Queens Crap: June 2021

What scandals?

Labor bosses and corporate CEOs showed their support for three-term Gov. Andrew Cuomo at a pricey campaign fundraiser Tuesday night despite ongoing investigations over sexual harassment accusations and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The minimum $10,000 per head and $15,000 per couple event was held at 75 Rockefeller Plaza, a building managed by the RXR Realty, a firm headed by Cuomo pal Scott Rechler. It attracted more than 170 people, a source familiar with the Cuomo re-election campaign said.

Rechler served as a Cuomo appointee to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Related Companies CEO Jeff Blau, whose projects include Hudson Yards, also made an appearance at Cuomo’s first major in-person fundraiser since ending emergency edicts over the coronavirus pandemic.

Equally important for Cuomo was the appearance of some of New York’s most influential labor leaders.

George Gresham, president of the powerful health care workers union — SEIU Local 1199 — introduced Cuomo ahead of his 20 minute speech, a source said.

Other Big Labor attendees included Mario Cilento, president of the NYS AFL-CIO;; Gary LaBarbara, head of the New York Building and Trades Council; SEIU Local 32 BJ president Kyle Bragg; Stuart Appelbaum, head of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, and Dennis Trainor and Robert Masters of the Communication Workers of America, among others.

Also spotted heading into or leaving the fundraiser were public relations maven Ken Sunshine and lobbyist Charlie King, a longtime Cuomo confidante. King ran as Cuomo’s running mate during his failed 2002 bid for governor and served as executive director of Al Sharpton’s National Action Network.

Other lobbyists and lawyers appeared — including Robert Harding and others associated with Greenberg & Traurig. Harding, whose late father, Ray Harding, once headed the state Liberal Party, served as a deputy mayor for Rudy Giuliani.

City Democratic leaders waved the Cuomo flag: attendees included Brooklyn Democratic Party chairwoman and Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte, Manhattan Democratic leader Keith Wright, Staten Island Democratic leader and Assemblyman Michael Cusick, and Queens Democratic Party executive director Michal Reich.

The support for Cuomo clashes with many elected Democrats who called for Cuomo to resign over the sexual harassment claims — among them US Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

The AOC Strategy

THE CITY

At least 1 million New Yorkers — nearly three of ten registered voters — participated in the primary election, a far stronger showing than when the mayor’s job and most City Council seats were last up for grabs.

Board of Elections figures show about 27% of active Democrats submitted ballots that included the 13-way contest for mayor, whose outcome will remain unknown for weeks as the new ranked choice voting process unfolds.

Just 11% of Republican voters cast ballots, overwhelmingly opting for media personality and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, who earned a spot on the GOP ticket.

With races from City Council to mayor remain up in the air, turnout patterns suggested an ongoing AOC effect energizing voters in progressive pockets of Queens while some residents of areas hit hardest by COVID struggled to get to the polls, an analysis by THE CITY found.

Overall, nearly 850,000 New Yorkers, including 191,000 people who cast ballots at the polls during 10 days of early voting, voted on the June 22 primary day and another nearly 130,000 had returned absentee ballots as of Sunday.

...and now there's not

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Now it's a mayoral race

Queens Chronicle

Eric Adams’ lead shrunk significantly when the Board of Elections released updated mayoral race results Tuesday.

As of June 29, Adams claims 51.1 percent of the Democratic Party vote, but Kathryn Garcia trails closely behind with 48.9 percent.

On election night last week, Adams took home 31.6 percent of the vote, followed by Maya Wiley with 22.2 percent and then Garcia with 19.4. Andrew Yang conceded quickly despite holding onto fourth place through 10 rounds of ranked-choice voting eliminations.

Wiley had remained ahead of Garcia until the 11th round and was then eliminated.

Democracy, as John Lewis said, is an act. And New York City residents engaged in one of the central acts of democracy! They voted. And they acted when they chose overwhelmingly to adopt ranked-choice voting,” Wiley said in a statement following the result release. “I said on election night, we must allow the democratic process to continue and count every vote so that New Yorkers have faith in our democracy and government. And we must all support its results.”

Shut the fuck up Maya.

Cuomo kills wetlands for BJ's

Curbed

https://t.co/nr6iCwf5ce
— Muriel McCormack (@MurielMccormack) June 29, 2021

https://t.co/G8AbhY7lQg
— Muriel McCormack (@MurielMccormack) June 29, 2021

⚠️STATEN ISLAND! REPOST ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA! TAG @bjswholesale AND TELL THEM WE WILL ❗️NOT❗️ BECOME MEMBERS AND SHOP AT THEIR STORE IF THEY BUILD ON THE GRANITEVILLE WETLANDS!⚠️ pic.twitter.com/R4OE1W8sxX
— Save Graniteville Wetlands (@marchforwetland) June 29, 2021

E-motor scooter stooges

Better not shout you better not cry you better not pout I'm telling you why, the tower prison is coming to town

Workers have broken ground on a community space and parking garage near Queens Borough Hall — the first major step in the construction of a borough-based jail in Kew Gardens, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.

The new facility, which will be 105 feet tall, will include a 25,000-square-foot multi-purpose community space and more than 600 public parking spots.

The facility is being built adjacent to the future site of a 195-foot-tall jail — where the decommissioned Queens Detention Complex at 182-02 82nd Ave. is located. The detention facility will be demolished while the garage is being built.

The garage/ community space building will be erected on the west side of an existing parking lot at Union Turnpike between 126th Street and 132nd Street. The future 886-bed jail will eventually span both the site of the former Queens Detention Complex and the east side of the parking lot.

However, the east side of the lot, with 140 parking spots, will remain open for public usage during construction of the parking garage — which is expected to be completed in early 2023.

The facility is being built ahead of the new jail — which earlier proposals slated design and construction to begin in 2023.

The future jail is part of the city’s larger $8.3 billion plan to close the jails on Rikers Island by 2026 and replace them with four smaller jails in every borough but Staten Island.

“Today we move one huge step closer to our goal of a fairer and more equitable jail system for all New Yorkers,” de Blasio said in a statement. “Closing Rikers Island will make our city stronger and more just, and I’m proud to deliver a system that better reflects this city’s values.”

Monday, June 28, 2021

D.O.B. puts a stop to overdevelopment after three construction workers got killed last month

NY Daily News

More than 300 city construction sites have been shut down this month because building inspectors found glaring safety violations, the Daily News has learned.

The 322 sites, more than a third of which were in Brooklyn, were shuttered during a massive zero-tolerance safety sweep conducted by the Department of Buildings designed to tamp down on construction deaths in the city.

Seven hardhats have died in construction-related accidents so far this year, including three in May alone, Buildings officials said.

Those killed include 32-year-old Queens resident Diego Lliguicota, who was working on the sixth floor of a Long Island City building when he fell down an elevator shaft on May 22.

Just five days later, on May 27, a 49-year-old Brooklyn construction worker died after he fell four stories off the roof of a Flatbush bank he was helping demolish. He was not tethered to anything, he lost his balance and fell, authorities said.

“The recent spate of construction worker deaths in our city is tragic, senseless — and even worse, entirely avoidable,” DOB Commissioner Melanie La Rocca said.

Sunday, June 27, 2021

The Washington Square Park autonomous zone

Washington Square Park, a green space of historic societal and cultural events and a pleasant environment to sit in solitude or socialize. A place where the likes of Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsburg hung out on the regular, nurturing the scenes of the nascent folk phenomenon and the beat poet movement that would change and influence music and literature forever. WSP would continue for decades to be a destination for all kinds of progressive demonstrations and protests, a place to play an intense game of chess and a convenient place to score a bag of weed, which continues to this very day.

But with the pandemic seemingly fading into the past after a year of collective seclusion and restrictive guidelines, a new history in a very short amount of time has unfolded and it’s one of upheaval and civil unrest and societal decay, with hard drug abuse being consumed in broad daylight and DJ ragers late at night even after the parks closing time.

Giant Grand Central tower proposal gets a push back from architecture expert

An 82-year-old preservationist is single-handedly waging war against a 1,645-foot mega-tower that’s set to go up next to Grand Central — claiming the behemoth building would mar the “heart of New York.”

Christabel Gough, the secretary of the Society for the Architecture of the City, filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court Wednesday seeking to stop the project at 175 Park Avenue, which the complaint says would “completely overwhelm and resign to utter insignificance the grandeur of Grand Central.”

“I came here with my grandfather when I was a small child,” Gough told The Post.

“This is the heart of New York and it should be protected. Why do we have a landmarks law if not to protect buildings like Grand Central?”

Developed by RXR Realty and TF Cornerstone, the proposed building would be more than five times the size of the 26-story Grand Hyatt hotel its replacing on East 42nd Street.

In her suit, Gough marvels over the transportation hub that she says she “regularly frequents” to enjoy its “beauty, historic and architectural eminence and cultural significance.”

She is accusing the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission of issuing an advisory opinion, instead of greenlighting the 83-story structure with a formal opinion, which is legally required and entails a higher bar for approval.

The LPC should have required the MTA, as the owner of Grand Central, to file an application for a “certificate of appropriateness” for the project — since it will alter the terminal and its viaduct, the court papers say.

But instead, the LPC allowed the MTA to merely file a request for a “report and recommendation” — a more relaxed and non-binding standard for project proposals, the filing alleges.

The LPC issued that report and recommendation in February.

NYC Parks didn't hire enough lifeguards this summer

A staffing shortage is causing some Rockaway Beach lifeguards to fly solo, creating a potentially dangerous situation, guards told The Post.

Lifeguards at the city beach said the long hours on the stand alone compromise safety as they become fatigued or have to deal with multiple rescues. Some staged a protest on Friday.

“If you were out in the water drowning, four of us (have) a lot better chance of seeing you than if I’m by myself on that chair. Especially on a day like today: foggy, muggy,” one lifeguard in his 10th year said Saturday.

Others said they were not even allowed to take bathroom breaks, a distraction that made it harder to focus on swimmers. They said supervisors were not sympathetic.

“All they do when we try to explain to them that we need help and we need the manpower is just, like, ‘Well, you get paid for eight hours.’ ” one guard said.

The Parks Department is missing one-third of its lifeguards which also forced the cancellation of swimming lessons, water exercise classes and swim teams as pools opened for the season Saturday.

The department said it “expected” to have 950 lifeguards ready to go as 49 outdoor pools welcomed swimmers. Beaches already opened May 29.

Saturday, June 26, 2021

Diaphragm bill found unconstitutional

From the NY Times:

In a victory for the city’s powerful police unions, a state Supreme Court judge struck down a city law banning police officers’ use of chokeholds and other physical restraints on Tuesday, saying the wording of the law was “unconstitutionally vague.”

The law, passed last summer, had been met with fierce resistance from police unions, who sued the city last fall over its passage. The language of the statute — which forbids officers from compressing a suspect’s diaphragm — was overly broad, the suit said, and made it nearly impossible for officers to physically engage suspects, even if the use of force was in good faith.

Justice Laurence L. Love agreed: “The phrase ‘compresses the diaphragm’ cannot be adequately defined as written,” he wrote in his ruling in State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

The judge encouraged the city to revise its law, and Mayor Bill de Blasio, at his daily news conference on Wednesday, urged lawmakers to move quickly to do so.

Let's hear it for Rory Lancman and company for not knowing how to pass a bill that doesn't violate the Constitution.

Day care on steroids being built next to Maspeth church

Whilst whistling down 60th Street in Maspeth one day, I came across this behemoth of a building. This site was featured on the blog 6 years ago when the church next to it was selling the property.

All was quiet at the site, and this is why.

No drawings, eh? Hmmm... Well what is it that is proposed for the property, which is pretty out of scale with the rest of the streetscape?

13,624 square feet of community space? What exactly is being built?

A day care center for 228 kids? Seems a bit unrealistic. After all, this nearby building on Flushing Ave was supposedly built to be a day care center years ago but a day care center didn't happen.

An old developer trick is to include a community facility in the building in order to be granted the right to build a bigger building. Then when it's complete and they can't find an appropriate tenant for a space, they change it over to residences or offices which would have had to be built smaller without the loophole. I don't know if that's what's at play here, but it's an odd location for a large day care center.

Friday, June 25, 2021

MTA abolishes station agents

NY Daily News

Cash is no longer king at the subway’s token booths.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said Wednesday that booth workers — who once handled thousands of cash and fare transactions each day — will no longer accept riders’ cash or swap their damaged MetroCards.

Hand-to-hand transactions were banned at the booths in March 2020 as transit honchos feared they put workers at risk of catching COVID-19. Now officials say that shift will be made permanent.

“We currently do not plan to resume cash transactions in the booths,” MTA chief safety officer Pat Warren said during a news conference.

Warren said OMNY — the MTA’s tap-and-pay fare system that will fully replace MetroCards by the end of 2023 — means the authority will no longer need workers in booths to assist riders with cash transactions.

Straphangers can still use cash to pay for MetroCards at automated vending machines in subway stations. The vending machines will eventually be replaced with OMNY machines that also take cash.

Token booth workers will also no longer swap out MetroCards that are damaged or expired. MTA officials said riders with damaged MetroCards will have to mail them in or go to the agency’s customer service center in lower Manhattan to get replacements.

Transport Workers Union Local 100 president Tony Utano — who represents a majority of the MTA’s workforce — feared the move away from cash was a step towards cutting the booth worker positions entirely.

“Not having cash transactions at subway booths is an inconvenience, and an insult, to subway riders,” said Utano. “Station agents alert the police on behalf of crime victims, summon ambulances for injured and sick riders [and] report suspicious, menacing and dangerous behavior.”

The MTA is making a huge mistake.

Actually, a really fucking huge mistake, but in all honesty what else can they do? It was only over a year ago the MTA announced that they needed over 50 billion dollars to fix the subway and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened which inevitably led to devastating financial losses from low ridership. And now the transit system is broke.

Thursday, June 24, 2021

Limpdick Litterbug

Now, with part one. Sound on, folks. 😸 https://t.co/w5UpGFaqM5 pic.twitter.com/7yei4xEU5u
— Kween Kuntopia, New York Shitty (@newyorkshitty) June 23, 2021

Jamaica Bay protection bill passes in Albany, awaits singature from Mario's son

QNS

Two Queens lawmakers applauded the passage of their legislation that would protect the pristine waters of Jamaica Bay, which has become home to marine life not seen in decades.

Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato and state Senator Joseph Addabbo vowed to navigate the measure through both chambers of the Legislature for a fourth time after Governor Andrew Cuomo vetoed the bill three times in past legislative sessions.

“The priority and necessity of this bill is clear. My colleagues in the Assembly see the value of this bill, and the importance of protecting our environment,” Pheffer Amato said. “Both houses have passed this bill for three sessions in a row, only for Governor Cuomo to veto it. It’s more important than ever to invest in Jamaica Bay and ensure that our standards are up to the highest standards, and we can never turn back.”

The legislation would increase the standard of dredging materials placed into Jamaica Bay’s borrow pits which are also known as a sandbox. It is an area where material such as soil, gravel or sand has been dug up for use at another location.

In his last veto statement on the bill, Cuomo said the legislation would change the criteria for filling Jamaica Bay borrow pits to comply with the federal criteria for the unrestricted ocean dumping of dredged material, which is not applicable to Jamaica Bay. Under the legislation, the state Department of Environmental Conservation would be required to utilize more restrictive and costly federal ocean dumping criteria to test the materials instead of DEC’s existing standard.

Consternation QNS

LIC Post

Western Queens residents, business leaders, and representatives from community groups and cultural institutions got the chance to weigh in on the proposed Innovation QNS development during a virtual meeting Monday afternoon.

Nearly three dozen people spoke during the two-hour Public Scoping meeting – with many in support of the massive, five-block residential and commercial project on the Astoria/Long Island City border as well as several who strongly opposed the plan.

The project’s developers are seeking approval of their proposed zoning changes to create a special mixed-use district – which would allow higher densities and a wider variety of uses than existing zoning. Their 2.9-million-square-foot plan includes 12 buildings, ranging in height from seven to 27 stories.

The developers submitted an environmental assessment statement in May as part of the environmental review process overseen by the Department of City Planning. Monday’s scoping meeting allowed members of the public to comment as part of this review.

Jerald Johnson of the firm Fox Rothschild gave a presentation to start the meeting on behalf of the development team. He described Innovation QNS – which is a partnership between Kaufman Astoria Studios, Silverstein Properties and Bedrock Real Estate Partners – as “a new vibrant, mixed-use community on what is currently an underutilized five-block area in Astoria.”

Innovation QNS, which would be built between 37th Street and Northern Boulevard and bounded by 35th and 36th Avenues, would include about 2,800 residential units of various sizes – and house an estimated 8,300 new residents.

Approximately 25 percent of those units – about 711 – would be designated as permanently “affordable” under the city’s Mandatory Housing Inclusion (MIH) program. The developers plan to use MIH Option 1 – meaning that the units would be affordable, on average, to households making 60 percent of the Area Median Income – or $64,440 for a family of four in 2021.

Along with the 2.4 million square feet of residential space, the development would have about 250,000 square feet of office space and about 209,000 square feet of commercial space for retail, restaurants, a grocery store and the relocated multiplex movie theater, which currently is on 38th Street, the EAS documents show.

The plans also include about 108,000 square feet for community uses, like a daycare, community center and performing arts center, and 2.3 acres of publicly accessible open space.

Opponents of the Innovation QNS criticized the plan’s potential impact on local infrastructure. They also suggested that the project would gentrify the area, causing some current residents and businesses to be pushed out.

They also said the income requirements for “affordable” apartments would be out of reach of many neighborhood residents.

Ciafone cinema follies continues...

Astoria Post

The marquee sign at a shuttered Sunnyside movie theater was altered for the third time this year with the perpetrators taking yet another shot at landlord and political candidate John Ciafone.

“Ciafone Lost Again, Long Live Radical Communism,” the sign reads, referring to Ciafone’s unsuccessful run Tuesday in the Democratic primary to represent the 22^nd Council District in Astoria.

The latest message comes just months after the perpetrators targeted him by putting up signage that read “Death by Speculation, Starring Limpdick Landlord.”

The harsh messages directed toward Ciafone, however, largely stem from his ownership of the 42-17 Queens Blvd. building containing the movie theater. The site has been vacant for about 6 years, although he plans to develop it in the future.

This time the perpetrators sent an e-mail to the media — explaining their behavior.

“Sunnyside Soyboy Strikes Center Cinemas Again,” the e-mail reads, which comes from the address sunnysidesoyboy@gmail.com.

Ciafone told the Queens Post that the perpetrators put up the latest sign at 3:30 a.m. today. He said that his video footage shows that it is the same people who targeted him in January.

He said he doesn’t have footage of the people who put up the pro-Palestine message, although given what’s involved in putting the marquee signage up he believes it is the same people.

“These people should be ashamed of themselves,” Ciafone said. “Don’t they have anything better to do?”

Ciafone, an attorney, described them as “radicals.”

“These people are anti-American,” he said. “The deface private property and try to stop free speech.”

“They hate the police, hate this country, hate Jewish people, hate everyone and are anti-development and against gentrification,” Ciafone said. “These people are destructive not constructive — and they want to take us back to the ’70s and ’80s when the city was saddled with crime.”

Gentrification is not a good thing Johnny. This is why your marquee is such an easy target.

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Vaccine bussing bust

This scene takes place in South Richmond Hill, Liberty Ave. and Lefferts Blvd.

Two massive vaccine buses giving out two vaccines, one for the two-dose Pfizer and the other for the one-shot Johnsons

Only one problem…

Nobody was doing it.

Which way will JVB's voters break?

Well now, this is shaping up to be quite a nailbiter!

Elizabeth Crowley may be the comeback kid after the dust settles. But it all depends on which way Van Bramer's #2s are distributed.

Stay tuned.

Mayor de Blasio does a humane thing for once and extends hotel stays for tenants displaced by apartment building fire

Families who have been provided with temporary hotel accommodation since a fire tore through their Jackson Heights apartment building in April are being given extra time to stay.

The hotel stays were set to expire by June 20, but families are now eligible to stay longer if they submit an application with the New York City Housing Preservation and Development, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a tweet on June 17.

“The families displaced by April’s fire in Jackson Heights are our neighbors,” de Blasio said. He added that the temporary housing will continue to be provided no matter a person’s immigration status.

It is unclear how long the extension will last.

The families were left without accommodation after an eight-alarm blaze damaged two buildings, located at 89-07 and 89-11 34th Ave., on April 6. There were no casualties but 21 people – 16 of whom were firefighters – were injured.

Temporary hotel stays were initially provided by the Red Cross before the city stepped in to offer hotel accommodation.

The extension comes after members of 89th Street Tenants Unidos Association, a tenant association representing those affected by the fire, accompanied by elected officials held a rally on June 10 to demand that their emergency hotel stays be extended.

This sure is quite a turnaround by the Blaz after what he said a week ago. Apparently, the state's input wasn't necessary and he didn't need that worm Brian Lehrer to protect him from the tenant organizer's leader after all.

A tale of two Heights@WNYC @BrianLehrer purposely hung up on a caller speaking for 500 residents made homeless from a massive fire in their apt building in Jackson Heights when he pleaded @NYCMayor to extend their stay at hotel shelters for time to move back to their town pic.twitter.com/NPZltSaldU
— This machine kills fauxgressives (@ImpunityCity) June 12, 2021

First bike boulevard forced onto community will be considered today.

The open street is currently closed to through traffic from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on most days. Local traffic, however, is permitted access for parking, deliveries and drop-offs at all hours.

The DOT plans to reduce vehicular traffic on 39th Avenue to prioritize it for cyclist usage by reducing speed limits, diverting cars to other streets and making some cross streets one-way as part of the bike boulevard proposal.

The agency also hopes to connect the bike boulevard to existing bike lanes and signed routes. For instance, workers plan to install shared bike lanes on Barnett Avenue and 43rd Street to connect to the Skillman Avenue bike lane.

The DOT aims to transform the five selected streets into bike boulevards by either November or December this year, Mayor Bill de Blasio previously announced in May.

The agency will first present proposals for each bike boulevard to local lawmakers and community boards like Queens Community Board 2 in the coming weeks.

The Queens CB2 meeting Wednesday starts at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom. It is unclear what time during the meeting the DOT will make its presentation.

Lisa Deller, chairperson of the community board, said the board has yet to weigh in on the plan.

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Curtis Sliwa locks up Republican nomination for Mayor

SI Advance

Curtis Sliwa has declared victory in the Republican mayoral primary Tuesday night.

It’s one of the first races to have a winner in this primary season, because with ranked-choice voting and only two candidates appearing on the ballot, the counting process was easier than some of the more crowded races.

Sliwa, originally from Canarsie, has been a presence in the five boroughs for more than 40 years. He founded the Guardian Angels patrol group in 1979, and has been a talk radio presence since the 1990s — his program has been on hiatus since March due to his mayoral run.

At 11 p.m., Sliwa led opponent Fernando Mateo, a business owner and activist, with 69% of the vote, according to tallies from the New York City Board of Elections (BOE). More than 40,000 votes had been counted with 88% of precincts reporting.

On Staten Island, 10,727 votes were counted for Sliwa by 11 p.m., and 4,425 for Mateo. Those more than 15,000 votes were the most cast in any borough for the Republican mayoral primary.

Sliwa will face off against the winner of the Democratic mayoral primary, and Staten Islander Bill Pepitone, who is running on the Conservative Party line.

With all the shit talking that's going to go down between Sliwa and likely Adams combined with the continued rise of felonious crimes, this is going to be the most volatile #SummerofNYC of all time.

Andrew Yang: Loser

MSN News

Andrew Yang appeared in front of his supporters Tuesday night to deliver a concession speech.

Although there won't be an official winner in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary for several weeks, initial returns showed Yang in fourth place.

Unofficial results from in-person voting put Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams in first place, with the former NYPD officer holding a commanding lead of more than 50,000 votes as Yang delivered his speech.

"You all know I am a numbers guy, I'm someone who traffics in what's happening by the numbers, and I am not going to be the next Mayor of New York City, based upon the numbers that have come in tonight," Yang said.

"I am conceding this race, though we're not sure, ultimately, who the next mayor is going to be. But whoever that person is, I will be very happy to work with them to help improve the lives of the 8.3 million people who live in our great city."

Yang entered the race in January with a highly produced announcement video, and lead the early public polling for the next several months.

Adams overtook Yang in some polls by May, and Yang eventually slipped to third and fourth place in other surveys.

Ahead of Yang in the early returns were former New York City Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and civil rights attorney Maya Wiley.

Garcia would need second choice votes from the rest of the field to push her ahead of Adams, along with a potential boost from absentee ballots.

Yang was the first candidate in the primary to concede on Tuesday night.

o·ver·con·fi·dent / (adjective) excessively or unreasonably confident.

The result:

Caption unqualified comptroller candidate Cojo

Monday, June 21, 2021

Desperate White politician ruins underattended Juneteenth festival even more

Micheal Tracey

Juneteenth is officially a federal holiday, and inaugural celebrations are being held across the country this weekend. As always, elected officials never let a good parade or festival-type scenario go to waste. Yesterday, I went to a first-annual Juneteenth event in Jamaica, Queens which attracted the likes of Chuck Schumer, Bill de Blasio, Grace Meng, Gregory Meeks, and other NYC-area politicians who wanted to let everyone know how committed they were to “doing the work” — much of which, naturally, is yet to be done.

Even though this event was organized by a New York State Assemblywoman and, in theory, could’ve been an exciting post-COVID outdoor celebration marking a new federal holiday, the attendance was pretty paltry. I’m not sure if that was due to lack of interest, or poor promotion, or what. Nothing against the vendors and food booths and such — those were all fine. But when Schumer et al. were up on stage yesterday afternoon, they were speaking to a crowd of maybe 50 people. (Although the crowd did grow somewhat after the politicians left, with the arrival of various child dance troupes.)

It’s a bit strange when office-holders who belong to the party which overwhelmingly dominates New York City and State governments, and controls the Presidency and Congress, present themselves as quasi-revolutionary dissenters. But that’s exactly what happened at this soiree, hosted by Democratic Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman. “I just love Southeast Queens, we have the best elected officials ever,” the emcee said, further stating that these elected officials were in the process of “fighting the power.” Her words were uttered while Schumer, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, was posing cheerfully on stage.

After the speeches, Schumer strutted around in his brand new Juneteenth t-shirt in search of the piddling few attendees who recognized him and wanted to talk. He happened upon a father who instructed his young boy to take a photo with the Senator, because having a photo with a Senator is considered impressive. Schumer boastfully corrected the father, reminding him that his proper title is in fact “Majority Leader.” A smiling Schumer repeated this correction more than once. The boy didn’t appear to understand what “Majority Leader” meant, but Schumer’s boast conveyed the message that he was an extremely important person.

Curiously, none of the NYC mayoral candidates — the election is on Tuesday — appeared at this portion of the event, perhaps because none wanted to be caught dead with incumbent mayor Bill de Blasio. At a recent mayoral debate only one candidate, Andrew Yang, indicated that he would like to receive De Blasio’s endorsement. For kicks, I asked De Blasio if he’d decided who he’s voting for in the election. “Nope,” he replied. Asked when he planned on making up his mind, he said, “by Tuesday morning.” ...OK.

de Blasio and the EDC are playing down the capability and spread of the Delta Variant

Progress New York

Two days after the de Blasio administration released the findings of its recent weekly COVID-19 variant sequencing study, showing that the prevalence of the dangerous new strain known as the Delta variant had fallen from 8,4 per cent. to 6,7 per cent., a London newspaper, the Financial Times, published a report, estimating the prevalence of the Delta variant in the U.S. at 31 per cent.

For weeks, Progress New York has published reports, which have raised questions about the accuracy of the weekly variant sequencing studies. These reports initially focused on the plunge in the sample size used in the studies. The de Blasio administration responded by changing the presentation of the variant study results. Then, last week, some data was restated almost wholesale.

It is unknown how Mayor Bill de Blasio (WFP-New York City) will explain the divergence in the variant data. The press office supporting Mayor de Blasio refused on Sunday to admit that the administration was presenting unreliable variant study data.

There’s little transparency to the methodology used by the laboratory to sequence the COVID-19 variants.

Many critics are coming to the fore about the de Blasio administration’s lack of transparency about its weekly variant sequencing studies. One critic, known as @BWMosher on the Twitter social media platform, published some analysis of the latest sequencing study, noting some of the restatements to the data underpinning the weekly studies. In that review, it was noted that the laboratory used by the de Blasio administration to conduct the variant studies, the Pandemic Response Lab, was a creation of the City’s controversial arm that intervenes in the free market system to provide subsidies to large corporations.

The lab, also known by the mnemonic “Pearl” for its initials, or PRL, was created in the summer of 2020 by the New York City Economic Development Corporation, or the NYCEDC, first to conduct tests for COVID-19, according to City Hall information. At some point, PRL began to sequence for variants. That the NYCEDC is behind PRL presents a conflict of interest, because the chambres of commerce in New York City have been pressuring Mayor de Blasio to reopen the economy, so that workers can return to office buildings that still remain largely empty. To that end, the titans of industry have been pressuring for the full reopening of public schools from mere months into the pandemic, so that working families could rely on schools as day care. The reliance on public schools as day care for working families was noted in a mid-year budget report issued in 2020 by the Office of the Comptroller of the City of New York Government. “If public schools don’t reopen, parents of up to a million school children will have to provide their own childcare on at least a part-time basis, inhibiting many parents’ ability to return to full-time work,” the report noted.

Were PRL to report prevalence rates for the Delta variant that mirrored the Financial Times model, then businesses, office buildings, and public schools would face pressure to delay, or cancel, their reopenings. It is not known whether the unreliable sequencing data is a result of the appearance of a conflict of interest for the NYCEDC.

Sunday, June 20, 2021

Driveway Jimmy

Talking to voters at the early voting site in Middle Village. Great response in the blazing sun! Thanks to Ashton Potter for holding it down for #TeamJVB! pic.twitter.com/VSrYoqRULN
— Jimmy Van Bramer (@JimmyVanBramer) June 20, 2021

Jim is one step away from squeegee wiper

Y'all are pathetic

Early voting complete! Day 9
•Manhattan - 60,649
•Bronx - 20,590
•Brooklyn - 65,516
•Queens - 35,361
•Staten Island - 9,081
Total Number of Early Voting Check-Ins 191,197
*Unofficial and Cumulative as of close of polls
— NYC Board of Elections (@BOENYC) June 20, 2021

NYC's feckless officials finally help NYC's homeless services...workers

AMNY

With homelessness one of the most pressing issues in the 2021 mayoral race, it’s more important than ever that those on the street have somewhere safe to sleep. Oftentimes, that means a non-profit shelter. Yet many of the private security officers who work at these shelters are paid so little they can barely afford health insurance – and are even in danger of homelessness themselves.

Now the New York City Council and Mayor Bill DeBlasio are moving to change this, committing 40.5 million dollars to ensure that these essential workers are paid fair, livable wages.

“For over 4,000 working families – their lives are going to change, this year,” said Mayor DeBlasio at a press conference this afternoon. A group of working people, each wearing union shirts, stood behind him. “You can’t ask someone to help solve one of the most challenging problems in society, but not give them enough to put food on their tables, or pay their rent, or take care of their families.”

His description was borne out by a number of speakers. Homeless shelters can be rife with violence; yet many security officers are paid minimum wage, barely enough to sustain an individual, let alone a family. “We cannot afford to live in the city we work,” said Shaquille Sheppard, a private shelter security officer who himself grew up in-and-out of shelters. “Private security jobs are poverty jobs.” Kyle Bragg, president of Local 32BJ, a chapter of the Service Employees International Union, substantiated this, saying that, “while helping the City’s most vulnerable, many of these workers struggle to afford things themselves,” and, “may even find themselves homeless.”

Mayor de Blasio, who promised to end the tale of two cities, and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and his Democrat majority City Council Cronies waited 8 years to finally do something about the homeless crisis by finally allocate funding for a long overdue wage hike for security guards. Sure there’s nothing wrong with wanting to give the people more money especially when tasked to supervise the city’s notoriously violent and decrepit homeless shelters. But there are a bunch of conflicting problems with this.

First, why haven’t the non-profit providers of these city shelters who are already receiving city funding already gave these security guards the living wages they needed?

Saturday, June 19, 2021

Trustafarian City Council candidate caught with his nips clamped

It’s a late-breaking case of electoral bondage.

Zack Weiner, 26, a City Council candidate running in Manhattan, has found his campaign tied up after video of him enjoying a sadomasochism session found its way onto Twitter.

“My magnificent domme friend played with Upper West Side city council candidate Zack Weiner and I’m the only one who has the footage,” reads a tweet from the anonymous account which posted the video last week.

The footage — flagged to The Post by Weiner’s own campaign manager — shows a gagged Weiner, unable to speak, subjecting himself to various abuses by a leather-bound woman who pours wax on him and clips his nipples with clothespins.

The footage was filmed at Parthenon studio in Midtown — which is known for its high-quality BDSM dungeons.

In a call with The Post, Weiner confirmed it was him in the video and said the footage was made about 18 months ago with a former girlfriend he met during a Halloween party in 2019.

“I didn’t want anyone to see that, but here we are. I am not ashamed of the private video circulating of me on Twitter. This was a recreational activity that I did with my friend at the time, for fun. Like many young people, I have grown into a world where some of our most private moments have been documented online.” Weiner said in a statement.

“I am a proud BDSMer. I like BDSM activity,” Weiner told The Post. He refused to name the woman in the video and said he had no idea how on earth the footage surfaced.

“It’s definitely a violation of trust,” he added.

Weiner has a professional background in film production and is the co-founder of Stag Pictures, an independent film production company. Zack’s father, Eric Weiner, is a co-creator of the popular children’s television show “Dora The Explorer.”

Kingmaker Van Bramer

LIC Post

Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer has endorsed Amit Bagga from a sea of candidates vying for his seat in the City Council.

Van Bramer announced his endorsement in the midst of early voting and less than a week away from Election Day.

“In a crowded field, which includes several terrific candidates, I was proud to rank Amit Singh Bagga #1 when I went to vote this past Saturday,” he said in a statement. “Amit is smart, thoughtful, progressive, and has experience in government that will make him effective on day one.”

Van Bramer chose Bagga — the former deputy director of the NYC Census 2020 — out of 15 Democratic candidates on the ballot for the District 26 seat representing Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside and parts of Astoria.

The council member said he would be announcing the names of five other candidates who he believes would be qualified to take his position in the coming days, but wanted to make it clear that Bagga is his top choice.

Van Bramer, who is running for Queens borough president, was previously tight-lipped on who he would endorse as his replacement. However his longtime chief of staff Matt Wallace endorsed Bagga in May and the candidate was spotted at a backyard fundraising event for Van Bramer’s borough president campaign the same month.

Developers clean up in a matter of days

City officials and local lawmakers celebrated the start of the environmental cleanup of Willets Point Wednesday — which paves the way for the redevelopment of the area.

Six acres of land near Citi Field is being remediated to prepare for the construction of three buildings that will include 1,100 affordable apartments, retail and community facility space. There will also be a stand-alone school and public open space.

The ceremonial groundbreaking follows nearly 15 years of wrangling over the fate of the area that has long been occupied by autobody shops and junkyards. The remediation work begins as the city looks to recover from the economic fallout caused by the pandemic.

“A recovery for all of us is happening right here in Queens,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio at the groundbreaking. “Willets Point represents the best of our comeback – new units of affordable housing, more school seats for our children, adding public space and detailed infrastructure improvements.”

The environmental remediation will remove contaminated soil in the brownfield-designated area and replace it with clean fill. Workers will also raise the ground so that the future buildings and infrastructure will be above the floodplain.

The remediation efforts will be completed in 2023. Infrastructure construction is expected to begin in 2022, followed by the construction of the apartment buildings and school in 2024.

The cleanup and first phase of construction will lead to more than 800 construction jobs, according to the city. Upon completion, nearly 200 permanent jobs will be created.

“The environmental cleanup is a critical step in the first phase of the Willets Point project,” said Council Member Francisco Moya, who noted that New York has been dealing with an affordable housing crisis and overcrowding in schools for some time.

“Today we are taking another critical step forward in tackling these issues,” he said.

A large development company has purchased the vacant lot next to St. Sebastian’s School in Woodside for $5.5 million.

United Construction and Development, which has a portfolio of mixed-use buildings throughout Queens, bought the vacant lot from St. Sebastian’s Roman Catholic Church on March 25.

The company confirmed that it purchased the 39-53 57th St. site under the name Woodside 57 Street Realty.

United Construction, located on Northern Boulevard in Corona, is a major player in several large developments in Queens.

It is part of a consortium of developers behind the 68-story Skyline Tower in Long Island City, the tallest building in Queens. It also is the developer of the Justice Avenue Tower in Elmhurst, near the Queens Place Mall.

The Woodside site, once a playground for school children at St. Sebastian’s, is large with a frontage on 57th and 58th streets. The property is 1/2 an acre in size.

On June 8, United Construction filed plans with the Dept. of Buildings calling for the site to be subdivided into 8 tax lots. The company has yet to file building plans.

Friday, June 18, 2021

Brooklyn Bridge cancels vehicle lane for bike lanes

Gothamist

One of the Brooklyn Bridge's car lanes will officially start its transformation into a dedicated bike lane on Monday, June 21st.

The new two-way protected bike path is expected to be completed this fall, at which point the crowded promenade will become pedestrian-only. The plan was previously announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio during his final State of the City address in January.

"The Brooklyn Bridge, one of the nation’s most beloved structures, will this year celebrate its 138th birthday," Department of Transportation Commissioner (and Transportation Alternatives marionette) Hank Gutman said in a statement. "Over that long history, the bridge has changed with the times – as horse-drawn carriages were replaced with trolleys, which were then retired with the advent of car lanes. In the coming months, we are going to transform this bridge we all love once again – this time with new bicycle lanes that invest in the bridge’s more sustainable future."

This isn't going to work. And what will happen when unlicensed motor scooter riders take over the lanes (another thing that de Blasio thinks will solve itself, even after a woman got killed by one of them in a hit-and-run).

Thursday, June 17, 2021

Back to the gold house

Nobody's doing it