Monday, June 22, 2015

Queens women to be honored with a planted ruin

City ignores public, proceeds with plan previously rejected by Helen Marshall

[This summarizes prior events concerning the Civic Virtue statue and the Queens Boulevard plaza site, then presents new information concerning a bidding process that closed on May 18, 2015 for work at the plaza site.]

2015 DDC Planted Fountain Specifications


I am Robert LoScalzo, the media producer/activist who sued the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (“DCAS”) in 2013 to force it to comply with the Freedom of Information Law and turn over records pertaining to the controversial removal of the colossal 22-ton artwork statue “Triumph of Civic Virtue” from the Queens Boulevard public plaza site where it had stood since 1941, to a private Brooklyn graveyard. DCAS had removed the statue without consulting Queens Community Board 9 and against the will of area residents and officials, who did not want the statue removed.

As you may recall, I am also the one who discovered and exposed that City taxpayers paid $49,464.00 for a fine art conservator to provide “all labor, materials and equipment necessary for the conservation of the Civic Virtue sculpture,” plus another $49,801.00 for a fine art handling company to provide “all labor, equipment and material necessary and required to design and fabricate a custom armature [cage] to support and lift the Civic Virtue statue for its relocation to the Green-Wood Cemetery.” Contrary to what the City led the public to believe at the time, it was unnecessary to relocate the Civic Virtue statue to Green-Wood Cemetery in order to repair and restore it – and taxpayers need not have incurred the additional $49,801.00 expense to do so. Queens lost a valuable art asset, although taxpayers footed the bill to restore it.

After the Civic Virtue statue was removed and the public wondered what would happen to the Queens Boulevard plaza site, I am also the one who unearthed the disappointing plan devised by DCAS to convert the statue’s fountain base into a “planted ruin.” According to plans dated April 2, 2013 (PDF attached), "DCAS wishes to keep the original fountain as a planted ruin, a scenic backdrop to a busy and important intersection in the borough. … [T]he fountain, although left as a 'ruin', will be planted with grades and groundcovers and act as a landscape folly to enhance this prominent corner."

2013 DCAS Planted Ruin Plan


DCAS’s “planted ruin” plan was ridiculed on the popular QueensCrap web site, which declared: “Planned ‘Civic Virtue’ replacement a total embarrassment.

DCAS’s “planted ruin” plan was also rejected by Helen Marshall, then Queens Borough President. Marshall’s spokesman Dan Andrews said “renderings that were presented to Marshall ‘were not acceptable to the borough president.’ ‘She would like to see it as a place where people can sit and reflect on the contributions of different women whose names she had wanted engraved there,’ Andrews said. The proposed renderings, Andrews said, did not include the women's memorial. Marshall would also like the fountain to be restored at the site, but the renderings did not include it. They called for flower plantings instead.” DNA Info

Concerned about the lack of any public process to plan the use of the Queens Boulevard plaza site and to consider the potential return of the newly-restored Civic Virtue statue, on April 8, 2014 the Civic Virtue Task Force met with Barry Grodenchik, a top aide to Queens Borough President Melinda Katz (and now candidate for City Council District 23), and Nayelli Valencia Turrent, Katz’s Director of Cultural Affairs and Tourism, to discuss those issues. When Grodenchik asked if the Task Force had a “Plan B” in the event the statue would not be returned, the Task Force replied: “Institute a legitimate public process to plan the future use of the plaza site.” Grodenchik said he would discuss that with Katz and then get back to the Task Force. He never did.

On July 3, 2014 the Civic Virtue Task Force wrote to DCAS Commissioner Stacey Cumberbatch about those same issues, asking (among other questions): “What opportunities are there for community input and planning, regarding the future use of the Plaza site and the potential return of Civic Virtue?” DCAS never answered the question, and never instituted any public planning process for the plaza site.

2015 DDC Planted Fountain Drawings


Which brings us to the news: My most recent Freedom of Information Law request to the Office of the Queens Borough President reveals that the NYC Department of Design and Construction (“DDC”) has already solicited bids for a project called “Planted Fountain Restoration” at the Queens Boulevard plaza site, the centerpiece of which is essentially the 2013 “planted ruin” plan devised by DCAS which Helen Marshall rejected. The deadline for contractors to submit bids for this work was May 18, 2015. As far as I am aware, this has not been reported anywhere.

According to the bid solicitation documents: “The project consists of creating a sitting area around the existing historic fountain. The fountain basin will be stabilized and waterproofed and turned into a planter, and the fountain steps will be reconstructed. Benches, lighting and pavement will be added to create an accessible plaza.”

2015 DDC Planted Fountain Plaque


The bid specifications also require a 9” x 18” bronze plaque displaying the inscription: “THIS FOUNTAIN PLAZA IS DEDICATED TO THE WOMEN OF QUEENS.”

A few observations:

• The bronze plaque refers to “this fountain plaza” – however, there won’t be any actual functioning fountain. What is left of the fountain will be buried under the flowers and plants. It is wrong to call this a “fountain plaza” when the fountain is in fact eliminated under this plan.

• The City is proceeding with this plan, despite not addressing reasons it was rejected by Helen Marshall. She had wanted the fountain to be restored, not planted over; and she had wanted the names of women engraved at the site.

• From the very beginning, the City’s plans to remove the Civic Virtue statue and to determine the future use of the plaza site have been secretly made by powers-that-be who have refused to implement any public planning process or to consider what the community and taxpayers actually want. DCAS Commissioner Stacey Cumberbatch, DDC, Melinda Katz, Barry Grodenchik and Nayelli Valencia Turrent apparently are continuing this imperious policy of dictating the use of the plaza site and abandoning the newly-restored Civic Virtue statue in a private Brooklyn graveyard, contrary to what constituents and taxpayers want.

• The public has never asked for any planted ruin or dedication to women at the plaza site. On the other hand, the public has requested the return of the newly-restored Civic Virtue statue from its temporary loan to Green-Wood Cemetery.

• To be very clear: We could have had the newly-restored Civic Virtue statue returned to Queens Boulevard, standing on top of a newly-restored fountain base, with its waterworks turned on every day and fully operational – think mini “Trevi Fountain” on Queens Boulevard, and you get the idea. Instead, we’ll get a “planted ruin” and a bronze plaque, while the Civic Virtue statue – newly restored at taxpayer expense – remains abandoned in a private Brooklyn graveyard. That is lunacy, and an utter failure of Queens leadership.

Melinda Katz laments the fact that Queens receives the lowest per capita Department of Cultural Affairs support among the boroughs. But by allowing a unique and colossal artwork such as Civic Virtue to be taken from the borough to a graveyard, to be replaced by a mediocre “planted ruin,” Queens only proves the borough’s true status as the laughingstock of this City’s cultural affairs.

The NYC Public Design Commission (PDC) may still have to approve any plan for the plaza site. A cursory review of all PDC agendas at the PDC web site from the year 2012 to the present time did not show any Queens Boulevard plaza site renovation on any PDC meeting agenda.

Questions Raised:

(1) If Helen Marshall rejected the “planted ruin” concept, and DCAS and DDC are now proceeding with essentially that plan, has Melinda Katz approved it? Or are DCAS and DDC doing whatever they want at the plaza site?

(2) Which contractor firm is the winning bidder for the “Planted Fountain” work at the plaza site? What is the total price of the winning bid? Has a contract actually been awarded and executed yet?

(3) Has the Public Design Commission approved the plans for the fountain/plaza? If not, when will it?

(4) Presuming that the PDC must approve any plan for the plaza site but has not yet done so, why would DCAS and DDC solicit bids for a specific plan for the plaza site, without first obtaining PDC’s approval of that plan?

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

If DCAS is involved this is a City Hall issue, not a Borough President issue. This always has been a City Hall issue. Jackie Snyder for the Preservation agency when Bloomberg was mayor spearheaded this. How have you not know this. It is widely known in the city that she (and a female deputy mayor she is close to) hated the statue.

Jerry Rotondi said...

In my life time, I have seen discarded automobile and big rig truck tires planted with Marigolds.
I have even spotted a few commodes (toilets bowls) planted with Geraniums, lovingly placed in a garden by homeowners who have just remodeled their bathrooms.

This insult takes the prize , even for a borough that has a longstanding reputation for mediocrity.
Maybe we can turn borough hall into Queen's premiere table lamp, complete with a ruffled lampshade.

Bravo Cirizen LoScalzo for having the spine that so many other residents lack.
Queens seems to breed jellyfish. It's their ideal habitat.

Anonymous said...

Plant it with Opium. That way borough hall can haven an alternate cash crop instead of sharecropping with developers.
Hey, what about that colossal statue of Queen Catherine that was supposed to go up in LIC?
Scale it down and place a smaller version here. What does that old battle axe Ann Jawin got to say on this matter?

Jon Torodash said...

To the first poster:

Citizens, LoScalzo in particular, sent requests for information to multiple agencies. We publicized loudly and clearly that Jackie Snyder hid behind obedience to the minimal legal requirement of 3 business days, which made it difficult for the public to have enough time to plan to rally against it, and it was also exposed that not only did they not even give this minimal, but have been routinely posting the finalized form of their public notices less than 3 business days prior.

Anonymous said...

I would like to see a neutral non-political monument, perhaps a sculpture of a rose and tulip, the official symbols of our borough.

Borough Hall said...

Torodash and LoScalzo. Shaddup-a u feis! Now do wad we tells ya ta do.

ron s said...

All of the Queens ingredients--moron politicians, secrecy, stupid opinions, crappy post mistake cover-up, money available for individuals twisted projects with no money available for things that matter, Brooklyn looking smart while we look like assholes.
As a serious large scale project, would Queenscrap be interested in being the nucleus of a "vote out all Queens incumbents" movement? It would include all city council, assembly, state senate and borough presidents races.

Anonymous said...

This is the type of reporting our news outlets should do, but won't - because they don't have a fucking spine.

Good job.

Katz should see that 49k come right out of her paycheck... instead of getting half of it in kickback 'campaign contributions' which is probably what happened.

Anonymous said...

More of this Queen Catherine shit again. Of course QHS has an exhibit of the 'women of queens'

Anonymous said...

QHS should mount an exhibit highlighting their ineffectiveness in halting the demolition of many historical buildings.
So should a lot of the other ineffective historical societies that dot our borough. WTF does the Central Queens Historical Association do...if it's still in existence? GAHS? We already know what they have "accomplished" with the Steinway mansion.

Anonymous said...

Plant it with Opium. That way borough hall can haven an alternate cash crop instead of sharecropping with developers.
Hey, what about that colossal statue of Queen Catherine that was supposed to go up in LIC?
Scale it down and place a smaller version here. What does that old battle axe Ann Jawin got to say on this matter?
------

no! no! no! no! no! Queen Catherine is a fiction. The first reference is by some dotty old lady, Mary Powell Bunker, writing a 'history' of L I Genealogies. There is no reference to this from the naming date 1683 to the book's publication in 1890.

Why is Queens so fixated on this myth. Everyone knows its a myth. Staten Island got rid of 'Richmond' and no one in Brooklyn talks about King Charles or which president President Street was named after.

Queens was named by the royal governors as a dig to the decedents of Puritan republicans who lived in the New York area after it was seized by the Dutch. As a matter of fact, the people in Dukes County were so upset they left the colony.

Why do they not accept this? Because the power structure in Queens cannot be seen to respond to any criticism - even the most trivial.

Anonymous said...

GAHS? We already know what they have "accomplished" with the Steinway mansion.

No you don't but you will.

Anonymous said...

As a serious large scale project, would Queenscrap be interested in being the nucleus of a "vote out all Queens incumbents" movement? It would include all city council, assembly, state senate and borough presidents races

ummm....
what do you think has been an undercurrent here - Victorian needle crafts?

Anonymous said...

Points to whoever in DCAS called this a landscape folly, cleverly using both senses of the term.

Anonymous said...

>Queens was named by the royal governors as a dig to the decedents of Puritan republicans who lived in the New York area after it was seized by the Dutch.

Do you have a source for that, Anon?

ron s said...

As a serious large scale project, would Queenscrap be interested in being the nucleus of a "vote out all Queens incumbents" movement? It would include all city council, assembly, state senate and borough presidents races

Anonymous said...ummm....
what do you think has been an undercurrent here - Victorian needle crafts?

1) I understand the opinions here. It IS an undercurrent, not an actual focal point of a movement to act on the undercurrent. Big Difference...
QC has a large following and a media presence. It could organize better than most.
2) You're a moron
3)Be brave, use your name

Anonymous said...

"No you don't but you will". Duh...we've been waiting for ten years and the toothy fairy is late again.
Why does this lone defender of GAHS always talk about upcoming action on their part? Because words are cheaper than action.
The day that GAHS makes an impact on preserving the actual fabric of Astoria, the Messiah will reappear.
LOL! Don't you get tired of making excuses?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the ...YAWN... History lesson RE Queen Catherine.
This is the kind of quirky arcane tidbit of history that makes historical societies so essential in our lives.
Don't you get it, boys and girls, nobody cares much about you historical society's wants and need...lastly any politicians.
So go find some enduring funding sources if you're capable, instead of taking up bowl and begging.
You ALL are supposed to be running like a small business, not a charity nun asking for alms in the subway.

Mitchell said...

I drive by that Fountain everyday when getting on and off the Grand Central Parkway. With the ugly concrete wall missing its once beautiful lamp fixtures the exit is a ruin. The loss of the Statue Civic Virtue is a horrendous crime against he borough. It brought a little bit of pride when I would sit at the traffic light, look over and see the statue and think to myself. "We have a little bit of culture and art here, kinda like the Europeans". Now it has been tragically removed. A planter??? You won't even see that as you saw the Statue which towered above the center wall. I say, along with many Queens residents that we want the Statue back. Another lie we were told leading up to the Statue's removal is that it would cost the people 1 million dollars to restore the Civic Virtue. Of course this was another lie to turn people off and against the artwork. It is also one of the excuses it was left un-restored and in terrible condition. And it cost no where near that in the end. The right thing to do would be to return it to its spot. And let us motorists who enter and exit the Grand Central have out fleeting moment of pleasure when we get home after long commutes by catching a glimpse of the Statue and Fountain. Something we so sorely lack in all of the country.