NYC parks dept. put an ampitheater on a sidewalk that has expectedly led to noise complaints

 

NY Post

Their homes are shake, rattle and rolling.

Rockaways residents living near the $3.7 million Beach 94th Street Amphitheater say live music at the venue has made life a living hell since it opened last year.

“We’re in our homes with our doors shut, our AC on and our TV on, and it’s insufferable,” said Joe O’Sullivan, 59, a retired FDNY firefighter who lives less than 300 feet from the amphitheater with his wife, Helena.

The couple captured video of their home’s interior shaking from the thumping of dance music blaring from the Soulful House Brothers festival on July 28.

“It was my medicine cabinet shaking, and all the stuff in it. It was weird. I couldn’t believe,” Helena said. “We’ve had construction done over the years since [Hurricane] Sandy, and we’ve never had that.

“You can only call 311 so many times,” she added.

Since opening in May 2023, there have been at least one hundred music-related 311 calls near the amphitheater, which is run by the Parks Department and can hold at least 300 people, although residents said they have not done any decibel readings of the noise.

The venue has been a popular stage for local musicians such as French-language rockers Les San Culottes and the Rambones, a Ramones tribute band

Locals said just a quarter of the dozens of events held at the amphitheater are “beautiful, outstanding, tear-jerking [performances] . . . that do bring people together.”

“The other 75% keep people away because it’s so loud, you can’t exist in the vicinity of the space and have any conversation,” said Erin Silvers, 45, who lives three houses away.

“My dog goes into hiding for days at a time. It’s like the Fourth of July at all hours of the day. It’ll start at 10 in the morning and go til 10 at night,” she said, noting “it’s much louder this year than it was last year.”

Neighbors cried that the city has ignored the noise they’ve been making — but giving the performers carte blanche with their performances.

“The Parks Department isn’t regulating the performers, they are letting them go wild,” Joe O’Sullivan said.

 When Parks’ Rockaway Administrator Eric Peterson was asked one night by frustrated residents to shut off huge speakers being powered by generators, in violation of the event permit rules, he allegedly told fed-up residents, “‘It’s a dance party, come join the party,'” according to Joe O’Sullivan

“I said, ‘I’ve got it in my living room and I’m not enjoying it and want it to stop,'” the frustrated resident recalled. “He refuses to enforce the laws of the permits, the rules.” 

Who thought it was a good idea to put an amphitheater on the sidewalk??? Also, who is this dickhead Peterson and how did he get his job? But I forget the Mayor Adams kakistocracy is filled with crony dickheads like him.

Astoria Park amphitheater may be built next year

From the Queens Tribune:

The long intermission for a planned Astoria Park amphitheater is ending, according to the Parks Department.

Designs for the amphitheater, which will transform the park’s defunct diving pool into an outdoor performance space, are set to be completed by the end of March with construction tentatively slated to begin in 2016, a Parks spokesperson said.

Plans for this amphitheater have been years in the making. Parks started its design process in 2012, and brought preliminary plans to the community in February 2013, meeting a critical but mostly receptive audience, according to published reports from the time.

An original design completion date of October 2013 was then pushed back due to a delay in obtaining materials needed for grading and drainage, according to the Parks Department.

Once design is complete, Parks will file for work permits to begin construction.

Bloomberg, Markowitz screw over Coney Island one last time

From A Walk in the Park:

Under cover of darkness a beloved community garden in Coney Island was bulldozed beginning at 5am Saturday morning to make way for Marty Markowitz's $ 53 million dollar amphitheater. The developer – iStar – destroyed 16 years of a community gardening effort.

A developer bulldozed a beloved community garden in Coney Island on Saturday to make way for an amphitheater — uprooting 20 chickens on a decades-old plot that survived Hurricane Sandy.

Construction workers entered the Boardwalk Garden under the cover of darkness and chucked tools and wheelbarrows, along with farm fowl and a colony of feral cats, activists say.

The chickens were placed in pet carriers on the sidewalk and the felines were left fending for themselves.

“They destroyed life!” fumed tearful volunteer Elena Voitsenko, 60, a Russian immigrant who told The Post she’ll take in the birds until they find a new home.

“‎I came to America to escape from the communist regime,” she added. “This is more than the communist regime! They came at 4 in the morning.”

Workers razed the sprawling, 70,000-square-foot garden on West 22nd Street about a week after the City Council approved plans to convert the empty Childs Restaurant and its adjacent land into a 5,000-seat venue.

The $53 million project was trumpeted by outgoing Borough President Marty Markowitz, who tried previously to build a controversial amphitheater in Asser Levy Park in 2009.

Under the new plan, the city will buy the Childs building from iStar Financial and turn it into a restaurant and concert venue. The adjacent garden is slated to become a seating area.

The community board voted against the project in September, and locals have railed against turning the historic property into a noisy venue.

Pool plan pricier than promised

From the Queens Chronicle:

Two weeks ago when plans were released for a once $1 million, now $4.3 million project to transform the defunct art deco diving pool next to the Astoria pool into an amphitheater, the reaction from some was “huh?”

How did a plan quadruple in price?

At first, based on a meeting held on Feb. 20, the price tag seemed to have skyrocketed because of materials. However, the cost of cement hasn’t matured like gold.
Asked to clarify, a city Parks Department spokesman said the scope of the project has grown.

Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) allocated the money for the proposal. He wants to see shovels in the ground before his term-limited tenure expires at the end of the year — although he does aspire to represent Queens as the next borough president — but is not happy with the escalated price.

As for comments online that the money should go toward oft-neglected Flushing Meadows Corona Park instead, Vallone responded that “the argument isn’t about if money should be going to different Queens parks, the argument should be why it goes to other boroughs and not Queens.”

Because our elected officials suck, that's why. And Vallone allocated $1M, not the whole $4.3M, so why are so many taxpayer dollars from outside Astoria being fed into this money pit?  They won't even have a $2M crapper like Elmhurst Park has.

No respect for Flushing Meadows

From the Queens Chronicle:

We’re tired of Flushing Meadows Corona Park being the Rodney Dangerfield of the city’s crown jewel green spaces. Why do we in Queens get no respect?

For weeks we’ve been covering Major League Soccer’s plan to eat up about a dozen acres of the old fairgrounds for a new stadium. Even leaving aside the myriad logistical, environmental and economic problems with the very vague plan, we’ve concluded that simply proposing it is offensive because Flushing Meadows is a public park —one that’s already suffered enough through city neglect.

Note that one selling point for the stadium is that MLS would refurbish the soccer fields in the park if its plan is approved. That should be a city function. But it’s no surprise that the city isn’t doing its municipal duty at FMCP. Though it’s far larger than the city’s true crown jewel, Central Park, the latter gets much more funding and much more staffing.

Underappreciated by the power brokers, the cocktail hour class and even our elected officials, yes. But not by the working-class and poor people, many of them immigrants, who live in the neighborhoods surrounding FMCP. Yes, the fact that they litter and tend to damage trees when they dump hot coals out of their barbecue grills is an affront — but one that better code enforcement could put a damper on. Still, the people who come to the park for a break from the concrete and steel of their neighborhoods love the place. Look at how adamantly many of them oppose the MLS plan —not to mention the much smaller, much more reasonable, much more feasible bid by the United States Tennis Association to take just another two-thirds of an acre.

While Central Park’s amenities are kept pristine, our Queens landmarks in Flushing Meadows, such as the New York State Pavilion, continue to deteriorate as if this was still the crumbling New York City of 1977. Meanwhile, the city plans to spend $4.5 million to turn the old Astoria Pool diving well into an amphitheater, in one of the more overpriced, harebrained schemes we’ve heard of late. How much plain old park maintenance would that money buy at FMCP?

As this page has said before, it’s City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras who holds the key to saving the park from the MLS plan. If she says no, the rest of the Council will fall in line and that will be that. She’s been noncomittal, and never said a word to us about laying the future of the park at her feet. We again urge you to urge Ferreras to reject the soccer stadium. And now we take it a step further: Demand that she and the rest of our City Council delegation start treating our park the way it should be treated. Fix the soccer fields. Restore the historic structures. Maybe even landmark the park, as state Sen. Tony Avella is asking — the first person ever to do so, according to the city (Prospect Park was landmarked in 1973, Central Park in 1974). And above all, pledge that the long period of neglect at FMCP is over.

Vallone comes to Marty's rescue

From the Daily News:

City officials are scrambling to change a law that could have halted free shows by performers like the Beach Boys and Neil Sedaka in Brooklyn.

Opponents sued to stop the concerts - held since 1991 in Asser Levy Park - charging they violate a law that bans amplified sound within 500 feet of houses of worship.

It's part of their battle to stop Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's planned $64 million amphitheater in the park.

Two synagogues across the street from the park complain noise from the concert hall would drown out their services.

But a new bill introduced in the City Council at Mayor Bloomberg's request would temporarily carve out an exception to the rule for band shells, amphitheaters and stadiums if they keep the noise under a certain level.

The new rules would stay in effect for 90 days while the city irons out permanent changes - just long enough for Markowitz' Seaside Summer Concert Series.

"Clearly, the events in Brooklyn show that [the rule] may need to be tweaked. There are concerts all over the city that may now be in danger because of this lawsuit," said Councilman Petee Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria), the bill's sponsor.

Actually, no there's not. Just concerts where no one followed the rules for permits.

Opponents blasted the move. "It's a clear end run around the existing law," said Norman Siegel, the plaintiffs' lawyer. "It's disappointing that rather than comply, the city is trying to change the law."

Hey Norm, if you don't like the laws as written, don't follow them - make new ones! That's the Bloomberg way. Notice how three 3rd termers are involved in these shenanigans.

Some of Vallone's constituents are calling for his impeachment. Heh.

Marty's $64M potato chip gets CB committee approval

From The Brooklyn Paper:

A Community Board 13 panel this week finally voted to back Borough President Markowitz’s controversial bid for a glitzy $64-million amphitheater inside Asser Levy Seaside Park — ending a year of silence on the issue that brought out accusations that the members are just shills for the Beep.

Until Thursday night, Community Board 13 had declined to weigh in on the major project, claiming that it has no role in the approval process for the concert venue. But after a long-overdue meeting of the board’s Parks and Recreation Committee, several panel members pushed a last-minute resolution asking the board to oppose the amphitheater.

That resolution was deadlocked 5-5 — but two abstentions were counted as “no” votes, and the resolution was defeated.

“I feel sick,” said committee member Lollie Reich.

And here's the scoop on what happened from someone who was there:

"Joe Maniscalo, the author of this article, has left out a few facts about the Wednesday night CB13 Parks & Recreation meeting.

# 1 There were almost 200 Community residents present. NOT ONE person who resides in the neighborhood, spoke in favor of this project, They were 100% NO !

# 2 Less than 20% of the members of the Parks Committee were in attendance to vote one way or the other on the Amphitheater. The rest were too scared to show up. Heaven forbid they should cast a vote opposing their godfather, Markowitz.

# 3 Two of those members who voted Yes for this boondoggle of a project DON'T EVEN LIVE IN THE COMMUNITY. GENE RITTER doesn't even live in Brooklyn,...HE LIVES IN FRESH MEADOWS, QUEENS.THE OTHER PERSON WHO DOES NOT LIVE IN THE COMMUNITY IS NONE OTHER THAN THE CHAIR OF CB 13 MARION CLEAVER. SHE LIVES IN BENSONHURST!

As Joe Maniscalo has written there was a 5-5 vote with 2 votes abstaining which just shows that the Committee is really split down the middle on this project.

Joe Maniscalo also forgot to mention that a few of those members who voted YES have City jobs & they are afraid of going against Marty Markowitz who has instilled in them the fear of God.

Over 13,000 residents have signed petitions opposing this project, showing that a yes vote by the Committee means very little, except to show that Marty's soldiers are all lined up like ducks, with no backbone or spine. They are the ones who are voting against the will of the people.

We will have to wait for the Court battle to determine who is righteous on this issue.."

And the Courier-Life has this to say in an editorial:

Face it: There is no question that Markowitz is dumping this amphitheater in Asser Levy Park without a full vetting. The project is not undergoing the city’s normal public review process, and the Parks Department will select an operator without public discussion.

Much of the project’s $64-million budget comes from a pool of capital construction money that Markowitz controls by fiat.

This lack of public oversight convinces us that Markowitz is treating Asser Levy Park as his personal playground, something he feels entitled to do because he stages a summertime concert series in the park’s current bandshell.

Markowitz says his amphitheater would be a vital piece of the city’s plans for a revived amusement area in Coney Island. But that’s not his call to make. A project of this magnitude and ramifications needs a proper review by the very agencies set up to oversee big land-use changes.

This is not a project that should merely come out of Marty Markowitz’s fertile, Barnum-esque imagination and be dumped on a community.

Stop Marty's $64M potato chip!

Marty's $64M potato chip to swallow up park

From the Brooklyn Paper:

Borough President Markowitz’s controversial plan for an amphitheater in a Coney Island park will seize nearly three-quarters of the park’s already insufficient area for active recreation.

The $64-million concert venue in Asser Levy Seaside Park along Surf Avenue between Ocean Parkway and W. Fifth Street will commandeer the vast majority of the two-football-field-sized main green with a large concrete seating area and a gradually sloping lawn that will rise up to 21 feet.

As a result, the active recreation space in the park — currently about 2-1/2 acres — will shrink to less than one acre.

And park users are not happy.

The city says that it hasn’t decided exactly what kinds of activities will be permitted on the elevated lawn — intended as a viewing area for outdoor concerts — but sports certainly won’t be one of them.

When the field is replaced, the closest similar field will be at Kaiser Park, located on the western end of Coney Island between West 23rd street and Bayview Avenue, about 1-1/2 miles away.

Meanwhile, the city has already begun soliciting operators for the proposed amphitheater — ahead of a required Environmental Assessment which has yet to be completed.

Parks Department officials insist that active recreational programming — including everything from a skate park to an ice-skating rink — will still be possible underneath the amphitheater’s roof when concerts are not being staged. But there are no guarantees: The venue’s $64-million pricetag won’t cover the cost of creating those facilities, however.

City seeks operator for Marty's $64M potato chip

From the Brooklyn Paper:

Borough President Markowitz’s controversial Coney Island amphitheater hasn’t even been approved yet, but the city is acting as if the fat lady has already sung.

On Thursday, the Parks Department announced that it is seeking proposals from venue operators to run the new, $64-million amphitheater slated to be built inside Asser Levy Park in Coney Island by 2012.

The agency’s formal “Request for Expressions of Interest” calls on prospective operators to “include year-round uses for the facility” and operate “10 designated locations for food carts, and three separate areas for food service, a commissary … and food storage containers.”

The venue must also generate “enough revenue — including food concessions — to cover the cost of both programming and maintenance” while “maintaining the same level of free concerts already offered at the current band shell” by the borough president.

Despite such a big operation, the project is not going through the city’s normal land-use review process because there is already an operating, though far smaller, band shell currently on the site.

Still, the city’s Design Commission has said it will not sign off on the project until an “environmental assessment” has been completed. It’s unclear when that will be, but the Parks Department is going ahead in seeking an operator, offering a site tour on April 16 and a bidding deadline of May 7.

Opponents have consistently taken their protest to Community Board 13, which has not weighed in — mostly because half of the board’s 50 members are appointed by the borough president, foes say.

“We have $64 million for an unwanted and illegal amphitheater while the Fire Department is called upon to reduce its budget by $64 million,” local resident Paul Sternblitz cried.

Marty's $64M potato chip gets rotten reviews

From the Courier-Life:

Brighton Beach and Coney Island residents spoke out against the borough president’s plan to spend $64 million in taxpayer money to build an amphitheater in Asser Levy Seaside Park -- a plan many contend is unwise while the city and state prepare to cut services due to the worsening economy.

“One thousand firemen are going to be cut next year but [Borough President] Marty [Markowitz] will build his amphitheater. He can fiddle in his amphitheater while Brooklyn burns,” Paul Sternblitz accused at last week’s meeting of Community Board 13.

“They want to build an amphitheater at the very same time they are slashing funds for services,” said Al Turk, vice president of Temple Beth Abraham.

Public school budgets are being cut “but somehow they have $64 million for an amphitheater that only our grubby politicians want?” Turk challenged.

Sternblitz’s brother, Ralph, believes the amphitheater will cost even more than expected.

“You think it’s going to cost only $64 million? Don’t believe it,” he said. “Maybe double! Maybe triple!”

“This is our money! Not the politicians money to squander away!” Turk asserted.

In spite of community opposition, Markowitz remains committed to the amphitheater plan.

Uh oh...Brooklyn district getting uppity

Hi Queens Crapper:

"I read your article the CB From Hell. Well, you are not alone. We here in South Brooklyn CB 13 also have the CB from Hell. In fact according this flyer at least 4 CB members are bought & paid for by the elected's in a way that is stealth & most regular community board members don't realize. This is for the 2009-10 budget. The earmarks that are given to CB members by their Councilmen, Assemblymen & State Senators (and I'm sure at the direction of the Borough President). How can the CB members be impartial or evenhanded or speak out against policies or projects that affect the whole community? They would be scared stiff that they would lose their funding. This is part of the problem with getting CB 13 members on board against the "Marty Markowitz Amphitheater." Don't you see a Conflict of Interest here? Please note this money is only for the 2009-10 Budget, what about the other many years that money was given to these non-profits headed by these CB members? Please post.

Thank You" - anonymous

Vote on Marty's $64M potato chip put on hold

From the NY Post:

The city’s Design Commission today opted to hold off a key vote for Coney Island’s $64 million amphitheater project after irate opponents gave commissioners an earful over the controversial plan.

The taxpayer-funded, 8,000-seat amphitheater plan for Asser Levy Park is a pet project of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and also includes the relocation of the park’s playground.

Many opponents expected the commission to sign off on the new playground design today and the amphitheater design at a later date. But after hearing testimony from opponents, commissioners opted to table the vote until they could review both parts of the plan simultaneously. This, because, the amphitheater can’t be built unless the playground is relocated.

"I feel we should see the whole thing together," Commission President Jim Stuckey told opponents, who started cheering. He tabled the vote until at least next month.

Commissioners also raised legal issues about whether they should vote on the project when it has yet to complete its mandated environmental assessment.