No one is removing dumped car

"please post the below with all attached pictures maybe someone high up will actually do something....

green honda minivan opposite the paul klapper elementary school near 144-42 gravett road. Dumped here 3 months ago. Owes $510 in outstanding parking tikets. Gets ticketed daily for expired inspections and 1x a week for street cleaning. Multiple 311 calls 6/4/2017# 1-1-1424383051, 6/25/2017 1-1-144250739671, 6/26/25017 #1-1-1425440791, 6/26/2017 #1-1425538231, 6/27/20171-1426033741. Officers from the 107 just ticket it for expired inspection piling up tickets. Great Job -Not!!. If you can issue a ticket it may be towed immediately. I guess they found a cash cow for tickets. We are back to the 70's and 80's of dumping cars. This is across from an elementary school." - anonymous

Goodbye, yellow brick road...er, Yellowstone Key Food

From Forest Hills Post:

A large real estate development company filed demolition permits last week to bulldoze Key Food, located on the corner of Queens Boulevard and Yellowstone Blvd.

The owner listed as David Schwartz of Slate Property Group plans to demolish the one-story building, which has multiple addresses such as 105-02 Queens Boulevard, 105-25 Gerard Place and 69-65 Yellowstone Boulevard.

Schwartz filed his demolition permit on June 23. The filing did not list what might replace the building.

Schwartz had no immediate comment.

However, hours later, the Real Deal reported that Schwartz had notified the publication that he planned to build an 11-story, 170-unit rental building.

NYPD, Homeland Security won't let residents watch fireworks from their own buildings

From NBC:

Residents of one apartment building in Queens say they are being barred from everything and say they are fed up. Michael George reports.

Hassan chopped!

From DNA Info:

The city has suspended the contractor and superintendent in charge of a work site where a construction collapse last week trapped and seriously injured three workers, officials announced Wednesday.

Ideal Builders and Construction and its superintendent Fazal Hassan were suspended following the June 20 incident at 31-25 28th Road, where the Department of Buildings accused the company of "cutting corners" while building a third-story addition on an existing home.

Officials say Hassan allowed crews to "improperly" load cinder blocks and other heavy equipment onto the newly built third floor, which wasn't stable enough to support the weight.

The floor collapsed, sending the materials crashing through the building's second and first floors, trapping and critically injuring three construction workers, including one man who was pinned under the debris for nearly two hours.

Officials say Hassan — the construction superintendent at the site, as well as at 10 other projects in the city — should have first had an engineer assess the third floor to make sure it was structurally sound.

The DOB is in the process of shutting down work at more than 60 construction sites that Hassan is associated with, according to a spokesman.

"Vandals" disrupt cable service for 60,000 households

From NBC:

About 60,000 Spectrum customers in Queens were without cable or internet on Monday after vandals cut a fiber optic cable serving four major hubs, according to the cable company and the borough's president.

Spectrum was working to restore cable, internet and phone services to thousands of customers more than 15 hours after vandals cut the fiber optic cable, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz said. It had been restored by late in the evening, the cable company said early Tuesday.

Police have not released information about their investigation into the destruction of the fiber optic cable.

The outage began around 2 a.m. Monday and spread across central Queens. No other borough appeared to be affected. By around 11 p.m. Monday, it still wasn't fully restored.

Glendale trainyard repairs moved

From the Times Ledger:

Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) and other Queens officials announced last week that the New York and Atlantic Railway will reduce noise in Glendale by moving its train repair facility to East New York, providing needed relief to residents in the area.

The freight line will relocate its “Track 11” repair track – which runs alongside Otto Road from 67th Place to 69th Place – to a non-residential area in East New York. The track is located in the railway’s Fresh Pond Rail Yard and is currently used to fix rail cars. Repairs usually consist of hammering, drilling, welding, and includes everything from changing wheels and brake shoes, fixing mechanical problems, and repainting identifying letters and numbers.

NYA plans to complete its repair track move by the end of June. The new location will be in an area that abuts the L train in the NYA’s East New York Tunnel and the existing NYA rail yard.

The train company, which is based in Glendale, operates on Long Island Rail Road tracks and carries lumber, paper, plastics and food, among other types of freight.

Meng said the relocation is good news for Glendale residents, who have been plagued by noise caused by rail car repairs.

Dutch Kills wants firehouse reopened

From LIC Post:

Dutch Kills residents are fighting to get their FDNY Engine Company back.

Residents are calling for its return after it closed 14 years ago, saying it is needed since the population continues to grow.

They held a rally Friday along with elected leaders, firefighters and union officials demanding the City reopen Engine 261 located at 37-20 29th Street.

Budget cuts under Mayor Michael Bloomberg forced the engine company, responsible for putting water on flames, to move out in 2003. Ladder Company 116, which handles rescues, remains.

The firehouse is located within blocks of Ravenswood Houses, Kaufman Astoria Studios, the Museum of the Moving Image and several schools.

Since Engine Company 261 closed, more than 12,000 new housing units have been built in Long Island City, with another 20,000-plus in the works, according to data from the Long Island City Partnership.

LPC unexpectedly calenders Old St. James Church

Looks like the vote was unanimous. What took you guys so long?

Sign of a bad neighbor

"Can you tell me how or who can help with a builder who built his own illegal street parking? Calls to 311 and DOT have done nothing (shocking!). Sanford Ave between 160 and 161 Flushing - pictured is a STREET sign they put up!! Parking is bad enough without these idiots!" - anonymous

Should cabaret law stay or go?

From Crains:

The legislation was enacted in 1926, during the Harlem Renaissance, to prevent white and black people from dancing together. "There has been altogether too much running 'wild' in some of these night clubs," a City Council committee harrumphed at the time.

Over the years the law has been used to close clubs and bars deemed objectionable, especially during Mayor Rudy Giuliani's tenure in the 1990s. Today opponents say it is used to crack down on do-it-yourself clubs, and Muchmore said city officials sometimes deny club owners the liquor licenses they need to sustain a business if unauthorized dancing is uncovered.

Only about 100 businesses have a cabaret license in a city with about 25,000 restaurants and bars, according to city records. That suggests there's plenty of illegal dancing going on every night, but the de Blasio administration hasn't fined any clubs for violating the cabaret law for at least a year and a half.

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to have the cabaret law abolished at least twice. A big reason it endures is that community boards worry that a repeal will mean more clubs playing loud music late at night with crowds spilling onto the streets. Such quality-of-life issues have caused City Council attorneys to drag their feet in drafting a bill, according to Espinal, who said he has been unable to introduce legislation abolishing the law. "There is major concern in regard to safety," he said.

Partial collapse of building near Queens Plaza

From DNA Info:

The partial collapse of an apartment tower construction site near Queensboro Plaza injured six workers Monday, authorities said.

The workers suffered minor to moderate injuries in the incident, which took place at 42-20 27th St. around 11 a.m. when crews were pouring concrete into a 20-by-20 foot form that collapsed onto the seventh floor below, according to the FDNY and Department of Buildings.

The six hurt workers were taken to local hospitals for ailments that included back, leg and arm injuries, FDNY officials said. All were in stable condition.

The DOB halted all construction and issued a violation for failure to safeguard the site, according to a spokesman.

Non-working hydrants hindered Glendale firefighting efforts

Maybe we should be paying more attention to the condition of our critical infrastructure instead of shiny new trolleys and such.

Just sayin'

Law mandates C of O be provided to tenants

From Bklyner:

Soon, there may be a law that would alert tenants if they’re about to rent an illegally converted apartment — before they sign the lease.

Yesterday, the NY State Assembly passed a bill authored by southern Brooklyn Assemblymember Pamela Harris, that would require landlords to provide tenants with valid certificates of occupancy. (The state legislative session ended last night).

“By providing valid certificates of occupancy, tenants can rest assured before signing a lease or rental agreement that the housing is safe and up-to-code,” read a statement from Harris’ office.

After many town halls and public meetings packed with angry Brooklynites, City Council unanimously passed a bill last month to enforce fines of landlords who illegally converted their buildings. The bill, Int 1218, requires building owners to pay a $15,000 violation per three or more units above legally allowed amount. If unpaid, the fine would be subject to a lien sale on the property.

Harris’ proposed bill, on the other hand, requires owners to show a valid certificate of occupancy to tenants, before tenants sign the lease.

The proposed bill will now be delivered to Governor Cuomo, where he would have the option to sign or veto. You can track the status here.

Constituent makes plea to Jimmy Van Bramer

"I just wrote this to Councilman Van Bramer and will be sharing the information with my neighbors. Just thought you might want to know how it feels to live in Long Island City for these last 7 years:

Councilman Van Bramer,

Here in Long Island City, we've come to learn that change is inevitable. The residents here have become used to construction, construction noise, construction vehicles blocking streets and traffic -- and we've also become used to our complaints being ignored by 311 or our local politicians and community boards.

On any given day in Long Island City there are probably 5 construction or demolition sites in any 5 block radius. It's happening. But now, not even weekends are immune to the disruption and noise...starting as early as 7am in the morning on a Sunday with and without official permits.

Complaints to 311 are ineffective. However, according to 311, "after-hours noise" is "Monday to Friday before 7:00 AM or after 6:00 PM, or anytime on Saturday or Sunday without special authorization."

Sure, we can blame the developers and the inconsiderate and shady construction and demolition companies (who are most certainly non-union). But whoever is making the rules granting "special authorization" for weekend work is a blight on this neighborhood. Who are the enforcers of the rules? Because they are certainly absent on the weekends.

Can you help? The quality of life of the residents of Long Island City is being held hostage by these companies. And there is no end in sight." - Eileen

NYPD call boxes now in Forest Park

From DNA Info:

Joggers and cyclists frequenting Forest Park can now call for emergency help with the press of a button, thanks to several solar-powered call boxes recently installed throughout the green space.

The NYPD has already placed eight such boxes in the park, with nine more slated to be installed there by June 29, the department said.

The 500-acre green space is popular among local families and sports aficionados, but it has seen its share of violence in recent years, including a string of sexual assaults, several robberies, numerous car break-ins and a murder.

Following the series of sexual attacks, the 102nd Precinct assigned permanent patrols to monitor the park, and last summer, 14 cameras were placed in seven locations around the park, after Assemblyman Mike Miller and State Sen. Joseph Addabbo allocated $250,000 for that purpose in 2013.

Councilman Eric Ulrich, whose constituents frequent the green space, allocated $140,000 for the call boxes, hoping that they "will help to keep Forest Park visitors safe,” he said.

Assemblyman Miller also footed a portion of the bill, according to Ulrich's office.

The locations of the new call boxes, which include Metropolitan Avenue and Forest Park Drive as well as Woodhaven Boulevard and Forest Park Drive, were determined by the NYPD, officials said.

Parking on the front lawn

This parking on lawns is destroying our neighborhoods. Look at this clown on 127th st and the corner of 11th Ave in College Point. Looks wonderful right?

If parking on the lawn can’t get him in trouble? It’s a TLC car. I don’t think this is what the TLC had in mind when they said they had to have off-street parking.

Before him the same house had this:

- anonymous

Warning about Queens airbag thefts

From NBC:

Thieves are targeting mostly Hondas and Nissans on the streets. Lori Bordonaro reports.

Illegal conversion vacated in Brooklyn

From Brooklyn Reporter:

A number of people have been displaced after city officials issued an immediate vacate order on an illegally converted home in Dyker Heights on Thursday evening, June 22.

The property – 1317 73rd Street – was one of four sites initially reported by local residents that were visited Thursday evening by the city’s illegal conversions task force which, sources say, were able to gain access to the building and deem its living conditions an “immediately hazardous situation.”

According to a source who was at the scene, the property’s basement “was all chopped up [to create living quarters for its residents] with the exit from the basement in the front of the house sealed off.” In addition, the source said, the property’s driveway was lined with buckets, presumably being used by residents to relieve themselves as the basement had only two bathrooms.

Upon arrival, a spokesperson for the Department of Buildings (DOB) told this paper, inspectors observed an illegally constructed apartment in the cellar of the property with its own unpermitted gas and plumbing lines. The agency issued a vacate order “due to a lack of two means of egress, the illegal gas lines and insufficient ventilation in the apartment.”

According to DOB officials, five people were determined to be living in the basement unit of the building, all of whom were offered relocation assistance by the American Red Cross. The apartments on the first or second floor of the building did not need vacating.

Not a basement - an obvious cellar. When is the illegal conversions task force coming to Queens?

Replacing Rikers

From Crains:

The most feasible location to boost flights is LaGuardia Airport, by building a new runway on Rikers Island in place of the jail complex that the city hopes to close within 10 years. The plan, a recommendation of the Rikers Commission, would involve laying another strip of tarmac on the reclaimed isle and connecting it to a new terminal next to the existing airport. Because Rikers is more than 400 acres, other infrastructure uses often loathed by residential neighborhoods could be sited there with 
little fuss. A waste treatment, composting or waste-to-energy plant could help the city make serious strides toward its environmental goals, Torres Springer said, and a solar energy farm could produce and store hundreds of megawatts of power.

From DNA Info:

A plan to close Rikers Island unveiled Thursday won't happen without the support of local city council members willing to clear the way for local jails in their districts, the mayor said on WNYC's Brian Lehrer's show.

The 85-year-old jail has been plagued by concerns for inmate mistreatment and deaths, security issues and mismanagement, won't close without new satellite jails, Mayor Bill de Blasio, said Thursday morning.

While de Blasio's ten-year-plan included a combination of criminal justice reforms to drive down the city's inmate population by making it easier to pay bail, investing more in mental health programs and decreasing crime rates, details of the satellite jails are conspicuously absent.

The mayor put the onus squarely on neighborhood NIMBYs.

"We're going keep driving [the inmate population] down with every tool we have, but we can't get off Rikers, unless there are specific places where the local leadership accept a jail facility," he said. "It just cannot happen without a vote of the City Council."

In March of 2016, DNAinfo exclusively reported that the city was quietly eyeing several sites for new satellite jails including locations in Hunts Point in the Bronx, in College Point in Queens, at 287 Maspeth Ave. on a vacant lot owned by National Grid in East Williamsburg, at 803 Forbell St. in East New York and at two sites on Staten Island.

Water's Edge mystery

From LIC Talk:

In February of 2016 the City decided to develop the land in and around the former Water’s Edge Restaurant on 44th Drive by the East River. Given the prospective zoning variance the city was offering, a pair of 60-story towers were possible on this choice piece of property, so the proposed project is massive. RFP’s from developers were due that May and were required to include a new school, some affordable housing, and a few other stipulations most notably a set aside for light manufacturing.

After submission the proposals would be reviewed by the NYCEDC (Economic Development Corp) and I was under the belief that shortly after the New Year they would pick 2-3 of those they deem viable for a bake-off, during which time there would be some community review and recommendations and then a winner would be chosen. Now I’m hearing grumblings that the city is going to bypass the middle step and just render a final decision.

Which is really a shame because in addition to ignoring those who are in the best position to determine local needs, it will also completely cut-off the possibility of what could be a fully integrated grand master plan for the entire northern riverfront section of Long Island City. The most obvious piece of this puzzle, the large lot just north of the Water’s Edge, is already ‘in-play,’ and the group controlling it has submitted a proposal incorporating this piece of land. This group had previously been shopping a plan just for their property that would have included a pedestrian bridge to the Cornell Technion campus on Roosevelt Island.

I don’t know anything about the rest of their plan, but that bridge alone might be worth its weight in gold to Long Island City. As an interested resident I would very much want to see how their plan stacks up to whatever other proposals the NYCEDC chooses.

Joe Crowley has a Dem challenger

From the Village Voice:

Before Crowley can get on with his ladder climbing, he needs to do something somewhat unfamiliar: run a campaign. For the first time since at least 2004, he will be forced to compete in a primary in the overwhelmingly Democratic district spanning northern Queens and a chunk of the eastern Bronx. Since Republican victories are all but impossible, the primary is where the action is — and where Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 27-year-old former organizer for the Bernie Sanders campaign, hopes to pull off her historic upset.

“What Joe Crowley represents is the floodgate between Wall Street and the United States government. He’s the clearing house, he takes millions and millions of dollars in funding from them,” Ocasio-Cortez told the Voice. “We see how he’s come to power locally — it’s totally undemocratic, machine-run, dynastic. He’s trying to spread this same model on the federal level.”

Ocasio-Cortez, attacking Crowley from the left, is just one of about a dozen candidates running on the slate of Brand New Congress, a political action committee founded by former Sanders staffers to elect more progressive members of Congress. She is the only member of Brand New Congress running from New York. A resident of the Bronx neighborhood of Parkchester, Ocasio-Cortez organized Sanders’s campaign in the South Bronx — Hillary Clinton, heavily favored in New York City, won the Bronx handily — and started thinking seriously about running for Congress after Donald Trump’s election. She learned quickly that people usually didn’t even contemplate running against Crowley, let alone start an actual campaign.

“A lot of progressive groups are coming out of the woodwork. They’ve been trying to find a challenger to Crowley for years,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It’s literally political suicide for anyone with a semblance of a political career.”

Injured construction workers face multiple surgeries

From NBC:

Three construction workers are expected to survive after a building collapsed on top of them in Astoria, Queens. Marc Santia reports.

OSHA is investigating.

Unintentionally funny typo may reveal the future

A progressive hotel? Uh oh! We know what that means.

Bulk trash piling up

From Brooklyn Daily:

The Department of Sanitation must switch over to an appointment system to pick up large junk piling up on Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights streets, say angry locals.

New garbage trucks rolled out into the area last fall as part of the city’s organics program, but the waste haulers’ separate compactors for recyclables and garbage mean less room for bulky items — which are accumulating on curbs. And the city’s lack of response is turning the area into a garbage obstacle course.

From October 2016 to mid-June, 311 has logged more than 760 missed pick up complaints for “bulk” trash — anything bigger than four feet by three feet — on top of nearly 200 calls to Community Board 10’s office from residents grousing about garbage.

But the city could nip the situation in the bud if it implemented an appointment system where residents could request curbside bulk pickup, similar to the department’s electronic waste pilot program, which at the moment is only available in Staten Island.

And the problem is actually worse than city data lets on, because 311 will not accept calls about missed bulk collection until the following Sunday before a given block’s last garbage collection day of the week. This reporter was told by a 311 operator that she could not log a complaint about a sofa — that had already been on the curb for nearly two weeks — on Thursday because policy is to wait until at least 8 am on Sunday.

Horrific construction accident in Astoria

From NBC:

A crane dropped a materials load into a renovation site in Queens on Tuesday afternoon, injuring three construction workers, including two critically, fire officials said.

Dozens of firefighters descended on a two-story brownstone on 28th Road, between 31st and 33rd streets, in Astoria just before 4 p.m.

"It was just a big explosion," said Astoria resident Marianna O'Neill. "It was loud and it was long."

A 37-year-old construction worker who managed to get out of the building on his own was transported to a hospital with serious injuries.

A 40-year-old construction worker was seen being pulled from the building on a stretcher shortly after 4 p.m. He or she appeared to be conscious but had critical injuries, officials said.

Around 5:30 p.m., firefighters were still working to free a 28-year-old construction worker who was trapped under "a few thousand pounds of construction materials in the basement of the building," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said at a press conference, adding that the man's legs were under 1,200-pound beams.

Fire officials said that neither a crane nor a crane boom collapsed. They said a load of materials that had been placed on the roof of the building for renovation collapsed, falling all the way to the ground floor or basement. A large hole could be seen in the roof of the building.

The building is in the process of being converted from a two-family house to a three-family house, according to the Dept. of Buildings database.

Could a Grenfell situation happen here?

From CBS 2:

The entire 24-hour Grenfell Tower was engulfed in flames in less than an hour, and the fire was the deadliest in Britain in more than a century.

With so many skyscrapers in New York City, could a similar thing happen? And what should people do in the event of such an emergency?

CBS2’s Elise Finch found out.

The cause of the Grenfell Tower fire is still being investigated. But early reports suggest an external building material called cladding may be to blame.

In a recent renovation, insulation sandwiched between two aluminum panels was used on the building’s façade, and it is that material that is believed to have accelerated the blaze.

Similar cladding is used on many New York buildings – including high-rises. So could a similar fire happen in New York?

The Penn Station blues

From the Wall Street Journal:

Diverted passengers who face a grueling commute this summer because of rail disruption at New York’s Penn Station deserve discounted tickets on the Long Island Rail Road, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday morning.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Suffolk County board member later suggested such a discount could be up to 15%.

As Mr. Cuomo made his suggestion, during a news conference at Penn Station, the head of the MTA, which owns the LIRR, told a committee of the agency’s board in lower Manhattan that the MTA will withhold regular payments it makes to Amtrak for use of Penn Station and that the MTA will send Amtrak a bill for costs incurred by the disruption.

Amtrak, which owns and operates the Midtown Manhattan terminal, will reduce weekday rush-hour service into and out of the station beginning July 10. The outages are needed so that Amtrak can carry out extensive repair work to rails and switches following two low-speed derailments earlier this year.

From NY1:

City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer is not mincing words when it comes to his opinion on the MTA's plan for Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) riders this summer.

“I think it is ridiculous,” he said.

This week, the agency announced it would cancel or divert close to three dozen rush hour trains into and out of Penn Station while Amtrak does emergency track work. That means more LIRR trains originating or terminating at stations in Brooklyn and Queens, including Hunterspoint Avenue in Long Island City. Passengers there would then either take a ferry or transfer to the 7 train.

“To take Long Island Rail Road users and divert them to the 7 train is stupid,” Van Bramer said. “We know the service is unreliable as it is.”

From NY1:

A State Senator from Queens says taxing the rich is how to fund repair work at Penn Station.

Senator Michael Gianaris says his bill would require millionaires in New York to pay a three-year temporary state income tax surcharge. It would apply to those living in any county where the MTA operates.

Gianaris says it would generate close to $2 billion dollars for the MTA every year.

Hotel taxes would also see a new $5 fee on top of the already existing tax in the city.

Tenants forced to use fire escape to enter building

From PIX11:

Tenants of an Upper West Side five-story walk-up were briefly forced to use the fire escape to access their apartments after their landlord told them about plans to renovate the building’s only staircase.

The Department of Buildings has since issued a stop work order on the West 83rd Street building after the tenants, some of whom are elderly, had an emergency meeting with Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal.

The situation was even worse for some tenants. They don't have access to the fire escape from their apartment.

Schumer asks for more funding for opioid enforcement

From PIX11:

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is calling for federal help in the fight against opioid addiction in New York.

Schumer is asking the Drug Enforcement Agency to provide the state with one of four special heroin enforcement teams being formed to combat the problem. The four teams are specifically dedicated to counteracting heroin trafficking and are sent to states that report heroin as the highest drug threat.

The Democrat says New York's heroin overdose death rate increased by 30 percent in 2015. New data show there was an average of four overdose deaths a day in New York City alone last year. That was double the rate two years earlier. New York City also is a major distribution hub.

Overall, 24 New York counties are considered High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas.

Who will be housed at Ridgewood shelter? Depends who you ask

From the Queens Chronicle:

The Ridgewood Presbyterian Church is negotiating a partnership with a homeless services nonprofit to provide beds for about a dozen homeless people who frequent the area near the Forest Avenue subway station.
According to the Department of Homeless Services, the 59-14 70 Ave. house of worship recently reached out to the agency, looking to expand its existing programs geared toward the neighborhood’s undomiciled population.
While an agreement has yet to be signed between the church and street homeless outreach group Breaking Ground, the two entities are eyeing the placing of about 15 beds within the building.

Ok, so it will be an overnight refuge for local Ridgewood homeless living on the street.

From the Queens Tribune:

Reverend Victoria Moff said that the church is gearing the program, which may launch at the beginning of September, toward people who are living in a dangerous situation or have been evicted due to rent increases. Moff said that when the church has empty beds, it will be open to taking Breaking Ground’s clientele.
“We’re not even calling it a shelter,” Moff said. “A lot of the people are seniors and we know them through our senior program.”

She added that Breaking Ground will help the guests find permanent affordable housing.

“The ones [from their senior program] I know are retired and not working,” Moff said. “As long as they meet our criteria—no one violent and no one with substance abuse problems.

So it's not the people living in the streets near the subway but people from the church's senior program? Hmmm....

From QNS:

According to Christopher Winter, the lead consultant on the project with Ridgewood Presbyterian Church, no one will be bussed into Ridgewood to use the services. It is for the local residents who are having housing issues.

Ok, so it's definitely for neighborhood people. Got it.

From the Glendale Register:

The Glendale Register has learned in an exclusive interview with the Department of Homeless Services that a Ridgewood church is considering providing overnight beds to homeless individuals living on the streets. 

Existing space in Ridgewood Presbyterian Church, located at the intersection of Forest and 70th avenues, would be utilized for up to 15 beds. Needy individuals would be referred to the church on a nightly basis by Breaking Ground, the city’s largest supportive housing provider...a spokesperson stressed the site is not technically a homeless shelter, drop-in center or safe haven.

Well then what is it? This is all very confusing. They seem to morph from street homeless to seniors depending on who is being interviewed. Sounds like they all got caught off guard and couldn't get their stories straight. Whatever the real version is, let's hope it's not these folks:

“I have an obligation to my 4-year-olds and their parents that they are going to be safe, but I can’t guarantee that with some of the guys there,” Monahan continued. “Some are very violent. And after renovating the space, it will be a shame that no one wants to go to pre-K there because of the homeless there.”

“We have a quandary,” Monahan said. “These people don’t want to go to a shelter of any kind. They drink at all hours of the day. They pee out in public. It really is a terrible situation. I know they don’t have any place to go, but my parents can’t walk down the block without being somewhat harassed.”

This is some city we live in.

Worker falls off scaffold and dies

From the Daily News:

A worker took a fatal three-story plunge from a scaffolding outside a Brooklyn building Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

The 58-year-old man was on a platform at the building on Nostrand Ave. near Linden Blvd. in East Flatbush at 12:45 p.m. when he fell , police said.

He suffered severe head trauma and died at Kings County Hospital, according to police. His name was not released.

The city Buildings Department website shows the FDNY requesting an inspection after finding a “loose scaffold” after the fall Sunday. A Buildings Department spokesman said the tragic incident remains under investigation.

Band of cell phone thieves in Ozone Park area

From CBS2:

A Queens father is calling for action Saturday after his son was robbed of his cellphone as he walked home from school, and police say it’s part of a growing trend in the area.

“It is very, very important to get them off the street,” Anthony Pedraza told CBS2’s Dave Carlin in an exclusive interview.

Pedraza says his mission is to let other parents in Ozone Park, Queens know that cellphone thieves are brazenly finding their victims in the daytime and heartlessly picking on youngsters. The latest victim was his 12-year-old son, Greysen.

The seventh grader said the man who robbed him, along with three accomplices, confronted him Wednesday after school. Greysen had gotten off a city bus and was in a shopping center that fronts South Conduit Avenue.

The robbers made their move as he was walking on a dirt path to get to his house.

“I went to walk away and when I was crossing over the conduit, they came up to me and said they had a gun in a book bag and give me your phone,” he said.

They took his iPhone, and nothing else. Greysen tried the “find my phone” feature, but had no luck.

Giving a leg up to local wildlife

From QNS:

Ten ducklings that were trapped in a storm drain at a Howard Beach park caught a lucky break when they were rescued by officers of the U.S. Park Police and the NYPD.

On Thursday, June 15, U.S. Park Police Officers Cobaj and McGarry were patrolling in the park when a park visitor flagged them down and told them about some ducks that were stuck in a storm drain, which was located near the North Channel Bridge.

Upon their arrival, Officers Cobaj and McGarry saw ten ducklings stuck inside the drain. Officers from the 100th precinct and the emergency service unit helped Cobaj and McGarry lift the metal gate so they could get inside the gate.

Officer McGarry climbed down into the storm drain and was able to retrieve nine of the ten ducklings. The tenth duckling wandered further down the storm drain, but would later be coaxed out by 100th Precinct Sergeant Quwella Brown.

All of the ducks are said to be healthy and will most likely survive the experience. The ducks will be cared for by National Park Service Biologist Bill Parker until they are old enough to return to the park.

Do we really need an ambassador of nightlife?

From the Daily News:

Mayor de Blasio wants to hire a “nightlife ambassador” as part of the jobs plan he announced Thursday, to serve as a liaison between city government and local music spots and clubs.

“We want to have an office that’s really going to work with the various music venues, with the nightclubs, with bars and restaurants and also take into account the community perspective,” Julie Menin, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, said.

The idea for the new gig comes from the “night mayor” concept used in London and Amsterdam — “only the coolest,” de Blasio noted in listing the cities.

Earlier this year, Menin’s office put out a study that found jobs and wages in the city’s music industry were growing faster than the city average.

“This is an area of tremendous growth for New York,” she said.

But for the live music fans who have mourned the loss of small music venues — especially “DIY” or do-it-yourself venues sometimes hit with city fines — it may feel more like the industry is shrinking. According to Economic Development Corporation President James Patchett, that’s not just hipster nostalgia talking: Another study from Menin’s office had found a 20% decline in smaller music venues over the last 15 years.

But whoever takes on the job won’t just be cheerleading for Baby’s All Right and The Bell House — they’ll also have to balance community concerns about things like noise, Menin said.

Questions about new construction on Jericho Turnpike

From the Queens Chronicle:

Richard Hellenbrecht loves Bellerose. And he warns a four-story building going up at Jericho Turnpike and Little Neck Parkway could be a nightmare for drivers in the neighborhood.

“We were asking for the [Department of Transportation] to do a study or at least a review on it,” Hellenbrecht, the executive vice president of the Queens Civic Congress, told the Chronicle. “Because that particular point on Little Neck Parkway is very busy.”

According to a DOT spokesperson, the agency did not analyze the intersection — which has a traffic light — for the impacts of the development.

The Bellerose resident, who is a member of Community Board 13, is also concerned about what the future of the community facility planned at the site will be.

“The big question is, will they maintain the community facility?” he added. “Even if they start with the community facility, will they maintain it or replace it with regular offices?”

Seventy-eight parking spots are planned, according to the website of AB Capstone, the site’s developer.

Hellenbrecht said the firm developing the property has repeatedly ignored requests from CB 13 to meet with board members. However, he said that the board’s Land Use Committee did speak with the real estate broker for the site.

Spike strips cause controversy in Kew Gardens

From CBS 2:

As CBS2’s Jessica Layton reported, residents want to know why spike strips have been installed leading up to their front door.

The six-story building in a pleasant Kew Gardens neighborhood seemed like the perfect place for Katerina Masheeva to raise her kids. But now, the strips of spikes have raised serious concerns for her family and others in the building.

“It’s sharp, yes; it’s dangerous, yes,” Masheeva said.

There is now a double line of spike strips, each several feet long, just installed on both concrete ledges leading up to the apartments on 118th Street.

“I’ve seen a lot of, you know, hostile architecture over the last 20 years or so that it pops up more and more frequently, and this is just the most vile type that I’ve seen,” said Dan Irving.

“The woman that was just passing by said it looks very prison-like,” said Jessica Gomez.

(Check out the thug that slapped the camera.)

Trump home to be a rental

From Curbed:

The modest Jamaica Estates home where President Donald Trump lived for his early childhood is about to become available once again—this time as a rental unit. According to Mansion Global, the 2,000-square-foot home will be listed with Jason Friedman, a broker who primarily works on Long Island, for “somewhere between $3,500 and $4,000 a month.”

The two-story brick and stucco house dates back to the mid-century, and the Trump family lived there when Donald was still a baby. They moved by the time he was four years old, but that was long enough to give it some cachet.

Parker Towers demolishing fountain

From Forest Hills Post:

Parker Towers, the large 1960s development sandwiched between Queens Blvd and Yellowstone Boulevard, has long been known for the giant fountain in the middle of the courtyard.

The fountain has traditionally been a focal point since it is surrounded by the three 22-story high-rises that make up the complex.

The fountain, however, is now being demolished. According to a spokesman for the Parker Towers, the demolition began yesterday and will be complete in two weeks.

The plan is to replace it with greenspace. Construction will begin in a few weeks and is estimated to be finished in a few months.

However, according to local historian and Forest Hills resident Michael Perlman, residents are not pleased with this decision and neither is he.

City Hall wants you to paint your roof white

From AM-NY:

City Hall will be painting the city white this summer to protect people from the risks of high heat.

City officials, and other private and nonprofit partners launched The Cool Neighborhoods program Wednesday with paint brushes in hand. Under the initiative, the city will be working to lower building temperatures by painting their roofs a reflective white paint, planting trees to provide more shade and urging neighbors to check in on the elderly, poor and disabled when temperatures spike.

Daniel Zarrilli, the city’s chief resiliency officer, said the $106 million initiative is imperative because studies show the number of days New York City thermometers hit at least 90 degrees will double by 2020. Such hot conditions can lead to dehydration, heat stroke and other ill health effects.

“We need to be better prepared for that,” Zarrilli said.

One of the program’s largest components is the expansion of the city’s CoolRoofs service, where roofs are covered with the heat-reducing paint, at no cost to the owner.

Crapper cost is astronomical

From Crains:

A 400-square-foot public bathroom in City Councilman David Greenfield's Brooklyn district has cost $2 million to renovate, and after more than 7½ years of work is still not completed, the lawmaker told a Crain's real estate conference today. Greenfield used the project to make the case that more private-sector engagement is needed to rein in the cost of building municipal infrastructure.

"We have to be frank," said Greenfield, who heads the city's land-use committee. "Government sucks at development."

Many high-profile municipal projects are either missing benchmarks or simply costing taxpayers too much. The Second Avenue subway extension cost about $800 million per mile, yet a similar project in London cost around $125 million per mile. And the East Side Access project, which could have alleviated some of the current Penn Station woes, is now 10 years behind schedule and nearly $4 billion over budget. But as Greenfield made clear, even small development projects suffer under the weight of bureaucracy.

MTA seriously needs to upgrade signals

From the Daily News:

The MTA has got a problem with delays when it comes to repairing critical signal equipment, according to an analysis the city’s Independent Budget Office released Tuesday.

Projects that keep signals in good working order can be months, even years, behind schedule, according to the budget office’s analysis of three Metropolitan Transportation Authority capital plans, from 2004 to 2019.

From 2005 to 2014, 19 out of 33 signal projects were completed late or will wrap up behind schedule. Meanwhile, nearly a third of projects begun over that time are still underway.

Signal malfunctions can be devastating, creating a ripple effect from line to line that can last for hours. The problems the malfunctions cause are complicated by the age of the equipment. Much of the signal work involves painstakingly repairing ancient parts that can date to the 1930s. An upgrade to a signal and track system on the Queens Blvd. lines at 71st. Ave. and Union Turnpike that should have been done in April was pushed back a whopping 14 months.

And this is the problem with our electeds. They like making headlines with splashy proposals for new transit systems, like BQX and light rail while the current system is allowed to go to pot.

Police upset over parking placard ticket quota

From CBS 2:

Stunning charges Tuesday night claimed that the city is establishing a new parking ticket quota system going after drivers with government-issued permits.

As CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, city cash registers are apparently going to take in an estimated $6 million more from tickets issued to city workers who abuse their parking privileges and park illegally.

De Blasio made it clear that when he said he would hire 100 new traffic agents and establish a new 16-member NYPD permit abuse squad, it would be paid for with ticket revenue.

And? If you're abusing your position, you probably should be fined double.

Steinway Mansion getting an upgrade

From George the Atheist

Also from G the A

Rezoning a car wash

From the Queens Chronicle:

The city Planning Commission on May 24 cleared the way for a Jackson Heights car wash to be replaced by an eight-story commercial building by unanimously approving a rezoning measure for the site.

The matter will now go to the City Council for a vote and is expected to pass as area Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland (D-East Elmhurst) is in favor of the rezoning and proposed development.
Developer H&M LLC plans to replace Classic Car Wash, located at 74-04 Northern Blvd., with a commercial-use building, with the ground floor holding retail space.

The second and third would hold 219 parking spots, with a community space on the fourth and offices on five to eight.

To do so, the site must be rezoned from a C8-1 District to a C4-3.

H&M LLC states in its application to the Department of City Planning that construction on the site could begin sometime in 2018 and be completed in a little over a year.

And while housing is not proposed for the site at this time, the CPC also unanimously approved a request by the developer to require 25 percent of any residential units that could be built in the future to be affordable — under the controversial Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program approved by the Council last year.

Council speaker rides float with terrorist

From the NY Post:

Controversial onetime convicted terror leader Oscar Lopez Rivera may have declined the Puerto Rican Day Parade’s “National Freedom Award,” but he was still at the head of the event Sunday — with the City Council speaker right by his side.

Lopez Rivera — who did 35 years behind bars for his ties to the Puerto Rican terror group FALN — was on the first float out of the gate at the Manhattan parade, and speaker pal Melissa Mark-Viverito hopped on to join him at 62nd Street.

Landlord threatens to call ICE on tenants

From the Daily News:

A landlord who’s faced past allegations of tenant harassment has posted signs touting a Department of Homeland Security tip line in some of his Queens buildings, which have unnerved some tenants.

Between President Trump’s push to deport undocumented residents and a spike in immigration raids, the Bangladeshi tenants of a Zara Realty apartment building on 168th St. in Jamaica are on edge.

“It’s to scare the people,” said Abukhar Hossain, whose family has lived at the nine-story brick address for 15 years.

A recent visit showed the DHS placards posted prominently at 168th St. and at another Zara-managed building a block away on 88th Ave.

Tenants at 168th St. said the signs have been up since Zara arrived in 2014. Tenants at 88th Ave. didn’t know when they first went up.

Hossain said he couldn’t say whether the signs at 168th St. resulted in DHS activity, but noted that at least one undocumented family was among several tenants who’ve moved out since Zara Realty took over.

Nightlife noise complaints are way up

From AM-NY:

City nightlife is bringing the noise — and the headaches, according to a report released last week.

An audit by the state comptroller’s office found the number of 311 noise complaints related to bars, clubs and other nightlife establishments soared from 38,000 in 2010, to more than 93,000 in 2015.
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli called on the state Liquor Authority to take action against repeat violators.

“Establishments with hundreds of complaints lodged against them faced little or no repercussions. For the sake of city residents, more action must be taken to address noisy clubs and bars,” he said.
The report showed 277 businesses each received 100 or more complaints.

DiNapoli said the state doesn’t access 311 data readily and can’t adequately assess the complaints. He recommended the state Liquor Authority design and formalize a process to go over the data themselves.

LIC Elks Lodge exists now only in photos

Untapped Cities takes us inside LIC's now-demolished Elks Lodge.

Mudanza trucks picking up mattresses

"We have an ongoing problem with the Mudanzas (moving) trucks, often not legal, picking up filthy mattresses throughout the East Elmhurst and Corona neighborhoods. We complained to buildings and even the DMV because none of the license plates are from New York state. They park these trucks (sometimes even with the mattresses stored on top) for days in residential streets. We don’t have enough parking as it is now that there is metered parking on both Astoria and Northern Boulevards. No one does anything about this. We plan to try and pursue it again with the appropriate offices, but we know that they are swamped.

We are sick of the quality of life issues in the neighborhood. The most recent thing going on is this ‘rave’ parties with over 100 young adults in attendance. No one does anything to permanently stop repeat offenders from throwing these things, which take place in the middle of the work-week. We emailed Katz’ office about that as well as spoke to the captain at the local precinct. There was property damage when one of these events took place this past Saturday and they usually end with police, fire and ambulance showing up. They were even fighting with the cops (who were outnumbered) to the point that backup had to be called in. A real mess! Thanks for listening." - anonymous

Manhattan gets new area code

From Crains:

Manhattan is getting a new area code—332—starting [today].

Residents of the borough have almost exhausted the telephone number sequences for the 646 area code, the last of the available three-digit codes for Manhattan.

The second set of digits in every phone number combination is known as the "prefix," explained John Manning, senior director at the North American Numbering Plan Administration, which administers and assigns telephone numbers in the United States. And there is a finite quantity of 800 prefixes appointed to every area code.

The newest code, 332, will serve roughly 8 million residents, meaning Manhattanites will be covered for at least 30 years, Manning said.

More crap development coming to Rockaway

Good evening,

I was heading home after checking out the completed boardwalk/sidewalk and got on the 116th station in Rockaway and heading for the shuttle train I saw some interesting new development next to the tracks. I assume this is up your alley (no pun intended) of your expertise because it looks like the header photo on your blog.

Then there is this piece in the Rockaway Times, a local newspaper passing for a real estate brochure, about some group tied to a developer involved in building some pretentious hip hotel. They are trying to beautify the development around them by painting over the green fencing and also trying to get ferry commuters to get loaded in a beer garden in a filthy construction site.

This reminds me of what Slate Properties tried to do in Ridgewood with Rockaway Brewery a year ago. Without the sand of course.

What did you say a few days ago when you posted about that terrorist conspirator that we live in a bizarro city. Well, these mental patients trying to turn these dirt yards into tourist attractions are validation of that.

JQ LLC

L train outage = M trains go to Upper East Side

"Here's one for you:

For the L Train Shutdown, the MTA is not planning on increasing M service to LIC/Court Square (where a huge influx of G train riders will be trying to transfer and continue to Manhattan).

Instead, they will be sending the M train to the Upper East Side late nights and weekends - cutting the service to Court Square in half.

This is also a continuation of their draconian cuts to Queens Blvd service when they killed the V train and cut the G back to Court Square.

This is purely a move born of cheapness - they can save a few pennies by not having to run the M all the way to Forest Hills.

Check out page 19 of their pdf for the proof.

No Queens representatives are doing anything about this of course. Literally no one cares about Queens commuters." - anonymous

Someone finally has a heart

From Crains:

The Canada goose has been avian enemy No. 1 since taking the blame for the engine failure that forced US Airways Flight 1549 to splash down in the Hudson on Jan. 15, 2009.

But our erstwhile feathered friends may finally be getting a reprieve.

Recently the city has lowered the cull to only a few hundred birds a year and doesn’t plan to kill any this year. Officials are opting instead for less lethal population control tactics, such as destroying nests.