Robert Lieber
City Says Landowners Delaying Intentionally
Quick update from a report by WNYC. Deputy Mayor Lieber said at the hearings yesterday that the landowners in Willets Point are intentionally delaying their deals with the City to make the City look bad in the days leading up to the City Council vote.
Landowners deny such a stance, claiming they are not receiving their demands.
So far, the property deals that have been made official, pending the approval of the plan, seem to have been very fair to the landowners. The delay tactics that Lieber is suggesting are being used here would make perfect sense. If that’s the case, let’s hope that the Council can see that.
Councilman Liu Calls on City to Act Quickly on Willets Point
Citing his and other Council Members’ concerns over the forthcoming vote on the plan to develop Willets Point, Councilman John Liu has called on the Mayor and his administration to move swiftly to complete deals purchasing land in Willets Point.
Liu has stated previously that he thinks the development needs to happen and is essential to the future of Queens. In that regard, he and Mayor Bloomberg sound quite similar.
The Councilman, however, is asking the City to acquire 90% of the land before resorting to eminent domain. Here’s the full text of his letter to Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber:
Dear Mr. Lieber,
With a month to go before the Willets Point redevelopment plan comes before the City Council for consideration, I am greatly concerned that the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) has reached agreement with only a small number of the existing businesses with regard to the City’s plans for relocation and/or compensation. Even more problematic is my understanding that the agreements reached are non-binding on the EDC.
The EDC and this administration have consistently maintained that “one or two holdouts” should not impede progress. I can agree with that approach and application of eminent domain to condemn private property for greater public good. However, it appears at the moment that almost everyone at Willets Point is a “holdout”. At the moment, it appears the plan would invoke eminent domain to seize over 90% of properties at Willets Point.
This is patently indefensible. I implore you and the EDC to kick negotiations into high gear immediately.
After two years of what the City has described as “best efforts”, more binding agreements should have already been reached. Nonetheless, it’s not too late. There’s still a month left for negotiations. Engage the business owners ’round the clock if need be. Just don’t ask me and my colleagues to support a plan that would take land wholesale.
Good public policy sometimes necessitates invoking eminent domain to make progress. Coming to agreement for the acquisition of 90% of the land for this redevelopment and condemning the remaining holdouts probably makes sense. Seizing 90% of the land would be wrong an inexcusable, and I cannot in good conscience support a plan that amounts to that.
I am available to assist you and the EDC in any discussions and negotiations to get the job done.
Sincerely,
John C. Liu
Ultimately, the more land that can be acquired before eminent domain comes into the picture, the better. Although I hope eminent domain is truly a last resort with this project, I’d support it if that’s what it comes down to in the end.
Observer Interviews Deputy Mayor Lieber
The Observer has an interview with Robert Lieber, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, about trying to wrap up some of Mayor Bloomberg’s plans before his term comes to an end. That’s assuming term limits stay in place, but until that changes, I’ll assume that the Mayor has slightly more than a year to get things done.
Here’s the execerpts from the interview regarding Willets Point:
On Willets Point, you wanted to get a developer selected before you leave office in ’09. Why do that in such a sour economy?
We’re entering the market now with the view that we’re actually going to have construction three, four, five years from now, but these are projects that are going to be decade-plus projects. So they’re going to go through a number of cycles, so in some respects it’s probably better timing now.
You’re up for Council approval in two months [on the proposed Willets Point redevelopment]. How do you think you’re faring on that right now?We’ve made very good progress with the landowners. We have a lot more progress that we need to make, but the level and the intensity and frequency of negotiations is going quite significant here; and I think there’s an open attitude from both sides. I think many of them support this—they won’t say so publicly. … We’re very optimistic.
Report: Malcolm Smith, State Senator, Facilitator
According to Crain’s New York, tensions between the businesses of Willets Point and the city have eased due to a meeting that was held on August 6 and set up by Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith. Smith represents a significant portion of Queens, and although Willets Point doesn’t fall under his jurisdiction, business owners like Tom Mina are crediting him with facilitating the negotiations between the city and the businesses.
From Crain’s:
“Since Malcolm Smith was brought into the picture, it seems like the city’s making a good attempt to reach out to business owners,” said Thomas Mina, vice president of T. Mina Supply, Inc. a water and sewer supply company. “At least we don’t feel like they’re just going to steamroll over us anymore.”
The city maintains that it has always been willing to meet with businesses to make this project happen, but both sides seem to agree that things are moving along better right now than they were in the past.
A spokesman for Deputy Mayo Robert Lieber is quoted as saying of the business owners, “Their reluctance to meet seems to have waned of late, and that’s a good thing.”
Whether or not things have been pushed along by State Senator Malcolm Smith is debatable, but it’s good to hear that an elected official intervened and took a somewhat neutral approach to both sides to try to help the development ultimately happen.
Malcolm Smith stands to become one of the more powerful elected officials in the state when the Democrats take over the State Senate in November.
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