Willets Point, also known locally as the Iron Triangle, is an industrial neighborhood within Corona, in the New York City borough of Queens. Located east of Citi Field near the Flushing River, it is known for its automobile shops and junkyards, and had a population of 10 people in 2011.
Proposals to redevelop Willets Point started after World War II, but gained full traction in 2007. New York City Council members and the few residents of the area strongly opposed the original plan, leading to several years of lawsuits. In 2011, the city began a $4 billion redevelopment project to construct a retail shopping center, residential buildings with a combined 3,000 units, an entertainment complex, and a public school. The New York City Economic Development Corporation's plan to redevelop the area was approved in 2013, and demolition of the industrial section of Willets Point began in 2016.
The new development was originally set to open in stages between 2018 and 2032. However, the redevelopment plans were changed after a New York state court blocked the construction of the shopping center. The development was re-approved in February 2018.
Description
Willets Point is bounded by Northern Boulevard to the north, 126th Street and Citi Field to the west, Roosevelt Avenue and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to the south, and the Flushing River to the east. The New York City Subway's Mets–Willets Point station, serving the , is located at the southwest corner of the area, at Roosevelt Avenue and 126th Street. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community District 7.
Willets Point is zoned mostly for industrial activity. It has no sidewalks or sewers , and due to the area's geography and the lack of paved roads in the area, flooding is common during heavy rains. The area consists mostly of auto repair shops, scrap yards, waste processing sites, and similar small businesses. It has been described as being "post-apocalyptic" in appearance. A Hunter College study in April 2006 found that Willets Point was a "unique regional destination" for auto parts and repairs, and that the 225 businesses in the area employed a combined 1,400 to 1,800 people at the time. It had a population of 10 people . The concentration of auto-repair shops resulted in the area's nickname of the "Iron Triangle."
History
The area was named after the portion of Willets Point Boulevard lying west of Flushing Creek, which flows northward past the area. Willets Point Boulevard once crossed a now-demolished bridge over Flushing Creek and continued to the Willets Point cape, at the confluence of the East River and Long Island Sound. The original Willets Point is the site of Fort Totten near Bayside, but over the course of the 20th century it became commonplace to apply the name "Willets Point" (derived from the street, rather than the geographical feature) to the area on the Flushing River instead. The neighborhood, street, and cape's name are all derived from the Willets family, whose land the government bought in 1857 to build Fort Totten (originally named "Fort at Willets Point").
By the end of World War II, Willets Point was known as an area of auto junkyards. Since then, several redevelopment plans for Willets Point were proposed, but never implemented. Before the 1964 New York World's Fair, Robert Moses tried to incorporate Willets Point into Flushing Meadows–Corona Park but failed when the junkyard owners hired Mario Cuomo as their lawyer. Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball and the New York Jets of the American Football League and later the National Football League, was opened in 1964, the same year as the World's Fair.
After the Jets left Shea Stadium at the end of the 1983 season to play at the Meadowlands, Willets Point was the proposed location for a new, 82,000-seat domed football stadium that would bring the Jets back to New York. After the Jets decided to remain in New Jersey, the proposed stadium was also discussed as a potential new home for the St. Louis Cardinals of the NFL, the Atlanta Falcons, and the New Jersey Generals. By the 1990s, the Mets were looking to replace the aging Shea Stadium.