The Gothamist, Arun Venugopal, April 11, 2024

Willets Point, a corner of Queens that has long been synonymous with auto repair shops and urban neglect, got the go-ahead on Thursday for a lavish makeover that includes a new soccer stadium and 2,500 units of affordable housing.

The City Council voted 47-1 to approve the final phase of the redevelopment plan slated for a 62-acre tract alongside Citi Field.

“We’re building the largest, 100% affordable housing development New York has seen in over 40 years,” said Queens Councilmember Francisco Moya, who has championed the project, which he called a “once in a lifetime chance to build a new neighborhood, forever changing the map of our city.”

The plan now heads to the desk of Mayor Eric Adams, a major supporter of the redevelopment, who said it would transform “a neighborhood in Queens that used to be known for its junkyards.”

“Housing is the goal — and with today’s City Council vote, I’m proud to say that we just scored the goal of the decade,” Adams said in a statement.

The project’s first phase, which includes 1,100 residential units, has already been approved. Attempts to redevelop the area gained ground under Mayor Michael Bloomberg but eventually faltered before being reinvigorated with the inclusion of a soccer stadium. The new plan also includes a public school for 650 students and a 250-room hotel.

Jennifer O’Sullivan, the chief operating officer for the New York City Football Club, noted that the 25,000-seat, $780 million stadium would be privately financed and “100% union-built,” and said the plan is for it to open in time for the 2027 season.

“With a World Cup coming to New York in 2026, you start to see that this is an opportunity to build New York as one of the soccer capitals of the world,” O’Sullivan said in an interview after the vote.

Queens Councilmember Shekar Krishnan cast the sole dissenting vote. He noted that the NYCFC’s majority owner, Sheikh Mansour, is “one of the wealthiest men on the planet” and that the redevelopment deal would allow the team to avoid paying property taxes.

The city’s Independent Budget Office estimated the arrangement would cost taxpayers $516 million in property tax revenue over the course of the stadium’s 49-year lease.

“This is a bad deal for New York City,” Krishnan said. “And this is a terrible precedent for land use. A stadium on public land, subsidized by hundreds of millions in public funds, is not a good deal.”

City officials have rejected the budget office’s assessment, arguing that it didn’t take into account the $6.1 billion in projected economic activity or 14,200 construction jobs.

Read More: The Gothamist