Willets Point Industry & Realty Association

The landowners at Willets Point seem to have been inspired by John McCain's flurry of negative ads. The main group of owners, seeking to resist a Bloomberg administration redevelopment proposal that's before the City Council this month, just launched a TV ad that smears the Bloomberg plan, complete with deep-voiced narrator.

"It's a crisis," the ad says. "School cuts—$180 million; police cuts—nearly $100 million; tax cuts on the way. Incredibly, there's a plan to spend $1 billion on a land grab at Willets Point."

The group, the Willets Point Industry and Realty Association, says it will run on "local cable television." A WPIRA spokeswoman did not provide the cost of the ad purchase, but said it was a "solid buy that will get people's attention."  read more »

No Willets Point protests this afternoon.

The main Willets Point landowners group had planned a big truck rally at the Mets-Pirates game, planning to stop traffic as the contest came to a close, but now per an advisory, the group has canceled the event due to rain.

The organization, the Willets Point Industry and Realty Association, planned the protest as the City Planning Commission is slated to hold a hearing on the planned Queens redevelopment Wednesday, part of a mega-hearing that includes the proposed rezonings of the Lower East Side and the planned middle-income development in Queens at Hunters Point South. The 61-acre Willets Point slated for redevelopment sits across the street from the Mets' new stadium, Citi Field.

The landowners group said via email that it would reschedule the protest.