City Is Sued Over Willets Point Plan

Property owners and other opponents of the city's $3 billion plan to develop a 60-acre chunk of Queens known as Willets Point are suing the city for unspecified damages.

The Willets Point Industry and Realty Association and 10 large property owners have retained an environmental lawyer, Michael Gerrard, to pursue a lawsuit, filed in federal court in Brooklyn yesterday, which accuses the city of neglecting the area for more than 40 years. Mayor Bloomberg announced a plan last year to redevelop the area into office buildings, shops, apartments, and a convention center. The land would have to be purchased from the current property owners through negotiations or through the use of eminent domain.