From the Times Ledger:The city put out a call last week to develop a lot in downtown Flushing that is currently occupied by an unused city Sanitation Department building, citing future development in the area as one of the incentives.
The 2,500-square-foot lot is currently zoned for commercial use and in the heart of downtown Flushing at 135-15 41st Road, across the street from an entrance to the Long Island Rail Road’s Flushing-Main Street station.
“While the property is small in size, it represents a meaningful step towards creating a brighter future for downtown Flushing,” said Seth Pinsky, president of the city Economic Development Corp. “To reactivate this vacant building presents an opportunity to the private sector to be a part of Flushing’s incredible, ongoing renaissance.”
The two-story, gray brick building that sits on the lot was constructed in 1950 and subsequently used by Sanitation until 2005, when it was damaged by nearby construction, according to the EDC.
Any developer interested in the project would be responsible for demolishing the structurally compromised building before constructing a new one.
In the request for proposals issued Dec. 6, the EDC lists one incentive as the lot’s proximity to Flushing Commons, a proposed mixed-use, $850 million development that would take the place of Municipal Lot 1, which is between 37th and 39th avenues between 138th and Union streets.
“The nearby development of Flushing Commons indicates the growth potential and strength of the Flushing demographics,” the EDC said in the document.
Yet the project that was once scheduled to break ground in 2012 has been put on hold due to lack of funding.
In fact, the city-owned property has not even been turned over to the developer, TDC Development.
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It has become increasingly obvious that the hasty approval during 2010 of TDC Development's plan for Flushing Commons was done so that TDC could later become a bidder for the much larger proposed Willets Point project -- without the stigma of TDC failing to make any progress with Flushing Commons.
That has backfired. Last anyone heard about Flushing Commons, TDC's frontman Mike Meyer was looking to China to try to come up with financing for the project. The approval was virtually meaningless, when TDC has no financial wherewithal to actually implement the project. No approval should have been granted to transfer City property to TDC, unless TDC had demonstrated that it had sufficient financing in place to implement the project.
Now TDC is one of the bidders for Phase One at Willets Point -- but if TDC can't even fund the relatively small Flushing Commons project, how can TDC credibly expect to implement Phase One at Willets Point?
And, lest we forget, TDC was the preeminent financier of Claire Shulman's local development corporation (LDC) at the time of its unregistered/unlawful lobbying -- which resulted in an investigation by the Office of the City Clerk and the then-record financial penalty of $59,090.00 against Shulman's LDC; and another investigation, still ongoing, by the NYS Office of the Attorney General. During testimony to the City Council in 2008, then-Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber could not rule out the possibility that developer firms that were members of Shulman's LDC (such as TDC Development) would be prohibited from bidding on the proposed Willets Point development -- presumably because they participated in the LDC's unregistered/unlawful lobbying scheme. Now, three years later, TDC is a respondent to the RFP for Phase One at Willets Point. Time will tell if TDC's participation in the LDC's lobbying scheme will have repercussions for TDC now.
"The two-story, gray brick building that sits on the lot was constructed in 1950 and subsequently used by Sanitation until 2005, when it was damaged by nearby construction, according to the EDC."
The building has sat there damaged and unused for over six years. Why??
How was it damaged by nearby construction and who was responsible for the damage? Why wasn't the building repaired?
Let's not forget that Councilman Peter Koo and Michael Lee (Flush Com's builder) are buddies.
Where does Lee hang his hat?
Koo resides in Great Neck!
P.S.
Koo's Republican buddy came TWICE to the CB#7 hearings and thought that the Flushing Commons project was a good idea
That's NOT in your district Dan!
EDC wants Floo-shing built to Asiatic standards.
That means over-development...sardine can... cheek to jowl "living" with good (LOL) Feng Shui aspects.
To hell with the other ethnic groups who live there too.
Why?
Because the Orientals contribute MUCHO-MONEY to political campaigns and can buy the kind of mega development that suits them.
Those other ethnic groups aren't heavy donors so they're invisible to EDC.
And CB 7 is always eager to please the Chinese since Wellington Chen was on their board.
CB 7's district manager, Marilyn Bitterman, appears to think that Chen practically walks on water!
And corrupt community Board #7 will deliver it to them.
Could that mean more printing contracts for "follow the buck" Chuck Apelian ?
Get a shoehorn and jam in about 10,000 more China men!
The future of Queens when the local population with long term interests are all displace by transient immigrants.
More development for flushing???? I want to know what they are smoking over at good old EDC, it must be some good shit!
All of that big show at CB#7 and no blow!
(And there goes another big printing contract for "follow the buck" Apelian).
What's Michael Meyers gonna do now?
Oriental overlords not happy with Mike performance...exile him to Bangkok.
LOL!
Maybe that what Mikey like.
Maybe Mikey Nussbaum can show him the ropes in that sex junket city.
Notice the absence of "granny" Shulman at the recent Willets Point groundbreaking.
She don't look so good lately.
Neither does Toby Ann Stavisky.
We wonder what's up?
Did they receive subpoenas in the John Lui case?
Is CB 7 chair Gene Kelty retiring shortly?
"...to be a part of Flushing’s incredible, ongoing renaissance..."
WHAT??????
Flushing, and Queens in general, is in the midst of an ongoing disintegration.
There's not one thing that demonstrates improvement in the area - the parks are filthy and rundown, new construction is shoddy or ugly orange brick Italian palazzos, people are turning former single-family homes in dorms -(check out the open house around the corner from Marino's) - the basement is a row of padlocked doors - used to be owned by a lovely German family.
Let me know where this supposed Renaissance is taking place!
Kelty retires chuck takes over and his real estate broker daughter gets the land use spot, or maybe vallones boy femminia either way it stays in the family
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