Jamaica is focus of DeBlasio's affordable housing in Queens

From the Queens Courier:

In the de Blasio Administration’s latest effort to make a dent in the city’s housing crisis, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development is calling on developers to build housing on about 175 sites across the city.

The agency released a list of vacant, city-owned properties for the construction of affordable housing across the five boroughs last week, including 17 sites in Jamaica, which are the only Queens locations.

The agency is collecting applications from developers until Feb. 19 for the program.

DeBlasio wants to build on community garden spaces

From DNA Info:

At least 15 community gardens on city-owned property could be bulldozed to make way for new buildings under the de Blasio administration's affordable housing plan, community advocates said.

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development published a list this week of city-owned sites that housing developers can apply to build on, shocking those who tend to and enjoy the green spaces.

Developers were asked to submit proposals for nearly 180 sites — which could include rentals for families earning nearly $140,000 a year and paying $3,000 in rent — by Feb. 19.

John McBride, one of the residents who helped Morningside Heights' Electric Ladybug Garden get off the ground, was surprised Thursday when he found the city had already padlocked his block's space.

"We were just getting ready to start planting for the spring and now it's padlocked," said McBride, 46, who was part of a two-year labor-intensive effort to clear rubble from the vacant lot on his West 111th Street block and replace it with clean topsoil from the Parks Department's Green Thumb this summer.

McBride said he understood the de Blasio administration's "huge commitment to housing," but he didn't understand why the city was targeting lots with flourishing gardens when it owned other parcels of land that were sitting truly fallow.

Of more than 1,000 HPD-owned vacant lots, approximately 74 have community gardens, according to research from 596 Acres, the nonprofit that helped provide technical support to transform Electric Ladybug.

Public property looks like crap

From Cleanup Jamaica Queens:

NYCDOT, city property at 92-33 168th St. This is hardly the first time this city property has looked like a garbage dump. In fact in my over three years here, it has always been a problem.

168th Street LIRR Overpass Tunnel.

(And the private property is even worse.)

City makes a mess of Jamaica

It is bad enough when Jamaica property owners do not clean up their own property and the city does not enforce the laws, especially with repeat offenders like below.
Major repeat offender. Vacant lot at 170-19 89th Ave. High weeds and garbage inside them.
Side of house at 168-22 89th Ave.
And really bad when the property owners are businesses in Downtown Jamaica (you know the “Diverse and Vibrant” slogan that the powers to  be  like to throw around in hyping Downtown Jamaica) and the City again does not enforce the laws and allows this to happen over and over, like all along the stores on 164th Street off of Jamaica Avenue.
In front of store at 89-31 164th St.
The stores along 164th Street. This mess actually sat here for about a month before being cleaned up.
The mess above sat for over a month, even though I reported it to DOS and , city officials and elected leaders. Alas that did not last too long as this exact same spot after finally being cleaned up looked like the below on June 15th when the Jamaica low life people got to it and again property owner is not held responsible and no did anything about this.
This spot in front of store along 164th street did not stay clean too long.
All of this is bad enough but when the property is New York City owned such as the NYC Department of Transportation property at 92-33 168th St, then that says everything about our system. What makes it worse is this same situation happened last year and here is is happening all over again.

Although you cannot see it, there is much trash and litter in those high weeds on city property.
This is just totally disgusting, what is this some low class Jamaica flea market.


So just how long is this city property going to look like this. I reported it several days ago, so let’s see. But the big question is why would the city allow their own property to look like this to begin with.

Damn, Jamaica needs a complete overhaul, a total clean-up of the city, major litter law enforcement against property owners (a huge one that would help eliminate much of this problem), toss out that certain element that is destroying and trashing all parts of Jamaica and then getting new leaders here who have the balls to stand up and do what is right for the community.

It is the same damn song over and over again with this community.

The powers to be say “Invest in Downtown Jamaica” and I know I would like to see a big overhaul of Downtown Jamaica, but  really, like why would people want to invest if nothing is changing to make it better, the place is a mess and no one is doing anything about it no matter what some of you say. Because if you were doing something about it, then I would not have photos like the ones above (and some of the same areas over and over again) and I would not be doing this for over 2 years. Something certainly is not right and someone is not doing their job, you are letting the undesirables take over.

So for those that want me to write about something positive on my blog, give me something positive because I have pretty much run out of the very little positive within this community.

Joe Moretti
Jamaica, NY 11432
http://cleanupjamaicaqueens.wordpress.com/