by Robert D. Yaro, President, Regional Plan Association
If you visit Willets Point in Queens, you'll see a hodge-podge of automobile repair shops, auto body shops, junk yards and unnamed dirty buildings full of intense activity. While this may seem unimpressive, you are seeing one of the largest surviving industrial areas in New York City.
All of this will change if a plan of Mayor Bloomberg's is approved. This past Monday a review process started that will ultimately lead to a decision by the City Council on whether to accept the Mayor's proposal to redevelop the area into a mixed-use district of new housing, retail stores, offices, park space and possibly a convention facility. Instead of junkyards and small manufacturers, in a few years one would see apartment buildings, small office towers, a hotel, even possibly a convention center.
The stakes are high. The proposed plan would displace an estimated 260 businesses and 1,711 employees. The City would also invest substantial public funds in new infrastructure to support the project.
In return, the City expects the redeveloped site to generate nearly 6,000 units of desperately needed housing, two million square feet of retail, 750,000 square feet of office space, a 400,000 square- foot convention center, a 700 room hotel, a 150,000 square-foot community facility and 8 acres of open space. It will also connect the nearby thriving residential neighborhoods of Flushing, Corona and Queensboro Hill with the largely commercial and industrial College Point area and integrate a number of Queens attractions, including the new Citi Field, Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the National Tennis Center. The proposed neighborhood has also qualified as a "green neighborhood" by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The threshold question is whether the public benefits justify the substantial public investment and use of eminent domain that go with this kind of large-scale urban redevelopment. If it was simply a question of displacing these largely industrial jobs with higher-value activity, the City would need a stronger economic justification. Over time, the City will need this location, and others like it that are close to transit, to make use of the waterfront and accommodate expected population and job growth. But ideally this could be done in a more organic manner that would develop the site incrementally, preferably in a way that retains some of the original businesses.
However, there is another aspect to Willets Point that tips the scales to favor wholesale redevelopment. The District's long history of industrial use, informal business practices and lack of basic infrastructure - including poor road and sidewalk conditions, chronic flooding and limited storm and sanitary sewer infrastructure - has left a legacy of hazardous contamination. PCBs, heavy metals and pesticides leach into Flushing Bay and impair air quality for workers and nearby residents. In order to remediate the area and prevent future pollution, contaminated soil will have to be removed or covered with clean fill. Storm sewers need to be installed. Without clearing the site and starting over, not only will we be left with an area that is underperforming in its economic potential, but also we will be shirking our responsibility to protect public health and the urban environment.
This does not mean the plan proposed by the City cannot be improved. There are a host of potential benefits that should be maximized. A leading issue is the number of housing units that will be affordable to low- and moderate-income households. Pedestrian access to the waterfront and to adjoining neighborhoods, a desire of local communities, has not been solved. Finding homes for displaced manufacturing jobs - on site or elsewhere - needs to be certain and efficient. The feasibility and benefits of a convention center on the site is also an unresolved issue. City resources, and the dollars that can be generated by redevelopment of the site, are too scarce to meet all of these needs, so trade-offs need to be made. However, the important point is to move the process forward and take advantage of this opportunity to make Willets Point a model of both economic and environmental sustainability.
If you visit Willets Point in Queens, you'll see a hodge-podge of automobile repair shops, auto body shops, junk yards and unnamed dirty buildings full of intense activity. While this may seem unimpressive, you are seeing one of the largest surviving industrial areas in New York City.
All of this will change if a plan of Mayor Bloomberg's is approved. This past Monday a review process started that will ultimately lead to a decision by the City Council on whether to accept the Mayor's proposal to redevelop the area into a mixed-use district of new housing, retail stores, offices, park space and possibly a convention facility. Instead of junkyards and small manufacturers, in a few years one would see apartment buildings, small office towers, a hotel, even possibly a convention center.
The stakes are high. The proposed plan would displace an estimated 260 businesses and 1,711 employees. The City would also invest substantial public funds in new infrastructure to support the project.
In return, the City expects the redeveloped site to generate nearly 6,000 units of desperately needed housing, two million square feet of retail, 750,000 square feet of office space, a 400,000 square- foot convention center, a 700 room hotel, a 150,000 square-foot community facility and 8 acres of open space. It will also connect the nearby thriving residential neighborhoods of Flushing, Corona and Queensboro Hill with the largely commercial and industrial College Point area and integrate a number of Queens attractions, including the new Citi Field, Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the National Tennis Center. The proposed neighborhood has also qualified as a "green neighborhood" by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The threshold question is whether the public benefits justify the substantial public investment and use of eminent domain that go with this kind of large-scale urban redevelopment. If it was simply a question of displacing these largely industrial jobs with higher-value activity, the City would need a stronger economic justification. Over time, the City will need this location, and others like it that are close to transit, to make use of the waterfront and accommodate expected population and job growth. But ideally this could be done in a more organic manner that would develop the site incrementally, preferably in a way that retains some of the original businesses.
However, there is another aspect to Willets Point that tips the scales to favor wholesale redevelopment. The District's long history of industrial use, informal business practices and lack of basic infrastructure - including poor road and sidewalk conditions, chronic flooding and limited storm and sanitary sewer infrastructure - has left a legacy of hazardous contamination. PCBs, heavy metals and pesticides leach into Flushing Bay and impair air quality for workers and nearby residents. In order to remediate the area and prevent future pollution, contaminated soil will have to be removed or covered with clean fill. Storm sewers need to be installed. Without clearing the site and starting over, not only will we be left with an area that is underperforming in its economic potential, but also we will be shirking our responsibility to protect public health and the urban environment.
This does not mean the plan proposed by the City cannot be improved. There are a host of potential benefits that should be maximized. A leading issue is the number of housing units that will be affordable to low- and moderate-income households. Pedestrian access to the waterfront and to adjoining neighborhoods, a desire of local communities, has not been solved. Finding homes for displaced manufacturing jobs - on site or elsewhere - needs to be certain and efficient. The feasibility and benefits of a convention center on the site is also an unresolved issue. City resources, and the dollars that can be generated by redevelopment of the site, are too scarce to meet all of these needs, so trade-offs need to be made. However, the important point is to move the process forward and take advantage of this opportunity to make Willets Point a model of both economic and environmental sustainability.
@RegionalPlan