead Kelty and Apelian did the bidding of an Administration bent on handing over our property to a favored developer. They should be ashamed of themselves; but even more, Borough President Helen Marshall should remove them from office. Even with these strong-armed tactics, which are obvious to any who view a video of the meeting, the board raised so many contingencies that this vote was clearly a rejection of the Bloomberg plan. Borough President Marshall now has an opportunity to stand up for the taxpayers of Queens by rejecting this illegal plan, and finally stand with the thousands of working men and women of Willets Point."

Councilman Monserrate's stance reflects his ongoing concern with the administration's efforts to win approval for a project without a formal plan or identification of a developer. In April, Councilman Monserrate, with 28 of his City Council colleagues sent Deputy Mayor Robert C. Lieber a letter denouncing the New York City Economic Development Corporation's certification of the Willets Point redevelopment plan, calling it "deeply flawed" and stating "that without significant modifications we will strongly oppose it, leaving no chance of it moving forward."

The letter, signed by 29 of the City Council's 51 members, states: "We adamantly oppose moving forward with the current redevelopment plan for Willets Point. The plan is deeply flawed and the opportunity for Public consideration has been dangerously absent. We disagree with your decision to pursue ULURP certification for this project. As elected officials, we urge you to reconsider this plan and to engage in a more accessible and transparent process."

Willets Point employs an estimated 3,000 highly skilled workers in ironworking, construction, solid waste management, sewer parts, auto repair and service, and the manufacture of bakery and food ingredients that includes the largest distributor of Indian foods in the US. Yet the city continues to misrepresent the area as a haven for crime comprised mostly of junkyards and chop shops. The area's workforce is mostly blue-collar and for almost 80 years has provided a valuable opportunity for local residents to start up their own businesses and live the American dream. Willets Point businesses provide billions of dollars of economic activity and millions of dollars of tax revenue to the City of New York.

The members of WPIRA believe that the area would be revitalized if the City spent a fraction of the capital required for redevelopment and invested in infrastructure for the area. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) conducted a study of the area in 1991 that suggested exactly that.

"If the City provided the infrastructure and services that we are entitled to and in fact, are paying for, the area would be revitalized," Dan Feinstein said. "The estimated cost of redeveloping the area is upwards of three billion dollars. That estimate is expected to skyrocket given the credit crisis and increasing construction costs. Vital services and program in New York City are struggling with recent budget cuts and the Mayor wants to hand a blank check of New York City's hard earned taxpayers dollars to a private developer? That is outrageous, unacceptable and we're not going to stand for it."

 

Willets Point Business Owners Declare Victory at Community Board Vote

Conditions Placed on EDC Plan Demonstrate Distrust of City

 

(New York, NY) July 1, 2008 -The Willets Point business owners fighting to protect their private property from an unprecedented and potentially illegal land grab by the Bloomberg Administration declared victory in the latest skirmish with the City, noting that opposition from members of Community Board 7 increased dramatically at Monday's vote while those board members who approved the plan imposed such severe conditions that the vote was tantamount to a rejection of the Economic Development Corporation plan.

 

Community Board 7 voted to approve the plan by a narrow 20-15 vote - a dramatic increase in the opposition from the 22-3 vote the plan received at a recent board committee vote. In addition, the board imposed a series of conditions for its approval that EDC officials have completely ignored as they continue their effort to steamroll the local private property owners.

 

"The City asked for a blank check from the Community Board and they got shot down," said Dan Feinstein, a spokesman for the Willets Point Industry and Realty Association. "Only an administration that doesn't care what local private property owners and residents think - and has never cared what working people think about their plan - could call this a victory. We congratulate the Community Board for finding a way to stay in this fight because we all know if they had voted no that City Hall would ignore them anyway. By imposing severe conditions, the Community Board found a way to say no with a smile."

 

The Community Board made clear with the conditions they imposed last night that they do not support the land grab and pie-in-the-sky plan offered by an administration that has yet to deliver on promises it made for major development projects anywhere in the city. Those conditions include:

 

• More affordable housing - the board wants 30 percent of the project devoted to real affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers, while the City has offered 20 percent for low and middle-income families;

 

• A substantial mitigation fund - the city has offered the community board $5 million to mitigate the impacts of this project, while the board has asked for 10 percent of the project cost (which translates to about $300 million);

 

• Real Community Board oversight of the project - the board wants an ongoing and active oversight role in the project if it moves forward, while the city has promised meaningless, toothless quarterly meetings with an unknown developer who will have no obligation to heed the community's advice or concerns;

 

• Limited use of eminent domain to steal private property - the board sanctioned the use of eminent domain but express clear concern about the massive illegal land grab the city now plans to seize land that is 100 percent owned by private citizens (with the exception of the streets).

 

At the board meetings on Monday, the board read a letter from Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber that gave lip service to these demands and ignored the substance of the Community Board's request.

 

"The arrogance from the administration and its paid advocates continues even in the face of these legitimate demands from the Community Board, which is rightly concerned about the city failing to live up to its promises,'' said Feinstein "We will not relent in our efforts to fight for our rights and our private property. This fight is a long way from over. In fact, its just getting started."