The business is located in the 60-acre Willets Point area of Corona and Flushing that the city wants to develop into a $3 billion mixed-use project. The plan would require all businesses there to leave.
The city has promised to try and find them other locations, but so far has failed to locate anything comparable to the Bono’s current site. “They showed us two storefronts and a huge area in another borough,” said Jake Bono. “Our life is here in Queens. Where are we going to move?”
Last week, the City Planning Commission approved the Willets Point plan and it now heads to the City Council for a vote on Nov. 12. The Bono family is putting its trust in council members to do the right thing. Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Corona) already has a majority of the members pledged to vote against the plan if the eminent domain issue is not addressed.
On Tuesday, the Flushing/ Willets Point/Corona LDC released a letter signed by at least 70 business leaders — including several developers and politicians — sent to City Council members that seeks passage of the project. All but one of the signers are either board or executive board members of the LDC.
Urging approval, the letter says, “We can transform a long underused and polluted swath of land into a cornerstone of the city’s future.”
The Bonos disagree that Willets Point is underutilized — with 250 businesses located there — or that they are living in the past. “We’re not against development, just fix the area and we’ll fix the rest and the area would develop naturally,” Jack Bono said.
He and other Willets Point business owners believe that if the city put in the proper services, the land would become more valuable and some of the space now rented for car parts shops and garages would be replaced by more upscale businesses.
They also blame the city for purposely neglecting Willets Point and now calling it a blighted area. The city never installed sidewalks or sewers. The streets are filled with potholes and no snow removal is carried out by the city.
“There’s been a three-foot pothole on our block for years. The city refuses to fill it,” Jack Bono said. “They (city) held us back and gave us nothing.”
He points out that he is a Vietnam veteran; his brother, Lou, is a Korean War veteran and their father served in World War II. “What did we fight for? We’re fighting for everyone.”
Jake and Jack Bono both think that the city should have enforced building codes, which would have prevented the erection of tin sheds for some businesses there. They also deny the city’s contention that the area is highly polluted and needs remediation.
“Our land is no more polluted than most homes in Queens. It’s all nonsense. Their own tests show it,” Jake Bono said.
Kevin McCarty, director of investigation for the city’s Economic Development Corp., denied the charges, saying two-thirds of the businesses are auto-related with gasoline and other types of similar contamination. “They are very small sites that are peppered all over,” he said. “That makes it very complicated to clean up and inefficient to just clean up some of the area.”
McCarty also pointed out that Willets Point started out as an ash heap, which is considered a solid industrial waste because it’s composed of old incinerated garbage. Street borings, however, showed low levels of petroleum and metals, which are worse near the car-related businesses.
If the plan is ultimately passed and businesses are forced out, the Bonos are certain a portion of Willets Point will eventually be used by the Mets for additional parking, even though that usage has not been mentioned by the city and it would be years away. Citi Field, the team’s new stadium, which will be ready for next season, is located across the street from Willets Point businesses.
The Bonos employ 15 workers and say that over 2,000 people work in Willets Point. The city has announced a retraining program for employees, an 18-week course that would provide cash incentives, if the plan is approved.
“If the city is really relocating businesses, why are they retraining workers?” Jake Bono asked. “The workers already have a trade. It’s all smoke and mirrors.”
The city’s Economic Development Corp. has said that the retraining program is to provide workers with as many opportunities and solutions to problems as possible.
So far, the EDC has announced it has reached agreements with five businesses in Willets Point to sell their properties.
“Our property is not for sale,” Jake Bono said.
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