Monday, February 11, 2008

Doorman opposes hotels

QNS. POL RIPS CONDO 'CON JOBS'
By REUVEN FENTON, NY Post

A Queens councilman yesterday called for a change in zoning laws to prevent the construction of hotels in residential areas as "a back-door way" to build condos.

Democrat Eric Gioia said 11 hotels are being built in a 12-block area of Long Island City and they could easily be converted into condos if the owners claim that business is bad, skirting regulatory laws.

"It can be a back-door way to build condos that couldn't be built otherwise," Gioia said.

________________________________

Proposal Seeks To Change Hotel Approval Process
Special to the Sun

Hotel developers could face a more rigorous approval process under a proposal by City Council member Eric Gioia of Queens.

According to Mr. Gioia, hotels built in the Dutch Kills section of Queens face fewer barriers because the area is still zoned for manufacturing, even though it now contains residential housing as well.

"It's a loophole in the law because ten or fifteen years ago, no one wanted to build a hotel in Queens," Mr. Gioia said yesterday. "But now with economic development in all five boroughs you have these buildings that are totally out of character with the neighborhood."

Mr. Gioia is asking that developers be required to obtain a special permit from the Department of City Planning before construction and face scrutiny from the City Council and community groups.


Eric! This kind of talk might get you kicked out of the doorman's union. I suppose you just noticed that this was a problem in your district?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't this EXACTLY what the Hemmerdingers have in mind for the "Back lot" At Atlas??

georgetheatheist said...

The Doorman "noticed" this because he reads assiduously the Queens Crap Blog site - as all those who want to be in the loop do. His ass is on the line; his feet are in the fire!

Anonymous said...

They want to put a big condo development at Atlas? Has that been reported anywhere?

Anonymous said...

Not reported in the press, but it's part of "Phase two" .

Anonymous said...

Team-Gioia doesn't oppose hotels (per se) nor does he seem to care for the people in Dutch Kills (AFTERALL, WHY DID HE NOT ATTEND ANY MEETINGS?)

No, our ffiend is concerned that a handful of 14 story Section 8 housing/immigrant-student barracks will not only close the area for block after block of massive buildings, but make him and the clubhouse look like a horses ass when it comes to making choices on development.

We have a long memory.

Remember the Walter McCaffry Entertainment District that moved in from Times Square?

Remember all those wasted tax credits for MetLife?

The three tenor's disastorous handling of Con Ed blackout?

The Doorman's shameful flip-flopping on SSG?

These things tells us the stuff this boy and his ilk are made of.

Anonymous said...

He must be out of his mind if he thinks those buildings are going up with the intention of selling units as condos later.

Couldn't be more obvious the real intention is to create places for the homeless population being forced out of manhattan hotels.

The city pays big bucks to house homeless families, way more than any business travelers would ever pay, and business travelers would never want to stay in that area anyway.

Anonymous said...

Saw someone wrote this on another blog:

Buy a unit, then shoehorn five or six people in each. Should be able to pay it off in six or seven years.

Who the hell cares what happens to the community or building? Western Queens is merely a cow to be milked.

Explains why the cheap appliances, small kichens, oddly large closets and lack of concern that hundreds of units are coming online in an area that is little more that a dump.

Its near the el and some 16 hour a day job in Manhattan. Thats all that counts.

Some developer makes lots of money and his family will probibally set yet another standard for over the top tastless lifestlye typical of those with illgotten gains.

Thats all that counts, too.


The only problem is, in exchange for turning a community over to a developer to get trashed, the polticians, never that smart to begin with, are becoming dimly aware that they stand to get nothing.

It dashe$ all there dream$ for all kinds of fee$ and varience$ and hor$e trading and the like needed to create a large community of dwelling$.

Anonymous said...

It looks like our "favorite" doorman
just got stuck in the revolving door of politics!

Ain't gonna keep your job this way.

H-m-m-m, a sudden attack of conscience Eric?

Nah, he's just playing both ends against the middle.

You'd better watch out Mr. Doorman,
YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE !