Thursday, February 5, 2009

City padlocks Willets Point businesses

From the Times Ledger:

In what some Willets Point business owners claim was the latest volley between the city and some 22 holdout property owners, the city Department of Buildings issued a full vacate order on a building owned by a Willets Point United Against Eminent Domain member for not conforming to the certificate of occupancy issued for the property.

Jake Bono, owner of Bono Sawdust Supply Co., and one of the organizers of Willets Point United Against Eminent Domain, said the DOB enforcement was an underhanded tactic to oust businesses. Bono’s company, located nearby in Willets Point, is not involved with the properties in question.

“They’re going to try to frustrate all the workers and landowners and business owners here to the point where they ... want to run out of here,” Bono said. “No streets, no sewers, no services, and now they come down with every city agency and look at you up and down with a microscope.”

Christina Walsh, a case manager for the nonprofit Institute for Justice, providing legal support to the coalition, warned the vacate order was “a precursor of what’s to come.”

“The city knows what it’s doing,” she said. “The city’s purposefully refused to do its job for decades and now they’ve decided to start enforcing whatever codes they’re enforcing.”

In the meantime, Bono also speculated the pressure to close the building may have come from the professional baseball team that occupies the opposite side of 126th Street from the property.

“There’s a time clock counting ... until the new, no−name field opens up,” he said.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Wellington Pointe"
must be built...
otherwise some local pols won't be getting their usual campaign contributions delivered to them
on time from Taiwan!

Funny how when Tommy Huang
racked up numerous C of O
(and other) violations, the DOB took its damn sweet time!

CB#7...
the other community board from hell!

Anonymous said...

Where are the feds on this?

In Congressman Ackerman's pocket....no doubt!
Isn't he on the Asia committee?

It's been said that he and T.H.
are practically asshole buddies since the early 80s

Maybe the Department of Justice
wants to look more closely into that "sterling" lawmaker's
campaign contributions.

Anonymous said...

Bully tactics!

Maybe a couple of people
need a nice long dirt nap.

Plenty of space still
left in the wetlands.

Anonymous said...

Part of the First Amendment is our right, as citizens, to speak and write to the government "For redress of grievances".

So, this lockout is proof that the protests of late have been effective. The Commissar is being seen for what his is, a money grubbing slime.

The Willets Point United Against Eminent Domain group should contact their lawyer pronto and look for a federal case that the Commissar is exercising retribution for the group's use of their First Amendment Rights.

This Commissar does NOT have any use for the Constitution or the rights of others to oppose his actions. Or to even mildly disagree.

That's why he puts those jackboots on over his tiny feet each day.

The Commissar is implacably opposed to the use of the First Amendment.

I say, jail him for abuse of power!

Anonymous said...

Willets Point "violations" are enacted upon PDQ because NYC is hot on clearing poor people out..
and out of their jobs too!

All this while committing eminent domain abuse!

You don't need to go back to the 1960s south witness the practice of facist/racism by a city government.

Just take a look northward
from the #7 line on your way to work tomorrow!

Heil Bloomberg!

Anonymous said...

It's about time they take off the kid gloves. Next step should be to bring in INS and round up all the illegal working there.

Queens Crapper said...

Under the Mayor's sanctuary city policy, this cannot be done.

Anonymous said...

Crappy, policy aside all that needs to be done is make an anon phone call. The tools at Bloombergs disposal are endless. How many practice without the proper licences? Shut those down. Let bring the DOB in and inspect some of these buildings and start issuing code violations or condemn some of the building as unsafe. After a while they will play ball and grab the payday instead risking getting nothing but thrown out on their arse.

Queens Crapper said...

Why would we do this now after not doing it for decades? Because a developer wants a payday?

Anonymous said...

sounds like biggie smalls is back with his city hack bs they pay him alot of money just to monitor all the sites, sounds like dave lambino to me

Anonymous said...

Crappy, policy aside all that needs to be done is make an anon phone call. biggie you did this already you fat rat

Anonymous said...

Yo... bro!
This is "BIGGIE BULLSHIT"
speaking for his crew...

Mayor Bloomberg, Toby Stavisky,
John Liu, CB#7, Fred Wilpon, Parkside,Hiram Monseratte,
EDC, TDC, (no those last 2 weren't record labels).

Did I forget anyone?
Gotta bounce now...later.