NYC: Plans to develop 'Iron Triangle' near Mets' stadium on track despite economic downturn
By: KAREN MATTHEWS
Associated Press
06/20/09 7:00 PM EDT
NEW YORK — The red brick arches on the facade of the New York Mets' new stadium rise stories above a pristine plaza of plants, bushes and walkways, encasing the baseball team's $850 million playground.
Yards away, just across the street, sits the "Iron Triangle," a decades-old eyesore made up of auto-repair shops and junkyards.
The stark contrast of old versus new in the gritty Queens neighborhood is at the center of a 10-year redevelopment initiative called the Willets Point project, which is intended to transform the area adjacent to the Mets's glitzy new stadium.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced an ambitious plan two years ago to turn the downtrodden area into living and working space. His expectation was for homes, office towers and a convention center to replace the gutted garages, rusty fences and graffiti-covered storefronts.
The city says the plans are on track despite the deep economic downturn, but critics wonder where financing will come from. And, nearly two dozen business owners who don't want to leave have filed a lawsuit to halt the redevelopment.
"There's not a demand for office space," said Jerry Antonacci of Crown Container Co., one of the business owners who sued last month in state Supreme Court challenging the city's environmental review of the area, known as Willets Point.
"There's not a demand for housing. Retail stores are closing up. What developer in their right mind is going to build something when nobody wants it?"
One city official says the time is right to begin the turnaround in the area and expects, once the real estate market rebounds, the 62-acre Willets Point project to be completed in about 10 years.
"Over the next decade we anticipate that the city will not only emerge from the downturn but that the economy will return to its historic rate of growth," said Seth Pinsky, president of the New York City Economic Development Corp. "The downturn is exactly when you should be laying the groundwork for future developments."
The Mets are not involved in the redevelopment, but have said they are watching with interest.
The Yankees have their own problems with neighbors near their new $1.5 billion stadium in the Bronx, owing to the fact that their new ballpark displaced two city parks. The city promised to replace the parkland, but has been slow to do so.
However, Willets Point is in a class of its own.
Paul Goldberger, a writer for New Yorker magazine, described the area as a "favela" — a word for a Brazilian slum.
It might be tough for the city to dispute Goldberger's description. New York says the area is polluted from years of petroleum spills. The streets have no sewers and flood when it rains. Bloomberg even called the area "one of the bleakest parts" of Queens when he presented his transformation plan in 2007.
The city counted 225 auto shops and 25 industrial and manufacturing businesses that would have to close or relocate in the redevelopment.
Originally, the city was to acquire the land, either by negotiating a sale with property owners or through eminent domain, then clean up the entire site.
That plan has been revised and now calls for the site, which is also near the National Tennis Center, home of the U.S. Open, to be developed over three phases.
"It has become clear to us that there just isn't the availability of capital right now for a full 62-acre remediation and buildout," Pinsky said. "What we're looking to do now is take the project in financeable chunks."
The city hopes to someday oversee the development of 5,000 housing units, in addition to parks, office space, retail and a hotel and convention center.
Pinsky says the city has signed agreements to purchase 61 percent of the 62 acres and is working on relocating several businesses to the nearby College Point section of Queens.
Some Willets Point business owners who once vowed to stay put have agreed to sell.
"The city offered me a piece of land in College Point as an exchange and money to move," said Daniel Sambucci of Sambucci Bros. Auto Salvage. "Of course I would have rather stayed."
But not all who own businesses have agreed to leave.
"We're not going to stop fighting," said Jake Bono of Bono Sawdust Supply Co. "This plan is never going to happen."
Mets fans walk past Willets Point when they enter Citi Field through the Bullpen Gate in right field, and the area is visible from some of the upper deck seats.
"It does bother me," Rob Bloch said as he arrived for the Mets' first home stand in their new ballpark. "It's very run down."
Chris McShane, who runs a blog called developwilletspoint.com, said the area looks like "a wasteland."
"Everything's dirty, there's garbage everywhere," he said. "If that were an area where people could go and spend their time and money, the tax revenue would help the city."
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On the Net:
New York City Economic Development Corp., http://www.nycedc.com/Web/HomePage.htm
Develop Willets Point: http://developwilletspoint.com/
Willets Point United Against Eminent Domain Abuse: http://www.willetspoint.org/
