City Warns Holdouts in Queens of Eminent Domain Proceedings

The city has started notifying holdouts in the Willets Point, Queens, development area of eminent domain proceedings. According to the Economic Development Corporation, there are nine businesses in the 20-acre Phase 1 area that haven't agreed to relocate.

The issuance of letters on Friday, according to EDC spokesperson Julie Wood, is "the first step of the condemnation process," adding that negotiations with business owners would continue. A public hearing on the matter is set for March 2, at the Flushing branch of the Queens public library.

But Richard Lipsky, a lobbyist for Willets Point United, a group of business owners fighting relocation, said the city can't initiate eminent domain proceedings until it gets environmental impact clearances for critical on and off-ramps for the Van Wyck Expressway. The ramps would eventually bring thousands of cars in and out of the area, adjacent to Citi Field.

"If the ramps aren't approved, this project is an environmental disaster," said Lipsky.

While acknowledging the importance of highway ramps to the overall project, Wood said the eminent domain process can continue independently.

The EDC intends to put out a Request for Proposals for Phase 1 in April, which would comprise a retail corridor, hotel and housing, all of which the city hopes to complete by 2016. A completion date for the entirety of the Willets Point redevelopment, a 61-acre project approved in 2008, hasn't been set yet.