Willets Point Contention

The slowing economy hasn't slowed Mayor Bloomberg's ambitions to transform Willets Point -- the 61-acres of car repair shops and salvage yards next to Shea Stadium (soon Citifield) -- into a complex of offices and hotels. The city starts the ball rolling this Monday on the land-use process for Williets Point (and South Hunters Point).

The plan is controversial because potentially 275 businesses would be displaced. They fear the city using eminent domain to force them out to areas less conducive to customers.

Would a new Willets Point connecting Shea/Citifield to downtown Flushing be worth muscling out the small businesses that have been in the area for years? What price gentrification?

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