For the latest news visit qchron.com
QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, October 4, 2012 Page 28
SQ page 28
FMCP stadiums meet resistance Community groups rally residents against USTA, MLS proposals by Joseph Orovic
mately be judged a positive addition for the park and community. Any deal must pass muster at the city and Wesley Hoffman has learned to enjoy his weekend urban biking excursion: a three-mile jaunt to Flushing Meadows state legislative levels, as well as be presentCorona Park, with his two sons pedaling behind him. But ed to the community. The law also requires now the Jackson Heights resident fears his biking days will all lost park space be replaced elsewhere eventually end, as the city mulls plans to undertake three within New York City. The town hall meeting was spotted with development projects that would transform the park after rhetoric that pitted the proposals as a battle years of construction work. between massive corpoThe proposed changes include rate interests and a two new tennis stadiums at the Unithelpless community. ed States Tennis Association’s Billie “Every inch of parkJean King National Tennis Center, a evelopers see this land we lose is parkland 250,000-seat soccer stadium to be we won’t get back built by Major League Soccer withpark as a giant here,” said Councilin the park, as well as a shopping ATM machine.” woman Julissa Ferreras mall next to Citi Field’s existing (D-East Elmhurst). parking lot. — Donovan Finn, urban planning professor Stony Brook UniverHoffman expressed his dismay at sity Urban Planning the Community United Methodist Church in Jackson Heights Monday night during the sec- Professor Donovan Finn offered a “reasonable ond in a series of town hall meetings hosted by the Fairness worst-case scenario” that would leave the Coalition of Queens, a collective of community groups community with a fraction of the park’s The proposed 25,000-seat Major League Soccer stadium would be built at what lambasting the proposed additions to the park, claiming the 1,225-acres after accounting for roads, exist- is currently known as the Industrial Pond, or the Fountain of the Planets. The plans would rob the community of the park’s remaining ing structures and the new additions. The project's size, up to 13 acres, has residents concerned it will snuff out existing PHOTO BY LIZ RHOADES Jackson Heights resident claimed the propos- soccer fields. green space, dilapidated as it may be. The Fairness Coalition of Queens, which includes Make als, if they go through, would realistically Finn specifically pointed to the USTA as a potential bad-faith the Road New York, the Jackson Heights Green Alliance lower the amount of useable green space to 258 acres with actor in the whole deal, making an “incremental land grab” with and the Queens Community House, hopes the roving town little in return. “Developers see this park as a giant ATM machine,” he the hopes of possibly repeating the process in a decade or more. halls will create a critical mass of voices demanding the said. “If you don’t give away the land, they simply won’t The sport’s governing body contends its plan would plans are publicly vetted if not stopped outright. The USTA and MLS counter that the proposals will ulti- build these structures.” continued on page 62 Chronicle Contributor
“D
Willets Point redevelopment
Willets Point auto
continued from page 18 more thorough evaluation of the land, sending the EDC back to the drawing board. Some organizations spoke in favor of the development, such as Jessica Walker with the Partnership for New York City. She said the project would turn “Queens’ biggest eyesore” into sustainable development. Thomas McKeon, with the carpenter’s union, who used to walk to his job at Shea Stadium through Willets Point, supported the project on grounds that the development would clean up the area’s polluted soil. Past environmental assessments of the Iron Triangle, as the area is called, conducted as part of the city’s original redevelopment proposal claimed years of automotive fluids, a high water table and the lack of infrastructure combined to create a toxic mix underfoot. Representatives from the Service Employees International Union 32BJ also spoke in favor of the redevelopment plan. “The Willets Point project is an example of the type of responsible development that benefits New York City’s communities and families,” said Kyle Bragg, vice president of 32BJ. “This development will bring affordable housing that so many middleand low-income families in Queens need.” The 2008 plan had affordable housing to be built from the beginning. However, in
continued from page 18 “There’s nothing good,” Tomala said. “The rent is $8,000 a month.” He estimated annual gross revenues of $220,000 for one of his Willets Point shops. His search is further complicated by the lack of an official end of his lease, since the city has yet to firm up an official eviction date. Aguirre is hoping to strike a deal with the city to move some of the local businesses to a comparable site in nearby Maspeth. Branham acknowledges that the EDC has been approached about collective relocation and said they “look forward to receiving and reviewing a comprehensive plan from (the companies) in the near future.” “It makes me feel a little sad,” said Tomala’s son, Franklin, 28, who runs Speed Muffler Tire. “We’ve been working in this area with our families. Many of the people will end up without a job.” The city has offered area employees free English and GED preparation classes, job-placement assistance and skills training through a $2.5 million program at LaGuardia Community College. Branham said that 582 workers have registered for these courses and 440 have taken advantage of them. But Aguirre dismissed these programs as hollow gestures. He said initially the skills classes were only taught to his
June, Mayor Bloomberg announced the new plan, that does not add affordable housing until 2025. “What this community needs is affordable housing,” a spokeswoman speaking for Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) said. Many businesses spoke out against the project. In 2008 the city started an eminent domain proceeding against the businesses in the area slated for development that were not willing to sell, but it was abandoned when the plan changed. Now a new process will probably begin, Gerrard said. “The city has pledged to f ind other locations to reopen their businesses,” Gerrard said. “It is certainly not happening, to the best of my knowledge. There has not been any serious contact with the smaller businesses.” Martha Gualotuna, owner of Emanuel Auto Repair Corp., said she felt used by the Bloomberg administration. “We are going to fight until the end,” Gualotuna said. “We are not going to leave Willets Point.” Auto mechanics who have shops on 126th Street in the Willets Point area are worried about the development, according to Sergio Aguirre, a community organizer for the Sunrise Co-op, a coalition of 60 shops in the Willets Point area. The group is asking for help with relocation to Q Maspeth.
Spanish-speaking neighbors in English — they’re now offered in Spanish as well — and that the programs have been of little help retraining the workers. The Spanish classes didn’t help Rahul Akbari, 28. The Afghan immigrant manages AGFA Auto Body in Willets Point and said, “I speak Hindi, Pashto — seven or eight languages — but not Spanish.” Despite the obvious toll eviction will take on Willets Point businesses, some residents are happy to see them go. “Take everything down,” said Carlos Urbina, 58, of Corona as he was leaving the nearby subway station. “They put up brand-spanking-ultra-modern-new Citi Field. We don’t need poverty here…put in the Hilton, a Marriot, a mall.” Jose Zayas, 53, of Flushing who was getting his brakes fixed in the junkyard agreed. “They could put condos or co-ops there,” he said. “The junkyard devalues the real estate.” Aguirre argued that the city is actually responsible for the area’s rundown state, having neglected to invest in basic infrastructure for so long. Willets Point’s roads are still unpaved and only part of the area has sewers that were recently installed in preparation for the first phase of redevelopment. “We know we are working in the worst conditions,” Aguirre said, “but we have to eat, we have to give food to our families … We need to be treated fair, not Q like animals.”