Queens auto shops move to South Bronx may threaten nabe’s comeback

Denis Slattery 1080 Leggett Ave. in Hunts Point has been leased by the Sunrise Co-op, a collection of auto shops displaced from Willets Point, Queens.

THE revitalization of one long-neglected Queens neighborhood could wind up threatening the efforts of a Bronx community that’s also trying to escape its exhaust-choked past.

Several dozen auto shops displaced by the controversial development of Willets Point inked a 10-year deal last month to convert an 84,000-square-foot warehouse on Leggett Ave. in Hunts Point into an indoor auto-mall.

Known collectively as the Sunrise Co-op, the businesses were among more than 200 auto shops that got booted from the so-called Iron Triangle, thanks to the $ 3 billion plan to build a shopping mall and housing next to Citi Field.

“We don’t have any other choice,” said Marco Neira, the Sunrise president. “We’d rather stay in Queens, but there was nothing big enough.”

Neira said the city’s Economic Development Corp. pledged more than $ 2 million to cover moving costs, security deposits and two years of rent for the 37 members of the co-op.

The impacted businesses filed a lawsuit on Feb. 4 against the city and the developers, Sterling Equities and Related Companies, alleging they were unlawfully forced out by the project, which will be partially built on city parkland. It is unclear whether the group will drop the suit.

WARD, JESSE The Willets Point area is full of small automotive businesses under pressure to relocate due new development pressures.Councilman Hiram Monserrate toured Willets Point businesses to discuss the impact of future development plans

Their planned move across the East River is perfectly legal, but now it’s Bronx residents who are getting stirred up, worrying the influx could spark a resurgence in violence and auto thefts in Hunts Point.

“The increased competition could make people desperate,” said Josephine Infante, president of the Hunts Point Economic Development Corp. “The people here don’t want their bread and butter taken right out of their mouths.”

Neira denied the incoming shops would be a threat because of the unique, one-stop automotive emporium the warehouse layout will afford.

But Hunts Point is already deluged in auto-related businesses, a cluster of shops that line Southern Blvd. and Hunts Point Ave.

Bronx residents say the deal raises traffic, safety and environmental concerns that they believe should have been vetted and addressed.

Illustration courtesy of the Queens Development Group. Renderings of a proposed redevelopment of Willets Point headed by a joint venture from the Related Co. and Sterling Equities. The 1.4 million square foot retail and entertainment development was approved by the City Planning Commission on Wednesday.

Bronx Community Board 2, which covers the area, voted last week to formally request the city Economic Development Corp. to conduct environmental and traffic-impact studies of the site.

The board also wants the city to repurpose $ 5 million of the funds earmarked for the remediation of contamination at Willets Point to assess the situation.

But officials say the city is not responsible for any impact the influx may have on the Bronx, even though it is essentially footing the bill.

“The relocation of the Sunrise Co-op to their new facility is an as-of-right transaction between two private parties,” a spokeswoman for the Economic Development Corp. said.

dslattery@nydailynews.com

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