for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com may 30, 2013 • The queens Courier 3 Willets Point biz owners expect to reopen BY MELISA CHAN [email protected] Nearly one dozen Willets Point business owners who had their auto shops abruptly shut down by the city two weeks ago said they expect to reopen in a few days. “We all have families,” said Wais Mohibi, owner of Discount Muffler in the Iron Triangle. “Don’t just come in without warning, without anything, and just shut us down.” The city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) issued partial vacate orders two weeks ago to five businesses at 38-01 126th Street for “illegal, unsafe construction,” Willets Point business owners, who said the city is harassing them so they move out faster, expect their auto shops to temporarily reopen soon. THE COURIER/File Photo City Planning approved expansions at the National Tennis Center, and the city council will now vote on the plan. CITY PLANING OKs USTA EXPANSION BY TERENCE M. CULLEN [email protected] The Department of City Planning approved expansions at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Wednesday, May 22, pushing the project another step toward a final green light. U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) officials want to expand the center’s campus in Flushing Meadows- Corona Park by 0.68 acres, build a new stadium and make renovations. The plan is headed to the City Council for the final vote on the project. State Senators will not have to vote on the lost green space because the land in question is considered to be of little value. Expansions at the Tennis Center have been met with opposition, as have two other projects involving the park. USTA was not originally required to give back any land lost in the project. But officials ultimately agreed to transfer ownership of two parcels of parkland USTA has been renting to the Parks Department. Park advocates criticized the plan as giving back land that was already accessible to the public. THE COURIER/Photo by Melissa Chan NEW COUNCIL LINES IN EFFECT IN TIME FOR ELECTION BY TERENCE M. CULLEN [email protected] Time to line up for the new council districts. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) approved the city’s 51 new council districts on Monday, May 20. It was the last step in making the lines official. DOJ had to review the lines along with testimony from residents under Article 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which protects Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx from discrimination on grounds those boroughs have large minority populations. Carl Hum, executive director of the city’s Districting Commission, said in an open letter the lines will be in effect for this year’s City Council elections. New lines in Queens faced criticism from residents as neighborhoods were either broken up or divided into two or more districts. According to Hum, almost 500 people delivered testimony about the lines citywide during three rounds of public hearings. Nearly 1,500 comments were also submitted to the commission either through email or in hard copy. according to a department spokesperson. About five other shops at 37-11 126th Street were also shut down. Vacate orders had been in effect at those locations since 2009, the DOB said. The businesses were hit with violations for working without permits and for having improper lightweight steel, called C-joist, installed at their sites, according to the department. The DOB said C-joist construction without proper shoring affects the structural stability of buildings and can cause collapse. Such conditions led to the deaths of two Brooklyn construction workers last year, the department said. Most of the business owners dealing with vacate orders are working out deals with the city to sell their property. However, they said they did not expect to be forced out of their jobs so quickly. They added that the vacates left them with nothing. “All our equipment is inside. We can’t do anything,” Mohibi said. “That’s not fair at all. We’re basically going to be in the street.” Marco Neira, president of the Willets Point Defense Committee, said business owners expect their stores will temporarily reopen by Monday, June 3. He said Councilmember Julissa Ferreras’s office has been in touch with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), which will handle repairs to the stores. According to an HPD spokesperson, the repairs will be funded by the city and will begin in the next few days. The spokesperson added that there is no timeline yet for the project’s completion. Ferreras said those owners should be able to return next week at the very latest. “The city has to treat us as human beings,” Neira said. “I know they want this land. They can have this land, but not in this way.” According to the DOB, business owners have to submit new design drawings, obtain permits and install proper shoring before their shops can reopen. The establishments are located at the heart a $3 billion city project to transform the area into a major commercial hub. “This is obviously harassment by the city of New York because this area is slated for redevelopment,” said State Senator Tony Avella. “It’s death by a thousand cuts.”
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