FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 29, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Bayside shop
sells winning
Take 5 ticket
Th e New York Lottery announced on
June 26 that the winning ticket from the
June 25 drawing was sold in Bayside.
Th e ticket, which is worth $54,352.50,
was sold at Bayside Convenience, located
at 207-14 Northern Blvd. Th e winning
numbers for the June 25 drawing
were: 11 – 13 – 19 – 24 – 36.
Take 5 winning numbers are drawn
from a fi eld of one to 39. Th e drawings
are televised every evening at 11:21 p.m.
Winning Take 5 tickets at all prize levels
may be cashed up to one year from
the date of the drawing.
Emily Davenport
M train shutdown
begins on Saturday
A portion of the M line between
Middle Village and Bushwick will close
for two whole months starting at 12:01
a.m. Saturday morning, July 1, as the
MTA embarks on a major overhaul of
the elevated line.
According to the MTA, crews will
demolish and rebuild a 100-year-old
rail bridge near the Middle Village-
Metropolitan Avenue station. Th at project
is expected to end on or about Sept. 1.
Shuttle buses will run in place of the
M train, stopping at all closed stations
between Middle Village-Metropolitan
Avenue and Myrtle Avenue-Broadway
in Brooklyn. On weekdays, all M trains
will operate between 71st-Continental
Avenues in Forest Hills and Brooklyn’s
Broadway Junction.
Read more about the disruption in the
Ridgewood Times, on QNS.com and on
the MTA’s website, www.mta.info.
Robert Pozarycki
Serial tire slasher
strikes Corona cars
Police are asking for the public’s assistance
in locating a man who slashed ten
tires on eleven diff erent cars in Corona.
According to police, on Saturday, June
17 at 2:30 p.m., an unknown man was
seen walking in the vicinity of 99th
Street and 35th Avenue. While there,
the suspect used an unknown object
to puncture 10 tires of various vehicles,
which included fi ve Hondas, one
Volkswagen, three Fords, one Lincoln
and one BMW.
Following the incident, the suspect
fl ed southbound on 99th Street.
Th e suspect is described as a Hispanic
male between the ages of 25- and
30-years-old, with a medium complexion.
He was last seen wearing a dark colored
jacket, dark pants, dark sneakers.
Anyone with information in regards
to this incident is asked to call the
NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at
800-577-TIPS or for Spanish 1-888-57-
PISTA (74782). All calls and messages
are kept confi dential.
Emily Davenport
Community board talks
future of Willets Point project
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Aft er a recent court ruling stalled a $3
billion Flushing development plan yet
again, community members expressed
frustration with the city at a meeting
over what they call a failure to communicate.
At its quarterly Willets Point development
meeting on June 26, the
Community Board 7 Building and
Zoning Committee focused on the next
steps for the long-delayed development
project on parkland near Citi Field.
Proposed by the Queens Development
Group LLC (QDG), the plan was again
halted by the New York State Court
of Appeals earlier this month aft er it
ruled that the fi rst part of the two-phase
plan, the “Willets West” retail development,
could not move forward without
approval from state legislature.
“At this point, the plan has been denied
by the courts, stating that the developers
cannot go forward with the current
plan as shown,” Committee Chairperson
Chuck Apelian said.
A legal representative for QDG, Ethan
Goodman from Fox Rothschild, said the
joint venture between Sterling Equities
and Related Companies is “huddling up
internally” to determine the next course
of action.
“Th e mall was a critical point of the
project, and therefore, it throws a huge
wrench in the entire plan,” Goodman
said. “Since the QDG has always been
fully committed to moving forward with
the project as articulated, that can no
longer happen without further action.”
Th e developers do have the option
to approach the state legislature and
request alienation, which would allow
the group to build on the park land,
Goodman explained. Th e city and the
developers do also have the option to “go
their separate ways.”
QDG currently has title to roughly an
acre of the 23 total acres, Goodman said.
Th e rest belongs to the city.
Goodman said that many of the
board’s questions, including ones
regarding recent cleanups and demolitions
at the site, should be directed to
the city. Apelian pointed out that the
New York City Economic Development
Corporation (NYCEDC) and Mayor de
Blasio were notifi ed about the meeting
in advance, but did not send a representative.
“Number one, the mayor has his
own agenda on this,” Apelian said.
“And number two, the Councilwoman
Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, who recently
announced she would not seek re-election
is a lame duck at this point.”
Th e project’s future, Apelian continued,
may depend on who takes the outgoing
councilwoman’s seat in January.
“Th e city has not been cooperative,”
Apelian said. “NYCEDC and the mayor’s
offi ce are not here tonight … It’s
more than disappointing. It just shows
the lack of transparency from the mayor’s
offi ce and EDC to help us and move
forward with this thing. We’ve been
patient.”
A spokesperson for the NYCEDC said
that the agency was invited to the meeting
one day before it was held and that
the city has completed building abatement
and demolition at the site. Th e
agency has not completed site or soil
remediation.
NYCEDC is currently in the process
of evaluating next steps for the project.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to
send a representative to the Community
Board meeting on such short notice, but
we look forward to continuing this discussion
with them as we determine next
steps for this important project,” the
spokesperson said.
Marilyn McAndrews, board district
manager, said there was earlier communication
with the agency initiated by
both QDG and the community board
offi ce.
“As we continue to review the very
recent court order and our options, we
very much look forward to engaging
with local stakeholders and accelerating
the aff ordable housing, schools, libraries,
retail and open space this community
has long been promised,” said Melissa
Grace, a spokesperson for Mayor de
Blasio.
Th e CB 7 committee will meet again
about the project in September. Th e
group agreed that they would schedule
an earlier meeting should the city
make arrangements to send a representative
sooner.
Photo rendering courtesy of NYCEDC
Rendering of the Willets West redevelopment plan.