On Thursday, June 27, 2019, the New York Mets will hold a ceremony to rename a portion of 126th Street “Seaver Way” – aided and abetted by the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT).
It’s no coincidence that DOT very recently repaved the seven-block stretch of 126th Street to be renamed “Seaver Way.” And DOT repaved it, even though the condition of that street beforehand did not require resurfacing.
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| 126th Street, freshly paved by DOT preceding the "Seaver Way" renaming ceremony. |
Could it be any more obvious, that DOT repaved that street to beautify it for the photo op during the Mets’ street renaming ceremony? That's an unjustifiable expenditure of taxpayer funds.
But for Willets Point, the biggest insult is that DOT needlessly repaved 126th Street, while not repairing the nearby, severely dilapidated streets in Willets Point, which property and business owners have pleaded with the City for decades to fix.
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| Willets Point Boulevard, approx. one block from "Seaver Way," neglected by the City for decades. |
If these street conditions existed in any other neighborhood of the City, they would be deemed an emergency and repaired right away on that basis.
Irene Prestigiacomo, a Willets Point property owner who has implored the City to stop neglecting the crumbling Willets Point streets and the many businesses that operate there, sums up the sentiment: “Seaver was a good ballplayer, but it’s a shame that the street renamed for him had to be beautified by DOT on the backs of scores of taxpaying Willets Point property owners, businesses and workers, who have asked the City for street repaving for years, but been denied. As we see it, the Mets have stolen a brand new street for Seaver, that rightfully should have gone to Willets Point.”
