12 JUNE 15, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM EDITORIAL Don’t halt progress at Willets Point Plans to redevelop the industrial THE HOT TOPIC STORY: Court rules against proposed ‘Willets West’ mega mall near Citi Field in Queens SUMMARY: New York’s highest court has ruled against a long-delayed proposal to develop on over 60 acres of public parkland in Corona. REACH: 43,664 people (as of 6/13/17) COMMENTS: ESTABLISHED 1908 Co-Publishers VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA SCHNEPS Editor-in-Chief ROBERT POZARYCKI Classifi ed Manager DEBORAH CUSICK Assistant Classifi ed Manager MARLENE RUIZ Reporter ANTHONY GIUDICE © 2017 SCHNEPS NY MEDIA, LLC. General Publication Offi ce: 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 TELEPHONE: 1-718-821-7500/7501/7502/7503 FAX: 1-718-224-5441 E-MAIL: [email protected] WEB SITE: www.qns.com ON TWITTER @ridgewoodtimes PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY FOR 108 YEARS COMPOSITION RESPONSIBILITY: Accuracy in receiving ads over the telephone cannot be guaranteed. This newspaper is responsible for only one incorrect insertion and only for that portion of the ad in which the error appears. It is the responsibility of the advertiser to make sure copy does not contravene the Consumer Protection Law or any other requirement.TIMES NEWSWEEKLY Is Listed With The Standard Rate & Data And Is A Member Of The New York Press Association SNAPS SUMMER IN THE FLUSHING MEADOWS SPRINKLER PHOTO VIA TWITTER @NYPD110PCT Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us tag @queenscourier on Instagram, Facebook page, tweeting @QNS or by emailing [email protected] (subject: Queens Snaps). wasteland known as Willets Point are nearly a decade old, and there’s little progress to show for it despite the passage of time. Aft er many protests and much legal maneuvering, the city acquired in recent months a number of former auto body shops and junkyards on 126th Street, across from Citi Field, and demolished them. You can view the progress (if one could call it that) rather easily from the ballpark’s food court the next time you see a Mets game. Where the project goes from there remains relatively uncertain, and that uncertainty grew last week aft er the New York State Court of Appeals ruled in a lawsuit that the developers could not transform part of the Citi Field parking lot — which was once Shea Stadium and is considered parkland — into a billion-dollar mega mall known as Willets West. Queens state Senator Tony Avella was among those who fi led the lawsuit blocking the project. The Willets West proposal could eventually become a reality anyway, but that would require the state legislature to pass a bill permitting the acquisition of parkland there for such purposes. Who knows how long that process would take should the city and the Queens Development Group — the development team looking to transform the entire Willets Point area — pursue it. In the meantime, as the power brokers deliberate their next move, Willets Point on the eastern side of Citi Field lies in “waste.” The de Blasio administration indicated that it still supports creating Queens’ newest neighborhood there — with a keen eye on creating potentially thousands of new aff ordable housing units in a city desperate for new residential real estate. The city has already gone through costly litigation and acquisition at Willets Point, and there’s more money to be spent in environmental cleanups and building the sewer infrastructure that never existed in its past. Regardless of the mighty task ahead and the Willets West plan’s defeat, the march of progress there should not be halted. The de Blasio administration should take the lead and defi ne a vision for Willets Point — one that focuses primarily on making it an aff ordable residential neighborhood with a mix of housing types. There’s plenty of potential for 126th Street to become a hub of economic activity with an array of stores, offi ces and restaurants across the street from Citi Field. To paraphrase a line from one of the most popular baseball movies of all time, “If you build it, people will come.”
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