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The City Council on Thursday approved the second phase of the Willets Point redevelopment project, which includes a plan to construct a new professional soccer stadium in the Queens neighborhood.
Councilmembers voted in favor of the 25,000-seat stadium project in Willets Point, located next to Citi Field, at the City Council’s stated meeting Thursday afternoon.
In addition to a Major League Soccer stadium for New York City Football Club, or NYCFC, Phase 2 of the project includes a new hotel and retail space. It also includes around 1,400 subsidized or below-market-rate apartments, which, when combined with the first phase of the project, will result in a total of 2,500 affordable homes.
Construction began on Phase 1, which includes hundreds of income-restricted housing units and a new school, in December. Last month, the City Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve Phase 2 of the project.
In a statement released Thursday, Councilmember Francisco Moya, whose district includes Willets Point, said he was "thrilled" by the vote.
"The revitalization of Willets Point represents a bold step toward a brighter future not only for Queens but for all of New York City, and I proudly stand with our community in championing this transformative initiative," Moya said. "This development marks the largest influx of affordable housing units in 40 years, and it’s more than just about the stadium — it’s about creating a new, thriving neighborhood for my constituents."
Bronx Councilman Rafael Salamanca, who chairs the land use committee, described the long path to the vote.
“This is something that the Council has been working on for the last couple of sessions, even prior to my time when they rezoned Willets Point many, many years ago,” he said. “We’re gonna create jobs. We’re gonna inject the economy [into] that immediate area. And we’re gonna bring a soccer stadium to the city of New York, which I think is exciting.”
The new stadium has the support of Mayor Eric Adams and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. In his own statement, Adams lauded Thursday’s vote.
“Housing is the goal — and with today’s City Council vote, I’m proud to say that we just scored the goal of the decade,” he said. "We’re bringing 2,500 affordable housing units, 150,000 square feet of public open space, thousands of good-paying jobs, and the city’s first soccer-specific stadium to a neighborhood in Queens that used to be known for its junkyards."
The plan will now proceed to Adams for his official approval. After that, a 120-day public comment period will ensue, as well as an appeal period.
The project has received pushback from some small business owners, including some auto-related businesses outside of Citi Field, who say they were forced to close to make room for construction.
Queens Councilmember Shekar Krishnan, who represents the communities of Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, and Woodside, said in a news release that he voted against the plan Thursday.
“This is a bad deal for New York City. And this is a terrible precedent for land use," Krishnan’s statement said in part. "A stadium on public land, subsidized by hundreds of millions in public funds, is not a good deal. This stadium will not be paying property taxes. It will not be making payments in lieu of taxes. And it will pay almost nothing in rent over the next 50 years."
The city says the Willets Point project is expected to generate more than $6 billion in economic impact over the next 30 years and create more than over 14,000 construction jobs and more than 1,500 permanent jobs.
The soccer stadium is the first of its kind for a professional soccer team in the five boroughs. Throughout its history, NYCFC has hosted home matches at the city’s two baseball-specific stadiums, Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, as well as at the New York Red Bulls’ stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.
