Willets Point can't become New York's next great neighborhood until the city gets all the chop shops honest businessmen in the "Iron Triangle" to accept buyouts and relocation deals, and today marks a milestone in that process. Sambucci Bros. Auto Salvage, the first business to agree to sell its property in the industrial hinterlands next to the Mets' Citi Field in Queens, will also be the first business to leave. The Daily News reports that Sambucci Bros. is closing on its new location today, some city-owned land in College Point. And it only took two years! Despite the megaproject-blocking attempts by some of the Willets Point folks, the city now owns 80% of the 62-acre property, which should convince some of the holdouts that the 980,000-square-foot first phase of the redevelopment might actually happen. The first "investigative phase" of construction, soil tests, began last week.
· Willets Point shows sign of life after scrap yard nears relocation deal with city [NYDN]
· Willets Point Redevelopment [EDC]
· Willets Point coverage [Curbed]
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