8 The Queens Courier • august 29, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Willets Point business owners Sal Yaloz (left) and Charles Akah (right) say the 34th Avenue strip of auto shops has been suffering since the street was closed off. Planning Commission OKs Citi Field mall project BY MELISA CHAN [email protected] A $3 billion Willets Point project jumped through another hurdle last week as the City Planning Commission approved plans that would make way for a mega mall near Citi Field. The commission voted 10-1 in favor of giving developers Sterling Equities and Related Companies permission to move Citi Field parking to Willets Point. The joint venture ultimately needed the permit to construct a 1.4 million-square-foot shopping center west of the baseball stadium. City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden said the project would “advance the city’s efforts to redevelop Willets Point.” The project’s original plans in 2008, she said, which included cleaning up the site and improving transportation in the area, have been maintained throughout the public review process. “Although achieving these goals set out by the city will be a more complex effort than first imagined,” Burden said, “with the project team in place and with our approval of this set of actions before us today, Willets Point is on its way to becoming remediated and ultimately becoming an active and inviting destination.” Queens Borough President Helen Marshall gave the project the thumbs up in July. Community Board 7 approved it in May, but both the board and borough president had conditions for its endorsements. They said surrounding communities and their leaders must be kept informed of the project’s progress and traffic problems that arise. The city and the facility’s developer must also fulfill written commitments they made, which include funding traffic mitigation measures, building a 1,000-seat K-8 public school, giving $1.87 million to the Willets Point Infrastructure and Traffic Mitigation Fund, and hiring locally. Marshall said the project would provide 7,100 permanent jobs and generate more than $310 million in tax revenue. The project now goes to the City Council for a final vote. The Queens Development Group said it looks forward to “briefing councilmembers” and touting support the plan has received. Road closure killing biz, say owners BY MELISA CHAN [email protected] Business has come to a screeching halt for about 20 auto shops stunted by construction near Citi Field, The Courier has learned. “It’s crushing us,” said store owner Sal Yaloz. “We’re really, really suffering. I just want to work, and you don’t hear that too often.” The city shut out business for nearly two dozen storefronts down 34th Avenue when it closed off the roadway at 126th Street entirely about three weeks ago, store owners said. Construction from the first phase of a major $3 billion project to transform Willets Point has been gradually cutting down income for area businesses since last October, they said. But the strip of stores in the project’s second phase was brought to a complete standstill when the major street was barricaded. “This is a main road. If you close it, it’s like closing a main artery to your heart,” said David Antonacci, co-owner of Crown Container. Asad Zamayar, who runs Lightning Auto Service, said the stores heavily depend on street traffic. “If there are no cars, there is no money,” he said. “When the road is closed, there is no business.” Determined motorists could instead loop around and enter from 127th Street, but shop owners say few take the detour. “If you can’t get into this area, you’re going to go somewhere else,” Antonacci said. Yaloz, who almost single-handedly runs Fast Tire Shop, estimates losing 80 percent of his business since the street closed. “My tax bill is still coming. I still have to pay rent, but I don’t have regular income coming in,” he said. Business owner Charles Akah, who has a corner alignment shop, totaled his losses to at least $80,000. He said he used to see between 10 and 15 customers daily. “If I get one or two now, I’m very lucky,” he said. “I feel bad for a business that’s been there for 20 years. I’m hardly paying my rent, let alone my taxes to the city.” The street temporarily reopened on August 22 for the US Open but closes again September 10 when the international tennis tournament is over. The day after the concrete street barriers were lifted, Yaloz said he saw more customers that morning than he had all week. “There was a huge difference,” he said. But the two week break is not enough, store owners said. “I’m hoping they’ll have some sympathy and open up the streets for good so we have access for our customers to come in,” Akah said. The city’s Economic Development Corporation said officials are “currently reviewing possible steps towards mitigation,” which includes possibly adding more signage for “increased visibility.” “We have been in contact with these businesses for several weeks,” said spokesperson Patrick Muncie, “including speaking with the owners directly at last week’s public informational meeting.” $3.5M in payouts on table for biz owners BY MELISA CHAN [email protected] A pooled $3.5 million in payouts is on tap for some Willets Point business owners who agree to leave the Iron Triangle by the end of January. The city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) sent letters earlier this month to 90 auto shop owners in the Phase 1 area of the Willets Point development site, alerting them of the extra millions now on the table. Shop owners who relocate by November 30 will be given a payout equal to one year’s rent, city officials said. Those who leave between December and the end of January will receive a payment equal to six month’s rent. Under the payment plan, if a business owner who currently pays the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development $2,000 a month in rent leaves by the end of November, he or she would get $24,000. The new pooled funds are on a first-come, first-serve basis, city officials said, and are added onto the $9 million in relocation aid already offered. The EDC, which has said the entire Phase 1 area must be vacated before environmental remediation can begin, has been urging shop owners to relocate since this February. Only one has left the Phase 1 site so far, an EDC spokesperson said, but two others have struck relocation deals and others are in “serious negotiation.” Plans for the larger $3 billion project to redevelop Willets Point include cleaning up 23 acres of contaminated land and eventually constructing housing units and a mega mall near Citi Field. “I think we’re getting pushed out,” said Tommy Cohen, who owns ACDC Scrap Metal. “We don’t have a choice.” Willets Point United said on its website the deal is “fool’s gold and is little more than a bus ticket out of town for these immigrant Hispanic business owners.” About 120 people attended a city-hosted informational meeting in Corona last week to discuss the new payouts and additional free services. Representatives were available at booths to talk about relocations, business loans, job and education training. There are still ongoing talks between the city, developers and Willets Point shops, said Councilmember Julissa Ferreras, who represents the area. These include possibly relocating the affected businesses as a group. EXCLUSIVE THE COURIER/Photo by Melissa Chan
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