Costa quits City Council

  

Queens Chronicle

With his term officially ending this year and six people already vying to replace him, City Councilman Costa Constantinides (D-Astoria) announced Wednesday morning that he will step down effective April 9, citing family considerations.

He has accepted the position of chief executive officer of the Variety Boys and Girls Club, which is located in Long Island City.

“It’s not a decision I made quickly or lightly,” Constantinides told the Chronicle in a telephone interview on Wednesday. He said the Covid-19 outbreak has struck his family hard in the last year, and that his wife is in poor health.

“I want to be a husband; I want to be a dad,” he said. “There are many ways to perform public service.”

As to the timing and when he knew it was right, Constantinides said he has received a number of offers.

“This lined up with what I wanted to do,” he said, adding that his mother years ago worked at the club for about a year.

Constantinides was elected in 2013. Under the City Charter, as the vacancy will take place less than 90 days before the June 22 primary, the seat will remain vacant until after the general election in November, at which time his successor will be sworn in immediately rather than waiting until Jan. 1. The district covers Astoria and Rikers Island and parts of Jackson Heights, Woodside and East Elmhurst.

The councilman admitted there will be unfinished business upon his departure.

“This is New York City — there are always going to be some loose ends,” he said. “There’s always going to be more that I wanted to do. But I’m proud of what we have achieved.

How do you solve a problem like Astoria? You ignore it for a month.

Patch

 Crowds of people drinking and dining on the sidewalks of Astoria are drawing ire for flouting social distancing rules and forgoing masks.

The city's 311 hotline received dozens of complaints Friday and Saturday in the two ZIP codes that cover the main commercial drags of 30th Avenue and Broadway, a Patch data analysis found.

The Grand, at 37-01 30th Ave., was the subject of seven complaints Friday of loud music and customers not social distancing.

George Ballis, owner of The Grand, said he's tried asking the crowds to disperse — but that he gets a profanity-laced earful in return.

"I beg them like, guys, please, I don't want to get in trouble," Ballis said. "I understand that the local residents are upset, and I hear their frustration."

 Ballis said he's doing the most he can: He cleans and disinfects the restaurant weekly, makes his employees wear masks and has his bouncers try to get people moving.

"There's nothing that I can do to somebody when they're on a New York City sidewalk," he said. "All I can do is protect my staff."

Across the street from The Grand, partiers outside Blend Astoria racked up eight complaints Friday and Saturday of loud music and a lack of social distancing and face coverings. (Calls to Blend were twice put on hold indefinitely.)

Another three complaints listed 30th Avenue in general, where videos posted on social media showed crowds of maskless partiers on the sidewalk.

"People seem to forget we're in the middle of a pandemic," City Council Member Costa Constantinides said in a statement Sunday. "While I understand the need for people to get out and our small businesses to reopen, we all have a civic duty to continue to practice social distancing, wear a mask and keep others safe. Our healthcare system cannot take another shock from this virus."

This story was posted on June 14 2020 by Maya Kaufman.

Which was a week before Phase 2 that permitted restaurants to serve on tables outside.

Use long weekend to watch the BP forum

It's a riot!

BP candidates mandated to return real estate donor lucre

The Real Deal

Real estate donors in the Queens borough president race will see some of their checks returned, but this time it’s not because the candidates don’t want their money.

The limit for donations is $750 for candidates seeking to receive the highest level of public matching funds. For City Council member Donovan Richards, the Queens Democratic organization’s endorsed candidate, that means he will have to return as much as $21,000 to real estate donors by January 15.

Richards, who chairs the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, pulled in at least $38,000 from real estate–related groups in his campaign — nearly 30 percent of his donations.
Richards’ largest real estate donor, the Real Estate Board of New York, contributed $4,850 through its expenditure committee, Taxpayers for an Affordable New York. Richards did not declare his run for borough president until much later. The campaign expects to return the surplus.

City Council member Jimmy Van Bramer, who has positioned himself as the progressive in the race, also received donations from the real estate industry. After The Daily News reported that he had yet to return them, he posted the returned checks on Twitter. But he has yet to return all of the donations bundled for him by real estate developer Shibber Kahn, who gathered nearly $5,000 from five donors one day in June 2018.

Astoria Council member Costa Constantinides received at least $25,390 from real estate donors, accounting for about 7 percent of his total donations through his latest public filing.

His largest real estate benefactor is the Astoria-based Scaldafiore Realty, whose personnel gave a combined $6,500 to the campaign.

Other large donors to Constantinides include Sal Lucchese, a manager at the Astoria-based The L Group, who gave $4,350; and his business partner, Astoria-based real estate attorney Philip Loria, who gave $1,500.

March 24th is election day for Queens Borough President

 Queens Chronicle

 

Mayor de Blasio has set Tuesday, March 24 as the date of a special election for the post of Queens borough president.

Melinda Katz, who would have been term-limited out of the post in 2021, vacated the office on Wednesday when she was sworn in as Queens District Attorney. Katz’s deputy, Sharon Lee, is serving as acting borough president.

De Blasio made the announcement in a statement issued by his office just after 6 p.m. on Thursday.

“I encourage all eligible Queens residents to vote in the upcoming special election, and I thank outgoing Borough President Melinda Katz for her leadership and increasing the World’s Borough’s diversity and dynamism, and wish her all the best in her new role,” the mayor said.

The Queens County Democratic Committee this past Monday endorsed City Councilman Donovan Richards (D-Laurelton) for the post. The timing and manner in which the meeting was conducted — it was scheduled at the party’s Forest Hills headquarters at 8:30 a.m. on less than two days’ notice — drew criticism from Councilmen Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and Costa Constantinides (D-Astoria), who also are candidates along with former Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley and former police officer Anthony Miranda.

The candidates now have 12 days to gather the 2,000 signatures the need to get on the ballot.

Donnie's got this locked. de Blasio's decision shows that he's just as obeisant to the Queens Machine as he is to his real estate developer overlords

Nothing but nets for Astoria's elevated train tracks

Astoria Patch

  As the MTA moves to install protective netting under stretches of the elevated subway tracks that run through Queens, elected officials are calling for the transit authority to put nets under the entire N/W line in Astoria.


The MTA plans to install netting under the N/W tracks at the Queensboro Plaza and 39th Avenue stations, which City Council Member Costa Constantinides says leaves two miles of track in Astoria still exposed.

The MTA's plan excludes four N/W subway stations along 31st Street in Astoria: 36th Avenue, Broadway, 30th Avenue, Astoria Boulevard and Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard.

"The MTA can do right by Astoria residents by installing protective netting under the entirety of this line — not just a few stations," Constantinides, who represents Astoria, said in a statement. "Given the aging infrastructure of this line and the years of work still ahead to fix it, this is a no-brainer."

The caption is already there...

City Council holds hearing on Con Ed transformer explosion

CBS NY

 The New York City Council held a hearing Monday on what caused December’s “Astoria Borealis.”

A malfunction at a Con Edison substation in Queens sent out a blue light that could be seen for miles, CBS2’s Jenna DeAngelis reported.
When the city skyline lit up that night, it was a moment that was hard to believe and impossible to forget.
And if you just so happened to be on social media at the time, you likely saw the supernova shades spark some interesting theories.

Fortunately, there were no major injuries, but there were temporary power outages, among other community concerns.
“Families’ homes shook. There was air quality concerns. There was safety concerns,” council member Costa Constantinides said. “We’re gonna get some hard answers from Con Ed as to what happened.”


The council’s Environmental Protection Committee, which Constantinides chairs, heard more from the utility at a meeting on Monday.
“We replaced the faulty equipment, installed a redundant system, and are working directly with the manufacturer to minimize the chance of this happening again,” said Milovan Blair, Con Ed’s senior VP for central operations.

 I have two theories on how this occurred. There is the possibility that the plant at the time couldn't take the amount of energy consumption being used by the growing populace in the area, particularly by the tower hyperdevelopment in Long Island City.

Or the Highlander returned to Queens....

Truck parking legislation sounds nice, but there's no enforcement

From the Queens Chronicle:

The Queens delegation to the City Council wants to ratchet up the economic pressure on commercial truck drivers who illegally park their rigs on the borough’s streets.

Three large trucks, including a pair of 18-wheelers, served as an unwitting backdrop on Springfield Boulevard in Cambria Heights last Friday as Councilman Daneek Miller (D-St. Albans) announced a pair of bills that have been introduced in the Council to try and rein in the big rigs.

The press conference, held one day after the Council passed a bill that significantly increases fines for everything from illegal dumping to throwing trash from a car window, was billed as a quality-of-life statement by Miller, Councilwoman Adrienne Adams (D-Jamaica) and Councilman Costa Constantinides (D-Astoria), chairman of the Committee on the Environment.

Their location on Friday, at the intersection with 121st Avenue, was no accident.

“There are a few trucks here now, but come here after 4 p.m., especially on Friday and the weekend,” he said, “you could have 20 trucks parked along this road. And they keep the motors running because they’re in the cabs and then need air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter.”

Not to mention the taking of on-street parking, and, Adams said, the danger of having to walk on sidewalks behind large trucks, largely obscured from view, giving cover to potential muggers and attackers.

Intro. 1011, the Commercial Truck Abuse Reduction Act, would cut the time that a tractor-trailer combination, truck or semi trailer can be parked in half, to 90 minutes from the existing limit of three hours.

Intro. 1011 would increase the fine for a first offense from $250 to $400; and subsequent violations in the next six months from $500 to $800.

Council blows a lot of hot air over wind turbines

From Crains:

The City Council will consider a bill Monday to standardize wind-turbine installation on rooftops as part of a suite of green legislation wending its way through the chamber.

Currently, anyone who wants a turbine must apply for a special permit from the Department of Buildings, which is notorious for bureaucracy.

"As anyone who's dealt with [the department] knows, even the most garden-variety projects can often ensnare you in endless strands of red tape," Councilman Costa Constantinides, a Queens Democrat and sponsor of the bill, said in a speech earlier this year. "When you add cutting-edge technology on top of that, you're only complicating it further."

The legislation would standardize the process so property owners would know exactly what to do and inspectors would use the same set of criteria to judge every project. The idea is to help make the city more energy-efficient.

A complementary Constantinides bill would require officials to create a wind map showing where these devices would work best.

Solar panels tend to be more cost-effective small-scale power generators, but not all rooftops are conducive to their installation, creating an opportunity for wind.

Small wind turbines can be used to generate modest amounts of power as well as make a statement about renewable energy, but they are nowhere near the top of the list in terms of potential to make the city greener. Reducing power consumption of buildings, which account for nearly three-quarters of the city's greenhouse-gas emissions, provides the biggest payoff. Large-scale wind farms can also move the needle; the state's Energy Research and Development Authority is working on a plan for turbines off the coast of Long Island.

BP race gets another candidate

From Forest Hills Post:

Councilmember Costa Constantinides plans to run for higher office in 2021 and all indications are that it will be for Queens Borough President.

Constantinides held a fundraiser in Astoria last week and the highest donation sought was $3,850. That figure is the maximum allowed for the borough president race and well short of the $4,950 permitted for a citywide office such as mayor or public advocate.

The invitation to the fundraiser reads: “Costa Constantinides A Champion for Queens,” and adds, “I hope I can count on you as we expand upon our legacy and fight for higher office after my current term ends.”

Constantinides is in his final term as a council member and will be forced to vacate his office at the end of 2021. He represents the 22nd District that covers Astoria and parts of Woodside, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights.

Costa wants senior housing on municipal lot

From the Astoria Post:

An affordable senior housing complex is likely to go up on a 31st Street municipal parking lot.

Councilmember Costa Constantinides announced plans at a press conference today to build a 100-to 150-unit affordable housing complex for seniors on a city-owned parking lot, located at 32-11 31st St — steps from the Broadway (N/W) subway station.

The proposal is part of Constantinides’ overarching plan, announced at his State of the District speech in January, to address a shortage of senior housing by installing 500 senior affordable units in the neighborhood by the end of his term in 2021.

Constantinides described the property’s location as ideal, and said that he is going to work hard to secure it for the building.

“If I were to draw on a drawing board a location that was centrally located, that would have access to trains, access to the bus, access to churches, access to shopping, hospitals, I couldn’t draw up a better location,” the councilmember said.

State of the District speech? Sheesh. There's already a perfectly good use there: a municipal parking lot for people shopping on your commercial strip. Why the war on commerce?

Costa has an opponent

From DNA Info:

A local real estate agent who's been pushing the city to restore the long-shuttered diving pool in Astoria Park has jumped into the race for the neighborhood's City Council seat.

Kathleen Springer is running as an independent candidate for Council District 22 in the Nov. 7 election, challenging incumbent Councilman Costa Constantinides, who's held the post since 2014.

"I am basically running against the machine," said Springer, who grew up in the Marine Terrace apartments near Astoria Park. She also worked for decades in local real estate before selling her Steinway Street firm, Your Neighborhood Realty, in 2009.

"I sold or rented a house, or even commercial properties, on almost every block in Astoria," she said. "I know the neighborhood well, and I know a lot of people."

Should we send more trucks to the GCP?

From DNA Info:

Elected officials are calling on the Department of Transportation to allow large trucks to drive on a portion of the Grand Central Parkway — an effort to alleviate "paralyzing" traffic the big-rigs are causing on Astoria's residential streets, they say.

Commercial vehicles are currently banned from the parkway, with the exception of the stretch between the RFK-Triborough Bridge and the western end of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Currently, that approximately 14-block area allows for smaller trucks as long as they have "no more than three axles and ten tires," according to the DOT.

Astoria officials want that same stretch open to trucks of any size, which they say would keep larger vehicles making their way to the bridge on the parkway instead of on residential streets like Astoria Boulevard, where they're causing traffic mayhem, they say.

Smaller trucks have been allowed to drive on the Grand Central between the BQE and the Triborough Bridge since 2004, when the state legislature passed a bill — sponsored by Gianaris — in an earlier effort to combat Astoria traffic.

The senator said expanding that to include larger trucks would be a "win-win" for residents as well as commercial drivers, who would have a more convenient route between the bridge and the BQE.

Pols suddenly concerned about Alma site

From the Daily News:

Elected officials, health workers and community activists toured an empty lot in Queens Thursday after the Daily News revealed the state is probing it for illegal dumping.

The Astoria Cove site along the Queens waterfront was supposed to be a gleaming condo development with shopping, schools and more services for the community.

But after a state tax break for the developer dried up two years ago, it turned into a derelict lot — one that has caught the eye of environmental officials.

The cluster of people who toured the site — owned by Alma Realty — on Thursday braved rains to pick their way through the debris strewn around the space.

Charlene Obernauer, an industrial hygienist and a Safety and Health Specialist from the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, led the inspection team.

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz also took the tour, standing in the rain to address the community residents’ concerns.

“This is a site that clearly is dangerous to the surrounding area. We worked toward making agreements that would be beneficial to this site and we need to make sure those are fulfilled,” she said. “We do need to send a message to Alma, we need to keep the site safe and trained workers ... for their sites.”

Astoria Councilman Costa Constantinides said Alma Realty had agreed to make the job a union site — but nothing had come to fruition.

“We’re here today ... to make sure promises are kept,” he said. “We want to make sure our workers are kept safe and our community is kept safe.”

Constantinides complicit in destruction of Dulcken House

From Greater Astoria Historical Society on Facebook:

Costa Constantinides declined comment on the Dulcken House in a NY1 piece: "his spokesperson said the decision is out of his jurisdiction."

But...IN THE MINUTES OF the Community Board 1, Queens meeting dated Feb 21, 2017, page 2, "A constituent stated the some of the buildings in the district should be Landmarked.... The Councilman recommended the constituent ... contact his office."

Caliendo Gerald J AIA, who is trying to destroy the Dulcken House by another development project is the Land Use and Zoning Co-Chair of Community Board 1, Queens whose members are appointed by - Costa Constantinides. Gerry was appointed to Queens Community Board #1 in Astoria in 1977. He chaired the Land Use Committee for over 10 years and remains an active member of the Community Board to the present day, a period of over 35 years.

Mr. Caliendo is President of King Manor Museum whose mission statement reads "Our goal is to make history relevant and immediate, and to foster an awareness of the roots of the present and a deeper appreciation of history as an on-going process."

Druggie playground to be locked at night

From DNA Info:

The city has begun locking up a local playground overnight after complaints from parents who say they've discovered used condoms, human feces and drug paraphernalia in the play space, officials said Monday.

Sean's Place, located on 38th Street between Broadway and 31st Avenue, is supposed to close at 9 p.m. but has been a "consistent nighttime hangout" according to City Councilman Costa Constantinides.

"Parents [are] coming here in the morning and finding things you shouldn't find in a children's playground," the lawmaker said. "Not every park gets locked, but we knew that this park had to be."

Since Wednesday, members of the city's Parks Enforcement Patrol started locking Sean's Place at night, a Parks Department spokeswoman said.

Imagine locking a playground at night when kids don't use it. What a novel concept!

Astoria pols beg to get bridge painted

From DNA Info:

The Hell Gate Bridge turns 100 years old this year — and its age is showing, a group of elected officials say.

Queens politicians are calling on Amtrak to repaint the Hell Gate ahead of its centennial this September, pointing to the "unbecoming appearance" of the bridge's faded and mismatched paint.

"The bridge has not been repainted since the 1990s, and stands today covered in a patchwork of pink, beige, and brown," the officials wrote in a letter sent to Amtrak President Joseph Boardman last week.

The letter — signed by Congressman Joseph Crowley, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas, State Sen. Michael Gianaris and Councilman Costa Constantinides — describes the Hell Gate as "an iconic piece of Amtrak's infrastructure."

A different Hallet's Point perspective

From DNA Info:

City officials celebrated the start of construction on the Hallets Point project Thursday, hailing the future development as a means of transforming the isolated Astoria waterfront.

The development, to be built by The Durst Organization and Lincoln Equities, will bring 2,400 new apartments to the Hallets peninsula, a parcel of land on the East River south of Astoria Park that officials describe as largely cut off from the rest of the neighborhood.

The area is home to the Astoria Houses but is otherwise mainly industrial, lacking in retail options and — with the exception of a baseball field — public green space.

"A community that’s not only underutilized, but a locked waterfront," City Councilman Costa Constantinides said. "This project changes the entire paradigm here."

It certainly does.

Astoria craphouse redux

Hi Crappie,

The house at address: 34-06 38th st. Astoria that leaks crap is leaking crap again. I don't know what you did last time, but it worked! Maybe you can do it again?

Jimmy

Well guess what, Jimmy? 4 of the 5 members of the City Council's Environmental Protection Committee are STILL from Queens! Including Astoria's own council member, Costa Constantinides! I'm sure he'll get right on this (again)!