Gang shoots 5 on Roosevelt Avenue

Police said five people were shot on a busy Queens street at about 11:40 a.m. Saturday.

Both sides of Roosevelt Avenue had been shut down between 80th and 81st streets as police investigated.

Officers told News 4 New York it appears this may have been a gang-related shooting.

5 Shot In Broad Daylight On Queens Sidewalk

Lizzy lied to get gay vote

When asked about gay marriage at yesterday's Queens Tribune round table discussion, Elizabeth Crowley stated she was against gay marriage. Which is the complete opposite of what was told to the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens in order to get their endorsement. They were duped by their own district leader, Daniel Dromm. Crowley committed to put the club's logo on all of her literature but has failed to do so. The Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens does not give support to any candidate that does not support gay marriage and place their logo and name on their literature. In addition, Crowley had sent Alyson Grant, her campaign manager, to the endorsement meeting. She stated that she had not discussed the 3 major issues that were important to that Club with Elizabeth even though she had a copy of the questionnaire in advance and purposely failed to fill it out.

Queens man croaks after taking toad venom

At $10 a small block, Stone is popular in the West Indies and China.

Typically sold as a chunk less than a square inch in size and in a clear plastic bag with official-looking instructions, it contains chemicals that can disrupt the heart rhythms.

HORNY TOAD ALARM

The Queens victim, who has not been identified, developed an abnormal heartbeat after eating the substance and was admitted to a hospital complaining of chest pain, officials said. Other symptoms may include vomiting and abdominal pain, they added.

The Food and Drug Administration has banned the product, but shipments from overseas suppliers regularly make their way into the city.

Stone contains several chemicals known as bufadienolides, which are secreted by cane toads as a defense mechanism, officials said.

The material, which can also be applied to the skin, goes by several other names, including Love Stone, Jamaican Stone, Black Stone and Chinese Rock.

A similar substance killed at least four people in New York in the 1990s. The city cracked down on abusers after the outbreak and has tried to wipe out its sale ever since.

Con Ed is on it!

Anticipating an increase in demand for electricity of 1.7 percent this summer over last, Con Ed is spending a record $1.7 billion preparing, and rushing to complete most of the work before June 1 so it does not have to disable critical equipment while customers are using about 30 percent more power than they do in other seasons.

With Summer on the Way, Con Ed Girds Its Grid

Much of the work is concentrated in Upper Manhattan and Yonkers, where the network is not equipped to handle this summer’s projected peak demand in neighborhoods that have old equipment and have recently ballooned in population. Con Ed has also started building a new substation in Long Island City to reduce the load on the equipment that failed in 2006, causing a nine-day blackout.

Queens Dems dump Sabini for Monserrate

Democratic Party officials in Queens voted on Friday not to endorse State Senator John D. Sabini, a Queens Democrat who has been in office six years, for re-election. Instead, they voted to back his challenger, City Councilman Hiram Monserrate.

Top Queens Democrats Shun Incumbent

The decision represents an unusual move by a party organization to deny an incumbent its endorsement. And it was a significant blow to Mr. Sabini, a former city councilman and onetime chairman of the Queens Democratic Party.

For much of the last two years, Mr. Monserrate has put intense pressure on the party officials to gain their support. Two years ago, he challenged Mr. Sabini and came within 250 votes of beating him.

Michael H. Reich, the executive secretary of the Queens Democratic Party, said that the party’s leadership committee in the district had switched its support in part because of the strength Mr. Monserrate demonstrated in the 2006 election and because the ethnic politics of the district were increasingly favoring the challenger.

Some Democratic leaders have charged that Mr. Monserrate has put pressure on the party organization by threatening to challenge incumbent district leaders in his section of Queens.

Metrotech is "vibrant"?

No Land Grab has this about new maps installed at the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge:

The map's description of MetroTech includes the word "vibrant", but it is neither vibrant nor a neighborhood. It's really just an office park, and an unfortunate example of a Forest City project: Built with the help of large public subsidies and the use of eminent domain, the area is completely out of character with the surrounding neighborhoods and is never very lively, particularly after 6 p.m. when the office workers go home and the area goes dead. It's likely that the main point of interest of MetroTech to a Brooklyn visitor is just how uninteresting a place it is.

Vibrant - gotta love that word...

Grange is on the move

Founding father Alexander Hamilton's house is off its foundation and soon will be on the move.

Our first treasury secretary's digs, the Grange, is headed from 287 Convent Ave. near W. 141st St. around the block to the northwest corner of St. Nicholas Park at 141st, where it will be restored and turned into a museum.

The Grange has been gradually jacked up over the last two weeks, reaching its final height of 35 feet off the ground on Tuesday.

It will be slid on rollers to the opposite side of the street, then lowered, loaded onto dollies and taken to the park - which was part of Hamilton's original 32-acre estate.

The move, set to take place June 7, represents about 40% of the total $8.4 million cost of turning the home into a museum.

Plans are to have the restoration finished and the museum open to the public in the fall of 2009.

Alexander Hamilton's home movin'

Far Rockaway far from safe

Mourning the murdered has become a familiar routine at the Redfern Houses in Far Rockaway, Queens. First there are the makeshift memorials, with flowers and candles and a smattering of personal items. Then, the dead often get more permanent epitaphs scrawled on the walls of the apartment house they called home, remembered by nicknames like “peanut” or “dimplez.”

Murder, From Front to Back, in a Project in Queens

And then there is vengeance.

Invariably, those killed are young. Sometimes they are the intended targets, other times they are not.

But most are victims of a private war that has been playing out at this housing project for years. A war over money, turf and drugs — growing increasingly deadly as guns have become more prevalent.

Horrendous conditions at Charles Park

Charles Park is in a devastating state of disrepair as a result of what locals believe to be years of neglect by Gateway’s management. Now they want the feds to step up to the plate.

Locals Aim To Save Neglected Park

Taking a break from his daily tennis session on a recent afternoon, park regular Anthony LaSaracina took this reporter on a tour of the recreation area, pointing out along the way damaged fences, broken water fountains, overgrown shrubbery, dead trees, and, most devastating to the tennis enthusiast, the deteriorating and dirty tennis courts.

Gateway’s failure to maintain the park regularly in the last decade and a half has created these “deplorable” conditions, LaSaracina said. “It’s as if (Charles Park) is in a lost world and no one cares about it.”

But a small group of extremely dedicated community members do care. In fact, they are so deeply dedicated to their mission of improving Charles Park — and the rest of the 6,000-acre Jamaica Bay Unit — that they’ve become known as crusaders.

Preservation community fails to educate Douglaston homeowners

13 out of the 17 homeowners in the proposed district oppose designation. They fear it will limit their property rights.

Any type of work on a landmarked house requires permission from the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. The changes must match the architectural style of the building, which in this neighborhood ranges from Mediterranean to Dutch Colonial and English Tudor.

“Landmarking restrictions are stringent and suffocating,” said White. “They tell you what to do with your roof, what kind of siding, what kind of shutters, what kind of porch.”

The [community] board...voted against the expansion of the historic district. The nature of the vote is advisory, explained Steven Newman, chair of the board.

The opposition - from the residents and the board - will play a significant role when the Landmarks Commission votes on whether to extend the historic district, said Lisi de Bourbon, spokesperson for the Commission.

Douglaston Historic District plans rankle residents

Whoops...someone forgot that education regarding historic preservation is necessary before getting people on board in the land of the tweeded.

The end of Woodhaven Lanes

A GOOD QUESTION...

WITH ALL THE CRAP ALREADY ON WOODHAVEN AND METROPOLITAN, WHY WOULD THEY
KNOCK WOODHAVEN LANES DOWN?

WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST THEY PUT IN PLACE OF THE OLD BOWLING ALLEY?

BEST BUY PERHAPS?
OR A QUEENS CRAP MUSEUM?

- EJ

Goodbye to Woodhaven Lanes

Boro bowlers out in gutter

Dizzy Lizzy calls Avella "the worst councilman ever"

At a Queens Tribune editorial board meeting at 10:30am this morning the District 30 City Council candidates were asked the following:
"Who was the worst council member in the history of the city council?" And the answers were:


Ognibene: "Dennis Gallagher"
Como: "Dennis Gallagher"
Ober: "Dennis Gallagher"
Crowley: "Tony Avella"

Editor Brad Groznik said, "That's very funny, Elizabeth." But Ms. Crowley was serious and stuck by her answer. Dennis Gallagher is advising her, so she certainly couldn't say his name. And Tony Avella endorsed her opponent. This is simply a case of sour grapes. Dizzy Lizzy, you are so juvenile and not qualified to run for public office.

Photo from Crowley campaign website

NY1 to host Council District 30 debate tonight

NY 1 has confirmed that for the first time, all 4 candidates who are running in the 30th council district in Queens will have the opportunity to ask each other questions and debate each other. Inside City Hall, hosted by Dominic Carter, will air tonight at 7pm and 10pm.

To contact Inside City Hall, send mail to: insidecityhall@ny1.com

Crowley and Como get their wish

Two candidates in the June 3 special election to replace ex-City Councilman Dennis Gallagher backed out hours before a debate this week in what was seen as a political snub by the event's host.

Council debate snubs prompt 'character' jab

Democrat Elizabeth Crowley and Republican Anthony Como had pledged to attend the Juniper Park Civic Association's debate Tuesday night, but both bailed out via phone message shortly before it was to begin, said association President Bob Holden.

Both candidates ditched the debate in order to meet with the editorial board of a Queens weekly newspaper, the candidates confirmed to the Daily News.

Holden said the pair feared being asked tough questions.

"To me, this is disgraceful," Holden told the 150-person crowd at Our Lady of Hope in Middle Village. "They made a commitment in writing to us, the neighborhood, and then at the last minute they renege. What does that tell you about their character?"

Crowley chose the option that would "allow her to communicate with a broader audience," her campaign manager, Alyson Grant, said in a statement.

Como said he chose the newspaper meeting for the same reason when faced with a conflict after the debate was rescheduled.

Cute, Anthony. The newspaper called at 4pm on the day of the debate to schedule. You already had a commitment. 150 people were waiting to hear what you and Dizzy Lizzy had to say. Interesting how you both came up with the same excuse. Looks like you guys got exactly what you wanted - exposure to a wider audience. Your cowardice made the Daily News! Also made the Courier and the Chronicle. Congratulations!

DOI needs more inspectors to investigate council crooks

The job of probing the City Council's slush fund has grown so large that the city's top watchdog said yesterday she needs more investigators to handle the "crushing" workload.

PROBER FEELING CRUSH OF $LUSH

Investigations Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn told a council budget hearing that she has asked City Hall to let her hire four more investigators and auditors to help in the far-reaching probe that has so far resulted in two federal indictments.

The Department of Investigation is probing the council's use of fictitious organizations to park $17 million since 2001. The funds were dispensed to community groups after the budget was adopted each year in June.

Hearn said her investigation so far is looking at 42 not-for-profit organizations, including a dozen reported to a city hot line set up after the indictment last month of two council staffers.

Candidates answer question about Ridgewood Reservoir

Anthony Como: "Once you disturb the ecosystem, from birds and so forth, it destroys the natural beauty of it."

Elizabeth Crowley: "I consider myself an environmentalist. I drive a hybrid."

Charles Ober: "We don't need more artificial turf, we need more grass."

Tom Ognibene: "This place has such a natural beauty that you would think they would want to preserve it."

More of Hunters Point biting the dust

Remember the beautiful building they’re knocking down, that (ahem) might have been landmarked if Queens actually paid attention to the violent raping of its architectural history…

The beautiful red building that escaped landmarking faces the guillotine

Hey, LIQShitty: Queens residents have been screaming for landmark status for years. It's not US that's not paying attention, it's the Manhattan-centric Landmarks Preservation Commission, corrupt elected officials and supposedly citywide preservation organizations like Municipal Art Society and Historic Districts Council who have repeatedly and consistently turned their backs on Queens preservation.

Were power problems expected in 2006?

No Big Summer Power Problems Expected in N.Y.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- The organization that oversees New York's electricity system expects the state to have a sufficient supply of power this summer.

The summer 2008 peak electricity usage will reach almost 34,000 megawatts, barring unexpected weather extremes, the New York Independent System Operator said.

That's about 5 percent higher than the peak of just more than 32,000 last summer and on a par with the summer peak in 2006.

Peak demand is the year's highest electricity demand for a one-hour period, and typically happens on a late summer afternoon.

New York City and Long Island - which account for nearly half the state's summer electricity use - were expected to have more than sufficient capacity.

Photo from NickNormal.

Construction Debris Tumbles onto Harlem Market

NEW YORK (AP) -- Firefighters say construction debris from a luxury condominium building has plummeted onto a Harlem market.

The Fire Department says no one was hurt in the mishap Thursday afternoon at the Kalahari Harlem, an environmentally conscious condo building under construction on West 116th Street.

The Buildings Department is investigating and has no immediate comment. The incident comes amid mounting attention to construction safety citywide.

Roxanne Donovan, a spokeswoman for general contractor First Avenue Builders, says two stucco-like surface panels fell off the 12-story building.

Television footage shows sheets of material lying atop a gash in the lower building's roof.

After a series of recent construction accidents, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday the city would hire 63 more safety inspectors.

Are politicians failing our lobbyists?

From the Onion:


In The Know: Are Politicians Failing Our Lobbyists?

Commerce Bank to destroy LI history

AFTER six years of contention, Commerce Bank may at last be poised to win its battle to replace a somewhat battered Northport landmark with a modernist glass-and-brick branch office building.

End in Sight for Bank Standoff

The landmark in question, now vacant, most recently housed a restaurant. But underneath its various additions is the ancestral home of the Scudder family, one of the earliest in this waterside Northport village known as Cow Harbor.

Interesting answers to questions, part 5

DO YOU BELIEVE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION? TO WHAT EXTENT IS IT NECESSARY FOR THE CONSERVATION OF LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER? WHERE WITHIN DISTRICT 30TH DO YOU FEEL PRESERVATION SHOULD BE EMPHASIZED?

COMO: I feel that everyone should believe in historical preservation because it is vitally important that we protect our heritage and history. Each neighborhood has its unique origin and distinctive character that should be preserved for future generations. No one borough should have a monopoly on historical designations and I believe that Queens has been grossly ignored by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. I believe that historic preservation has many intrinsic benefits. We should not make the mistake of measuring historic preservation based solely upon economics. The aesthetic, educational, cultural, political and environmental benefits outweigh any economic opposition. If elected Councilman I will fight to ensure that Queens gets the consideration it deserves. Any building or area that has an historical significance within the 30th district should be considered for a landmarks designation. There should be an open dialogue between elected officials, community board members, civic associations, residents and the LPC to identify historical sites. As a community we should work together to create a healthy balance between development and preservation. I have been a member of numerous civic organizations including: serving on the Board of the Peter Cardella Senior Center and Christ the King Regional High School and an active member of the Middle Village Property Owners, Glendale Property Owners, Juniper Park Civic Association, COMET Civic Association, Middle Village Chamber of Commerce, Italian Charities of America, Maspeth Middle Village Civic Association, the Mario Lanza Lodge and Glendale Kiwanis.

CROWLEY: I believe strongly in historic preservation, so much so that I have studied, practiced and promoted forms of preservation in my daily life. I have a bachelor’s degree in preservation and restoration from SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology and have completed graduate level course in historic preservation from Pratt Institute where I hold a Masters of Science in City and Regional Planning. Professionally, I have utilized my preservation skills on historic landmarks which include Radio City Music Hall, Times Square Empire Theater and the historic Central Synagogue. There are many areas of the 30th district in which preservation should be emphasized. The 30th district has many historic locations that contribute to the unique character of our neighborhoods. There are locations in each neighborhood of the district: Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood and Woodhaven.

OBER: I believe in historic preservation and have worked in preserving my neighborhood through my civic work. The history of a neighborhood intersects with its historic building stock and instills a sense of pride in the place we live. It is this sense of place which is grounded in the buildings we preserve. The character of the neighborhood is part of what makes a place a wonderful place in which to live. The character includes the beauty of its architecture, the scale and layout of the buildings, and the sense of the people who built and created the neighborhood. Historic preservation is necessary to preserve the unique neighborhood character.

OGNIBENE: I am absolutely committed to the historic preservation of our local neighborhoods character, it is an essential element of the quality of life we covet and the reason we live in these communities. While there are significant areas in all the communities in the 30th Council District which are eligible for landmark status review and require protection from unnecessary development this can be done on a location by location basis. On a broader scale I would place an emphasis on the communities of Ridgewood and Richmond Hill which have a significant amount of classic structures and are the communities most vulnerable to wide spread abuse and over-development.

Como: Have you finished listing your affiliations yet? Where within the district should preservation efforts be directed?
Crowley: What preservation battles have you led? Where within each neighborhood should be preserved?
Ober: You seem to understand preservation, but skipped the specifics as well.
Ognibene: Ridgewood and Richmond Hill should get the emphasis, eh? So you're setting Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale aside for the developers?

Freshly paved Woodside crap

Let's take a former auto body shop on 58th Street in Woodside....
and turn it into six 3-family homes without front yards! Hey, there's still plenty of parking on premises!
Hey Monira, thanks for posting your e-mail and phone number so we can contact you about your role in bringing more overdevelopment to western Queens. We didn't have enough absentee landlords and big enough burden on our sewer, electrical and school systems, but thanks to you, we'll soon have more.

Truth about debate no-shows revealed

Anthony Como and Elizabeth Crowley used the excuse that they were attending a newspaper round table discussion at the Queens Ledge on Tuesday night as the reason for cancelling on their commitment to participate in a debate at Our Lady of Hope in Middle Village. The other two candidates, Charles Ober and Tom Ognibene, were also asked to attend the newspaper's event at 7:30, but both stood firm and chose to go to the debate. Ober made an appointment at the newspaper for 9:30 that same evening and Ognibene went at noon yesterday. So the 7:30 time was not a "do-or-die" for either Crowley or Como. It's obvious that they don't have the cojones to face tough questions.

Crowley cannot handle issue-oriented questions, nevermind straightforward questions about her indiscretions past and present. Como is a pretty dim bulb as well, and it is becoming more and more obvious that he will act as the sacrificial lamb for Serf Maltese who made a deal with Joe Crowley to give Dizzy Lizzy the seat. Como is only in the race to split the GOP vote. This is why he didn't show at the debate either.

This entire race is a farce with the people of the district being played for fools - as usual. The voters in Maspeth, Middle Village, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood and Glendale better wake up and smell the coffee, and do so fast.

Niagara Falls a top vacation choice for LICers?

"LIC residents big fans of the Horseshoe Falls? I don't know what to make of this one." - KingofNYCabbies

Niagara Falls Tourism's website, niagarafallstourism.com, tracks the cities where visitors are from and six of the top 10 are Canadian: Weston (near Toronto), East York, Ottawa, London, Toronto and Montreal. The three American cities in the top 10 are all from the metropolitan New York area - Brooklyn, Long Island City and New York City. Rounding out the list is London, England which finished ahead of Montreal.

Tourism figures raise hope for rebound

"There are a lot of Brits in town right now," she said. "A lot of tour buses are coming back and the helicopters are going crazy. We're getting a lot of Canadians coming around and from the U.S., we're getting a lot more out of New York."

Serial killer knows where the bodies are buried

Gregory Wynder, 56, is already doing life in prison for the September 2001 strangling of a woman in her Harlem apartment.

But while Wynder sat in prison, he wrote letters to prosecutors hinting he was responsible for killing two more women, both slain in the South Jamaica home of his girlfriend, Simona Smith.

"That would make it a Norman Bates house," a police source said.

One of Wynder's letters wound up in the hands of Queens detectives, who believe Wynder was writing more than jailhouse fiction.

Detectives and forensic experts from the city medical examiner's office descended on the rear yard of 105-23 170th St. on Wednesday, searching for remains.

That's where Wynder said he dumped, in the 1990s, the brutalized body of Jackie Torres, a homeless woman with whom he had run shoplifting scams, sources said.

Wynder confessed to beating her to death when he thought she had kept some of the loot.

Cops dig up yard in serial-slay probe

Overcrowded schools may lead to eminent domain

Though the department is in the process of adding more then 63,000 seats before the end of fiscal year 2009, overcrowding still persists. That left some members wondering whether the city should tap the use of eminent domain to create more school space.

Overcrowding Reprise

Take Jackson Heights, said Councilmember Helen Sears. Her district in Queens has only one high school, she said at today’s hearing, which has more than 4,000 students. Though the area has gained several elementary facilities, its high school needs have been ignored, she added.

There you go folks. We now have managed to build on every space left in the borough and will have no choice but to use eminent domain to make new schools (after we first expand every existing school into their schoolyards).

Queens Man Convicted of Stealing Submarine Parts

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- A Jamaica, Queens, man has been convicted in Virginia of stealing counterattack parts worth $70,000 from a submarine to sell for scrap metal.

A federal jury found 37-year-old Frank E. Spaulding guilty on Tuesday of theft of public property and making false statements.

The U.S. attorney's office in Virginia said Spaulding took two steel domes from a pier at Norfolk Naval Station in December 2006, when the USS Hampton was being refurbished. The domes, weighing 230 pounds apiece, cover anti-torpedo units that confuse approaching enemy torpedoes.

Spaulding sold the domes for about $2,000 to a scrap dealer in Virginia Beach.

He's scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 21.

And you thought stealing a bell was a big deal...

Developers losing money due to crackdown

As construction safety becomes an increasing priority, building contractors and developers throughout the five boroughs are feeling the effects of the city's recent inspection crackdown in their wallets.

When work stops, costs don't

Industry experts say the multi-day or multi-week work stoppages that sometimes follow an inspection can cost a developer or contractor millions of dollars in loan interest payments, rental costs of machinery and lost labor. And now, after several high-profile accidents — including the East Side crane collapse that killed seven people in March — and the resignation of the Department of Buildings' commissioner, Patricia Lancaster, last month, the crackdown is likely to intensify.

Outrage in China over shoddy building

China vowed on Wednesday to deal severely with anyone found responsible for shoddy state building work, as parents demanded to know why last week's earthquake destroyed so many schools, killing thousands of children.

Thousands of children died when their schools crumbled around them, prompting widespread claims that corruption fatally compromised the buildings' strength.

Hundreds of distraught relatives placed wreaths along the road leading to Fuxing primary school in Wufu, where at least 127 children were crushed to death. They hoisted a banner reading, "The children did not die of a natural disaster but of an unsafe building."

In Yinhua town, where more than 200 pupils died, a woman who lost her 13-year-old daughter said the school building had had two levels in 1993, but illegally added two more later.

"When it collapsed it was just fragments, not blocks. That shows how badly built it was," Luo Zaihong said.

A petition circulated in Juyuan town, where 500 or more pupils died in the ruined middle school, demanding punishment of those responsible for shoddy schools, and compensation.

Protests by parents could be troublesome as the ruling Communist Party seeks to maintain a staunch front of unity and stability in the wake of the quake.

China to probe builders after quake collapses

Interesting answers to questions, part 4

From a questionnaire sent to all Special Election candidates in Council District 30 by the League of Preservation Voters and the Historic Districts Council:

Q: APPROPRIATE LEGISLATION IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE PRESERVATION PROCESS. WHAT KIND OF LEGISLATION WOULD YOU SPONSOR OR SUPPORT TO TEMPORARILY DELAY DEMOLITION OR HALT THE ISSUANCE OF DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS PERMITS SO THAT THE LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION COULD CONSIDER DESIGNATING IMPORTANT HISTORIC PROPERTIES BEFORE THEY ARE DEMOLISHED?

COMO: Legislation should be enacted that would help delay demolition permits issued by the Department of Buildings where the historic significance is clearly evident. As stated before, I feel that it is equally important we create a list of historically significant locations before the threat of the wrecking ball looms in the shadows. Too many times, we have to scramble during the 11th hour to save properties after demolition permits are issued by the DOB. As a community we need to do everything to identify areas to be preserved far in advance of any permits being issued.

CROWLEY: As a member of the city council, I will support legislation that would temporarily delay demolition or halt the issuance of Department of Buildings permit so that the Landmarks Preservation Commission could consider designating important historic properties before they are demolished.

OBER: I would support legislation that would require a survey of historic properties. Those properties would have special status that would delay any alteration or demolition by requiring that a notice be given to the Landmark Preservation Commission saying that such alteration or demolition is being considered thirty (30) days before any filing in the building department. Before any such filing is accepted by the building department proof of the notice must be provided. The Landmark Preservation Commission would be required to do a thirty day review of whether the property should be considered for Landmark Preservation and file a decision with the building department. The owner can either agree to voluntarily submit any plans to the Landmark Preservation Commission for approval or a stay can be imposed while the Commission decided the historic status of the property. This way property rights are protected and property owners know the historic nature of a property may be considered in any alteration of the building. I would also seek legislation to require that the Landmark Preservation Commission provide a full report and detailed reasons for any decision to turn down protection for any property and establish an appeals process.

OGNIBENE: Before the permits are issued the LPC would have to “sign off”, however the process must be an expedited one without unnecessary foot dragging.

Why he's no longer a prosecutor and she has a no show job

These 2 look happy, don't they? Well you would have the same puss on your face if you were as dumb as they are. Case in point - Their opening statements at HDC's candidates night last night:


Photo, videos from the Juniper Park Civic Association

St. Brigid's is saved!

Anonymous Donor Saves East Village Church

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Archdiocese of New York said an anonymous donation of $10 million will save the historic St. Brigid's Church in Manhattan's East Village.

The Archdiocese said Wednesday that St. Brigid's will reopen as a parish church following its repair.

The donor also has given $2 million to establish an endowment to help the parish meet the spiritual needs of residents. A separate gift of $8 million will support Saint Brigid's School, and other Catholic schools in need.

St. Brigid's once was a haven for Irish famine refugees. In more recent years it has served a largely Latino congregation.

The church is named after St. Brigid of Ireland, known for helping the hungry and poor.

HUGE JOB LOSS LOOMS IN CITY

By TOM TOPOUSIS, NY Post

The city will lose 70,500 jobs and $2 billion in tax revenues over the next year as a national recession sweeps into the Big Apple, the Independent Budget Office predicted yesterday.

But watchdogs say the downturn won't affect the city budget until after Mayor Bloomberg is out of office because of a current $4.6 billion surplus and cost-cutting begun this year.

Job-loss predictions are:

* Financial services: 33,300 positions lost.

* Professional and business services: 21,200.

* Information industry: 8,600.

* Construction: 7,400.

The IBO predicts that what it views as a recession will "bottom out" in New York by the middle of next year.

Construction Suspended Indefinitely at Crane Accident Site

By PETER KIEFER, Staff Reporter of the Sun

The Department of Buildings said yesterday that construction at 303 East 51st Street, the site where a crane collapse killed seven and injured more than twenty others in March, would remain suspended indefinitely. The acting buildings commissioner, Robert LiMandri, also threatened to revoke permits for construction at the site unless the developer resubmits revised plans. "Today, the Department put the developer on notice that the permit for the proposed new building will be revoked if the developer fails to take steps to address the identified objections within 10 business days. Construction at the site remains halted," Mr. LiMandri, said in a statement. The buildings department came under fire following the accident after admitting that it should never have issued the original permits in the first place.

Empty suits leave empty seats

After initially confirming that they would attend, Elizabeth Crowley and Anthony Como wimped out of a debate hosted by the Juniper Park Civic Association last night at the last minute, claiming they had to attend, of all things, an editorial board meeting at the Queens Ledge scheduled hours in advance for the exact same time. The civic's forum was not to be a candidates night, but a true debate, with tough questions and the opportunity for rebuttals. Apparently, Ms. Crowley and Mr. Como were afraid of being exposed as the no-talent hacks that they are, so they conspired with Walter Sanchez, publisher of the Queens Ledge, to come up with an excuse (and a lame one at that).
Charles Ober kept his promise and impressed many in attendance with his knowledge of issues specific to Middle Village and Maspeth.
Mr. Ognibene, the former councilman for this area, brought up the fact that Anthony Como is contributing to overdevelopment by building a hideous McMansion on the same street that Tom lives on. "This thing casts a shadow on my house," Ognibene lamented.

Both candidates also raked Crowley over the coals regarding her campaign finance fraud charges and her disqualification from the matching funds program.

Before ending for the night, the community was told by JPCA President Robert Holden, "Remember who insulted you here tonight by not showing up."

Ognibene & Ober: 1
Como & Crowley: 0

Photos and story from the Juniper Park Civic Association (with edits)