Former SI beep lobbied against preservation cause

From DNA Info:

The lobbying firm where former Borough President James Molinaro works was paid $65,000 over the past two years to lobby the city on behalf of the controversial Mount Manresa project, records show.

The Savo Brothers — under the name Mount Builders LLC — hired Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin LLC, of which Molinaro is a senior managing director, in 2014 to lobby the Department of Buildings, according to the Office of the City Clerk.

Molinaro, who was borough president when the 103-year-old Jesuit retreat house was sold for $15 million to be turned into townhouses despite huge protest, said he doesn't directly lobby for the Savo Brothers and didn't think there was anything wrong with his group working for them.

"I was the borough president. It was a piece of land for sale. It was legit. What should I be ashamed of?" Molinaro said.

"People are mad at me for a lot reasons. You can't be loved from everyone, you can't be hated from everywhere."

Conflicts of Interest Board rules require elected officials not to give up confidential information and not to communicate with the executive branch of government for one year after leaving office.

Officials are also not allowed to directly work on any matter that was dealt with while they were in office — but that does not stop their firms from being involved.

Molinaro is not mentioned by name as a principal or additional lobbyist in city records for Mount Builders LLC.

He served as borough president from 2002 until 2013, during the time the controversial plans to redevelop Mount Manresa were approved.

While other elected officials spoke out against the project at the time, Molinaro said that the deal was completely legitimate and nothing improper was done, to his knowledge.

He left office in December 2013 and a month later took a job at the high-powered Pitta Bishop Del Giorno and Giblin LLC, which has been one of the city's top 10 lobby firms for the past several years.

It's good to be Borough President!

From the New York World:

They have grandiose titles, but the city’s five borough presidents are actually invested with little power by the city charter. Blame the U.S. Supreme Court, which 24 years ago said it was undemocratic for tiny Staten Island and massive Queens have equal voting power, and forced the end of the once powerful Board of Estimate.

Candidates are nonetheless swirling to replace the four beeps who are being term limited out of office this year, in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island. So far they’ve convinced donors to throw more than $5.3 million their way, and are poised to qualify for nearly $1 million in public matching funds.

Why would anyone want a job whose power appears so slim? Maybe it’s because borough presidents have grown highly creative in finding ways to wield what relatively little they’ve got. Sometimes, they’ve accomplished great things for their communities. And sometimes for themselves.

The new crew can learn from the moves of veteran masters:

1. Make nice with developers
2. Clean up Sin City
3. Bank on the capital budget
4. Be king or queen of your own nonprofit
5. Nerd out
6. Why show up at all? Just take a vacation!

Each motive is explained in the article.

BSA approves Staten Island "Skinny House"

From SI Live:

When neighborhood residents saw the construction fence erected earlier this month on the narrow and long vacant lot at the corner of Decker and Orange avenues, it finally sunk in that a developer was serious about building a controversial two-story house that the city's Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) approved last September, over adamant objections of the local civic association and Community Board 1.

On Monday morning, two hand-printed signs had been placed over the developer's signage on the Orange Avenue side of the fence, accusing the BSA of "ruining neighborhoods one lot at a time."

"The BSA had a legal right to make the decision, but I'm opposed to what they did," Borough President James Molinaro said. "I'm opposed to using that land (for residential development)."

When the city sold the vacant parcel, it did not necessarily sell it "for the purpose of building a house on it," he said.

"I understand people's concerns," Siegel, president of Staten Island-based Cee-Jay Real Estate Development Corp., which owns and will build on the one-family home on the lot, said.

"I'm a developer. I don't make the rules or the regulations. I just try to abide by them," he said, describing his quest for zoning variances from the BSA as a "costly, arduous, and time-consuming process."

Abiding by the rules and regulations would mean respecting the existing zoning and not applying for a variance, sir. You created your own hardship and the city bailed you out. This needs to stop.

Day care limitations, only in Staten Island

From SI Live:

The City Council yesterday gave a break to Staten Islanders who are tired of oversized, out-of-character, parking-spot-stealing medical offices and day care centers sprouting up in their neighborhoods.

The Council approved new rules yesterday aimed at curbing the building of those facilities in residentially zoned areas here, and encouraging them to be built in commercial zones instead.

The legislation, which grew out of discussions between lawmakers, the Department of City Planning, Borough President James P. Molinaro and the Growth Management Task Force, passed the Council by a vote of 48-0.

All three of the Island's Council members, including Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore), voted in favor.

The measure unanimously passed the Land Use Committee earlier in the day.

Borough officials and residents have complained for years that the facilities, often added onto existing homes, are frequently expanded to the point that they dwarf and loom over the surrounding houses, destroying the character of neighborhoods.

Because the medical offices and day care centers were not required to provide on-site parking, visitors and employees often took up precious parking spots on surrounding streets, much to the chagrin of local residents.

There have also been safety concerns about children being dropped off and picked up in the street front of the day care centers.

Under the new regulations, new medical facilities in residential areas would be required to be on lots no smaller than 5,700 square feet. On-site parking must be provided, and owners will not be permitted to seek to have the parking requirement waived.

Day care centers would not be permitted on lots smaller than 10,000 square feet. Officials have said that this will cut down on the building of centers because lots of that size are scarce in residential neighborhoods.

Day care centers would also have to provide on-site parking for employees, and an on-site drop-off point for children.

I find it implausible that this is only a problem in Staten Island and not throughout the City.

Does this scare you? It should.

From the NY Times:

He had written “The Jerk,” about three inches high, on a campaign poster for James P. Molinaro, the Staten Island borough president. The undercover officers had taken a picture of the poster. There was no question that Mr. Sullivan had written it; moreover, there was no doubt that for weeks before that, he had launched far more pungent strikes against Mr. Molinaro in letters to a newspaper and public officials, criticizing the borough president’s plans to develop part of the Staten Island waterfront.

Somehow the police had begun an investigation of Mr. Sullivan, 52, a former merchant marine who is now an advocate for environmental protection. He was brought to the 120th Precinct and charged with criminal mischief, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Once the case came to court, the Staten Island district attorney declined to prosecute him.

Who gave the orders for the police to investigate him? Why would a nearly broke city squander resources on this? And by the way, what about freedom of speech?

The posters themselves appear to have been put up illegally. Given that, it is unlikely that writing on one of them, as Mr. Sullivan did, would violate any law.

The circumstances of his arrest are too important to be explored only in a civil case, which often winds up being simply a matter of dollars and cents. The City Council is supposed to watch over the executive branch of government, including the police. A lawsuit does not freeze the rest of democracy. Nor is it a substitute.

Did Staten Island BP have police wrongfully arrest activist?

From SI Live:

The New York Civil Liberties Union is suing the city and two police officers after what the group claims was an unlawful arrest of a Staten Island environmental activist because he publicly criticized Borough President James Molinaro's economic development policies and opposed his re-election.

The suit was filed in Brooklyn federal court on behalf of Natural Resources Protective Association executive director Edward Kerry Sullivan, a Rosebank resident.

In early August, Sullivan mailed letters to numerous public officials about development plans of the Stapleton home port and wrote a letter to the editor published in the Advance calling on residents to express their dissatisfaction over the issue when they vote.

Several days later, Sullivan was arrested and handcuffed outside his home, allegedly for writing "The Jerk" on the corner of a campaign sign the group claims Molinaro's campaign posted illegally. Molinaro was never cited by the Sanitation Department for posting illegal signs.

Court papers say the sign was posted on a construction fence abutting a public sidewalk on Hylan Boulevard and Tompkins Avenue in Rosebank.

The officers who arrested him said they had been following Sullivan for several days and that he had made "enemies upstairs," the group contends.

"The right to criticize the government is one of our most important constitutional guarantees," said NYCLU Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn, who is lead counsel on the case. "It is intolerable for elected officials to recruit the police to intimidate and silence their critics."

Parking perk still part of the job for pols

From the Daily News:

Mayor Bloomberg yanked free parking spots from a handful of elected officials last year - but borough presidents, the city controller and other pols still enjoy the perk, the Daily News found.

Bloomberg ordered the crackdown after the Daily News reported exclusively last summer that four City Council members had signs outside their district offices reserving spaces for "Council Vehicles."

But city officials decided to leave in place nearly 200 spaces near City Hall and borough offices for borough presidents, the city controller and state officials like the governor and attorney general.

The Gotham Gazette has more about the continued abuse of parking placards by city employees.

Beeps want to ride gravy train a little longer

They yelled, they taunted, they cajoled, and they praised, but by the end of the second day of raucous hearings on Mayor Bloomberg's bill to extend term limits, they did almost everything but agree.

Referring to Bloomberg as the infamous "Wizard of Oz," state Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn) warned the lawmakers, "You've got to pay attention to the man behind the curtain. Don't be the puppet, please."

The two men who hope to succeed Bloomberg next year - Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens/Brooklyn) and City Controller William Thompson - weren't any kinder.

Thompson said the Bloomberg-crafted bill "shatters the bonds of trust that are the essence of good government."

Weiner similarly chimed in, "If you take away the citizens' right to make these decisions, you're undermining the very foundation on which all of you sit."

State Sen. Eric Adams refers to Mike Bloomberg as the 'Wizard of Oz'

The city's five borough presidents also revealed their stripes on the issue, with Queens beep Helen Marshall, Brooklyn's Marty Markowitz and Staten Island's James Molinaro throwing their support behind Bloomberg's bill.

'Bloomberg to democracy: Drop Dead': Protestors - and supporters - speak out at term limits hearing

Contractor cited for contaminants at SI demo site

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has criminally cited the contractor demolishing Sun Chemical plant in Staten Island's Rosebank neighborhood for allegedly spewing contaminants into the air.

The citation was levied yesterday against LVI/Mazzocchi Wrecking Co. of East Hanover, N.J., less than a week after the Advance chronicled neighbors' complaints about escaping dust that has shrouded their property with a pink residue and even tinted some animals. On Wednesday, Borough President James P. Molinaro contacted DEC, expressing concern about the project at the former color pigment plant on Tompkins Avenue.

Contractor demolishing Staten Island chemical plant cited for alleged contaminants

The misdemeanor charge accuses LVI/Mazzocchi of violating DEC regulations prohibiting the emission of air contaminants outdoors "injurious to human, plant or animal life or to property" or which "unreasonably interfere" with the "comfortable enjoyment" of life or property.

The conditions must be rectified immediately, according to a DEC spokesman, who added the agency will conduct further inspections.

LVI/Mazzocchi potentially faces a fine ranging from $375 to $15,000, jail time of up to a year for an official or both. A cursory review showed no other violations on file for the company, said the DEC spokesman.

Queens is no Staten Island

Turns out Staten Islanders can't bear to lose their Victory Diner. That was the consensus of the Parks Department, a bank foundation, the Staten Island Advance and borough leaders who've come up with cash and a plan for buying and moving the classic chrome-and-neon restaurant from Dongan Hills to the Ocean Breeze waterfront.

Molinaro has set aside $6 million for the future construction of a "kiddie" amusement park in that area. When Paulo approached him about relocating the diner there, he said it made perfect sense.

Hey, Helen Marshall, how about $6 million towards the purchase of St. Saviour's?

The Richmond County Savings Foundation had the same enthusiastic response.

Hey, Maspeth Federal Savings, how about the same enthusiastic support for a landmark in your own backyard ... oh, wait, you sold the mortgage to St. Saviour's owners because your president thinks the "decrepit" buildings on the site are "not worthy of landmarking".

"The Parks Department has long been a repository for historic structures," said [Commissioner Adrian] Benepe. "We thought we could combine historic preservation with an opportunity to provide amenities to the park."

Oh, fantastic, Adrian! How about pushing to get more parks funding so you can do the same for St. Saviour's?

A vintage diner, saved

This was just a week before:

Borough President Molinaro has built a well-deserved reputation for "thinking outside the box" to improve our quality of life. Here's an extraordinary chance to demonstrate that talent at a relatively small cost to the city.

We urge him and Staten Island's City Council members to get in touch with Parks Department officials and his friends in the mayor's office to seize this fleeting opportunity before it's too late.

Save the Victory

These same officeholders and institutions in Queens can't come together to save a piece of our history the way the SI guys are coming together to save a greasy spoon. All they do here is say how much they would like historical sites in Queens to be saved while they make excuses as to why what is being asked for can't be done. Speaks volumes about who is in control here and whose bidding they are doing, doesn't it? Inaction speaks louder than words.

Photo from Forgotten-NY