skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The Crap-O-Sphere ("Crappy")
Artwork by Jerry Rotondi
The official mascot of Queens Crap
The Crap-O-Sphere ("Crappy")
"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write." - John Adams, 1765
Spotted a piece of Queens Crap in your community?
Write to us at QueensCrapper@gmail.com
Please note
Italicized passages and many of the photos come from other websites. The links to these websites are provided within the posts.
Why your neighborhood is full of Queens Crap
"The difference between dishonest and honest graft: for dishonest graft one worked solely for one's own interests, while for honest graft one pursued the interests of one's party, one's state, and one's personal interests all together." - George Washington Plunkitt
Willets Point United Against Eminent Domain Abuse
Artwork by Jerry Rotondi
Become a fan of Queens Crap on Facebook.
Sites that kick ass:
The above organizations are recognized by Queens Crap as being beneficial to the city as a whole, by fighting to preserve the history and character of our neighborhoods. They are not connected to this website and the opinions presented here do not necessarily represent the positions of these organizations.
The comments left by posters to this site do not necessarily represent the views of the blogger or webmaster.
Street or satellite shots used here are from Google Maps or Windows Live Local.
The comments left by posters to this site do not necessarily represent the views of the blogger or webmaster.
Street or satellite shots used here are from Google Maps or Windows Live Local.
Blog Archive
-
▼
2015
(1528)
-
▼
June
(134)
- Shulman back to her old tricks again
- Big Bad Bill doesn't impress anyone in Albany
- Elmhurst perv alert
- Flag vandalism suspected in Rockaway
- Baby seal causes a stir in Bayside
- de Blasio: Tweeding is just fine
- Transit infrastructure can't keep up with population
- Bird strikes up despite goose slaughter
- Richards to take over zoning committee
- City disapproves of FEMA's flood maps
- Speaker gives lulu to council member accused of se...
- Fraudulent contractor busted
- Big Bush Park getting big upgrade
- Albany allows 421-A changes
- Illegal park party bust
- Blissville ready for its first park
- You'll just have to hold it
- Borough hall garage is a-comin' down
- What a victory!
- And the tweeding continues...
- Willets Point business owners got nothing but brok...
- Excavation continues at the Steinway Mansion
- CB7 gives ok to tow pound
- Astoria or LIC may get a pool in the East River
- Tons of NYCHA apartments sit empty
- College Point being overdeveloped into oblivion
- City wants to further upzone LIC
- City to try to move people out of illegal "3/4 homes"
- Illegal gas hookup found at Astoria complex
- Subway crime is on the rise
- Pols promote app that violates zoning regulations
- Squeaky wheel in Brooklyn gets DOB attention
- New law makes it easier to feed meters
- More police in new budget
- Queens women to be honored with a planted ruin
- Huge development in the works for downtown Jamaica
- Future Darwin Award Winner
- DOT hogging up municipal parking spaces
- Piledriver perched perilously close to Steinway Ma...
- Realtor pushing for hotel by Newtown Creek
- MTA encourages illegal parking
- Taking matters into their own hands
- People fed up with junk-filled property
- Astoria landlord accused of tenant harassment
- Bad zoning - is it a racial thing?
- NYPD cracks down on Jamaica trucks
- LPC has new procedure for reducing calendar backlog
- HPD rep lies to Woodhaven group
- Glendale birds fall victim to carelessness
- Lots of parks, but not enough PEP officers
- City pays $3600 to house 3 people in one room
- Bayside residents unhappy with high school proposal
- Contractor damaged property adjacent to Steinway M...
- Weprin delays departure, affects election procedure
- Slumlord busted for tenant harassment
- 100-year old felled tree may return to Astoria
- Contract for juvie home rejected by comptroller
- Sunnyside wants small business saved
- Roosevelt Island-Cornell tech campus megaproject k...
- Knockdown Center gets limited liquor license
- Vibrant and diverse terrorist sympathizer
- Truckin' along in Jamaica
- Proposal to gate entrances to FMCP at night
- Almost 300 units coming to LIC paint building
- Ridgewood Playground needs some work
- Worker didn't have to die
- Council Members in favor of term limits - for comm...
- Dirty sidewalk violations can't be fought
- 1000 new cops won't decrease response times
- Fake Buddhist monks live in Flushing
- Bad traffic situation in Sunnyside
- Authorities seek Queens bank robber
- First responders helped 3 animals yesterday
- Sewer project will shave off guy's living room
- Don't eat the shellfish!
- Sinkhole suddenly appears in Bayside
- Astoria playground potties need an overhaul
- Free tampons are a priority for Ferreras
- Bogus parking permits at housing projects
- Coney Island's wooden boardwalk is now in Italy
- Lancman wants clarification of safety law
- Most Council Democrats support admitted terrorist
- Dumbasses are shooting paintballs at people in Whi...
- City halts fire escape removal
- Bill threatens to take away business licenses of s...
- Banks everywhere but no small businesses
- Halloran releases manifesto before reporting to pr...
- DOT & DEP point fingers at each other as pothole r...
- City Council plans to go after AirBnB
- Not all of Alley Pond Park is treated equally
- Monserrate having trouble paying restitution
- Katz perfects the art of shameless self-promotion
- DOE doesn't want Parkway Hospital for a school
- Mayor's budget is no good, but the council will pa...
- Fear over rent hike in Kew Gardens Hills
- DBlasio still plans to develop NYCHA property
- FDNY disagrees with DOB's fire escape removal permit
- "Summer All Out" campaign will target high crime a...
- Majestic High Bridge reopens to the public
- Report details major rent squeeze
-
▼
June
(134)
Send submissions to:
queenscrapper@gmail.com
Include address of property and any other information you have about it.
All contributors will remain anonymous.
Include address of property and any other information you have about it.
All contributors will remain anonymous.
38 comments:
In the first acknowledgement of the Steinway Mansion "Warehouse" Project (which has been ignored by elected officials, UCCA (surprise on that one - but then it not Westway), the press, and just about anyone that is important in the community (read Astoria Civic), the first Astoria website breaks the stony silence around this worthy project by recognizing Community Board One's own Jerry Caliendo and his contributions to the cultural and educational community he serves in Astoria, Queens.
"The architect for [the Steinway Mansion "Warehouse" Project] is the firm of Gerald Caliendo. Mr. Caliendo does not live in the area but has graciously served on the Community Board since 1977. Since service, by law, cannot directly financially benefit financially board members, we would like to applaud Mr. Caliendo for his continued altruism and public service with regards to destruction of the Steinway Mansion site."
http://cb1queens.org/accomp.html
I guess he worked on the project pro bono? Can someone on the community board please check this for us?
Meanwhile, we await Rufus King's comments, too.
Folks, do indeed click onto that Greater Astoria Historical Society link and SEE FOR YOURSELF the historical legacy of the Steinway Mansion - basement to tower - which is endangered by the LUNACY of this construction:
The Most Beautiful House in Queens
Would someone please send these photographs to Landmarks. Is there a shoring plan for that excavation in front of the mansion?
You mean to tell us that the architect of these ugly warehouses, Gerald Caliendo, does NOT live in Community Board 1 in which the Steinway Mansion is located? And he's a member of this very CB?
Yup, he lives on 196th Street near 75th Avenue in a bucolic area of Fresh meadows. (We even have the exact house number - public info.)
So GAHS takes us on a tour. Have we seen them publicly spearhead a movement to save Steinway? We haven't noticed any outspoken criticism. Maybe they do not want to provoke a suspension of funding from the Dept of. Queens Cultural Affairs . Hmmm...we are all guilty of silence it seems.
Queens is a soft spoken unimportant borough in the eyes of the rest of NYC. If it loses another landmark there will not even be a whimper .
That fence shown in George's photo at the top of this Crap post is NOT legally constructed - West side of 42nd Street between Berrian Blvd. and 19th Avenue, mid-block. There is no Department of Transportation permit on file. Call the cops.
Mary Anne Mrozinski, Executive Director of the King Manor, and Richard Werber, Vice-Chairman of the King Manor Board of Directors. Are you STILL hiding under the sofa? All of Queens wants to hear what you have to say about this disgraceful Steinway situation. It's been a week since we called out to you. You must be getting hungry and thirsty hiding under the sofa. Is Gerald Caliendo, your Board President, hiding there too?
So GAHS takes us on a tour. Have we seen them publicly spearhead a movement to save Steinway.
Bottom of their letter head: Friends of Steinway Mansion is a program of the Greater Astoria Historical Society.
Go to their website. What has been sitting on the front page for the last four years?
Still no word from Michael Gianaris or Costa Constantiades (or Katz). I hope the next time they see Judge Vallone they thank him for the mess he left them.
For those of you who came in late: Mike Halberian lives - his personal tour of the Steinway Mansion
What shame this brings to Astoria, Queens, New York City and Steinway & Sons.
All great brands tarnished. Time to get moving!
Would someone please send these photographs to Landmarks. Is there a shoring plan for that excavation in front of the mansion?
got em! everybody has em! mansion interior, too.
http://astoriahistory.smugmug.com/Steinway-Mansion/n-ML9CBW/
We are losing this and the arts district for a dozen warehouses? Are they nuts?
Hey out there! Know someone that plays or owns a Steinway Piano? Just likes music?
Send this to them. Send them the interior shots - Facebook.
Call Steinway Hall (in Manhattan). Ask them to do something.
Oh yes, send a copy to 'ol Crappy.
Think about it. Everyone involved in this construction situation - the contractors, the owners, the architect - hope to make a pretty penny from this activity. In other words, they will enrich themselves WHILE they commandeer (i.e. steal) the public sidewalk by illegally erecting a fence. Now, does, the public get a "cut" of the profits from this theft?
TRUCKS will be going in and out of this warehouse area INCHES away from the Mansion. You take it from there.
Reminder: Town Hall on Astoria Ferry Dock Tomorrow
All are welcome to tomorrow's Town Hall on the new soon-to-be-built ferry dock with the NYC Economic Development Corporation. The EDC will give a presentation about the proposed ferry dock and there will be opportunities for community input with an audience Q&A.
Tomorrow, June 4
7:00pm
First Reformed Church of Astoria
27-26 12th Street
Heard that people are calling borough hall and the Astoria politicians and getting stonewalled.
Imagine, someone in politics not talking when asked to!
Just keep calling folks - and feel free to express your opinions.
The Community Board One Queens Parody website has more juicy stuff on Caliendo
http://cb1queens.org/accomp.html
The Steinway Mansion remains one of top concerns. Since a 1988 excavation by the New York Institute of Anthropology found proof of prehistoric American Indian occupation (circa 1600BC) on the site, we have been acutely aware potential development issues that could arise from this property actually being "important archaeological site." In late May, 2015, bulldozers and dumpters removed much of the hill to obliterate, at least we would hope, any traces of Indian civilization in pre-European Astoria.
The architect for current plan is the firm of Gerald Caliendo. Mr. Caliendo does not live in the area but has graciously served on the Community Board since 1977. SINCE SERVICE, BY LAW, CANNOT DIRECTLY FINANCIALLY BENEFIT BOARD MEMBERS, we would like to applaud Mr. Caliendo for his continued altruism and public service with regards to his financial benefit in the planning and destruction of the Steinway Mansion site. Because Mr. Caliendo is of the highest character, WE WOULD LIKE TO DISPEL ANY RUMORS THAT HIS POLITICAL DONATIONS, OVER $13,000 (the largest of any board member), HAVE ANY INFLUENCE on his or our service, actions, and inaction.
Of course this never could have happened without the refusal of Queens Community Board 1 to even consider supporting a plan for the Steinway Arts Center, a major tourist destination, education, and arts district anchored by Astoria's most famous mansion and the Steinway Piano Factory.
Yes it is about time you took your own future and the future of the Steinway Mansion into your own hands good people of Astoria!
Friends are you getting the word out? Are you making sure it really leaves the confines of facebook and is a true concern of yours? Think of the mansion, just the mansion for now, as a municipal asset as valuable as one of the many you depend on everyday.
What would you do if the politicians and developers decided to suspend garbage pick-up and sanitation services?
How irate would you be if the city decided that water will only be made available on alternating days? (No offense California, your situation is very different.)
Posting, chit chatting, and music festivals are a great start but if this is all you do, the public, you are not even preaching to the choir. You are just talking to yourself in a mirror.
There is a blackout because that's what they are suppose to do. However their silence is your chance to speak!
pleasee vallone does not become a judge he screwed up astoria big time his father did a terrible job and his brother in whitestone is useless -- why doesn't anybody go to the landmark commission and also to the TV stations that would get the ball rolling -- these counsel men/women are useless for sure -- someone has to step up to the plate -- and that includes all counsel people in queens regarding this matter --
What about the people. Are we so degraded and cowered that we cannot stand up for ourselves? Karl McNamara was right. They would never get away with this in the other boroughs. If our elected officials desert us while the ship is going down then we must take charge ourselves.
Desecrating graves so a couple of developers have their way shows the complete collapse of morals in the borough.
I am ashamed for everyone in Queens. Its time we stand up for ourselves if there is any self respect left here.
Check out what those warehouses will look like here.
They should hire the guys that orchestrated the Clock Tower - just moved into town did in a matter of months an entire borough could not get together over a couple of decades.
I think FoSM are making vigorous efforts to get this into the media, judging from everything else they do. What you see made public is the result. If they are hiding this much being played out in plain sight, what else are they hiding we don't know about.
Why are we surprised about all this? This has been going on a long time. Today we have the internet so its all out in the open.
But "Friends of The Steinway Mansion" is not an integral movement of GAHS.
They might permit it to appear on their letterhead but , aside from lectures and tours, GAHS seems to have accomplished little in preserving their domain. They're just like QHS, Bayside Historical, Central Queens Historical Assn. Etc. ALL SHOW and NO BLOW!
Too late now girls and boys. The deed is being done. No amount of emotional photos or outrage can stop this.
You were betrayed by local pol's and borough hall. Where was the local historical society five or eight years ago? Did they help the owner find a sensitive buyer for his mansion? Did they voice any outrage when the time was riight, long in advance to muster the troops?
We think not! Poor souls, were bound by the code of silence that emasculates all historical organizations. Do not make any waves, lest you lose funding. Wah, wah, wah! That's all that's left to do now.
This is an industrial zone. Warehouses are what you get and ugly ones at that!
At least the mansion still stands. St. Saviour's church in Masoeth was totally destroyed. It was not landmarked. It's remains sit in a container waiting to be rebuilt someday. I hope the local termites are well fed so as not to nibble away at the wooden remains of the disassembled church. Am I bitter? You betcha!
Those guys that just moved into town had power and money. People listen to hipsters. They do not pay attention to dumb insular Ass-torian yokels. That's why the clock tower will keep ticking.
They should hire the guys that orchestrated the Clock Tower - just moved into town did in a matter of months an entire borough could not get together over a couple of decades (for the mansion).
I agree. Exhibit A of how we are different (not in good ways) from the rest of the city. This should be a wake-up call for the borough. Its shameful!
The "Gang of Seven": Keep smiling while you click.
Poor souls, were bound by the code of silence that emasculates all historical organizations. Do not make any waves, lest you lose funding. Wah, wah, wah! That's all that's left to do now.
---
What? new to this thread?
There are photos of that historical society involved here going back decades. Its pretty tough when the local politicians don't give you the time of day to get anything done.
The community board, civics, meet-up groups, parent groups, newspapers, there are tons of people that could get involved.
And when the do, its the same thing over and over again. Just look at this board. How many times to we have to hear about schools, noise, traffic, etc to realize even if we say something, nothing gets done.
There is your problem in Queens. People feel trapped.
There is every reason to believe those guys will get stopped. Manhattan is different than Queens. Steinway owners and artists are beginning to hear about this as the stain slowly seeps from Queens. When that happens, and it already is, its a whole new ball grame.
Photos but no overt outrage or long term planning, "Missing Foundation".
Maybe you're missing a few bolts yourself. As for GAHS, let them defend themselves.
How well does the board sleep at night, knowing they should have done more.
RU kidding? The Steinway factory almost closed. That benefactor who donated one hundred million dollars to the Central Park Conservancy kept the factory in Queens. How come nobody tried reaching him? He was raised in Queens.
Queens Historical Society met with owner Mike Halberian back in the 90s.
He wanted them to buy the mansion. I believe the price was between 3 or 4 million dollars.
No way did they have that kind of loot.
I know. I was there at that meeting in Mike's kitchen while I was still serving on QHS' board.
What a loss. What a shame...another of many such shames racked up for Queens by an uncaring borough government.
Yes, where is Peter Vallone junior, the so called valiant protector of his district?
Of course, you all do know that the Vallone law firm lobbies for developers.
Could that be the answer?
How well does the board sleep at night, knowing they should have done more.
They could have got it if their own politicians did not stab them in the back after signing on. Its tough if everything you say in confidence to someone who has taken an oath of office to serve a community passes your playbook to the to the developers.
Post a Comment