New Lawsuit Filed

Willets Point United Inc. (WPU) is pleased by City Club of New York filing a lawsuit in state supreme court asserting that it is illegal to construct a 1.4 million square foot "Willets West" mall on 30+ acres of Queens parkland, as intended by Queens Development Group (a joint venture of Sterling Equities and Related Companies), and to do so without obtaining state parkland alienation legislation and without obtaining approval specifically for the mall through the City's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP); as well as challenging the special permits that were granted to convert Willets Point into a parking lot to replace parking lost to the Willets West mall, when that mall may be illegal. Together with State Senator Tony Avella, advocacy groups, residents and business owners, WPU members are Petitioners in the case. We are also proud to have furnished WPU's institutional knowledge to City Club's legal team.

We want to remind everyone that whenever the dubious legality of constructing a 1.4 million square foot mall on public parkland was questioned, the Bloomberg administration responded by saying, in essence: "Don't worry – the legality of this has been vetted by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the Mayor's Office. The mall construction can proceed because of a 1961 amendment to the City's Administrative Code, done to facilitate Shea Stadium."

We simply do not trust any self-serving claim of NYCEDC or the Bloomberg administration, that this mall construction is legal. After all, those are the very same people who:

•   Believed it was legal for NYCEDC to lobby for legislation authorizing the Willets Point development, and for NYCEDC to funnel $450,000 to Claire Shulman's local development corporation so that it, too, would lobby – until the NYS Attorney General (acting on WPU's complaint) determined that NYCEDC and Shulman's lobbying activities were absolutely illegal, then forced NYCEDC to undergo corporate re-structuring and Shulman's group to cease and desist all illegal lobbying. (See "EDC and Shulman's development group admit to illegal lobbying: AG")

•   Promised in writing that the Queens-based Willets Point Advisory Committee would participate in and help to guide developer selection – then violated that promise by instituting a closed-door process that completely shut out the Advisory Committee, and proceeding to select QDG and its plan to construct a mall on 30+ acres of Queens parkland and to expand the proposed Willets Point development from 62 acres to 108.9 acres.

•   Promised in writing that the Willets Point Request for Proposals would include a living wage provision as sought by labor unions – then violated that promise by issuing a Request for Proposals that omitted the promised living wage provision.

•   Told everyone that developing Willets Point in phases was virtually impossible – then proceeded to divide the project into phases and issue a Request for Proposals for "Phase One".

•   Promised that eminent domain would only be used as a last resort – then commenced eminent domain proceedings against owners of properties within Phase One, before exhausting negotiation possibilities (or in some cases, before conducting any negotiation, whatsoever).

•   Deliberately produced two irreconcilable traffic reports pertaining to the Willets Point project – one to be seen by City officials, and another to be seen by state and federal regulators.

•   Told everyone that the Willets Point project would result in Queens jobs – then awarded the $35+ million contract for construction of storm water and sanitary sewers not to a firm based anywhere in Queens, not anywhere in New York City, and not even anywhere in New York State – but rather, in Holmdel, New Jersey.

•   Told everyone that the Willets Point project would result in housing and affordable housing – then made any housing contingent upon new Van Wyck Expressway access ramps, and executed a project contract that states, "For the avoidance of doubt, in no event shall EDC or the City be required to construct the Ramps as part of the Development."

•   Told everyone that a key goal of the project is to remediate Willets Point property – then allowed QDG to submit a brownfield application to NYSDEC that deliberately omitted numerous City-owned properties within Phase One that could have been included in the application, including property that by QDG's own reasoning should be most in need of remediation.

Can we say "bad faith"?

From our perspective, it seems clear that the Bloomberg administration and NYCEDC would say whatever was necessary at the moment, in order to progress their Willets Point development – and the truth be damned. This has already been proven time and again, after the fact, as the above examples demonstrate.

WPU is confident that the administration's and NYCEDC's claim – that a 1961 amendment to the City's Administrative Code that was implemented for Shea Stadium can suffice as the sole basis to construct a "Willets West" shopping mall on Queens parkland, with no public review – will turn out to be just as bogus and unreliable as the administration's and NYCEDC's other past false claims pertaining to the Willets Point project. We look forward to the court's scrutiny and decision.

In our view, City Club of New York, Senator Avella, the lawyers and everyone else involved in promulgating this lawsuit are doing a service for all of Queens, by asserting rights over the 30+ acres of parkland that is at issue – parkland that former Mayor Bloomberg simply dictated would be sacrificed to developer QDG (Sterling Equities and Related Companies). For his part, the present Mayor de Blasio should let it be known whether or not he supports the sacrifice of 30+ acres of Queens parkland to developers – not to mention the give-away of 23 acres of Willets Point Phase One property to the same developers for the price of $1 (one dollar), also as orchestrated by former Mayor Bloomberg.

We suggest that as he recently did with the "stop-and-frisk" lawsuit, Mayor de Blasio should direct the City's Law Department to not defend against the present lawsuit challenging the Willets West mall. Furthermore, Mayor de Blasio should direct NYCEDC to cease and desist any further sale of Phase One property to QDG, until we know the final outcome of the pending lawsuit – which may be that QDG cannot proceed with its intended development. For all we know right now, depending on the result of the pending lawsuit, it may eventually be in the City's best interest to go back to the drawing board with Willets Point and issue a new Request for Proposals, soliciting all potential developers, not just QDG. Under the circumstances, selling any Phase One property to QDG right now is nonsensical. Mayor de Blasio should also call a halt to the unnecessary, ongoing evictions of tenant businesses from Willets Point Phase One. 

Indeed, considering the free property, parkland, tax credits and grants that former Mayor Bloomberg arranged to be lavished upon QDG, while long-time Willets Point tenant business are evicted with little or no compensation or relocation, and property owners threatened with eminent domain, Mayor de Blasio should recognize that what was set in motion by his predecessor at Willets Point is a poster-child for the "Tale of Two Cities" that candidate de Blasio vowed to stop. And Mayor de Blasio should act accordingly now at Willets Point, and in responding to the present lawsuit.

In the event that our new Mayor decides to proceed with this misguided project, he should beware that there is a six year statute of limitations for anyone to sue to prevent construction of the new Van Wyck Expressway access ramps, without which housing and affordable housing cannot be built at Willets Point. It is not just the present lawsuit that may be this project's undoing.

Willets Developers Seek $42 Million IDA Corporate Welfare

Total project cost to City taxpayers balloons to $536 million

Tomorrow, December 5, 2013, the New York City Industrial Development Agency ("IDA") will hold a public hearing to consider an application by the joint venture of Sterling Equities and Related Companies – known as "Queens Development Group, LLC" ("QDG") – for IDA to authorize more "financial assistance" to QDG.

The additional financial assistance that QDG is seeking for its Willets Point / Willets West mall development will cost the City $42,645,802, and according to the public hearing notice, includes "payments in lieu of City real property taxes with respect to the WP Parking Facility and exemptions from City and State mortgage recording taxes with respect to mortgages recorded to secure financing for the WP West Retail Facility, the Hotel Facility, the WP Retail Facility and the Parking Facility."

Given that the IDA board of directors consists of such people as Kyle E. Kimball (a Bloomberg appointee who also happens to be the President of NYCEDC, the agency responsible for promulgating the Willets Point development), Amanda M. Burden (a Bloomberg appointee who also happens to be the Chair of the Department of City Planning, which approved the Willets Point development) and Michael A. Cardozo (New York City's Corporation Counsel and legal counsel to Mayor Bloomberg, whose legacy involves Willets Point), we anticipate IDA rubber-stamping QDG's application for the $42 million with no serious consideration of denying the application, and no serious analysis of the actual costs versus benefits of QDG's Willets Point / Willets West project.

In fact, the City has never publicly offered any comprehensive accounting of the actual costs to City taxpayers of implementing the Willets Point / Willets West mall development.

To the contrary: A "Cost/Benefit Analysis" document published by IDA in connection with tomorrow's public hearing claims that the financial "benefit" to the City of the QDG project over a 25-year period will be $211 million – but the only costs identified by IDA are the $42 million worth of financial assistance that is presently sought by QDG. This creates the false impression that the QDG project will result in a net benefit to the City over 25 years of $169 million – but that is demonstrably not the case, when all of the actual costs to the City of the QDG project are properly taken into account. Indeed, the actual costs vastly outweigh the $211 million alleged benefit, making the QDG project a losing proposition for City taxpayers.

Below we are summarizing the major costs to City taxpayers of QDG's Willets Point / Willets West mall development. To our knowledge, this is the first time that all of these costs have been compiled and publicly presented at once so that the total cost can be understood. All of the following costs are missing from the "Cost/Benefit Analysis" document published by IDA.

Value of City-Owned 23 Acres / Willets Point Phase One Property . . . . . $250,470,000+

On information and belief, the City has spent on average at least $250 per square foot to acquire Willets Point property (and in some cases, many times more than that). The Phase One area consists of roughly 23 acres, or 1,001,880 square feet. Therefore, a fair estimate of the cost incurred by the City to acquire the Willets Point Phase One property is at least $250,470,000. In 2008, the City Council was told that the City would recoup the cost of the property through the eventual sale to the developer. Now, instead, the City intends to gift the Phase One property to QDG for the price of $1 (one dollar). Nowhere has this price ever been justified.

Sewer Construction Cost . . . . . $35,572,000+

The City is currently constructing storm water and sanitary sewer lines – and incurring the associated costs – specifically to facilitate re-development of Willets Point and thus the IDA Project. The Request for Proposals for the sewer construction work describes the project as "126th Street Outfall and Sanitary Sewer Reconstruction projects for the EDC's Willets Point Development Plan".

Van Wyck Expressway Access Ramps Construction Cost . . . . . $66,000,000+

The new access ramps are prerequisites for any construction of "Phase 1B" of the IDA Project, and are components of the project. The IDA Project cannot be completed unless the access ramps are constructed, first. The City incurs the cost of constructing the access ramps. "$66 million in the City's budget will be allocated for the design, construction and buildout of the new ramps off the Van Wyck Expressway." – Council Member Julissa Ferreras' statement during City Council Stated Meeting, October 9, 2013.

Grant of Taxpayer Funds to QDG . . . . . $99,000,000

Per the project contract between QDG and the New York City Economic Development Corporation, "the City will provide the Joint Venture with a capital grant for the Development in the amount of up to $99,990,000 (the “Capital Grant”) which the Joint Venture will apply to reimbursement of the Joint Venture’s cost of the items set forth on Exhibit 'E' and Schedule '4' hereto". – Amended and Restated Purchase and Sale Agreement dated August 1, 2012; section 13.1.

Loss of Real Estate Taxes Previously Paid by Willets Point Phase One Property Owners . . . . . $42,500,000+

A conservative estimate of the real estate taxes paid collectively by the previous private owners of Willets Point Phase One property is $1,700,000 per year. Even without allowing for inflation, taxes that the City would have collected over a 25- year period from those same property owners would have totaled $42,500,00.

The subtotal of all of the above-identified costs to City taxpayers is $493,542,000.

When added to the $42,645,802 financial assistance that QDG is presently seeking from IDA, the grand total cost to City taxpayers is $536,187,802.

The actual total cost of $536,187,802 vastly outweighs the $211,993,947 alleged projected "benefit" to the City. In fact, the QDG Willets Point / Willets West mall project will result in a net loss to City taxpayers of $324,193,855 – nearly a third of a billion dollars. The only beneficiaries here are the developers.

Moreover, just as the costs to the City identified by IDA are incomplete and misleading, the alleged projected "benefits" – $211,993,947 – are suspect. For example, the projected benefit to the City includes $23,593,087 attributed to the "Impact of Construction Activity". It must be noted, however, that when it came time to award the contract for construction of storm water and sanitary sewers for the Willets Point development plan, NYCEDC awarded that contract not to any firm based in Queens, in New York City, or even in New York State. Instead, NYCEDC awarded the contract to a firm located in Holmdel, New Jersey – thus sending $35,572,000+ out of state and failing to deliver purported benefits to New York City. Nothing prevents a similar circumstance from occurring again, such that the projected $23,593,087 benefit to the City which IDA attributes to the "Impact of Construction Activity" will not materialize.

Our information above demonstrates that QDG's Willets Point / Willets West mall development will result in a net loss to City taxpayers of nearly a third of a billion dollars – but unfortunately the losses are not capped at that amount, and will be even worse. For example, we have not discussed the cost to the City that results from waiving collection of fair market rent from QDG for its use of the 30.7-acre parkland property site to operate its 1.4 million square foot Willets West mall; nor have we discussed the City granting QDG an exemption from sales tax totaling $20 million on construction work; nor have we discussed the tax credits that QDG will enjoy as a result of the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program.

In our opinion, the City's failure to publicly account for all costs of QDG's Willets Point / Willets West mall development is a continuation of the pattern of deceptive and even illegal activity of NYCEDC and the City administration in promulgating the proposed Willets Point development. That activity has included:

• Unlawful lobbying by NYCEDC, and unlawful lobbying by the Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corporation, an entity funded by NYCEDC as well as by the Mets (whose owners also own Sterling Equities, which is one half of QDG), as formally determined by the New York State Office of the Attorney General;

• Informing the City Council that the high cost of Willets Point property acquisition would be recouped through the sale to the developer, then reneging and instead gifting the property to QDG for $1 (one dollar);

• Agreeing in writing with the New York City Central Labor Council to include a living wage provision in the Willets Point Request for Proposals, then reneging and issuing a Request for Proposals without the agreed provision;

• Professing in writing that the Queens-based Willets Point Advisory Committee would "participate in" and "help to guide" developer selection, then reneging and dictating the selection of QDG – and its proposal which requires the sacrifice of 30.7 acres of Queens' public parkland to QDG – behind closed doors, while rejecting three other proposals that respected the specifications of the Request for Proposals and required no parkland;

• QDG agreeing in writing "to alert [Queens Community Board 7] when all applications are made to NYSDEC", then reneging and submitting its Brownfield Cleanup Program application to NYSDEC without informing the Community Board. Indeed, the Community Board was unaware of the application throughout the entire public comment period, which has since ended. Significantly, QDG has omitted numerous City-owned Willets Point properties from its brownfield application, including properties whose former uses are exactly the type which QDG and NYCEDC insist require remediation;

• Touting the affordable housing component of the Willets Point development, then entering into a contract with QDG that delays any housing until at least the year 2025; makes the housing contingent upon new Van Wyck access ramps that no one is contractually obligated to build; and provides an opt-out clause, such that QDG may pay a cost-of-doing-business penalty and build no housing.

Willets Point United Inc. has submitted written comments to IDA conveying all of the above. The bottom line: Apparently development of Willets Point is only financially viable for QDG if it receives corporate welfare from taxpayers in excess of $536,187,802 – and even then, the alleged "benefits" of the QDG project do not offset that cost. The only explanation we see for nonetheless proceeding with this project is patricianage, as we have written previously. Officials are abdicating their fiduciary responsibility to New York City taxpayers, and we will continue to expose and oppose this.

WPU Road Trip to Property Rights Conference Nets Surprise Awards

Willets Point United ("WPU") members Irene Prestigiacomo and Joseph Adizzone were each presented with the Grassroots Leadership Award by the Property Rights Foundation of America ("PRFA") during its annual conference, held this year in Latham, New York. The awards are in recognition of their "Dedication to Preserving the Business Community of Willets Point, New York". In addition, Queens-based documentary video producer Robert LoScalzo, who has been tracking the Willets Point story since 2007, received PRFA's Fourteenth Annual Private Property Rights Advocate Award in recognition of his "Dedication to the Preservation of Human Rights Guaranteed in the United States Constitution".

Willets Point property owner and WPU member Irene Prestigiacomo accepts PRFA Grassroots Leadership Award.

2013 is the fourth consecutive year that WPU members have travelled north of Albany to deliver a presentation during the PRFA conference, which is attended by property owners, civic leaders, scholars, attorneys and others. PRFA (http://prfamerica.org) is a national, grassroots, New York-based not-profit organization dedicated to the right to own and use private property in all its fullness as guaranteed in the United States Constitution. In 2011, PRFA submitted a friend-of-the-court Amicus legal brief in support of WPU in our court case opposing the City's attempt to use eminent domain to forcibly acquire Willets Point property (a case that ended with the City agreeing not to proceed under its eminent domain Determination and Findings, as WPU wanted). This year, PRFA President Carol LaGrasse travelled to New York City to testify in opposition to the Willets Point development / Willets West mall on parkland, at the City Council on September 3, 2013.


PRFA President Carol LaGrasse (center) testifies at New York City Council, September 3, 2013. Joseph Ardizzone visible at left wearing Revolutionary War officer's uniform.

Robert G. Prentiss, former New York State Assemblyman, presented the awards on behalf of PRFA to individuals he described as "true champions of 'property rights for the people'". No one was told in advance who the recipients would be, so Prentiss' revelation of each award was a surprise.

In announcing the award to WPU's Irene Prestigiacomo, Pretiss said, "It is one thing to fight for others, staying in the background or when you are not personally threatened. But it is another thing when you stand up, and keep standing up, not just to fight for your own property, but to battle for your friends and neighbors when they are threatened – with the threat raised high by the tactics of the most powerful people in the government of the City of New York. This is what the gracious lady Irene Prestigiacomo has been doing."

Prentiss described Prestigiacomo's actions at Willets Point, speeches at prior PRFA conferences, and testimony to the City Planning Commission and to the City Council opposing "the radical plan to wipe out the [Willets Point] community for a parking lot".

Prentiss introduced award recipient Joseph Ardizzone as "the only resident of Willets Point" who "truly cares for the community and speaks with clarion impact, illustrating with his own person dressed as a Revolutionary War officer how our Constitutionally-protected rights were won so hard by the patriots over two centuries ago."


Willets Point property owner and WPU member Joseph Ardizzone in City Hall, Council chambers.

Ardizzone "has not only stood for Willets Point, but has stood with others in the City where wealthy interests such as Columbia University utilized eminent domain against neighborhood businesses. When a rally was held at the Court of Appeals because the fate of the businesses in the area west of Columbia University was being decided, he staunchly stood before the crowd and spoke for the rights of the people."

Prestigiacomo and Ardizzone were very surprised and humbled to receive the PRFA awards to enthusiastic and lengthy applause.


Ovation as WPU members receive PRFA awards.

Willets Point property owner, resident and WPU member Joseph Ardizzone accepts PRFA Grassroots Leadership Award.

"I'm overwhelmed," said Prestigiacomo at the podium. "I'm truly blessed with the people that I've met and that I've come to know. I continue to fight because I have a passion, like you do, for what's happening in this country, let alone what's happening in New York, with our constitutional rights."

Ardizzone, who is especially outraged by Mayor Michael Bloomberg dictating the sacrifice of 40+ acres of public Queens parkland for construction of the Willets West mall, remarked: "Thank you everyone that's here, to see what's actually going on in this country. Our rights are being taken away from us. I'm totally against that. We should continue fully and wholeheartedly, and do the best we can, to preserve the rights of the American citizens."

WPU is very proud that our members and their efforts have been recognized by PRFA with these Grassroots Leadership Awards.

In Mayor Michael Bloomberg's New York City, the principles of private property unfortunately are not honored and such awards are unheard of – but thankfully, that is not the case everywhere. We are gratified by our strong relationship with PRFA and by its support for our ongoing opposition to the Willets Point development / Willets West mall on parkland.


WPU members Irene Prestigiacomo and Joseph Ardizzone outside the annual PRFA conference, 2010.

Faith in New York Says No to Willets West

A growing opposition to Willets Point has emerged from the faith community in Queens. In Sunday’s NY Daily News, Msgr. Thomas Healy, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Corona and Patrick Young, pastor of First Baptist Church of East Elmhurst, editorialize against the Bloomberg boondoggle. Speaking of the top down, failing to trickle down, development policies of the current mayor, the religious leaders point out:

“Economic development over the past decade in New York City has overwhelmingly benefited those at the top, while leaving the rest of us behind. Today, it has become much more difficult for working people in our congregations and communities to find dignified work, pay for housing, send their children to college and save for retirement. That is not good for families, congregations, or our city.”

As the men of faith go on to point out, this is particularly true of the bait and switch at Willets Point-but first they go on to lay out a statement of principle for development fairness:

“We believe every development in NYC that receives public subsidies should meet an “equity test” — a set of common-sense standards we should expect of developers and city leaders before a single shovel is placed in the ground. To get the go-ahead, a project must provide living-wage jobs, real affordable housing and enhanced open space, and it must be the product of sufficient community input.”

So how does this righteous goal compare to the reality of Willets Point? Not very well:

“While New York could greatly benefit from this brand of equitable development, the proposal to build a massive, 1.4 million-square-foot shopping mall inside Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is a poster child for everything that is wrong with development in our city. We strongly oppose the proposal, which would be the largest mall in NYC, for three reasons:

* The Mayor and Economic Development Corp. broke their 2008 promise to build 2,000 units of affordable housing at Willets Point. The project developers have inserted a dangerous clause into their contract, whereby affordable housing will be abandoned if Van Wyck off-ramps are not built.

* The City and developers have not considered the negative impact of the city’s largest mall upon surrounding communities and businesses, including increased car traffic, overcrowded subway trains and poverty-wage jobs.

* The proposal represents another example of public land being exploited for private benefit, without meeting community needs. The Joint Venture, which represents some of the country’s wealthiest corporations, are already enjoying more than $99.9 million in taxpayer subsidies, and being given public parkland worth nearly $1 billion, while not being required to meet real community needs for jobs, housing or open space.”

The current development plan for the Iron Triangle fails at every turn-and it is frankly incredible that the city council is even given this lame duck proposal any serious consideration; especially after EDC has pulled the rug out from under all of the negotiated deals contained in the original 2008 approvals.

And the idea of a massive mall-nowhere seen in the original plan-is particularly galling to the men of faith and those congregations that they represent:

“The development represents a huge opportunity to construct affordable housing, enhance open space and create living-wage jobs — and yet the Economic Development Corp., Mayor Bloomberg and the developers are deciding instead to build a mall. While we believe our city could greatly benefit from responsible development at Willets Point, the current proposal takes us further down the road toward inequality.”

So, what’s the antonym of responsible? Yes, irresponsible it is. This is irresponsible development by an administration that has made these kinds of projects mundane-always a gold mine for developers and a shaft for the community and its small businesses. We’ll give the pastors the final word (Hint it has a resounding No in it):

“Faith and community leaders from across the city strongly urge the City Council to vote “no” this Wednesday if the current proposal isn’t significantly improved, so that our communities and city leaders have more time to create a better development proposal for Willets Point that would deliver real community benefits to the people of New York City.”

Willets West Mall on Parkland

Memo to Council Members Ferreras, Comrie and Weprin:

Crain's is reporting your last-ditch maneuvers to make the city "guarantee payment of $70 million to erect ramps" to and from the Van Wyck Expressway, without which NO housing may be built at Willets Point.

Apparently, you are DISREGARDING a primary objection of the community to the entire proposed project: the 1.4 million square foot shopping mall that would be built on 30+ acres of Queens parkland. Opposition to that mall on public parkland includes the Queens Civic Congress, which consists of 100+ civic associations throughout Queens; the Roosevelt Avenue Community Alliance, which recognizes that a mall at that location will destroy and displace numerous family-run businesses in Corona and Jackson Heights; and Queens Community Board 3, which voted 30-1 to DENY this application in part because CB3 opposes the mall on parkland; among many other groups that are opposed because of the MALL.

Regardless of whether or not the City provides $70 million for highway ramps, the community DOES NOT WANT THE PROJECT, because of the mall on parkland. Therefore, if you respect the will of the people, you will vote "NO".

But even if you succeed in obtaining an ironclad guarantee from the City of $70 million for highway ramps – and we don't believe an ironclad guarantee is possible now – that alone still does NOTHING to guarantee the housing and affordable housing, which a large sector of project opponents wants to see built. That's because regardless of the
availability of $70 million, the project contract between Sterling/Related and NYCEDC still allows Sterling/Related to pay a cost-of-doing-business penalty of $35 million (in 2025), and build NO housing. Moreover, simply setting aside $70 million for highway ramps does not alter the text of the contract which states: "For the avoidance of doubt, in no event shall EDC or the City be required to construct the Ramps as part of the Development." [Contract Section 3.3.]

As long as those two clear contract provisions remain in effect, there still is NO CLEAR PATH to construct any housing or affordable housing at Willets Point. Thus, if you insist on ignoring the community's outrage over a mall being constructed on 30+ acres of Queens parkland, and want to push for housing, then you must not only obtain $70 million that is necessary for the Van Wyck ramps, but you must also REQUIRE that the project contract be revised so that the City guarantees to construct the Van Wyck ramps, and so that NO option exists for Sterling/Related to buy their way out of constructing the housing by paying a penalty. The construction of the ramps and the housing must
be guaranteed.

We repeat – Obtaining $70 million for highway ramps does not address the overriding problem with this project: the construction of a huge mall on parkland; AND, it alone does not and cannot guarantee that any housing will ever be constructed, because the project contract still contains escape clauses. It is the project contract that will
determine, years from now, what the parties are actually obligated to do.

The pending ULURP application of Sterling/Related has been rushed to coincide with the end of Mayor Bloomberg's final term, and the integrity of the Willets Point project originally approved by the City Council in 2008 – which involved NO mall on parkland – has been sacrificed. None of that is necessary. Denying this ULURP application of Sterling/Related will allow the next City administration to take a fresh look at this project, and to ensure that its goals – including
prioritized affordable housing – are respected, not evaded by a developer.

Sincerely,

The membership of Willets Point United Inc.

Living Wage and Dishonesty at Willets Point: A Challenge to de Blasio

We have underscored the hypocritical dishonesty of EDC about the question of a living wage at the Willets Point development before, but now that a vote is imminent it is appropriate to return to this field of schemes that the city is trying to foist on Queens. Here’s what we pointed out almost two years ago:

“In the battle over whether the city should adopt a living wage for retail workers when a development project is heavily subsidized the issue of Willets Point has wormed its way into the discussion. 

City Hall News lays out the reasons:

"In June 2008, the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Stuart Appelbaum, stood on the steps of City Hall to praise the city’s Economic Development Corporation. Along with several other powerful union bosses, Appelbaum touted the EDC plan to jumpstart a long-stalled, $3 billion project at Willets Point in Queens, because he said it would lead to the creation of so-called “living wage” retail jobs for his workers – paying a minimum of $10 an hour.

“It won’t just mean thousands of jobs,” Appelbaum said. “It will mean thousands of construction and permanent jobs that pay prevailing wages and living wages.”

Juan Gonzales in the NY Daily News also weighs in on the correlation:

"And in 2008, when the mayor wanted the City Council to approve a proposed $3 billion Willets Point development project, his deputy mayor then, Robert Lieber, made such a deal with several labor unions.Under that deal, the city would require that all construction, maintenance and security jobs at Willets Point pay “prevailing” wages — far higher than $10 an hour. 

As for retail jobs, Lieber promised to “view favorably” Willets Point proposals that “maximize” the number of “living wage jobs.” He even specified $10 an hour for a living wage. Because of those promises, the unions backed the plan and the City Council approved WilletsPoint."

Only one problem: EDC has-like it has done with so many other things -- reneged on the deal. In doing so EDC and the rest of the gang down at city hall demonstrate that they will say almost anything just to advance their crooked scheme to abscond with the Willets Point property. The key prevaricator in all of this is former Deputy Mayor Lieber -- a stone chump if there ever was one.

As City Hall reports:

"Appelbaum’s contentions that his members could expect living wage jobs at Willets Point were based upon by a letter penned in April 2008 by Robert Lieber, then the city’s deputy mayor for economic development, to the then-head of the city’s umbrella labor organization, Gary LaBarbera.

“NYCEDC will view favorably development plans that maximize the number of jobs that meet the City’s living wage and health benefits standards,” Lieber wrote. “The proposal must explain how the proposed tenanting plan maximizes the number of jobs that meet these criteria.”

That was then, and this is now-just as WPU has already reported: "

Yet this May – when the EDC put out a 125-page request for Willets Point proposals to developers – there was not a single mention of living wage jobs. It did state that developers had to hire construction contractors who would pay prevailing wage and that some building workers would get prevailing wage salaries—but retail workers were left out completely. Earlier this week, far from offering tacit support for a living wage, the EDC released a list of 36 projects around the city, including Willets Point, that it said could be jeopardized by the living wage bill."

In response EDC has started to spin like a top: 

"EDC spokesman David Lombino declined to directly address why living wage language from the 2008 letter never made it into the requests for proposal. “When seeking proposals for development, the city always considers the creation of well-paying jobs in addition to other factors like the feasibility of the project, proposed uses, job density, and cost to taxpayers,” Lombino said."

And so it goes-just like with the purported revenues at Hudson Yards. The city never lives up to its promises, but now we have a new team coming into office and Bill de Blasio has made living wage and affordable housing his signature issues for dealing with income inequality. The WSJ reports today:

“A proposal by Bill de Blasio to guarantee higher wages at city-subsidized projects could set up a battle with business and real-estate interests if he is elected. Real-estate and business leaders and labor experts alike said they were surprised to learn that Mr. de Blasio, the Democratic nominee and front-runner, would demand a so-called living wage of $11.75 an hour in cash and benefits to all workers on most city-subsidized projects—including, most controversially, to retail workers.” (emphasis added) 

Yes, the same workers that Stuart Appelbaum is supposed to represent have been thrown under the speeding bus. That brings us to de Blasio-and his promises on this issue:

“A campaign spokesman said the plan is part of an economic-development vision "that is less about trickle-down, subsidizing a fast-food restaurant, providing subsidies to low-road, low-wage employers."

"We're not saying that's all the Bloomberg administration did, but to the extent that the mega-development projects had a high focus on retail, often low-wage retail, we'll look to invest development dollars and target development dollars into creating good jobs," said the spokesman, Jonathan Rosen, calling it a "very high priority."

Okay, then. This thrusts the Willets Point deal right into center stage, because as we have seen, the promises have not been kept-and the trickle down here is more a trickle up, up to the coffers of the Mets and Related. But we shouldn’t be surprised at the comments from Bloomberg lackey Seth Pinsky:

“The Bloomberg model has proven to be a successful one. If someone is campaigning on the concept of trying something different, I think that person has a high bar they need to achieve in terms of explaining how that something different will work better," Mr. Pinsky said.

Mr. de Blasio's plan would address a critique of the Bloomberg administration: that too many of the jobs created have been low-paid.”

Success, we guess, is really in the eyes of the beholder-and as far as little Seth is concerned his world view, and current paycheck, comes right from Big Real Estate. Yet Pinsky is experiencing some cognitive dissonance-even while lacking any sense of irony:

"Mr. Pinsky said the next mayor will need to tackle inequality—a growing issue nationwide. Of Mr. de Blasio he said: "He's hit upon an issue that is absolutely critical to the future of the city. The income gap could be an existential issue to the future of the city."

The Bloomberg model has aggrandized the Relateds and Vornados of the world at the expense of neighborhoods and small business. In the process, the average New Yorker has been short changed and all of this has been promoted through the generous use of tax subsidies.

Willets Point could be de Blasio’s Rubicon-a river if crossed that will mean his rhetoric is not matched by his real commitment to equality and fairness. How do you come back from this unethical corporate welfare scheme? We’re all waiting to see what Bill will do.

City-owned properties omitted from developers' Brownfield cleanup application

Please see following letter from Willets Point United to entire City Council, which will vote on the Willets Point plan this Wednesday. As the letter notes, a legitimate reason why some of the properties that are within "Phase One" are NOT included in the Brownfield Cleanup Program application, is that they are not owned by the City. It is important to note, however, that even discounting those properties, there are still numerous properties that the City DOES own, that Sterling/Related have excluded from their BCP application and thus from the program. Why don't Sterling/Related want a BCP Certificate of Completion pertaining to those properties? Do they not want NYSDEC looking so closely over their shoulders to scrutinize the remediation (if any) that they perform on those particular properties? How is the pubic interest served by deliberately excluding properties from the BCP -- when remediation is a top selling point of the whole project?

Letter Brownfield Application by unitedtriangle