As the city contemplates Willets Point's future, the cultural institutions of Flushing Meadows Corona Park see an unprecedented opportunity to develop northern Queens as a cultural destination.
This revitalization will serve the millions of New Yorkers who visit our institutions and tourists and convention-goers from beyond the region. The planned redevelopment, including a mid-sized convention center and hotel, will entice people to come to Queens and contribute their time and money to the borough's benefit.
Also, for the first time, the city will compete nationally for the 2,000-5,000 registrant conferences that drive economic development in cities across the country.
Furthermore, the redevelopment will add to the resurgence already underway in Flushing Meadows. All of the park's cultural institutions are making dramatic improvements to their facilities and developing new opportunities to engage audiences.
The Queens Botanical Garden's revolutionary Visitor and Administration Center is the first public city building to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the highest national standard for sustainable building, as well as an AIA Council on the Environment Top Ten Building Award.
Since its 2004 expansion, the New York Hall of Science has seen its audience more than double. The hall welcomed 485,000 visitors last year, placing it in the top 5 percent of cultural institutions by attendance citywide, and provided teacher training to more than 3,500 city science teachers.
An expansion of Queens Theatre in the Park is underway, and new performance and event spaces will allow the theater to become the borough's destination for local, national and international performing arts.
By 2010, the Queens Museum of Art will double its size with new galleries and educational spaces, encouraging a forum for the community, artists and the museum's diverse audience.
The New York Mets' Citi Field and the U.S. Tennis Association's new visitor center will enhance sports experiences for millions of fans.
Flushing Meadows Corona Park's Pool & Rink, in the midst of its inaugural season, is the largest recreation complex ever built in a city park.
Together, these projects represent hundreds of millions of investment dollars, providing services to millions of people. More importantly, these projects are an investment in Queens' future, branding our borough as a destination for cultural tourism.
These projects are occurring alongside the commercial and residential developments that are reinvigorating northern Queens. Forty-three residential developments are either planned or already in construction, and a redeveloped Willets Point will unify northern Queens as a focal point for tourism and recreation.
Today, there are many reasons to visit northern Queens, but all are one-day activities. With a convention center and hotel, Willets Point will make this area a great place to stay for a few days. A revitalized Willets Point will reconnect northern Queens to its waterfront and integrate several world-class facilities into a cultural tourism hub.
Queens residents, of which more than 1 million visit our cultural institutions annually, will derive greater benefits from improved facilities, transit and infrastructure. More importantly, a tourism influx means more economic development, investment in cultural institutions and benefits for Queens.
If we provide people the opportunity, they will come to Queens and contribute to our culture and economy. If we build a hotel and convention center at Willets Point, they will come more often and stay longer to see more of what we have to offer.
The Willets Point redevelopment will undoubtedly create a vibrant corridor between bustling downtown Flushing, our expansive park and the rest of northern Queens. In supporting this redevelopment, we echo the concerns of Borough President Helen Marshall and urge the city to work with the current property owners to assist businesses with relocation and provide job training to those workers displaced by the project.
We trust the city will live up to its obligations and look forward to seeing the Willets Point redevelopment move forward, creating a new destination for Queens and city residents and tourists from beyond the five boroughs.
Tom Finkelpearl, executive director, Queens Museum of Art
Marilyn Hoyt, president, New York Hall of Science
Susan Lacerte, executive director, Queens Botanical Garden
Jeffrey Rosenstock, executive director, Queens Theatre in the Park
