Remaking Queens

The Pratt Center did a report called Queens Triple Play: Willets West, Major League Soccer, and the National Tennis Center that describes the different proposals for park space in Corona, Queens.  The first plan is a continuation of a project that started in Willets  Point and was supposed to revamp that area.  However, a mall, Willets West, and other commercial buildings are set to be built on the parking lot of Corona’s CitiField.  This disrupt the lives of Corona residents because of the additional amounts of traffic, both vehicles and people, that would develop around that area.  The project does call for demolishing commercial buildings in Willets Point to make space for parking, but that does not compensate for the new commercialization that will surround CitiField.  The second proposal is for a soccer field in the Flushing Meadow Corona Park.  It was originally proposed to be built on Pier 40 in Manhattan, but was rejected because of the community opposition.  On the west side, a tennis center is to be built, as well as more seats for the soccer stadium, retail spaces, suites, and parking space.  Although this proposal has moved locations, the same reservations are prominent in Corona.  The first, and biggest problem that residents of Corona have is the fact that the stadium is going to be built on park land.  It may not be the most maintained area, but it is one of the few park spaces that Queens has and residents are not ready to lose it.  They are also concerned with the amount of traffic that come from adding yet another stadium with commercial properties around it.  If these three projects are finalized, the only people that will benefit are the businesses that are in charge of the projects.  The residents and local businesses would most likely be negatively effected because of the spaces that would not be open to the public and the businesses that would be displaced.

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