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....October 5, 3:46 PM |
| The Waiting Game: Willets Point Plans Remain In Flux As Biz Owners Anticipate The News
By BRAD GROZNIK A lot of things have gotten faster in the new millennium.
E-mails ping back and forth instantaneously. News updates are sent directly to Blackberries. People are aware of time but demand life take less of it. In the media, newspapers, television networks and Web sites cover more and more breaking news and the craving for long- term effects and causes drifts out of minds whenever a new story breaks. Willets Point has been thoroughly covered; it has been talked about for years and still it looks the same. Sitting down with Willets Point business owner Daniel Sanbucci Sr., of Sanbucci Bros. Salvage Yards, it is obvious he is a little jaded. “I don’t know what to tell you,” he said. “It’s not like you’re going to print what I say anyway.” Awaiting A Change Dozens and dozens of articles have been written about the Northeastern Queens peninsula, especially since the City unveiled its plan to relocate all the businesses from the area and start fresh with 5,500 residential units, 1.7 million square feet of retail and entertainment space, nearly 1 million square feet of office and convention center space, a 650-pupil school, a hotel, a park and eight acres of green space. Sanbucci is still first to note, Willets Point still looks the same, no matter what has been written or said over the past months or years. Sanbucci has heard all the rumors and read all the facts, all of which he said change with every new word typed. City officials and a slew of reporters have spoken with Sanbucci, one of the most vocal Willets Point business owners, over the past couple of years and he has told them all the same thing. “I don’t want to leave; I’ve been here for 55 years, it’s my home,” he said. “Who wants to leave their home?” Sanbucci said it is too easy for the public to see Willets Point as a blight on the community. “It’s junk around here, we know that,” he said. “But the City has been neglecting us for 55 years.” Willets Point is notorious for being the largest parcel in the City without hook up to the sewer system. “What kind of business do you know that has an outhouse,” Sanbucci said pointing to the emerald green port-o-john in the corner of the parking lot. Great Promise City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) called the redevelopment “a long time coming.” But Liu, along with the rest of the city, sees the dilapidated area as something that has to go in order for development of Western Queens to progress. In 2002, the Bloomberg administration identified Flushing as an area with tremendous possibilities for growth. Since then, reports were written and word started circulating that Willets Point would receive more than a makeover. “I think there are parts of Downtown Flushing that hold a great deal of potential housing, schools and commercial choices,” he said. “But Willets Point needs redevelopment.” In 2004, the City created the Willets Point Advisory Committee chaired by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall to advise planning for the redevelopment of Willets Point. A Master Plan was written, gears started turning and now they are seeking out help from big-names in the borough. Claire Shulman, Queens borough president from 1986 to 2001, is president and CEO of the Flushing Willet Point Corona Local Development Corporation, which is comprised of private and public sector individuals hoping to turn the Master Plan into a success. “I’d like to see that 60 acres developed and be a benefit to Queens and New York City,” Shulman said. “We’re working very hard and we’re hoping to be successful.” Taking Care Of Business One element of the Master Plan is the creation of a workforce assistance program, which will provide education and job training services for the dislocated worker population in the Willets Point area. |
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