Develop Willets Point

In an effort to provide both sides of the story, here’s a video that was just posted on Blip.tv. It’s a few minutes long and records some of the workers and shops in Willets Point. The people who appear in the video make their cases as to why the city shouldn’t develop the land on which they currently work.

You can view the video here.

Of course, I think these businesses can operate and succeed in other areas of the city, with the assistance of the NYC EDC in relocating.

So I wanted to know if any of the readers of DWP have any suggestions of ways that we could show our support for developing Willets Point. I’ve got a few of my own brewing, but if you have anything to suggest, please post it in the comments section of this post.

Thanks!

Now seems like as good a time as any to highlight some of the testimony from the City Council hearings on the Willets Point proposal. The hearings were held last year, so this isn’t exactly breaking news, but I wanted to specifically note the “Area History” section, as published by the NYC Council. Now keep in mind, this is the same Council whose 29 members have signed on to a letter opposing the Mayor’s development plan.

Here’s an excerpt from that document:

Today, many of the automotive repair and service businesses and junkyard operations have continued to add to the contamination to the area through illegal dumping and poor housekeeping, contributing to unhealthy conditions throughout the area. In 2001, the State Attorney General announced the indictment of 21 junkyards and 35 individuals for violating State environmental laws by dumping motor oil, antifreeze, transmission fluid and other materials onto the ground and into storm drains and Flushing Bay.

This bit of history certainly strengthens the city’s argument that its development plan is justified for Willets Point. While the actions of the junkyards and individuals that resulted in the Attorney General’s actions do not represent how each business in the area has acted, they demonstrate at the very least that the current condition of Willets Point has at least something to do with some of the businesses that have been operating in the area.

You can read the entire NYC Council document here.

It’s a good sign for the site that the comments section has been active as of late. But now would be a good time to remind everyone of DWP’s posting policy.

Pretty much anything is acceptable, but if a post uses inappropriate language or is directed at another commenter personally, it will not be approved.

If you use an invalid email address, your comments will be deleted. If I attempt to email you, and your email address does not exist, your comments will be deleted from this site.

In addition, I rarely make comments, but when I do they’ll appear under the name “admin.” If I wanted to comment on something other than a correction, I’d write a new post about it.

Thanks to everyone who’s contributed to the conversations in the comments section so far.
UPDATE: Be patient. Comments will not appear immediately. And if you had a post that didn’t appear earlier today, maybe you should use a valid email address so I can contact you to explain why it didn’t appear.

Well, it’s not the first time I’ve seen it in the NY Times, but it’s the first time they’ve run a story in this spirit since DWP started a few weeks ago. Writer Susan Dominus paints a picture of Gordhandas Soni, who owns an Indian food company in Willets Point. As you might expect, the piece focuses on the development of Mr. Soni’s business: how it was formed, when it moved to Willets Point, and the unexpected discovery that Willets Point basically has no sewer system.

The story makes mention of a few things of interest. Mainly, it highlights the fact that Mr. Soni’s business and several others have put together a lawsuit against the city claiming that the city has intentionally neglected Willets Point for years in order to make it more ripe for development.

There’s a major problem with that argument. I wouldn’t have a problem with the lawsuit if it had been filed at any other time in the past. But the present claims against the city seem like nothing more than a last resort effort to stop the Mayor and the EDC in their plans to develop Willets Point. Had the business owners been making noise and filing a suit for all these years in which the streets have resembled the remnants of a war-zone and sewage was nonexistent, I think they’d have a little bit more of a case.

I firmly believe the fate of a commercial area can rest heavily upon the shoulders of the business owners. I’d believe that these businesses cared about the conditions of the streets and sewers had they acted at any time in the past.

And if Councilman Monserrate, the lead opponent of the project, goes along with the line that the area has been neglected by the city, perhaps there has been some failure on his part to address these conditions as the representative of this area in the Council. The business owners should certainly express some dissatisfaction with Mr. Monserrate if it intends to blame the city for neglect.

Back to Mr. Soni - the EDC has already made a down payment on an alternative site for his business in the Bronx. Hopefully things work out for Mr. Soni and his business, whatever the future may hold for them. But articles with a slant like this make me disappointed that I hold the NYT in such high regard.

In all of the fuss going on over the future of Willets Point, opponents of the plan might hold it against the Mets. But the Mets announced the launch of TeamMets, and organization that will work in conjunction with the Mayor’s Volunteer Center of New York City. It’s great to see the Mets taking even more steps to become active in the community and encouraging fans to follow suit.

For anyone interested in volunteering, be sure to check out the TeamMets site.