Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the Department of City Planning initiated the seven-month Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) for the Willets Point Redevelopment Plan, the Hunter's Point South Plan and the rezoning plan for the Rockaway Peninsula.  The plans will be reviewed in a series of public hearings and will go before the local community boards, the Borough President, the City Planning Commission and the City Council as part of the ULURP process.

"The start of the public approval processes for these three plans signals a major step forward in our five-borough plan to revitalize the waterfront, create mixed-use neighborhoods on once blighted or underutilized land, and protect existing neighborhoods from overdevelopment," said Mayor Bloomberg.  "At Willets Point, our plan will transform what is now a highly contaminated area into a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood, with new housing, parks and thousands of jobs; at Hunter's Point South, we will create thousands of units of affordable housing along the East River; and at Rockaway Peninsula, our plan will protect five neighborhoods from overdevelopment and preserve the character of the area."

The Willets Point Redevelopment Plan will help transform the environmentally contaminated 62-acre site in the heart of Queens into a vibrant mixed-use community with affordable housing, retail amenities, office space, parks, playgrounds, and a convention center and hotel, creating more than 6,000 permanent and 20,000 construction jobs.  Willets Point will become New York City's first green neighborhood, participating in the United States Green Building Council's LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot program, and the removal of the existing contamination will help clean the Flushing River.  The Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) continues to work with the businesses located in Willets Point to identify sites for relocation and to develop Workforce Assistance Programs for the workers who will be impacted by the redevelopment plan.

Hunter's Point South - a 30-acre waterfront site in southern Queens - will accommodate 5,000 new units of housing, 60 percent of which will be affordable to middle income families.  The project will include more than 10 acres of landscaped waterfront parkland, new retail amenities and community facility space. Due to the complexity and scale of the Hunter's Point South Plan, the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) has agreed to form an advisory committee to provide expert development advice in connection with the project.

The rezoning plan for Rockaway Peninsula is designed to curb overdevelopment and protect the famed bungalows.  The plan covers 280 blocks of five Rockaway neighborhoods along six miles of waterfront.