Avella Comments on Today’s Willets West Oral Arguments

Queens, NY – This afternoon, final arguments were heard by the Court of Appeals for the appeal of the Willets West “mega-mall” case. State Senator Tony Avella, who filed the original lawsuit, commented on what he saw in the courtroom today.

“Words cannot express how painful it was to sit in the courtroom today and listen to the City and Attorney General’s counsel supporting a developer’s proposal to give away parkland for a mega-mall. It is absolutely disgraceful of the City and State officials who are supposed to represent the people and protect parkland be complicit in the developer’s proposed heist of public land. Sitting in that courtroom was difficult for me as I watched lawyers hired to protect the interest of the people argue against that very interest,” said Senator Avella.