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00:00:29Satsang with Mooji
00:00:49It's going to be a bad Christmas
00:00:50because tomorrow is the last day we can stay here
00:00:53The city won't close every shop
00:01:00Willis Point has long been known as the Iron Triangle or the Valley of Ashes
00:01:07Between the city agencies and developers
00:01:09we have the potential to vote in favor for a plan
00:01:12that will forever become a new benchmark
00:01:14not only for my district but for all of New York City
00:01:19I don't know exactly why we need a mall
00:01:22considering the Skyview Mall is approximately 1,500 yards away
00:01:34It's Christmas and now I gotta find out where I gotta work
00:01:40This has been a big decade of land grab
00:01:44by the mayor and rich developers
00:01:48Life like that sometimes
00:01:51You know
00:01:53And the life you have to hold it
00:01:56It's very hard sometimes
00:01:58I ain't gonna get outta here
00:02:14I ain't gonna be anywhere
00:02:14I don't know
00:02:15But I can probably find the Rim
00:02:28Oh, my God.
00:03:00Mike Bloomberg says Willett's Point, the Valley of Ashes, is well on its way to becoming the site of historic
00:03:06private investment, major job creation, and unprecedented environmental remediation.
00:03:13When fully built out, this phrase, one plan, will result in over 5 million square feet of new development, including
00:03:212,500 units of housing, 35 percent of which will be affordable, retail and entertainment venues, a new hotel, and
00:03:29new recreational spaces.
00:03:31His Honor says it may have taken a long time to get to this point, but it will make a
00:03:35very big difference in our city.
00:03:38Stan Brooks, 10-10 wins City Hall.
00:03:46Stan Brooks, 11-11 wins.
00:03:52Stan Brooks, the cambiar de inlet
00:03:52Stan Brooks, 17-11 wins.
00:03:53Stan Brooks – 100 hundred yards on thellege of seven, but the brilliant board has to be redesigned.
00:03:54Stan Brooks, 13-11 wins.
00:04:00Stan Brooks, on the right side of the entire property, the member says Willett, catch up some new new därians,
00:04:026 and 7 losses.
00:04:26My name is Tirso, I came to this country in the year 1997
00:04:34of that date to here in this area of Williams Point.
00:04:41My work for all the 17 years that I've been here in New York
00:04:46has always been working in Body Works.
00:04:57Like everyone, we came to the American dream,
00:05:01we came to win the bread of every day.
00:05:06The American dream where we all believe that everything is easy,
00:05:14but at the same time one is a tremendous monster.
00:05:22The property owner is about to be kicked out to make way
00:05:25for the Willits Point redevelopment project.
00:05:28Some business owners say they're still negotiating with the city
00:05:31and trying to find a place to relocate,
00:05:33but others say many of them haven't heard from the city since 2008
00:05:36and still don't know how or when their companies will be moved.
00:05:40And Willits Point, Stefan Kim, New York 1.
00:05:48This was born as something a little savage,
00:05:52a land abandoned for 70 years ago.
00:05:59But it was slowly becoming a center of work
00:06:04related to the automotive industry,
00:06:06the metal industry, the industrial industry.
00:06:11It was known for the shop shops, the demolition of cars, etc.
00:06:20They were always from people, mainly Italians, some Greeks,
00:06:28and white immigrants who established a large business
00:06:32here in the area.
00:06:39But for more than 25 years, the Hispanics came to install their first workshops
00:06:45or to work as employees of the land owners.
00:06:51The big deficit of the Hispanic community was not to have organized,
00:07:04not to have prevented what came on the way.
00:07:10No more life from the city.
00:07:13No more life from the city.
00:07:15No more life from the city.
00:07:20No more mentiras de la ciudad.
00:07:24No more life.
00:07:30No.
00:07:33No more the city.
00:07:43Together the city.
00:07:51No es justo, nos van a mandar a la corte.
00:07:54Vamos a ser desalojados en pocos días.
00:07:57Esta tierra no es del alcalde Bloomberg.
00:08:01Esta tierra es de un Dios que nos dio la libertad,
00:08:07nos dio palabras, nos dio justicia para hacer justicia.
00:08:12The city doesn't have any plan approved to develop this area,
00:08:17but right now they are sending the letters to a big everybody in this area.
00:08:23They closed our business, they killed our families,
00:08:26they killed everybody over here.
00:08:28We need another place to continue our business.
00:08:31¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!
00:08:36¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!
00:08:39¿Qué queremos? ¡Renotecio! ¿Cuándo? ¡No!
00:08:43¿Qué queremos? ¡Renotecio! ¿Cuándo? ¡No!
00:09:12New York City's economic development policies are often politically made.
00:09:17And in New York City, we have something called the New York City Economic Development Corporation,
00:09:21that if you were just the average Jane or Joe on the street,
00:09:24you'd swear it was a city agency.
00:09:28The mayor's got his hands in it, helps appoint the board.
00:09:31The reality is, is that is not a city agency.
00:09:34It is not accountable to the people of New York.
00:09:39The Economic Development Corporation is an independent, not-for-profit corporation,
00:09:44and its primary purpose is to develop the economy of the city of New York.
00:09:52And because it's not technically a city agency, it's able to move more nimbly,
00:09:57and to bridge those two very different worlds,
00:10:00the world of the public sector and the world of the private sector.
00:10:06It manages properties on behalf of the city,
00:10:10and sells surplus property to put it back into active use.
00:10:17It also manages about a $2.5 billion capital budget.
00:10:21The capital comes from the city's capital budget,
00:10:24and that goes through the normal of city council approval,
00:10:27and then the budget is eventually signed into law by the mayor.
00:10:45With a project like Willett's Point, where you're talking about 62 acres
00:10:50in the middle of a dense urban environment,
00:10:53there are actually multiple constituencies.
00:10:58You have the people who own the land, the people who work at Willett's Point,
00:11:03the people who own the businesses,
00:11:05people who are affordable housing advocates,
00:11:09you have neighbors, you have the environmental community,
00:11:13people who are looking for economic development.
00:11:17What ends up happening is that you have to try to figure out
00:11:21how best to balance all of those different interests.
00:11:26And in balancing all of those interests, as with any compromise,
00:11:31you inevitably are going to land in a place
00:11:34that's not going to satisfy everyone 100%.
00:11:38Good morning, I'm Councilmember Julissa Ferreras,
00:11:40and I represent the 21st Council District, which includes Willett's Point.
00:11:45As a representative of Willett's Point,
00:11:47I want to ensure the proposed development is fair and balanced,
00:11:50with consideration to existing tenants.
00:11:54While the use of this land has varied over the years,
00:11:57it now hosts a wealth of auto repair shops
00:11:59that have gone without many of the essential amenities
00:12:01other areas of our city experienced.
00:12:04The owners of these shops are predominantly low-income immigrants
00:12:08who have come to our great city in search of the American dream.
00:12:12As lawmakers, it is our duty to ensure they have access to the same resources
00:12:17that any other New Yorker in small business has.
00:12:20Additionally, I'd like to point out that the proposal calls for construction of a housing development.
00:12:26In 2008, it was made clear that 35% of the units being constructed will be affordable.
00:12:31Through this hearing, I would like to have clarified that this commitment will be solidified.
00:12:37My district is continuing to grow, and yet there is no affordable housing available,
00:12:41nor is there enough green space when we factor in our overcrowded population.
00:12:46The commitment to affordable housing and other community needs
00:12:49would have a tremendous impact for hundreds of low-income residents in my community.
00:12:55Although there are many positive points within the proposals,
00:12:58we must know all the facts,
00:13:00and the community needs to feel reassured that this is the best decision.
00:13:05The Willis Point Development Plan, approved by the City Council in 2008,
00:13:09is one of the most ambitious physical transformation projects undertaken in New York City's history.
00:13:13Willis Point has long tarnished an otherwise vibrant section of Queens.
00:13:17This toxic, neglected 62 acres lacks even the most basic infrastructure, including roads, sidewalks, and utilities.
00:13:25Despite these challenges giving its location adjacent to growing neighborhoods
00:13:28and proximity to highways and mass transit,
00:13:30both this administration and the Council have seen an opportunity not only to clean the area,
00:13:35but also to reclaim this underutilized site by creating a dynamic new neighborhood.
00:13:53Willis Point is in the center of the borough.
00:14:00It's between the two airports.
00:14:03It's bordered by Flushing Meadow Park, which is a major recreational area.
00:14:10The Queens Museum is there.
00:14:11The Queens Theater is there.
00:14:16Going back to the 1939 World's Fair,
00:14:19it was seen as a show place for New York City.
00:14:24But in the last 50 years,
00:14:27you have this industry that's grown up over there,
00:14:31which has largely been unregulated,
00:14:35and, you know, they've really been sort of a blight.
00:14:44So the vision is to create an area that is more attractive to the people
00:14:48who come to the United States Open every year,
00:14:51who come to the Mets games,
00:14:54to create a neighborhood that's a bright spot,
00:14:57rather than what it is today.
00:15:03Willis Point is occupied by 250 cars of car cars.
00:15:08We have hundreds of thousands of cars a year.
00:15:12We have hundreds of thousands of customers.
00:15:15We work like an economic unit,
00:15:18which compete with each other.
00:15:21So our prices are imbatibles.
00:15:26And together, we offer a very good service
00:15:29that is very advantageous for the Customs.
00:15:31And that's why people, when they have an emergency
00:15:33in New York City or New Jersey,
00:15:35or Connecticut,
00:15:36they come here,
00:15:36because they come here.
00:15:38They come here.
00:15:38They come here.
00:15:39I'm barelyöglichTERS by 50%,
00:15:39they've got hundreds of dollars,
00:15:40sure, D,
00:15:41and they'll train them around 15-20 minutes.
00:15:43In a problem...
00:15:44which would cost a lot of money
00:15:46in their own places.
00:15:49And that's why this activity,
00:15:50is an engine,
00:15:52an economic engine that's always running.
00:15:54But, if they separate us,
00:15:56they're serie on Up Until we're dead.
00:15:58What if your community laureates...
00:16:08They're killed
00:16:09can get parts i can get tires i can get rims and they have a very good selection here
00:16:19i want to see exactly what they're going to do with willis point i know we got city field right
00:16:23there and they want to make it more presentable because it's not the best looking place to drive
00:16:31through but it's worth it for the deals
00:16:44the conditions in willis point are like a third world country
00:16:51and we have streets but they're like look like they've been bombed
00:16:59there's potholes all over the place no sanitation services
00:17:04people illegally dumped over here they don't try to catch anybody
00:17:11we asked the city to have our streets redone and they said well we're on a 15-year cycle and
00:17:18the
00:17:18last time we did the streets was like 10 years ago so you can't have they never did these streets
00:17:2310
00:17:29years ago
00:17:29they basically just collect taxes and just leave you to fend for yourself
00:17:38meanwhile they'll have the street sweepers going around in front of city field sweeping for the mets
00:17:48and now they want to come and take our property to blame us for their neglect
00:17:57the city wants this area to look bad because when it looks bad
00:18:05then when they put a plan up and they said look we're going to put this there and take this
00:18:09away
00:18:09people go for it like they say yeah yeah look at that eyesore we got to get rid of that
00:18:14eyesore
00:18:32the term blight means it's yours and i want it
00:18:38people who run cities don't have to have excuses for doing urban renewal
00:18:42they usually say it's vitally important to the city's economy and they say it's progress
00:18:49urban renewal is just an abstract term could just mean renewing the city but it came to be associated
00:18:56with a program of the united states government under the federal housing act of 1949 that involved
00:19:03governments buying huge tracts of city land often and most vulnerable black and hispanic neighborhoods
00:19:10exercising their power of eminent domain clearing the land and then giving it to private developers
00:19:16for what they called higher uses which included housing projects cultural centers medical center schools
00:19:26that kind of top-down land clearance has a way of destroying the neighborhoods of the poor
00:19:34and sorting out the city by race and class
00:19:42set a strategy that's still in widespread use even now
00:20:05in the last three months
00:20:07when the original project was made in 2008 for Bloomberg
00:20:12the small businesses and workers were organized
00:20:17In the first three months, there was a public battle to remain in Willis Point, to defend the land, to
00:20:25be opposed to the development plan.
00:20:29But then, as we were working with a huge coalition of unions, the community,
00:20:35that coalition changed the direction of the fight to accept and sit and negotiate the project instead of attacking its
00:20:46fundamentals.
00:20:49This is one of the mayor's top development projects for his last 16 months in office.
00:20:55So expect some bargaining and arm-twisting over the next few months.
00:20:59Bloomberg managed to give everything.
00:21:04All the syndical groups, the political groups, the community groups,
00:21:11ran to take photos with Bloomberg and sign a peace agreement and blessing the project.
00:21:17Outrage and anger, that was the reaction from some in Willis Point after hearing that Councilman Hiram Montserrat
00:21:24is now throwing his support behind the mayor's plan to redevelop the area.
00:21:28The city struck the deal with Montserrat, the community group Acorn,
00:21:32and the Queens for Affordable Housing Coalition a day before the city council's scheduled vote on the plan.
00:21:41Many of the big media, of great prestige, gave their support to Bloomberg for their development plan.
00:21:48And the only one who left out was us.
00:21:51We left out.
00:21:53We left out.
00:21:55We left out.
00:22:00We left out a few more information on the planet.
00:22:09We left out.
00:22:11This is a written proposition that doesn't mean genuinely
00:22:17to obtain relocation for all our workshops.
00:22:22At least allow the people from here to continue working.
00:22:26It's the minimum.
00:22:43Probably around 2008, when the news first broke about the Willis Point Project,
00:22:48Queen's Congregations United for Action, who are now faith in New York,
00:22:52came to our church and talked about organizing.
00:22:56At that time, the issue was the dislocation of the workers and businesses that were there.
00:23:05That's when I got to know about the details of the project
00:23:09and the housing that it would include.
00:23:12Living in Queen's for so long, I was aware of the overcrowding,
00:23:16the multiple dwellings, the illegal dwellings.
00:23:21People are double up, they triple up in housing
00:23:24because they can't afford the rents.
00:23:31We went to mini rallies and gathered with other churches to bring attention.
00:23:39We had local politicians with us.
00:23:42Finally, that first project was approved
00:23:46and 2,000 units of affordable housing were established.
00:23:51We were elated. We were absolutely elated
00:23:53at our success and that the city was going to do that.
00:23:58Then it all stayed very quiet for a couple of years.
00:24:00We didn't hear very much.
00:24:02Then we heard about changes coming.
00:24:04Then we heard about the land being used for something else.
00:24:08And about a year ago,
00:24:10we were at a meeting with our local city councilwoman,
00:24:13Teresa Ferraris,
00:24:14and she announced to us that the whole project had been changed.
00:24:19A different plan was going forward.
00:24:22And affordable housing was deferred until 2025.
00:24:29And it has totally changed.
00:24:30It's not like the same project at all.
00:24:35Today, that project was reformulated.
00:24:40Today, we have a plan called Phase One.
00:24:44Phase One is going to become a parking parking.
00:24:49It's going to be a parking parking for the car of the Mets.
00:24:55Because in the lands of the Mets,
00:24:57which are also from the city of New York,
00:24:59it's going to be a mall.
00:25:03A mall that no one needs, but they want to build it.
00:25:08One of the most contentious parts of this whole issue
00:25:10is that because the Mets, through a 1961 lease,
00:25:13control that parking lot to the west of Citi Field,
00:25:17the related companies and sterling equities claim that that land,
00:25:20which is technically mapped parkland,
00:25:21it's technically part of Flushing Meadows Corona Park,
00:25:24they claim that they don't have to ask the city,
00:25:26the state, the neighbors, the parks department,
00:25:29or anyone for permission to build the biggest mall in New York City
00:25:32on a piece of land that, if you look on a map,
00:25:35is owned by the city parks department.
00:25:38And I think what really angers people
00:25:41is that they know that nothing like this would ever be proposed
00:25:44in Prospect Park or Central Park,
00:25:46places that are surrounded by wealth.
00:25:48But it is proposed here in a predominantly low-to-moderate income,
00:25:52immigrant, non-white community.
00:26:00Good morning. My name is Richard Brown.
00:26:02I'm a partner at Sterling Equities.
00:26:04I thought I'd take a minute to address some of the threshold questions
00:26:08that we have been answering for the last year or so.
00:26:13Mainly, why are we doing this in phases?
00:26:16Why are we building something in Citi Field's parking lot?
00:26:21Where is the housing?
00:26:22And can we really clean up Willett's Point?
00:26:25The main reason I believe that we were chosen by EDC in partnership with Related
00:26:31is that because our affiliate company, Sterling Mets, controls the land in Citi Field,
00:26:37we have another 75 acres across the street.
00:26:40We're able to look at this area holistically.
00:26:43Certainly the transformation of the entire area is the goal and the vision of everybody involved.
00:26:48But for our part, to try to do meaningful retail development in that 23 acres,
00:26:58to try to do meaningful housing at this particular point,
00:27:01market-rate housing, it's just not economically viable.
00:27:06So we reached out to Related and between their resources,
00:27:11our ability to avail the land west of Citi Field,
00:27:15we embarked on this notion of creating a retail destination.
00:27:20And again, why are we leading with retail?
00:27:24You know, many of us who work and live in Queens are saying,
00:27:28isn't there enough retail already?
00:27:29Aren't there enough shopping malls out there? Et cetera, et cetera.
00:27:32And we've looked at it in detail.
00:27:35In basic terms, the number that I take away is $5 billion a year.
00:27:42$5 billion a year of shopping gets done outside the borough of Queens from Queens' residence.
00:27:51So to me, that's a very telling statistic.
00:28:15Capital is always producing surpluses.
00:28:18And the reason for that is that a capitalist is always looking to create something which is more at the
00:28:23end of the day than the last thing.
00:28:24At the beginning of the day.
00:28:26And that more at the end of the day is called profit.
00:28:34And then the question is, what do you do with the profit?
00:28:36Well, competition forces you to reinvest that in expansion.
00:28:40So capital and capitalism are always about growth.
00:28:44And it has to find new opportunities for growth.
00:28:49And historically, from the 18th century onwards, capital increasingly took on the idea of city building as a way of
00:28:57absorbing some surpluses and making money out of it.
00:29:06So you build speculative housing and the developer makes money.
00:29:15You build new infrastructures and the developer and the construction industry makes money.
00:29:31So urbanization is one of the big fields which absorbs surplus capital in ways which are profitable to capital.
00:29:39And the profit motive then dominates.
00:30:10And it invites you to your겼ons.
00:30:12Once, you got there, you have seven clubs and the collections.
00:30:12And you have three places to construct properly.
00:30:12Yes, you can see some Entwickпол� fight like you.
00:30:13The goal of economic development is to make New York City the most desirable place in
00:30:20which to live and work in the world.
00:30:23Because in the 21st century, the most important competitive advantage is your people.
00:30:29And so we as a city need to make sure that we are able to attract the best and the
00:30:35brightest
00:30:35and people who are able to found companies, manage companies and work in those companies.
00:30:40So, how do you attract people?
00:30:42Well, quality of life is very important.
00:30:44Making sure that the city is safe, that we have a public school system that works, that
00:30:48we have open space and cultural institutions that are magnets, and that we have infrastructure
00:30:52transportation that works.
00:30:57How do we make sure that we're not overly reliant on any one geographical region of the city
00:31:02and that the benefits of economic growth are spread as far and as wide as possible within
00:31:07the five boroughs?
00:31:18Good, good, good.
00:31:34Let's understand.
00:31:36In 2008, the city said that when they bought the property off the people and they turned
00:31:41it over to the developer, that they would recoup that money.
00:31:48Well, they didn't.
00:31:49They spent $250 million and they turned around and gave it to the Mets for a dollar.
00:31:54So they basically gave away $250 million.
00:31:57On top of that, they gave them a $100 million grant to use towards building this project
00:32:05and remediating the property.
00:32:07On top of that, they turned around and gave them a $20 million sales tax exemption.
00:32:12So just what we know about, they're up to almost $400 million in taxpayer money that's
00:32:18given to them for free.
00:32:20I mean, these are billionaires you're talking about.
00:32:23These are the games that the billionaires play with each other.
00:32:26And the small guys, the taxpayers, wind up footing the bill for them.
00:32:35It's pretty impossible to start to connect exactly how many dollars went into a project
00:32:41like this, because quite frankly, these deals are hatched, made, and created outside of public
00:32:47view.
00:32:48They are then presented to the rest of us as saying, this is a great project.
00:32:53Look, and they put up the fancy pictures, the beautiful renderings, and the promise of
00:32:56thousands of jobs.
00:32:59And then, basically, communities are left to try and grab some crumbs from these projects
00:33:05to try and find a benefit for them.
00:33:28There's been some mention today about phasing.
00:33:31Let me take you quickly through the phasing.
00:33:32The very first thing that happens before anything can happen is we clean the 23 acres.
00:33:39No development will occur on Willits until that cleanup is done satisfactory to both the
00:33:45city and state agencies.
00:33:47Once that cleanup is done, we will start our first phase of development, which will include
00:33:52a hotel and approximately 30,000 square feet of retail to be built along 126th Street.
00:33:58We're trying very much on our first phase to begin to change the characterization of this
00:34:04neighborhood.
00:34:05Second will be the development on the Citi Field parking lot for the million square foot
00:34:09retail and entertainment center.
00:34:12Then the next phase anticipates that the City of New York will construct two ramps onto the
00:34:17Van Wick Expressway as was contemplated in the 2008 approvals.
00:34:22And then we would be able to then enter into our last and fifth phase.
00:34:26That will include 2,500 units of housing, of which 875 will be affordable, a school, six-plus
00:34:34acres of open space, additional hotels, office space, and local retail to support the new community
00:34:41that's being built here.
00:34:45You know, I can't reiterate how important this housing piece is and the need for housing
00:34:52in our area.
00:34:54So in your experience, if we had $10 million right now to design the ramps, would that
00:34:59bring the actual building of the ramps to a closer date than 2025?
00:35:04I think the short answer is not exactly.
00:35:09We've actually begun to look at a design and permitting and approval process for the ramps
00:35:16with our capital division.
00:35:17They believe, given the complexity, that it will take a number of years.
00:35:24So as EDC, the stewards to our tax dollars, I don't think that is satisfactory to me, to
00:35:31my colleagues, to the community, and that is the issue.
00:35:34And you've put the linchpin on this.
00:35:37You've done it.
00:35:38You said, we can't do housing until we get the ramps.
00:35:42So you know, you can't now say, well, we don't know, we don't, you know, we're kind
00:35:46of analyzing it.
00:35:47I don't think it's fair to any of us at this point.
00:35:59One of the things that complicates planning in New York City enormously is the fact that
00:36:04real estate is like our number one commodity.
00:36:12So there will always be a lot of stakeholders who are pushing for quote unquote highest and
00:36:17best use.
00:36:20And that means how to make the most profit out of a piece of property.
00:36:27That does not always sit easily with what a community needs in its neighborhood.
00:36:34But, you know, as manufacturing left the city, we lost a substantial tax base.
00:36:41And the finance, insurance, real estate industries, you know, really rose up in that vacuum.
00:36:49That's a fundamental tension between what needs to happen citywide and what needs to happen locally.
00:37:00Many of these large developments are being done in a vacuum.
00:37:05They're not incorporating the voices, the needs, the concerns of people that actually live in
00:37:11these communities to make sure that we're investing tax dollars and using land use in
00:37:16a way that will actually benefit people that need it most.
00:37:21What often are good quality jobs, whether it's in manufacturing or food markets, might not
00:37:27be the sexiest jobs around.
00:37:30But to see an administration literally moving productive businesses without guaranteeing that
00:37:38they're able to continue their business somewhere else.
00:37:42it creates this very elitist view of the city saying, we know what kind of businesses we
00:37:49want here.
00:37:49You might be productive.
00:37:50You might be paying your taxes.
00:37:52You might be creating jobs for people that need them.
00:37:56But we really like these shiny towers.
00:37:59We really like these sports franchises.
00:38:02And by the way, the affordable housing, which is the carrot we used for you to have this
00:38:06development move along, may or may not come in about 20 years.
00:38:15I worry about a city that is over-dependent on tourism, over-dependent on Wall Street.
00:38:25We have favorite easy answers, stadiums, malls, centers of one kind or another.
00:38:35When a city is so focused on tourism, it's my feeling that there's a bankruptcy of real
00:38:42economic ideas in terms of what makes a productive economy.
00:38:52The transformation of the city economy was remarkable.
00:38:56We had about a million manufacturing jobs in the city in 1950.
00:39:01That number continued to shrink year after year.
00:39:09From a million in 1950 to about 75,000 today, so it's a really remarkable transformation.
00:39:22This was sometimes presented as just the work of global impersonal forces, and those were
00:39:27certainly on play.
00:39:29But the city is very, very planned by a financial and real estate elite who have the timescale
00:39:35of decades.
00:39:40The high and mighty did not like factories.
00:39:42They did not like workers.
00:39:44They wanted clean air, clean streets, no factories and no messy working class people.
00:39:51They wanted to turn the city from manufacturing to services.
00:39:56And this goes back as far as the first zoning plan for the city.
00:40:06In many ways, New York was a pioneering site for the neoliberal experiment.
00:40:14The deregulation, the cutbacks in social spending, the financialization.
00:40:22All the familiar things that have dominated economic news over the last 30 years or so.
00:40:32It's striking how little difference there is from mayor to mayor on basic budget and land
00:40:40use policies.
00:40:44They always benefit a small elite that does very well.
00:40:50But they don't provide much for everyone else.
00:41:02Too many historians speak of the exodus from the city.
00:41:06It wasn't an exodus, it was a push out of the city.
00:41:14My family's manufacturing company was located in Manhattan in the East 30s and our square
00:41:23block was designated for a new post office.
00:41:28Well, our building alone had about a dozen production related businesses.
00:41:37Real mixed use.
00:41:38Not mixed use the way developers use the term today of retail, residential and commercial.
00:41:44But mixed use in that it had, there was a school, there was manufacturing, there were offices,
00:41:52there were artist studios, there was residential of all kinds, but it was declared blighted.
00:41:59So we were forced to leave and we relocated to Long Island City.
00:42:04But a number of the businesses in that building went out of business or left town.
00:42:09The land then sat vacant and the post office was never built.
00:42:14And eventually it was sold to developers.
00:42:19So what did the city gain?
00:42:22I can't judge what it's got there now, but I know what it lost.
00:42:26And that story has been repeated over and over again around the city.
00:42:32And that story has been repeated over and over again.
00:42:57The city has strategies.
00:43:01La ciudad está más del lado de los millonarios, de los desarrolladores y altos negocios.
00:43:10Y lógico que a la ciudad le convenía más que desaparezca Willis Point, porque a futuro
00:43:17va a ser algo bonito con esos proyectos que ella va a hacer ahí.
00:43:23Pero dicen que unos tienen que morir para que otros vivan.
00:43:39Nos pusimos de acuerdo a un grupo de cincuenta y tantos talleres.
00:43:44Ahora se llama la cooperativa Sunrise.
00:43:46Fue necesario hacer esa cooperativa porque solamente a través de ese medio nosotros podíamos
00:43:53ser como tomados en cuenta por EDC, la ciudad.
00:44:01La ciudad nos está proponiendo de irnos relocalizados individualmente.
00:44:08No puede ser justo irnos individualmente porque nosotros perderíamos contacto con nuestros
00:44:14clientes.
00:44:17Y entonces es ahí donde nosotros estamos tratando de hablar con la ciudad y que nos haga una
00:44:23relocalización justa, conjunta.
00:44:28Porque es así de esa forma como podemos sobrevivir.
00:44:37Now, this is something that has needed clarity.
00:44:40And if we can just talk about where we are in relocating the tenants at Willis Point.
00:44:48Over time, since the approval there has been consistent and regular outreach to businesses
00:44:56in the Willis Point district, keeping them informed of the status of the plan.
00:45:01That formal process began over a year ago.
00:45:04The city sent out notice to the businesses in phase one saying that the relocation process
00:45:11would be beginning.
00:45:13HPD sent out notice to all the businesses in the phase one area informing of them of their
00:45:21rights to relocation assistance for moving and ancillary costs.
00:45:25Meanwhile, Cornerstone completed outreach and began working with businesses on specific
00:45:32needs, locational and space.
00:45:36In the springtime, we sent out notice to tenants saying that in the coming months we would
00:45:42be beginning the vacating process to make way for the development.
00:45:46Currently, how many businesses are at Willis Point for relocation purposes?
00:45:52Our conservative estimate of the total number of businesses in the phase one area is 165.
00:45:59165.
00:45:59165.
00:46:00And of those 165, you have relocated how many?
00:46:04There are relocation plans that have been processed or in the works for 10 tenant businesses.
00:46:13So we have 10 businesses that have been engaging with Cornerstone.
00:46:17We paid $700,000 to move 10 businesses?
00:46:21No.
00:46:22Okay.
00:46:22Explain that to me because that's what I'm hearing.
00:46:24I would say at the outset that their work is ongoing and that they have been in the district
00:46:33speaking to businesses and doing relocation site searches and engaging with landlords on
00:46:40a daily basis.
00:46:42Tom, with all due respect, Cornerstone has been a part of these conversations since 2008.
00:46:48If I contracted with someone for all these years and all we've gotten is to get 10 businesses
00:46:55to relocate, I would be questioning how I engage with them in the future.
00:47:00I am confident that they are identifying sites, talking to people, and helping the people.
00:47:05But at the end of the day...
00:47:0610 businesses makes you confident, President?
00:47:08I'm confident that they are working, that they are on the ground finding sites.
00:47:12However, they cannot force...
00:47:14They are not in a position where they can force someone to go sign a lease.
00:47:18I think that you have an issue with your timeline, right?
00:47:21You have 165 businesses.
00:47:23You've moved 10 and you've told people that they need to move out by November.
00:47:28We had had discussions about the support that these businesses have had for many years and
00:47:35they support one another.
00:47:36That's just the culture of Willett's Point.
00:47:38In these conversations, it was recommended, why don't they just kind of come together?
00:47:43And if they come together as a group, they can be relocated as a group.
00:47:46And I'm now being told that it's impossible, the economy doesn't...
00:47:50All the reasons why it can't happen.
00:47:53Yet Cornerstone has also presented very limited spaces for these businesses to move to.
00:48:00It's been a total disregard to what was originally committed to and agreed.
00:48:13There are less customers, because with all these rides,
00:48:17with all these persecutions of the city,
00:48:20it's like when they're running to a crazy dog.
00:48:22They're being able to go somewhere else.
00:48:22It's a bit more dangerous, right?
00:48:29These workshops have been subsisting for years and years
00:48:33and never had ever been concerned the building department
00:48:36to check out how to build the buildings.
00:48:38Because in those moments, they know that they'll go in.
00:48:41Now, they come and they say,
00:48:43they say, the Lord, it's illegal.
00:48:45And, therefore, I'm closing them up.
00:48:49Desde ese momento, ahí vimos la persecución de la ciudad, con eso nos demostró todo,
00:48:55que quería echarnos sin ningún derecho.
00:49:02La detención fue como a las 11 de la mañana, me llevaron al precinto,
00:49:08bueno, es algo muy triste porque es algo que usted no ha hecho y le llevan por nada.
00:49:16Me llevaron ahí y estuve como hasta las 11 de la noche, hasta la corte,
00:49:21pero sin comer, sin nada, totalmente sin nada.
00:49:26Es una experiencia grande para mí.
00:49:34Es por una de las licencias de mi taller, pero no es que la licencia está mal, la licencia está
00:49:39bien.
00:49:42En ese tiempo yo solicité el baño, necesidad biológica, la policía me dijo que no, que no podía,
00:49:50tenía que esperar, han pasado ya como 6 horas.
00:49:56Eso ya es algo, no algo de racismo o algo que se podía decir, ¿no?
00:50:04Yo tengo una niña, es un impacto grande para mi familia.
00:50:09No en sí solo yo, es todas las familias del lugar que buscan una reubicación.
00:50:15Sino que la policía nos presiona para sacarnos del lugar en vista de que tenemos que salir del lugar.
00:50:24No hay una niña, es un impacto grande para mi familia.
00:50:40No hay un impacto grande para nosotros.
00:50:46Si no, no hay una niña, es un impacto grande para nosotros.
00:50:50because if they don't remove it, they will disappear because no one can with the city.
00:51:00No one can with the city and as much as it is, we will lose the case.
00:51:09There is a lot of stress in the person because the person is already adapted to work here.
00:51:25They consider this as their home, as a cultural heritage of what they have worked in the Yonge for so
00:51:33many years.
00:51:47When we think of displacement, what we have to understand is we're not just moving people.
00:51:54We're breaking up family, institutional, friendship networks that sustain people, particularly in low-income neighborhoods.
00:52:05And this kind of network destruction is the undermining of many family and individual lives that really injures the social
00:52:23and economic fabric of the city.
00:52:36People live in places in very specific ways that are almost culturally choreographed and developed over time.
00:52:52So it's a collective, lived experience.
00:52:57And it enables people to maximize their chances of survival.
00:53:01But it's dependent on knowing the place and on the people knowing each other and working together.
00:53:09When communities are destroyed, that way of life is destroyed.
00:53:16And this throws both the collective and the individuals into a state of shock.
00:53:23Really, it's a shock of being torn up by the roots.
00:53:28Plants, when they're yanked out of the ground, go into a state of collapse that's called root shock.
00:53:37Applying that as a metaphor to human populations, I've defined root shock as the traumatic stress reaction to the loss
00:53:44of part or all of one's emotional ecosystem.
00:53:51It's an extremely important assault on a way of life.
00:53:56And the project of recreating a way of life is very difficult because people are too bigly dispersed.
00:54:05So they lose the people with whom they had the habit of making a life together.
00:54:12But they also lose the place where they had the habit of making the life.
00:54:34How long are you prepared to go on the hunger show?
00:54:36Well, somebody has to help.
00:54:41Somebody has to say something.
00:54:43So, as soon as we can do it.
00:54:48Yo también fui trabajador.
00:54:50Yo tenía mi propio negocio acá y conozco muy bien la situación.
00:54:53Y yo sé que ha habido un momento de negatividad de parte del gobierno para que puedan relocalizar a estas
00:54:59familias.
00:55:00Hay mucha gente de las que está aquí que sigue en pie de lucha, como ellos que hoy se declaran
00:55:04en huelga de hambre.
00:55:05Pero sabemos que a medida que vaya pasando el tiempo y no veamos una respuesta favorable,
00:55:09muchos se van a adherir a esta huelga de hambre para que así mismo podamos hacerle presión al gobierno para
00:55:15que se haga manifiesto.
00:55:16No podemos aceptar la injusticia que están haciendo de a los millonarios darles todo gratis
00:55:22y a nosotros no darnos lo que nosotros nos deseamos y nos corresponde como hispanos, como trabajadores del área.
00:55:30Es por eso que hoy le queremos dejar a saber a todos los políticos, a toda la gente que tiene
00:55:37que ver con esto,
00:55:38de que no nos vamos a doblegar hasta que no consigamos nuestra relocalización en grupo, como lo hemos venido negociando
00:55:45desde que se aprobó el proyecto.
00:55:49Hemos la oportunidad de obtener el contrato oficial entre la ciudad y los desarrolladores,
00:55:54y sabemos que no hay ninguna garantía legal de que la relocación o la vivienda disponible
00:56:00va a suceder en este proyecto.
00:56:03La única garantía que tenemos ahora es que el mayor mall en Nueva York,
00:56:08un hotel y un restaurante, va a suceder aquí.
00:56:12Después de eso, nada más.
00:56:17¿Torana necesita una nueva?
00:56:19¡No!
00:56:20¿Torana necesita una nueva?
00:56:22¡No!
00:56:23¿Qué necesitamos?
00:56:24¡No!
00:56:25¿Qué necesitamos?
00:56:26¿Qué necesitamos?
00:56:27¡No!
00:56:28Estamos aquí juntos para decirle a los desarrolladores y a los ciudadanos
00:56:35que no necesitamos una nueva nueva en la comunidad.
00:56:51¡No!
00:56:55¡No!
00:56:57Tulisa, we want you to do the right decision.
00:57:02This is your community.
00:57:41We've been waiting for a solution for the relocation of the workshops, and in 48 hours
00:57:50more, the New York Council will vote for the second time, but this will be the decision
00:57:56final, and that has to do with the future of all our families, of our jobs, of our friends,
00:58:02of our way of living in this place for many decades.
00:58:10But we can say that there is a lot of expectation, a lot of attention, a lot of concern.
00:58:17Well, for you to know, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow,
00:58:23will vote for Willis Point for the last time, definitively.
00:58:32And we started to negotiate after three days of bail.
00:58:38That bail was our illegal weapon to take us into account.
00:58:45She sent the order and said,
00:58:48get the bail and we'll negotiate.
00:58:58We're going to have a bus here at 11am,
00:59:05126 to 37.
00:59:07We're still negotiating, we don't know,
00:59:09we haven't agreed yet.
00:59:12For the vote of tomorrow,
00:59:13tomorrow is the end of this land situation.
00:59:17We have to be there.
00:59:19We have to bring pressure.
00:59:21We have to unite.
00:59:22That is what's going on.
00:59:24Everything is not yet lost.
00:59:27It's tomorrow's decision.
00:59:29And that's the big problem, the time.
00:59:32It's not enough time.
00:59:34We're still in communication with the lawyers
00:59:36and Ulyssa's office.
00:59:38You know, we're still working.
00:59:42I, as a Christian,
00:59:44I believe in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:59:48Es por eso que el Señor, yo creo que Él me dio esta fuente de trabajo
00:59:51Esta fuente de trabajo se la rendí a Él
00:59:54Y Él es tan fiel
00:59:57Dios que Él me ha visto con ojos de misericordia
01:00:00Y esta lucha que hemos llevado
01:00:02Señor, yo sé que mi mirada está en Ti
01:00:04Y yo sé que Tú nos vas a llevar a todos a esta tierra prometida
01:00:09A la tierra que da leche, a la tierra que da miel
01:00:13Esas son las palabras de agradecimiento a un Dios Todopoderoso
01:00:29There was a time, I think, when the agency was, I think, much more controversial
01:00:37What it was known for was a combination of large-scale real estate projects
01:00:43And giving tax incentives to corporations, mainly large corporations in Manhattan
01:00:48To try to retain jobs here
01:00:51Both of those continue to be tools in the EDC's toolkits
01:00:55But the focus of the organization has become much more strategic
01:00:59And the goal now of the organization is to think more broadly about the future of the city's economy
01:01:05And rather than being so tactical and saying, this company is critical
01:01:10Or this real estate project is critical
01:01:13It's thinking about where we hope to see the city evolve in the coming decades
01:01:18And then figuring out the kind of large-scale investments that we can make
01:01:22To help move the city towards those goals
01:01:31I think the good news about the Willits Point development
01:01:34Is that the plan that is now moving forward
01:01:38Is a plan that is going to remediate 20 acres of a highly toxic site
01:01:45You're going to have the creation of a new economic engine
01:01:49In the parking lot at Citi Field
01:01:52That's going to create hundreds and hundreds of jobs for the community
01:01:57And ultimately you're going to get the development on Willits Point
01:02:02Including the 35% of housing units that will be affordable
01:02:07You're going to get the infrastructure
01:02:08You're going to get jobs
01:02:12It will also result in the relocation of many of the industrial jobs that were there in the first place
01:02:17And so you'll end up with an economy that is more diversely employed
01:02:21Than you had before the project took place
01:02:30The area has outgrown these businesses
01:02:35Hopefully, eventually, all the businesses will be accommodated to their satisfaction
01:02:41But, you know, there's a major overall goal here
01:02:44You know, these businesses do not have to exist in such a centrally located area of Queens
01:02:49universal businesses
01:02:49. . . . .
01:03:01. . . .
01:03:21For those of you who aren't familiar with my district, Willets Point has long been known
01:03:25as the Iron Triangle or the Valley of Ashes.
01:03:28Because of the industrial network of the auto shop, junkyards, and factories that have
01:03:33occupied this space of land.
01:03:35For years, this area has gone without many of the resources the rest of the city has
01:03:39regularly received.
01:03:41Before us today is a proposal that seeks to address these issues.
01:03:44Between the city agencies and developers, we have the potential to vote in favor for
01:03:49a plan that will forever become a new benchmark, not only for my district, but for all of New
01:03:54York City.
01:03:56After many long years of reviewing this proposal and taking my constituents' concerns into
01:04:01account, I have found that this ambitious proposal will bring affordable housing.
01:04:07Additionally, this project is set to create 19,000 jobs that are so desperately needed in
01:04:14Queens and in New York City.
01:04:15A business and worker relocation plan has been created to assist the existing tenants at Willets
01:04:22Point with the continued operation of their business.
01:04:24The city will pay $15.5 million for the relocation moving expense and support of the Willets
01:04:31Point businesses, including those businesses that want to move together.
01:04:36This vote has always been about improving the needs of our constituents and it is for them that
01:04:42today I ask you all to vote yes.
01:04:48William Martin committee clerk will call vote committee on land use Councilmember Comrie.
01:04:53Aye on all.
01:05:00May I be excused to explain my vote?
01:05:04I've lived in Queens for 50 years and Willett's point was always a blight to the borough and
01:05:14to the community that it surrounded.
01:05:16I have to say that Julissa Ferreris did a spectacular job.
01:05:24We've been talking about Willett's point for over 30 years trying to get something done
01:05:31there.
01:05:32Congratulations and I vote aye.
01:05:35Jackson.
01:05:37Van.
01:05:38Aye.
01:05:39Palma.
01:05:41Arroyo.
01:05:42Dickens.
01:05:43Aye.
01:05:44Halloran.
01:05:45Request permission.
01:05:46Explain my vote.
01:05:47Yes.
01:05:48I believe council member Ferreris has done an incredible job against an almost immovable
01:05:52object but I will respectfully be voting no.
01:05:56The threat of eminent domain has hung over these businesses since 2008.
01:06:01Any time the government wants to redistribute the wealth by taking it from one person and
01:06:04giving it to another business as opposed to the city, we have thwarted the very meaning
01:06:09of eminent domain and the reason our framers made such careful use of it.
01:06:13I don't know exactly why we need a mall considering the Skyview Mall is approximately 1500 yards
01:06:19away which contains retail space which is currently being underutilized, parking space
01:06:26which is currently being underutilized.
01:06:28The process should have started from scratch again because the plan isn't in any way shape
01:06:34or form the same that this body voted on in 2008.
01:06:39So I will vote no on those with all due respect to the council member who I think did a
01:06:42great
01:06:43job of forcing the administration to the table but it was a day late and a dollar short.
01:06:55Mayor Bloomberg has rezoned this city, developers are getting richer and richer, over a hundred
01:07:02million dollars in the Willits Point project has been given for subsidies and in return we
01:07:08get 35% of the housing affordable, 65% of it will not be affordable while you get a prevailing
01:07:15wage to retail workers.
01:07:17We don't think they'll be getting a living wage and the alienation of parkland continues.
01:07:23I think we as a city council we have to make sure that we get much more from developers if
01:07:30they're going to come into our district.
01:07:31We should say what we want and the housing formula should be 65% affordable and 35% should
01:07:38be market.
01:07:40Mayor Bloomberg has given this city away to rich developers for $1 and while our council members
01:07:47have done well in negotiating things for their constituents, this has been a big decade of
01:07:54land grab by the mayor and rich developers.
01:07:58members, we have to stand for the people of New York City and not give the city up so easily
01:08:04for the deals that are being made.
01:08:07Gorodnik.
01:08:11Mendez.
01:08:11Aye on all.
01:08:14Levin.
01:08:16Aye on all.
01:08:16Congratulations to councilman Ferreros.
01:08:18A job well done.
01:08:20Weprin.
01:08:21Aye.
01:08:21Wills.
01:08:22I vote aye on all.
01:08:23Ignizio.
01:08:25Aye.
01:08:26Thank you very much all members.
01:08:28All items on today's general order calendar were adopted by a vote of 46 in the affirmative,
01:08:33zero in the negative with zero abstentions.
01:08:35with the exception of land use items 8, 876 plus rezo 1960 through LU 881 plus rezo 1965, which
01:08:47was adopted by a vote of 42 in the affirmative, three in the negative and one abstentions and
01:08:52LU items 904 with rezo 1975, which was adopted by a vote of 44 in the affirmative, two in the
01:09:00negative and zero abstentions and LU items 904 with rezo 1977.
01:09:07Now you 909 and rezo 1982, which was adopted by a vote of 45 in the affirmative, one in negative
01:09:16and zero abstentions.
01:09:30Thank you very much.
01:09:46I can say we don't have 100% what we required it to them, but we get 70%.
01:09:54We are not happy because we are not a move as a big group right now.
01:09:59We have to look what we are going to move temporarily and then we have to look it up for
01:10:04a big place in order to move the whole cooperative.
01:10:10We had an agreement that we are going to have one year rent free and then we are going to
01:10:14have one year cash to everyone who used before November 30.
01:10:21Whatever doesn't want to move by those days, they can move by January, but they don't want to get the
01:10:26same benefits they are giving to us right now.
01:11:17They're giving everybody a deadline, and everybody has to leave, you know, phase one.
01:11:30So I'm cleaning up and giving the keys to the city.
01:11:46The city says you have like $11,000 if you move this month, but if you stay here for January,
01:11:58you have like maybe $5,000, and that's it.
01:12:11I don't know where I'm going to go.
01:12:13I don't know where I'm going to go.
01:12:31We want to work.
01:12:34We want to fight for our children who are young and young.
01:12:40I'm a man of 54 years old.
01:12:42I'm not a man.
01:12:44I'm going to teach you.
01:12:46I'm going to clean up and clean up.
01:12:50I'm a professional mechanic.
01:12:52I'm a professional mechanic.
01:12:53I'm going to repair a bike motor like a car.
01:12:57We've been working, working, working and living to continue on.
01:13:01And give the hand to this country as we have done for 15 or 20 years.
01:13:05We want to live as a dignified person.
01:13:08Until today.
01:13:10And I hope that my friends and all who have been in this place,
01:13:16we can eat with dignity.
01:13:47This is forever.
01:14:04I think it's very important to understand that capitalism, and capital in general, that
01:14:10in fact it's always powered by fictions.
01:14:14In effect, what is often happening is fictions become reality.
01:14:21For instance, you imagine there's going to be a new city, and then you make the city
01:14:28and it becomes real.
01:14:36What we're faced with right now is a form of urbanization which has largely been dictated
01:14:41by the forces of capital, of capital accumulation.
01:14:47And to some degree, we've become the kind of people the capital wants us to be.
01:15:03The way the city has evolved over the decades, it's not natural, it's not spontaneous at all.
01:15:08It's very, very planned.
01:15:15There are human beings, very powerful human beings, using state power to realize their
01:15:20vision of what they want the city to look like 20, 30, 40 years from now.
01:15:25And it happens mostly out of public view.
01:15:30This idea that all these things happen spontaneously because of forces of nature, I think is what
01:15:35people have internalized about this kind of market fundamentalism that's become popular
01:15:39over the last several decades.
01:15:41And, you know, if you can have elites doing this kind of planning, why can't you have, you
01:15:48know, popular interests doing similar planning for more, you know, broader benefit?
01:15:58All American cities have suffered from a very long series of bad policies, of which deindustrialization,
01:16:07urban renewal, highway building, gentrification, the foreclosure crisis are all examples.
01:16:18I would define economic development as supporting the integrity of the human habitat and helping
01:16:23everybody survive, whereas what we call economic development is really just an opportunity for
01:16:28somebody to make a quick buck.
01:16:34So we have to find a new way.
01:16:37We have to find a way to nurture the neighborhoods we have, stabilize the neighborhoods we have,
01:16:41to get to the good that we want.
01:17:12Homematic food, also, renovation, historic places and removed reading lines in the
01:17:20windows, build our honorable values, building progresspr 오늘, house, building mute,
01:17:22how are we supposed to figure out application and衛生 Car был.
01:17:27We have to find another antibacterial data We have to find out on the
01:17:28we have to find places, especially in the network itself.
01:17:31Business��, canal municipal, local founder, local, local, local, local, local, local
01:17:31local, local, local, local, local, local, local, local, local, local, local, public41, local, local, local, local, local, and local houses.
01:17:39That's a common understanding, is our past男es as possible to the Dип
01:17:41Willis Point, pues, dejó de existir y ya va para cuatro años.
01:17:47En esos años, qué triste y qué pena, porque uno se tiene que rebuscar el pan de cada día.
01:17:55Y como me afectó a mí, afectó a muchas familias en el área de Willis Point.
01:18:05La ciudad lo que quiso es aportar cierta cantidad que ella prometió darnos,
01:18:11no lo que hubiésemos querido para la construcción de talleres,
01:18:15pero sí fue como para quitarse una carga, un peso de nosotros.
01:18:30Se supone que la gran manzana es algo que florece, que es bonito, una fruta,
01:18:35que da fruta y que es muy rica, ¿no?
01:18:37No, pero qué pena que esa manzana ya se había desaparecido.
01:18:48Hoy se vive, pero nada más el día a día.
01:18:53Pero sabemos que podemos sobrevivir,
01:18:57porque hubo un principio y un fin.
01:19:02Y este final va a comenzar.
01:19:06Y este final va a comenzar.
01:19:07Y este final va a comenzar.
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