State Sen. Tony Avella, center, joined civic leaders from around the borough Saturday afternoon to protest a plan for a mega-mall project at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Photo courtesy NYS Senate
Despite receiving green lights last year from both the City Council and the city’s Planning Commission, the “Willets West” mega-mall project is not yet a done deal.
And, if state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), along with scores of community members have their way, the project will be stopped in its tracks.
On Saturday, Avella and a coalition of groups, including residents, small business owners, park users, and civic and legal advocates, gathered to rally in support of a recent lawsuit filed to challenge the legality of the give-away of more than 47 acres of Queens parkland, estimated to be worth about $1 billion, to build the mega-mall project.
Avella and the coalition contend that the still-mapped Flushing Meadows parkland can’t be handed over for commercial uses without specific legal approvals including both the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) and the state Legislature’s authorization to allow the further alienation of designated parkland.
The proposed project, currently slated for the Citi Field Stadium parking lot, is part of the Queens Development Group’s $3 billion redevelopment of Willets Point, which would include retail, residential, and commercial development.
The rally converged at the intersection of Roosevelt Avenue and 114th Street in Corona, with members chanting, “Parks is not for sale.”
“We stand here today to say no to park giveaway for a billion dollar development in the City of New York,” Avella said. “Community members who have gathered here today all represent many different neighborhoods throughout the entire borough of Queens, all of whom are extremely upset over the Willets West mega-mall proposal.”
Avella went on to call the project a “true Bloomberg era back-door policy, which slipped under the radar and had virtually no community input.”
He added that the project was allowed to move forward without required review or oversight.
“Stop the illegal land grab; stop the illegal taking of our parks,” he said, as a mantra.
For its part, the Queens Development Group has said that a 1961 state law which allowed for the construction of Shea Stadium should also be applied to the construction of the mega-mall project. The development group has called Avella’s lawsuit “baseless” and a “sad attempt” to stop the redevelopment from going forward.
Further, the group has also argued that the project would bring thousands of jobs and help to clean up a toxic parcel of land that formerly was home to numerous auto-body and repair shops.
But, Geoffrey Kroft, a petitioner in the lawsuit who also heads NYC Parks Advocates, called the Bloomberg-backed Willets West project “an abuse of power.”
“Bloomberg has so far been able to successfully seize the power from the old Board of Estimate which enabled the project to bypass all legal approval process,” Kroft said. “…The parkland was never alienated. The city simply does not have the right to seize this parkland for these non-park purposes without the consent of the State Legislation. Parks belong to the People, NOT to private corporations.”
Paul Graziano, a longtime civic leader and co-founder of Save Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, voiced his strong opposition to the project.
“… This park (Flushing Meadows-Corona) is the backyard, the recreational space for tens of thousands of people every weekend,” Graziano said. “The city should be spending money helping Roosevelt Avenue merchants revitalize their commercial district, rather than giving away a piece of our public parkland valued at over $1 billion.”
With regard to the lawsuit, Avella said that there has been no response yet from the city but its law department has acknowledged the suit and has said it will respond once it is served, possibly sometime in May.
Avella added that even If the lawsuit is ultimately successful and the city is forced to go through all the necessary legal approvals and reviews, he will still be opposed to the project.
“We now call on Mayor Bill de Blasio to tell us if he really meant what he said during his campaign because once you take away this park land, you can never bring it back again,” Avella said.
“By allowing developers to build a mega-mall at this location, the City will also take away countless jobs, as they have already started doing at the nearby Iron Triangle with respect to auto shop tenants, and cause a tremendous burden on the local mom and pop stores in the area,” Avella added. “Parks is simply not for sale.”
By Alan Krawitz
