The MTA plans to boost service on various express bus lines in a bid
to spur drivers to switch to mass transit as congestion pricing takes
effect in New York City.
Express buses with the highest weekday ridership will see
additional trips per day starting in June should the plan be approved by
the MTA Board this week, according to a document
posted on the MTA’s website. The routes take riders from outer borough
neighborhoods with comparatively scant train access, or none at all, to
the heart of Manhattan.
The routes that will get beefed up service are the BM2 and BM5, both
of which run between southeastern Brooklyn and Midtown Manhattan, as
well as the SIM1C, SIM4C, SIM23, and SIM24 between Staten Island and
Midtown.
The MTA says the intention of the boost is to incentivize drivers to switch over to mass transit as it prepares to implement congestion pricing on June 30.
“This is belt and suspenders,” said Richard Davey, president of New
York City Transit, at the MTA Board meeting on Monday. “You’ve often
heard us say that we have capacity in the subway system and the bus
system, largely because of COVID. But this is an opportunity for us to
continue to improve express bus service in these corridors.”
The plan will be funded with $883,000 per year from the state’s Outer
Borough Transportation Account, which is funded by a surcharge on taxi
and for-hire vehicle trips. The OBTA also funds toll rebates on
outer-borough bridges and will fund a new monthly discount for city riders of the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North.
Congestion pricing is expected to take effect in Manhattan below 60th
Street on June 30, with a $15 toll charged to most motorists and a
higher toll for trucks. The plan has survived numerous rounds of public
review but could still be derailed if any of a number of lawsuits are
successful.
City officials, elected leaders, developers and community members
gathered at the location of a formerly vacant illegal dumping ground on
Beach 44th Street Wednesday to cut the ribbon at the new 35-acre Arverne
East Nature Preserve and Welcome Center along the Rockaway waterfront
in Edgemere.
he preserve represents phase one of an ambitious Arverne East
development project, which will transform more than 100 acres of
underutilized space between Beach 32nd Street and Beach 56th Place into
1,650 units of housing — 80% of which will be affordable, serving
low-income and middle-income individuals and families — in addition to
retail and community space, a hotel and a tap room and brewery.
“The Rockaway renaissance takes another historic step forward,”
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said. “What was once a vacant,
overgrown illegal dumping ground for decades is now a stunning hub of
wildlife and a successful example of what community-centered
sustainability looks like. I could not be prouder of this project or of
the Arverne East development as a whole, which represents
transformational change for a community that had previously been ignored
for generations.”
Richards added that future generations would benefit from resources he
never had while growing up at the nearby Ocean Villages apartments
staring at the blighted oceanfront parcel of land. Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson,
who grew up in Far Rockaway, said he looks forward to the completion of
the preserve and called the Arverne East development a
once-in-a-generation investment.
The community can have affordable housing and environmental
sustainability while enjoying local flora and fauna,” Anderson said.
“The welcome center will be a fitting centerpiece of this relationship
our neighbors will share with the environment. I hope this model of the
first net-zero community in New York City will be an example emulated by
others.”
Queens police are investigating an early-morning shooting on Monday outside a nightclub that left a man dead.
Officers from the 106th Precinct
responded to the scene of a male shot at approximately 1:04 a.m. on
April 29 near the Caribbean Fest Lounge at the intersection of 117th
Street and Rockaway Boulevard in South Ozone Park.
When officers arrived, they found a male covered in blood after being
shot multiple times throughout his body, including his head, chest, leg
and abdomen, law enforcement sources said.
EMS were on scene and transported the victim to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Six unknown caliber shell casings were recovered on scene, according
to police sources. No arrests have been made, and the investigation
remains ongoing.
The name of the victim is being held pending family notification, police said.
A total of 1,412 units across six upcoming luxury buildings are expected to transform the Queens Plaza area in Long Island City by creating much-needed housing in the area.
All six projects are expected to be completed as early as this year
and no later than 2026. As each project nears completion, the housing
units will be put on the market.
One of the projects anticipated to be completed this year is the Noble,
at 27-09 40th Ave. This luxury condominium building will consist of 46
units across six floors. Among the amenities for homeowners are indoor
parking, bike storage, a residents lounge, a fitness center, rooftop
terraces and personal storage lockers. The building is also
pet-friendly. This project was developed by Gus Vorillas and Tony Raouf,
and the architect is HCN Architect.
The other project expected to be completed in 2024 is the Mason,
at 40-46 24th St. Another luxury condominium building, the Mason, will
consist of 42 units across six floors. Amenities for each unit include
washers and dryers and Latch
keyless entry doors. A majority of the homes there will have private
outdoor spaces. Jasper Wu is the developer of this project and the
architect is My Architect P.C..
For months, members of Grace Episcopal Church in Jamaica have
complained of being hit with traffic tickets when they drop off elderly
people and those with limited mobility in front of the church on Jamaica
Avenue, where the city’s Department of Transportation installed a
busway in late 2021. Since then, parishioners have been working with
area elected officials and the DOT to find a solution.
With
tickets starting at $50 for parking in the busway and increasing up to
$500 after several offenses, the cost has weighed on churchgoers. But
part of the problem, says church vestry member Annette Manigault, was
the lack of clarity on how the street and bus cameras ticketing drivers
worked.
“We’re trying to make sure we can get the parishioners,
especially our elderly or disabled, into the church, because no one was
in knowledge of how the cameras are working, as well as the location
being not accessible for cars coming down Jamaica Avenue,” she said.
She
added that the nearest parking lots are several blocks away, making the
need to drop off those with limited mobility all the more vital.
Under
busway rules, no through traffic is allowed on Jamaica Avenue from
Sutphin Boulevard to 168th Street, seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 8
p.m.; cars on the avenue must make the first available turn off of it.
In
a recent walk-through of the site, which was attended by Queens
Commissioner Nicole Garcia, the DOT clarified to parishioners that the
busway does not prevent cars from accessing a given block of Jamaica
Avenue — it tickets drivers from continuing down it for more than a
block. Therefore, there are several ways churchgoers can drop off their
loved ones in front of the church without facing tickets, as detailed in
a DOT pamphlet the agency said it handed out at the walk-through.
If
traveling south on Parsons Boulevard, drivers can turn right onto
Jamaica Avenue, stop in front of the church, then turn right onto 153rd
Street. Drivers coming from the east on Archer Avenue can turn right
onto Parsons Boulevard before turning left onto Jamaica and making their
drop off, then continuing onto 153rd Street. From the west, drivers on
Archer Avenue can turn left onto 153rd Street and then right onto
Jamaica Avenue. After stopping, they can turn right onto Parsons
Boulevard and then right onto Archer again. The latter does, however,
require churchgoers to cross the street.
During a Cambria Heights Civic Association Zoom meeting last
Thursday, many residents aired their concerns about what will become of a
defunct area Rite Aid, located at 222-14 Linden Blvd.
Throughout
the online forum, several people said they had heard rumors that the new
owner of the former pharmacy’s lot intends to transform the space into a
transient shelter and worried that could destroy property values and
create safety problems.
Under the city Department of Buildings
certificate of occupancy, or CofO, Comments section, it was noted that
“the facility shall be operated by a philanthropic or non-profit
institution, sponsored by [the Department of Homeless Services] ... This
certificate shall expire when the ownership operation and use by an
institution or public agency ... ceases. The Class B multiple dwelling
classification of this building is lodging house.”
DOB’s
job filing data says there are no work permits filed, but the zoning
information, scope of work and cost affidavit sections have proposals
for a transient lodging house, which would include a community facility,
a cafeteria and eight dwelling units for 120 beds. If the proposal were
to go through, the project is expected to cost $607,170 in property
alterations.
Bryan Block, the president of CHCA, said there were about 60 objections to the proposed project as of April 11.
Some
of the objections to converting the space include a lack of egress, the
parking layout, the elevation of the lot, the noncombustible rooftop
hatch and whether the property was in a flood zone, according to DOB.
“The
civic was not notified about this and nothing came to the community
board,” said Block, “Yes, there was a rumor going around, but there was
nothing filed until a couple weeks ago. So, when we said it was a rumor,
it was because we didn’t have anything in writing from about three
weeks ago. We don’t go on rumors, we go on what we get from the city and
we still haven’t gotten anything from the city.”
The lot is zoned
R3-2, which in general denotes residential districts that allow a
variety of housing types, including low-rise attached houses, small
multifamily apartment houses, and detached and semidetached one- and
two-family residences. It is the lowest-density zoning district in which
multiple dwellings are permitted in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and
the Bronx, according to the Department of City Planning.
“The
site where the building is located is ... zoned residential, but it has a
commercial overlay, which allowed the Rite Aid commercial use there,”
said Steven Taylor, a CHCA board member. “The point I’m making is, they
have the ability to make this for residential use even though we’ve
always looked at it as a commercial use.”
The lot is 20,460 square
feet, including the 10,000-square-foot commercial building and 30
parking spots. It is a six- to 11-minute drive from five Long Island
Rail Road stations, the E,F, J and Z subway stations and the JFK
AirTrain. It was put up for sale on Dec. 12, 2023 and sold for $5
million on Feb. 16, according to several real estate websites.
State
Sen. Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) said seeking an injunction against the
DOB to prevent a shelter from being erected in the space could be a
possibility.
“I’m going to check with the councilmember if one has not been filed,” Comrie said.
Seventeen Eastern Queens civic leaders reiterated their opposition to
the state’s redevelopment plan for much of the Creedmoor Psychiatric
Center property last week after Borough President Donovan Richards
touted it as a “community-led effort” in a newsletter.
Area civic
groups oppose the plan because, they say, it will be too dense for the
region, with buildings that are too tall and lack adequate parking, and
that it will be too great a strain on existing infrastructure including
roads and sewers.
Richards, who regularly speaks of the need for
more housing in Queens and touts the projects slated to produce it,
included an item headlined “A New Day is Dawning at Creedmoor” in a
newsletter his office said was mailed to tens of thousands of homes
across Queens last week. The missive was timed to follow his April 12
State of the Borough address.
“The
largest community development project in the history of Eastern Queens
is on the horizon in the form of Borough President Richards and Empire
State Development’s draft Creedmoor Community Master Plan,” the piece
says. “The community-led effort aims to redevelop 50 vacant acres of
state land through the creation of more than 2,000 units of housing,
with 55 percent being designated for homeownership.”
Empire State
Development, the agency planning the project, has proposed 2,873 units
of housing on 58 acres of the Creedmoor campus. The plan includes 813
elevator co-ops in buildings of six to eight stories, 536 walk-up co-ops
in buildings of three to four stories, 186 triplexes in three-story
structures and 98 semidetached two-family homes of two stories. There
would be 377 senior homes, 431 supportive housing units and 432
apartments deemed affordable and granted by lottery, in buildings of six
to eight stories.
The civic leaders said in a letter emailed to
Richards on April 19 that they object to his calling the project
“community-led,” since area neighborhood organizations do not support
the plan and saw their own proposals for the property overridden.
They want a maximum of 1,000 units of two to three stories, and note that Community Board 13 passed a resolution to that effect.
“The
plan by Empire State Development is not acceptable,” the civics’ letter
says. “The layout is primarily four story, six story and eight story
buildings, which are not compatible with our communities. In fact,
except for one six story apartment building at 259th Street you will not
find anything on the Hillside Avenue corridor from Winchester Boulevard
to the city line higher than two stories.”
New York voters overwhelmingly reject having to pay a new $15 “congestion” toll to enter Midtown Manhattan, a statewide poll released Monday shows.
The Siena College survey finds that 63% of voters throughout the
Empire State oppose the toll, while only 25% support the pricing scheme
promoted by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA to curb congestion and
generate nearly $1 billion a year to fund mass transit.
In New York City, 64% of voters are against the first-in-the-nation
congestion pricing plan to enter the Manhattan business district south
of 60th Street compared to just 33% who back it.
An even higher 72% of voters who reside in the suburbs surrounding
the Big Apple — more likely to drive than take mass transit into
Manhattan — oppose the controversial toll that the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority could implement as early as June.
Opposition to the toll is one of the few issues that unifies all cross-segments of New York voters.
The new toll is opposed by 72% of blacks, 62% of Latinos, 62% of
union households, 75% of Republicans, 69% of independent or unaffiliated
voters, 75% of Republicans and even a majority 54% of Democrats.
Congestion pricing is being implemented because of a state law championed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democrat-controlled legislature in 2019 — yet only 34% of Democrats support it.
Hochul, Cuomo’s successor, has defended congestion pricing as a good thing amid a plethora of lawsuits to block it.
“A majority of Democrats, two-thirds of independents and
three-quarters of Republicans oppose the soon-expected congestion
pricing toll plan, as do approximately two-thirds of downstaters and a
majority of upstaters,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.
One in seven voters — 14% of respondents — said they would travel
less to Manhattan to avoid the toll, while 17% said they would find
another way to get to Midtown that could include mass transit.
Another 14% of respondents said the toll would have no effect on
their travel patterns while 44% said they don’t go to Manhattan. The
poll queried upstaters who rarely venture into the Big Apple.
Congestion pricing imposes a $15 toll on cars traveling anywhere
below 60th Street between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9
p.m. on weekends.
Unwanted visitors are residing in the long-closed Triple Crown Diner
in Bellerose, according to members of the local business community.
Joe, who runs a restaurant across the street, told PIX11 News the
squatters enter at night via a rear staircase that leads to the roof:
“You’ll see people just randomly walking out of there. I pay close
attention. You’ll see a lot of garbage stacked up right there.”
Behind the diner, there’s a shed with a mattress on the ground. The identity of the alleged squatters remained unclear as of Friday afternoon.
“I know it has been reported to the 105th Precinct and it’s been
reported by them that they’ve come and located an opening in the
ceiling, the roof, that they’ve covered with plywood,” said Richard
Hellenbrecht, the treasurer of the Bellerose Civic Association. “For
anyone to get inside and squat in the diner is really terrible.
Another business owner, Jack, told PIX11 the neighborhood has recently seen some changes for the worse.
“Well, they shouldn’t be living there. They’re vagrants. It ruins our
business – it runs the businesses in the area. Sure, it bothers you,
but what can you do about it?”
Construction of a new community center in Queens serving young
adults with special needs is well underway – and long delayed, says
property owner Young Seh Bae.
It’s all thanks to a squatter identified by the Sheriff’s Office as Sean Johnson.
Investigators said he set up camp in the now demolished home
that once stood on a lot in the fall of 2022, and then illegally
claimed residence after being there for more than 30 days.
“They just broke into the house using the back door,” said Bae.
The Sheriff’s Office also confirmed marshals recovered a gun from
inside the home where Johnson was squatting, adding he was not present
to be taken into custody.
“They caused a nightmare for us. There were people coming and going.
They would come on to our side of the sidewalk to intimidate us,” said
Angela, who lives across the street.
Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday said he supports updating squatters’
rights, which were originally enacted to help protect against bad
landlords.
“There was a reason that squatters’ law was put in place. And I think
people are starting to exploit what some of those reasons are,” said
Adams.
Under current New York State law, squatters are considered tenants if
they have had possession for 30 consecutive days or longer.
Bae said it ultimately took more than six months and six-figures in
legal fees to finally reclaim the property her family rightfully owns.
“It was very frustrating, not only mentally but financially. I have to say about $100,000,” said Bae.
State Sen. John Liu acknowledged his newly proposed legislation may
not be useful to responding police officers, but he added it will help
homeowners in a courtroom.
Liu’s bill clearly defines a squatter as someone who enters onto a property or building without title, right, or permission…”
The bill bans them from accessing a tenant’s rights and protections
under the law, and states squatters do not get any rights, even after 30
days of possession.
““New York State law, as it pertains to housing and property, it’s not
the easiest thing — no question. We need to erase any kind of ambiguity
in our state laws, and this bill will do just that,” said Liu.
Queens residents spoke out with frustrations Wednesday about a
run-down property in their neighborhood that they say is attracting
squatters.
“Sometimes the front door is actually creeped open. For years, people
have just been coming in, dumping garbage,” said Kamran, describing the
neglected house next to the home he’s lived in since childhood.
When Kamran says “years,” he means more than a decade.
During that time, he and his neighbors say there have been squatters
coming in and out of the run-down home.
The home, located at 245-04 Union Turnpike in Bellerose, is barely
visible behind the tall brush. Lydia lives within eyeshot of what she
says is an eyesore.
“When I see people there that I know are squatters, or they don’t
belong there because it’s been empty so long, I just call 911,” said
Lydia.
This is the third time in the last week PIX11 News has reported about a suspected squatting situation in Queens, from a now torn-down home in Bayside, to squatters who allegedly entered through the roof of the closed Triple Crown Diner – also in Bellerose.
PIX11 News took Queens Borough President Donovan Richards on a virtual tour of the property Wednesday.
The tour included a growing collection of New York City Department of
Sanitation tickets issued to the registered owner – Jan Robert Fortin –
who has no listed number and whose son did not answer PIX11 News’ phone
call requesting comment.
“So how do we resolve this issue? We need a change at the state law.
Yes, enforcement is one key piece of it. OK, they are going to end up on
Rikers on a trespass charge possibly. I also have to allude to the fact
that we are in a housing crisis, and people are squatting largely
because we are in this crisis,” said Richards.
The good news? About an hour after PIX11 News started reaching out to
multiple agencies, including the health department, Housing
Preservation and Development, and the buildings and sanitation
departments, a sanitation supervisor arrived at the house to assess the
situation.
Hundreds of freshly-planted trees have been ripped out of a Queens
park by vandals to clear the greenspace for their DIY dirt bike track —
and angry locals are calling on authorities to track down the “very
selfish” bikers.
Some 300 shrubs and saplings, planted by volunteers last year not far
from a cycling velodrome, were reported to have been uprooted at
Kissena Park in Flushing on April 7, the Parks Department said.
“It makes me angry because I love this park. I have been living here
for many years. It’s very selfish because this is for the public.
They’re only thinking about their own pleasure,” Jane, a Flushing
substitute teacher who declined to give her last name, told The Post.
The teacher, who has
lived in the neighborhood for 20 years, said she was worried that
reckless off-road bikers could potentially hurt her dog, who she
regularly walks in the park.“It can be dangerous if they’re going to be riding their dirt bikes
here. They usually ride fast. They could run over my dog,” she added.
Photos of the destruction, which will cost the city approximately
$15,000 to fix, show overturned soil near paths filled with deep tire
tracks. The paths, which appear to have been used by off-road bikes, are
littered with broken branches from trees above and plant roots.
Officials said the vandals dug up recently planted trees and cut down
portions of other, more mature trees that were part of a larger
reforestation effort across 5,000 square feet of the park.
The city’s parks department is working with the NYPD to investigate
the crime, Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue said in a statement.
“Trees are so essential to our city – not just for beautifying our
neighborhoods but also for cleaning our air, providing much-needed
shade, and absorbing stormwater. That’s why it’s so unthinkable that
someone would do this,” Donoghue said.
Gobind Singh Negi, 55, a former cab driver who takes daily walks
through the park, was also angered by the destruction and slammed it as
selfish.
Volunteers planting trees last Wednesday, April 10, in Flushing’s
Kissena Park for a reforestation project were shocked to discover that
300 others they had put in the ground over the last two years, worth
almost $15,000 according to the Department of Parks and Recreation, had
been pulled out, tossed aside and clipped to make way for a new dirt
trail.
Members of the volunteer group Kissena Synergy were joined
at the same spot by Parks officials, NYPD officers and area elected
officials Monday to denounce the vandalism and ask for help in finding
those responsible. Leona Chin, a community activist leading efforts to
plant more trees in the park, said the arborcide felt like “a betrayal.”
“It was devastating, it’s personal; our investment is our time,” Chin said at the event.
The
trail cuts through land where 2,000 new trees had been planted as a
part of a reforestation effort in the park by the Parks Department and
Kissena Synergy that began in 2022. Though the purpose of the trail is
unconfirmed, it appears to have been made to accommodate ATVs, dirt
bikes or mountain bikes, as the path features a jump and a U-shaped turn
common on bike trails. Tire marks could be found in the dirt on Monday.
Volunteers
with Kissena Synergy, founded by Chin, work in the area five days a
week, between Tuesday and Saturday. NYPD Assistant Chief Christine
Bastedenbeck, the Queens Patrol Borough North commander, said at
Monday’s press conference that the incident most likely happened
sometime over the previous weekend. Chin said she believes the vandalism
occurred sometime on Sunday, April 7, when the volunteers weren’t
there.
Chin said volunteers had added branches, logs, rocks and
other debris across the trail on Wednesday, April 10, to deter riders
from using it. However, the debris was cleared up overnight when the
volunteers returned to the site last Thursday to discover fresh bike
tracks and a cleared trail. Chin said this felt particularly insulting.
“We’re
just angry they thought it was their property to destroy,” she said in
an interview. “And then, like I said, to come back and re-clear trails
again ... We’re just pleading with the community [to report any new
vandalism] because they were the ones that actually noticed, and we’ve
had community members reach out to us to tell us things that they have
seen.”
Bastedenbeck
said law enforcement is looking into the incident. Specifically, she
said, additional officers were deployed to the area and detectives were
interviewing people in the park and the surrounding perimeter to gather
more information on the incident. Bastedenbeck urged Kissena Park
visitors and community members to report any illegal motor vehicles in
the area.
“We were alerted to the damage in this park on
Wednesday, this past week, and believe that the destruction may have
happened the prior weekend. Our detectives are currently investigating
this incident,” Bastedenbeck said. She encouraged residents to contact
the police if they see anyone operating an ATV, dirt bike or moped in
city parks.
Willets Point’s long-awaited transformation from industrial wasteland to Queens’ newest neighborhood got the green light from the City Council Thursday.
The legislature approved on Apr. 11 a massive redevelopment that includes a brand new soccer stadium for the New York City Football Club (NYCFC),
which has played home games at Yankee Stadium or Citi Field since its
inception, and a 100% 2,500-unit affordable housing project that is the
city’s largest in four decades.
Mayor Eric Adams called the plan “the goal of the decade” that will
generate billions of dollars in new economic activity, and tens of
thousands of jobs, through not only the new soccer stadium and housing,
but also more than 20,000 square feet of retail and a 250-room hotel.
“We’re building a brand-new community out of the ‘Valley of Ashes’,
and we couldn’t have done it without all our partners, including
Councilmember [Francisco] Moya and the rest of the City Council,
[Queens] Borough President [Donovan] Richards, NYCFC, Queens Development
Group, our union members, and everyone living in Willets Point who made
their voices heard and demanded a new future for themselves,” the mayor
said on Thursday. “After today’s vote, we’re one step closer to
delivering that future.”
For years, the city and the Queens community has debated the fate of
Willets Point, which for decades has been home to junkyards, auto repair
shops and light industry. Even as Shea Stadium rose and was eventually
replaced by Citi Field, the industry in the “Valley of Ashes” persisted
beyond the Mets outfield while visions for redevelopment never seemed to
get off the ground.
Thousands of New York City Football Club (NYCFC)
fans packed Citi Field on Saturday, Apr. 6, for the team’s first home
game in Queens this season, playing against Atlanta United FC. This
match marked the beginning of a series of five straight home games,
equaling the club’s all-time record for consecutive home matches.
Fans from across the five boroughs
packed Citi Field to support their “Boys in Blue” for an eventful night.
Kick-off was scheduled for 7 p.m., but fans, especially from NYCFC’s
official supporter groups, arrived early for pregame celebrations
outside the stadium.
The match started with NYCFC’s early
possession of the ball to mount almost-immediate pressure, including a
header from center back Thiago Martins that was parried away by the
Atlanta United keeper.
NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese was
impressive in his own right, saving multiple attempts from Atlanta. In
the tenth minute, he showed the breadth of his skills, catching a header
directed toward his goal comfortably.
In the 39th minute, NYCFC was awarded a penalty. Santiago Rodriguez put the hosts in front from the spot for his third goal of the season in the 42nd minute.
Tensions were rising in the second
half and Atlanta pressure paid off in the 66th minute when Jamal Thiare
found an equalizer that ultimately rescued a point for the visitors —
the match ending in a 1-1 draw.
Rodriguez was awarded the Man of the
Match honors, but NYCFC’s slow start to the season continued as they
have taken just five points (1-2-4) from their first seven games of the
2024 MLS season.
The Democratic primary challenger to New York Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez fired off a letter to CBS demanding equal time after “Late Night” host Stephen Colbert’s fawning interview with the three-term lefty incumbent on Monday.
Candidate Martin Dolan,
who is squaring off against AOC in the June 25 primary for the 14th
congressional district encompassing parts of Queens and The Bronx,
accused CBS of giving the incumbent free air time to promote her
reelection bid.
“CBS just gave $300,000 in free air time to AOC. We want equal time,” Dolan told The Post Wednesday.
“Give us a fair fight,” Dolan, a 66-year-old former Wall Street
banker and Westchester County native, said later in a letter to CBS.
Dolan claimed that under Federal Communication Commission rules covering broadcast networks, he’s entitled to equal air time.
“Section 315(a) of the FCC rules requires stations that allow
candidates to use their facilities to give equal
opportunities to all other candidates,” reads the letter, obtained by
The Post. “There are exceptions for news, not for entertainment shows,
or the result can be what you see around the world: incumbent regimes
dominating their press.”
During the more than 10-minute interview, Colbert joked with AOC
about the eclipse and her interest in becoming a scientist as a student.
He then gave her time to explain her positions including calling Israel’s retaliatory response in Gaza “genocide” and discuss her thoughts on Democrats who voted blank or
uncommitted in the primary in protest of President Biden’s response.
AOC also claimed credit for Biden’s move to cancel student loan debt
There were no hard-hitting follow-up questions.
Colbert did ask one softball question, whether the democratic socialist would back Biden’s re-election. She said she would.
City Council members on Monday voiced
several concerns over Mayor Eric Adams’ sweeping “City of Yes” zoning
amendment designed to make it easier for Big Apple businesses to operate
and expand.
Legislators grilled Department of City Planning (DCP) officials over certain components of the 18-point plan, known as the “City of Yes for Economic Opportunity,” during a Monday hearing. The proceeding followed the City Planning Commission’s (CPC) approving the measure last month.
Dan Garodnick, who serves as both DCP
commissioner and CPC chair, said the proposal is aimed at modernizing
zoning rules that were written over 60 years ago, which he described as
“too complex, restricted and outdated.” It seeks to fill the nearly
17,000 storefronts across the five boroughs, while allowing businesses
to open and expand into spaces where they are not currently permitted.
“It will help revitalize commercial
corridors, fill vacant storefronts and boost our economic recovery
across the board,” the mayor said at a rally preceding the hearing.
Bronx City Council Member Kevin
Riley, chair of the council’s Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee, said
he is concerned the plan does not address the concentration of “last mile”
large package distribution warehouses — utilized by e-commerce
companies like Amazon — in some corners of the city. The problem is
particularly acute in areas like Red Hook, Brooklyn, and Hunts Point in
the Bronx, Riley said.
“The city needs to rethink
comprehensively how packages are being delivered to our homes and the
concentration of large packaging warehouses in certain neighborhoods,”
Riley said.
The council member also raised the
alarm about the city Department of Buildings’ (DOB) ability to enforce
the rule changes with its current resources and staffing levels.
“The Department of Buildings does not
have the needed staff or resources to address violations of the zoning
resolution,” he added. “The administration needs to pledge to increase
DOB’s resources so that our quality of life concerns that our
communities are rightfully raising are fully addressed.”
The plan would allow “clean
manufacturing” — like 3-D printers and jewelry makers — to operate in
commercial districts, make it so more businesses can operate on upper
floors of buildings and authorize new corner businesses like bodegas to
open in residential zones. Additionally, the changes would clear the way
for life sciences labs to open near hospitals and allow for activities
like dancing that are currently barred in some commercial zones.
Council Member Alexa Aviles
(D-Brooklyn) who represents Red Hook, said there was a “full omission”
of proposals to address the concentration of last mile facilities in the
plan.
“We know the climate impacts, the
polluting impacts, the thousands of additional diesel trucks in our
community and yet no portion of this has addressed that in earnest,”
Aviles said, referring to the pollution from trucks picking up packages
from the facilities.
Garodnick said regulating the
facilities is a “challenging topic,” but noted that zoning changes might
not be the best way to address what is partially a transportation
issue.
“We can certainly commit to turning
over all land use possibilities [and] working with our partners at the
city and state,” he said. “You have my commitment to continue to work
with you on that.”
City Hall spokesperson William Fowler later insisted, in a statement,
that adding a requirement for companies to seek a “special permit” for
citing last-mile warehouses, as Aviles seeks to do, would be out of the
legal scope of the plan.
“While we urge the City Council to adopt ‘City of Yes for Economic
Opportunity’ as we continue to craft policy for last-mile warehouses and
logistics in New York City more broadly, a special permit is not
legally allowed to be added to the proposal,” Fowler said.
In a separate line of questioning,
Council Member Lynn Schulmann (D-Queens), asked how DOB will manage
enforcing the zoning changes with limited staff and resources. Garodnick
insisted that the zoning changes will actually lighten the workload for
DOB enforcers by “clarifying” the rules.
“This proposal is designed to make it
easier for them to read, respond to and enforce the rules that we’re
putting on the books,” Garodnick said.
Queens accounted for the most foreclosures among the New York City
boroughs in the first quarter of 2024, with 191, according to a report by the real estate agency PropertyShark.
These 191 foreclosures accounted for 45% of the 424 cases that
occurred in New York City this quarter. Its volume was equivalent to the
amount of first-time filings in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island
combined. This amount of foreclosures also marked the most in Queens
since there were 294 in the first quarter of 2020, when the COVID-19
pandemic began.
The 11377 zip code, which covers parts of Woodside, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside and South Astoria,
earned the designation as the foreclosure epicenter of New York City.
There were a total of 31 foreclosures that occurred within that zip code
for the first quarter this year.
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a pair of alleged squatters who sued the owners of a $930,000 Queens home after cops escorted them off the property last month.
“The case is over,” the couple’s attorney Rizpah Morrow told
reporters outside Queens Civil Court Friday, shortly after Judge Vijay
Kitson discontinued the case with prejudice, meaning the claim cannot be
refiled.
“The landlords, the owners, own the house, they have possession. The
people who said they were locked out have walked away from the
situation. They are no longer requesting to be restored to possession
and we still have their stuff,” she said.
The two men did not show up for their scheduled court appearance.
One of the home’s owners, Juliya Fulman, told reporters that although
they prevailed in the case, the systemic issues it highlights remain,
making it a hollow victory.
“Right now, there is a very big problem with these criminals and
these squatters. Lawmakers need to make laws in order to protect the
people, the citizens,” she told The Post outside the courtroom.
“These criminals are trying to drive people out of New York, and that is not going to happen,” she continued.
“I still don’t feel like I have the full justice in this case because
there are people who broke into my house. They claimed they had
property there. I would like to know how they got property there.”
The couple had spent over half a million dollars renovating the
Jamaica residence as an investment property. Fulman told The Post last
week that she incurred thousands of dollars in legal fees defending the
ownership of her home.
“I want justice. I want these people to come forward. I want them to
say how they got into the house, how their belongings got there, and
yeah, it would be very good for them to reimburse us for all of our time
and legal fees, so coming here today I don’t know if we accomplished
much,” she said.
The suit, filed March 14, had claimed the men were unlawfully removed
from the residence, which they said they were legally renting from
Fulman and her partner Denis Kurlyand since January.
A resounding NO for the “City of Yes” echoed throughout the halls of the Ridgewood Presbyterian Church during a Ridgewood
property owners meeting early last month, as urban planner Paul
Graziano presented his argument against Mayor Eric Adams’ initiative.
The Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association,
comprised of dozens of Ridgewood denizens, expressed concerns about the
economic and housing aspects of the plan. They are worried about how
these changes could affect a neighborhood known for its rich city
history and numerous small businesses, especially given the existing
challenges related to multi-family housing.
Graziano, who continues to present his findings on the City of Yes to
civic groups across the city, gave Ridgewood natives a unique look at
how the potential changes to zoning text amendments across the city
could specifically impact Ridgewood’s quality-of-life.
Dozens of property owners at the civic meeting each took pen and
paper to share their concerns in letters to the Mayor and City Council,
motivated by Graziano’s presentation.
Ahead of a detailed report specifically looking at Ridgewood
neighborhoods, Graziano said the impact of the City of Yes could change
the neighborhood more than expected.
“This is an apocalypse, a nuclear bomb, whatever you want to call
it,” said Graziano, while emphasizing that if this is approved in any
form, communities will become unrecognizable.
The City of Yes plans to modernize and update the city’s zoning
regulations to support small businesses, create affordable housing, and
promote sustainability, as it’s written on the New York City Department
of City Planning website.
The three step plan listed on the DCP’s website, and as part of the
Mayor’s initiative, is to turn the city into a modern hub for
businesses- allowing for a growing push for renewable energy, providing
legislative changes for more building spaces, and focusing on building
housing in a seamless way.
Within the city’s plans, Graziano claims that there are greater
changes to what Ridgewood natives know as city life if the City of Yes
is approved without further considerations. One particular change
involves the conversion of multi-family dwellings into apartment style
complexes on residential neighborhoods.
“The department of city planning and the Mayor have stated publicly
that lower density neighborhoods are the cause of the housing crisis and
therefore must be eliminated,” Graziano said, adding that the purpose
of the zoning changes are to allow developers to build without
limitations.
Graziano states that the construction of additional apartment
complexes would be particularly noticeable in areas of Ridgewood
characterized by multi-family homes that stand alone, not attached to
other buildings. Furthermore, the City of Yes initiative aims to allow
the creation of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) — small, separate living
spaces — which could be constructed in a property owner’s backyard.
Graziano has estimated that, if the City of Yes proposal is approved
without any modifications, a site that currently has two detached singe
family homes could be replaced by an apartment complex with 43 units. In
his presentation, Graziano says the two houses make up slightly under
40,000 square feet, which could make space for a 43 unit building.
“Why would you want to allow this in residential areas?” Graziano asked.
With the MTA’s Queens Bus Network Redesign project in its final stages, Community Board 11 in Northeast Queens voted down a motion endorsing the proposal as it currently stands.
At their meeting on Monday, Apr. 1,
board members and local residents said their main problem is with the
changes to the Q13 and Q31 bus routes in Bayside.
In particular, Bell Boulevard, a popular commercial corridor for
shopping and dining which is part of the bus routes, would see a
significant reduction in bus service if the plan goes into effect as
is.
Despite the concerns, the board’s
transportation committee decided to approve the plan given the vast
improvements that the MTA made based on community input from initial
drafts.
But at the end of the meeting, where
issues with the bus redesign plan were one of the main topics of
discussion, the motion to recommend the plan failed to pass in a vote of
19-14.
The MTA’s initiative to rehaul the
city’s largest bus system first launched in 2019 with the goal of
providing faster and more convenient service to see an increase in
ridership. The process was paused due to the pandemic until it was
restarted in 2021. After rounds of drafts based on community input, the
final plan was published in Dec. 2023.
Throughout the review process, community boards have analyzed the
proposed route adjustments within their districts, attended detailed
presentations by MTA representatives, and voiced their concerns.
“We’ve been working on this… for
years,” said CB11 Transportation Committee Chair Victor Dadras. “I will
say that we had lots of issues. The MTA to their credit, did extensive
work based upon the comments they received, not just from us, but from
the community.”
However, the board members were
unable to overlook their two primary concerns and thus could not align
their vote with the transportation committee’s recommendation. Their
concerns were reinforced by members of the Bayside Village Business Improvement District, local civic groups and transportation advocates.
They collectively cited their
disapproval with the reduction in service along Bell Boulevard, which
could hurt both local businesses and the consumers. They also cite the
proposed increase in distance between stops as a major drawback of the
plan overall.
The existing Q31 runs between Bay
Terrace and Jamaica along Utopia Parkway. And under the new plan, 84
stops will be removed along Bell Boulevard, 47th Avenue, 48th Avenue.
While the route will be extended by slightly more than a mile, the
average distance between stops is increasing from 762 feet to 1,224
feet.
Increased spacing between stops under that new plan has been a chief concern
among critics of the plan who say it would be a burden for those with
mobility issues such as elderly and disabled riders. But the MTA says
that it will allow them to speed up service by cutting out stops they
say are underutilized.
The Q13, which goes from Fort Totten
to Flushing, will still run along Bell Boulevard but 6 stops in each
direction will be removed. Along the entire route, the average distance
between stops will almost double from 688 feet to 1,146 feet under the
new proposal.
“We’ll have no way to get to the
shopping and restaurants on Bell,” said board member Jena Lanzetta, who
is also President of the Northwest Bayside Civic Association. “We need
to go back to the drawing board and I will not be voting for this.”
An artificial intelligence-powered chatbot created by New York City
to help small business owners is under criticism for dispensing bizarre
advice that misstates local policies and advises companies to violate
the law.
But days after the issues were first reported
last week by tech news outlet The Markup, the city has opted to leave
the tool on its official government website. Mayor Eric Adams defended
the decision this week even as he acknowledged the chatbot’s answers
were “wrong in some areas.”
Launched in October as a “one-stop shop” for business owners, the chatbot offers users algorithmically generated text responses to questions about navigating the city’s bureaucratic maze.
It
includes a disclaimer that it may “occasionally produce incorrect,
harmful or biased” information and the caveat, since-strengthened, that
its answers are not legal advice.
It continues to dole out false guidance, troubling experts who say
the buggy system highlights the dangers of governments embracing
AI-powered systems without sufficient guardrails.
“They’re
rolling out software that is unproven without oversight,” said Julia
Stoyanovich, a computer science professor and director of the Center for
Responsible AI at New York University. “It’s clear they have no
intention of doing what’s responsible.”
In responses to questions posed Wednesday, the chatbot falsely
suggested it is legal for an employer to fire a worker who complains
about sexual harassment, doesn’t disclose a pregnancy or refuses to cut
their dreadlocks. Contradicting two of the city’s signature waste
initiatives, it claimed that businesses can put their trash in black
garbage bags and are not required to compost.
At times, the bot’s answers veered into the absurd. Asked if a
restaurant could serve cheese nibbled on by a rodent, it responded:
“Yes, you can still serve the cheese to customers if it has rat bites,”
before adding that it was important to assess the “the extent of the
damage caused by the rat” and to “inform customers about the situation.”
A spokesperson for Microsoft, which powers the bot through its Azure
AI services, said the company was working with city employees “to
improve the service and ensure the outputs are accurate and grounded on
the city’s official documentation.”
At a press conference Tuesday,
Adams, a Democrat, suggested that allowing users to find issues is just
part of ironing out kinks in new technology.
“Anyone that knows
technology knows this is how it’s done,” he said. “Only those who are
fearful sit down and say, ‘Oh, it is not working the way we want, now we
have to run away from it all together.’ I don’t live that way.”
Stoyanovich called that approach “reckless and irresponsible.”An artificial intelligence-powered chatbot created by New York City
to help small business owners is under criticism for dispensing bizarre
advice that misstates local policies and advises companies to violate
the law.
But days after the issues were first reported
last week by tech news outlet The Markup, the city has opted to leave
the tool on its official government website. Mayor Eric Adams defended
the decision this week even as he acknowledged the chatbot’s answers
were “wrong in some areas.”
Launched in October as a “one-stop shop” for business owners, the chatbot offers users algorithmically generated text responses to questions about navigating the city’s bureaucratic maze.
It
includes a disclaimer that it may “occasionally produce incorrect,
harmful or biased” information and the caveat, since-strengthened, that
its answers are not legal advice.
It continues to dole out false guidance, troubling experts who say
the buggy system highlights the dangers of governments embracing
AI-powered systems without sufficient guardrails.
“They’re
rolling out software that is unproven without oversight,” said Julia
Stoyanovich, a computer science professor and director of the Center for
Responsible AI at New York University. “It’s clear they have no
intention of doing what’s responsible.”
In responses to questions posed Wednesday, the chatbot falsely
suggested it is legal for an employer to fire a worker who complains
about sexual harassment, doesn’t disclose a pregnancy or refuses to cut
their dreadlocks. Contradicting two of the city’s signature waste
initiatives, it claimed that businesses can put their trash in black
garbage bags and are not required to compost.
At times, the bot’s answers veered into the absurd. Asked if a
restaurant could serve cheese nibbled on by a rodent, it responded:
“Yes, you can still serve the cheese to customers if it has rat bites,”
before adding that it was important to assess the “the extent of the
damage caused by the rat” and to “inform customers about the situation.”
A spokesperson for Microsoft, which powers the bot through its Azure
AI services, said the company was working with city employees “to
improve the service and ensure the outputs are accurate and grounded on
the city’s official documentation.”
At a press conference Tuesday,
Adams, a Democrat, suggested that allowing users to find issues is just
part of ironing out kinks in new technology.
“Anyone that knows
technology knows this is how it’s done,” he said. “Only those who are
fearful sit down and say, ‘Oh, it is not working the way we want, now we
have to run away from it all together.’ I don’t live that way.”
Stoyanovich called that approach “reckless and irresponsible.”
Four of New York City’s five boroughs have lost a higher percentage
of residents since COVID than any of the 40 largest counties in the
country, a startling new review of US Census data shows.
Topping the list is The Bronx — with a 7.2% drop in the past three
years, according to the analysis of county-level population estimates.
“It’s been good for us — we get more work — but it’s sad,” said Manny
Gomez, a 42-year-old Bronx resident and employee of Morgan and Brothers
Manhattan, a storage and moving company, in the borough’s Mount Eden
section.
Rent is way higher. It’s going up. People move out of state because
their apartments of 10, 20 years get too expensive,” Gomez told The Post
on Monday.
“The little guy is getting screwed over. It’s not worth it to stay in the city.”
The Bronx had 1,356,476 residents last year, according to the Census data — down from the 1,461,151 recorded in 2020.
Brooklyn’s Kings County came in at No. 2, suffering a 5.8% drop, and
Queens County followed closely behind with a 5.7% decline in residents,
according to the review carried out by ResiClub, a news and research outlet that covers the US housing market.
Manhattan’s New York County ranked fourth among the 40 largest
counties in the US losing residents, with its population declining 4.8%
since 2020, the analysis showed.
“It’s getting harder to live in New York,” said the owner of a U-Haul
franchise in Sunnyside, Queens, who only gave her first name, Renna, to
The Post — echoing what New Yorkers have been saying for several years.
The cost of living in the city — whether it be soaring prices,
rampant crime or the general rat race — is just too damn high for many
people, while work-from-home options have made it easier to move out to
cheaper, more spacious regions.
This attempt at brutalism architecture is in Ozone Park on 92nd St. and it's also on the NYC Housing connect program.
I really don't know what these amenities are supposed to be. They appear to be patio lounge areas.
The developer must have really liked the sliding door theme, the cages in front of them kind of looks like an afterthought.
The commercial spaces would be hard to see, which makes these perfect for unlicensed and unregistered weed and ebike shops.
50 blocks away in South Jamaica, we have this stylish mixed used behemoth. It even has the checkerboard/Purina cat food design aesthetic.This previously was a building materials shop that got destroyed in a massive fire a few years ago. Still unsolved but I bet it involved a lithium ion battery being charged.
The building is more garage than residential.
This mammoth mixed use cube annexed whatever space and natural light the next house once had.
No matter how much they deny it, the city of yes was always with us.
These are the latest victims of New York's 'insane' housing laws that
have given way to a wave of absurd squatting incidents where homeowners
find themselves forced to go to court to kick out brazen would-be
tenants.
Denis and Juliya are a married couple who invested $530,000 in a property in Jamaica, Queens, several years ago.
On
March 5, a broker they were working with visited the property for a
site check before allowing tenants to move in and found the locks had
been changed.
Inside the property was Lance Hunt Jr. and Rondie
L. Francis, who had set up mattresses, a flat screen TV and a massage
table. The men claimed to have legally leased the property months
earlier and refused to leave.
Now, the homeowners are locked in a legal battle with the pair after the alleged squatters hired an attorney to sue them.
An emergency lockout hearing was held on Friday March 22 at Queens
County Civil Court after the squatters' attorney, Dennis Harris served
the couple, the realtor and the real estate company.
During the
1pm hearing, Rizpah Morrow, who is representing the homeowners asked
Judge Vijay M. Kitson for a trial on the grounds that the two men acted
in an unlawful manner.
'They perpetrated a fraud,' Morrow told the judge.
The judge told her that she is entitled to a trial, and said 'let them come to court and testify.'
But when the judge asked their attorney where his clients were, Harris told the judge one of them 'had to go to work.'
At
this point Ejona Bardhi, the real estate broker with Top Nest
Properties, who was also representing the homeowners in court,
intervened and told the judge, 'he left because he did not want to get
arrested.'
Denis and Juliya asked the judge if their new tenants
could move in before the next court date. The judge agreed but warned
them it may complicate the case. The next court date is April 5.
After
the hearing was adjourned and the chambers doors were closed, Lance
Hunt, Sr., the father of the second alleged squatter Lance Hunt, Jr.,
who told DailyMail.com his name was Michael, walked into the court
house.
He tried to enter the judge's chambers but the court officers told him the session had ended for the day.
Denis
told DailyMail.com he is outraged by what is taking place. He said that
he and his wife had to take off a day of work and spend $4,000 on an
attorney fees.
'I'm being sued for illegal lock out, and for
damages. They uploaded fake documents and they have an attorney and
notary that are working with them to scam innocent homeowners in
Queens,' he said.
'They are targeting empty homes especially the ones listed on the market and the home owners are not protected.
'I intend to pursue them criminally as well as start a class action lawsuit against the city for failing to protect us.'
He added: 'This has to be stopped.'
Denis on the phone waiting for the court hearing to start as Rondie L. Francis, one of the alleged squatters, stands behind him
Bardhi
said she first noticed that one of the locks had been changed on the
doors on March 1. At first she assumed it may have been done by the
former management company, until they told her they did not touch the
locks,
When Bardhi went back to the property on March 4, she
noticed the other set of door locks had also been changed, and then saw a
dark figure in the window.
'I saw a man wearing a black hoodie holding a drill in his hand,' Bardhi recalled.
Alarmed
she called police and the homeowners and waited in her car for officers
to arrive. While she waited, she noticed more men emerge. She said they
started circling her car that was parked in front of the Lakewood
Avenue property.
‘They were trying to intimidate me,' she said. 'It was bizarre.'
When
police arrived the men told them it was their property and they had
been living there since January. Bardhi disputed their claims and said
she was just at the home a day prior with a housing inspector.
When
officers asked the men for proof of residency, they did not have
anything to show, but told the cops they were YouTubers, and left
peacefully.
Once they were out, Bardhi and the homeowners were
going to place new locks on the door, but the officers told them if they
do they will get arrested.
Upon learning that Bardhi and the homeowners said they were 'enraged'
She told DailyMail.com: 'The police tells us that they have rights that was the ridiculous part.'
A man fatally stabbed a woman to death at a Queens bar on Saturday night before turning the knife on himself in an apparent domestic assault, police sources said.
The shocking incident unfolded at The Ceili House, located at 69-56
Grand Ave. in Maspeth, at around 6:34 p.m. on March 30, authorities
said.
Officers from the 104th Precinct rushed to the bar after they received a 911 call describing a brutal assault.
Upon arrival, the cops found 41-year-old Sarah Mcnally with a
knife wound to her neck, and the male suspect nearby with wounds to his
neck and back. Following a preliminary investigation, police believe the
male’s wounds were self-inflicted.
EMS rushed both individuals to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition Mcnally later died of her injuries.
The pair are known to one another, and the attack is believed to be domestic in nature, according to police sources.
Italicized passages and many of the photos come from other websites. The links to these websites are provided within the posts.
Why your neighborhood is full of Queens Crap
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Welcome to our newest neighbors on 101st ave.
