Katz tried to use Ozone Park as her litter box

From the Queens Tribune:

In the case of altering 84th Street, a proposal struck down by Community Board 9 in March and later abandoned by the DOT, records now show that flipping the direction of the street drew close interest beyond the DOT. Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), now a state Senate candidate who originally did not oppose the plan but eventually came to reject it after neighborhood opposition exploded, was lobbied by Melinda Katz, now a contender for borough president, representing a realty firm that listed, among their clients, a Boston Market and CVS Pharmacy on 84th Street and Atlantic Avenue that could have profited from the street reversal. A street change would have made it possible for traffic from all directions to enter the stores’ parking lot, but it would have also cut down the number of available routes to Woodhaven. CB 9 also struck down a proposed directional change for 89th Avenue in Woodhaven.

The law firm Katz works for, Greenberg Traurig, also donated $500 to Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley’s (D-Middle Village) campaign account in the midst of the 84th Street controversy, less than a month after kicking in $250 to Ulrich. On Dec. 7, 2011, three donations arrived in Ulrich’s account: the aforementioned $250 from Greenberg Traurig, $250 from John Ritter and $250 from Lawrence Smith. Smith and Ritter are the executive vice presidents of Sholom and Zuckerbrot Realty, a realty firm that counts, among its clients, CVS and Boston Market. CB 9 was supposed to vote on the change Dec. 13, 2011, six days after the donations were given. Katz and Sholom and Zuckerbrot did not respond to requests for comment.

According to [Ed] Wendell and several other sources, Wendell, Katz, Ulrich and Woodhaven BID Executive Director Maria Thomson met in Feb. 2011 to discuss the possibility of changing the direction of 84th Street. Ulrich maintained that residents of Ozone Park wanted the street, once a two-way, to run south-bound. According to Ulrich, the Ozone Park-based Our Neighbors Civic Association requested the change.