The rezoning of industrial Willets Point into a new hotel, convention center, housing and retail complex — developer yet to be determined — is proceeding, with the blessings of labor unions and Community Board 7, which on June 30 approved the city’s plan 21-15. The Central Labor Council and NYC Economic Development Corporation agreed that construction and security jobs will pay prevailing wage — the highest industry standard — while retail will pay at least $10 an hour. Community Board 7′s vote in favor came despite the presence at its meeting of hundreds of protestors from groups that included the Willets Point Industrial Realty Association, New York Immigration Coalition, ACORN, NAACP, and Centro Hispano “Cuzcatlán,” demanding affordable housing and stronger protections for some 1,700 workers at Willets Point’s existing businesses, many of whom will lose their jobs as a result of the area’s redevelopment.

Said Pastor Lancelot Waldron of Queens Congregations United for Action, “The mayor’s plan is not adequate for Queens. There isn’t enough affordable housing.” EDC has committed to make 20 percent of the apartments affordable, under the widely used “80-20″ federal tax exempt bond program. Maximum income for that program is $61,000 a year for a family of four, meaning that the new “affordable” housing will likely be unaffordable for more than half the families in Queens.
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If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard from us in a few weeks, it’s because The Eminent Domain has been part of a major citywide effort to bring New Yorkers together around a shared agenda for how development should proceed in areas like Willets Point — with affordable housing, living wage jobs, and careful attention to what amenities neighborhoods need.

One City/One Future is a collaborative venture between dozens of community, labor, environmental, civic, immigration and other organizations around New York City, including many we’ve been covering here on The Eminent Domain, to set the course for New York City’s future economic development. One City/One Future is based on four basic goals:

• Create and maintain good jobs for a strong economy.
• Make and keep housing affordable.
• Grow the city greener.
• Strengthen local quality of life, neighborhood character, and diversity.

This fall, the One City/One Future Blueprint for Growth will outline strategies that can make those goals a reality in Willets Point and in all of New York City’s development decisions, following models that have proved successful elsewhere. The Eminent Domain will provide a space for discussion of those policies and the possibilities for making economic development work for New Yorkers. We’ll also continue to take a close look at development policies in action and ask tough questions about who wins, who loses and how development could be done better. For more information on One City/One Future, contact Sadaf Khatri at NY Jobs with Justice, sadaf@nyjwj.org.

The Eminent Domain extends a huge thank you to volunteer Danyelle King, who reported this summer from Willets Point, Coney Island and other hot spots undergoing redevelopment. She’ll be returning to Brown University this fall, where she’s majoring in urban studies.