NY Observer Outlines Alternative City Plan

The New York Observer has a good short piece about the alternative plan that was undertaken by the city when it studied how to go about changing Willets Point. The short story is that the city would develop the area in two phases instead of looking at it all as one project. The article suggests such a plan might find better reception in the council.

I'm not a huge fan of making this a two phase project, per se, but the end result would seemingly be the same, and it's an idea that is at least worth a little consideration.

Queens Residents For Cleaning Up Willets Point

Led by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, a group of advocates from Queens spoke out in support of the development of Willets Point. They focused on the benefits of cleaning up the area from its current condition to a livable, green neighborhood.

It's really great to see a large group of people at City Hall showing their support for this plan. Remember to contact your representatives and tell them that you support this development, too!

Update: The New York Sun mentions some of the other elected officials who were present at the rally: state senators Frank Padavan and Toby Ann Stavisky and Assembly Member Nettie Mayersohn.

Willets Point in the Queens Chronicle

Good article in the Queens Chronicle about this whole Willets Point issue. One of my personal favorites from the article:

"The mayor also announced that the new $3 billion community will become the city’s first green neighborhood and that removing contamination there will help clean the adjacent Flushing River."

This will be a long haul, but the more we let the city know we support this project as Mets fans and city residents, the better the chances are it will come to fruition.

Remember Last Summer?

In case you forgot about it or missed it, there were some reports last summer of stolen car parts taken from the parking lot in Shea Stadium. As it turns out, these parts were sold to the chop shops in Willets Point. John Montone had a segment on the theft back in September on 1010 WINS.

Although they seem to have shifted their argument about opposing the development of Willets Point to affordable housing for those making under $25,000 a year, the opponents of this project still defend the already existing businesses. But are these the kinds of businesses they really want to protect?

Monserrate Leads Charge, Makes Little Sense

Councilman Hiram Monserrate has led the charge against Willets Point. My favorite quotation from Monserrate here:

“What we have here is big government,” he said.

“Enveloping with, or developing with enveloping,” he continued, free-form. “Enveloping to develop with the threat of eminent domain.”

Enveloping developing enveloping developing developing... whatever that means. Be sure to let him know how you feel about Willets Point.

Around the Net

Duncan Meisel at the Village voice has a story summing up the recent goings on with the Willets Point process, and the reason we need to fight lies in quotes like this: "the tea leaves seem to be predicting another difficult path for Willets Point."

Similar story from Henrick A. Karoliszyn at the Queens Ledger.

Speak out, Mets fans!

City to Certify Willets Point Plan

The City is set to certify the Willets Point Plan, which we can consider the honorary first pitch in this forthcoming long game of developing Willets Point.

Don't let the word certify confuse you - this is just the beginning, but it's great news that the city is officially starting this process.

Welcome to Develop Willets Point

Welcome to my brand new blog all about developing the Willets Point neighborhood of Queens. I'm a die-hard Mets fan who would absolutely love to see the area next door to the brand new Citi Field developed in such a way that would generate a ton of revenue for the city and completely transform an area that appears to me to be nothing more than a wasteland.

I was inspired to create this blog after I saw this wonderful article about City Council Members voicing their opposition to the plan proposed by Mayor Bloomberg.

If you're reading this, I really hope you'll contact your council member and let them know you'd like to see Willets Point turn into a model urban area which will include the brand new home for our New York Mets.

If you don't know who your council member is, you can look it up.


So stay tuned, as I'll make any updates I possibly can to keep Mets fans living in New York City and its surrounding areas informed of the latest goings on with the development of Willets Point.