Monserrate doesn’t sit on the committees that will vote on the Willets Point redevelopment plan, but typically Council votes on land use defer to local members’ wishes, and Willets Point is in his Queens district. As Monserrate made clear in a Feb. 8 letter he sent to his 50 fellow councilmembers, he’s especially distressed at the plan’s lack of specifics on many key questions of public interest, especially exactly how the City intends to help workers whose businesses will be displaced and how much affordable housing will be included among the project’s thousands of apartments.

“All prudent elected officials should support economic development that balances the critical prongs of environmental consciousness, community sensitivity, and the broadest level of economic stimulus with full fervor,” Monserrate wrote. “Unfortunately, I must inform you that EDC’s plan fails to harmonize these critical factors.” He urged his colleagues on the City Council to oppose the redevelopment plan “until the Administration and EDC present a Proposal that has resolved these blatant deficiencies.“

What promises is the Bloomberg Administration prepared to ink in order to win over the City Council? Will Monserrate hold out for the kind of vigorous commitments his constituents have said they want, like making two-thirds of the housing affordable? The outcome won’t just remake Willets Point; it’s also poised to set an important precedent for the whole city.

That project is about to go through the City’s land use review process, and a number of community organizations — including Asian Americans for Equality, Queens Community House and ACORN — are looking to bargain for affordable housing, well-paying jobs, pedestrian access and other benefits from the development. The groups brought workers in Willets Point and residents of surrounding neighborhoods, including Corona, Flushing and East Elmhurst, together for a series of brainstorming sessions, whose recommendations are compiled in a new report (careful — that’s a PDF).

Meta-disclosure: The sessions and report were facilitated by the Pratt Center for Community Development, which sponsors this website as an independent news source on development in New York City. I’m mentioning the Willets Point project here because groups all over the city should watch it carefully: it’s poised to be perhaps the greatest test yet of the extent to which neighborhood groups will be able to influence a major development project. The Daily News picked up the story today, and as ULURP proceeds — especially as the transformation plan for Willets Point heads toward the City Council — there will be a lot to discuss about how much the public can and should expect when a neighborhood goes through an extreme makeover.