Fenceless parks: good or bad idea?

From the Queens Tribune:

The Parks Department wants to ditch the high chain-link fences and metal bars that surround many parks in a new initiative called “Parks Without Borders.”

The vision is to create a more porous boundary between the green spaces and the neighborhoods they belong to, so that the parks will be more inviting to nearby residents. Additionally, the thinking goes, the parks’ beauty will not be unnecessarily hidden when they could contribute to the aesthetic of the surrounding blocks. Of special attention are park edges, park-adjacent spaces and entrances.

Residents can visit nycgovparks.org/planning-and-building/planning/parks-without-borders and submit their suggestions through Feb. 28.

City fails to maintain bike lane, causes injury

From the Daily News:

A bicyclist was injured when he hit a pothole and impaled his neck on a nearby fence in Queens on Sunday, authorities said.

The cyclist, a man who appeared to be in his 40s, was rolling along near Stockholm St. and Woodward Ave. in Ridgewood when he hit the hole and crashed about 11:42 a.m., officials said.

The man fell off his bike and hit his head on the ground, stood up, stumbled, and then fell onto a metal fence, impaling his neck, police sources said.

"He hit his head really hard," said one witness who declined to give his name. "Then, in a daze, he starts stumbling onto this fence. He falls onto the fence and skewers his neck. (It went) all the way through his neck. It was the most gruesome, weird thing I have ever seen."

Emergency responders cut off a portion of the waist-high fence in order to treat the man. He was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in stable condition, sources said.

Build bike lanes.
Encourage people to use them.
Fail to maintain them.
Repeat.

Plundering of Steinway Mansion property continues

Above photos from George the Atheist, and Greater Astoria Historical Society takes us on a look inside the mansion.

Dopey lock fetish comes to Bayside

I'm not even going to pretend I understand the point of this.

Photos by the Flushing Phantom

Crappy driving!

Hi Crapper,
Saw this on my way to the Post Office in Flushing today. A real "Crappy" driver drove through the fence while parking on Depot Rd and Northern Blvd. He was trapped behind the fence until a good Samaritan and I pushed the fence to release him. Luckily no one was hurt. - Mike

DeBlasio has illegal fence installed at Gracie Mansion

From the NY Post:

Mayor de Blasio failed to secure the proper permits to build his “privacy fence” around Gracie Mansion — and the Parks Department is now scrambling to file the paperwork after the fact, City Hall officials admitted Friday.

On Thursday, The Post exclusively reported that the mayor ordered the construction of a roughly 10-foot-tall fence inside an existing 6-foot brick wall to keep the public’s prying eyes out of his yard.

Officials couldn’t say whether any employees of the Parks Department, which handled the construction for the mayor, would be disciplined for building the barrier without first obtaining the alteration permits they needed.

City property owners are routinely levied hefty fines for such infractions.

Plans for the eyesore fence should have gone before the city’s Design Commission for review — but never did, a City Hall source also admitted. The job was finished in November.

Main Street LIRR station has seen cleaner days

This has been the setting of the Main street LIRR station for years now.

No garbage can in sight. And now, the fence had been torn down separating the stairway and building.

This is beyond gross.

And yet, nothing will be done about this except an elevator that will never come and when it does, will be nothing more than another trash can and public toilet.

Thank you.

Saddened in Flushing

Tall fences sometimes make bad neighbors

FYI.
Homeowners continue to flaunt the local laws on fence height as well as paving of landscape within properties.

On the paving matter, an established local law on allowable % open space and landscape was intended to decrease storm water run-off into catch basins during high rain events. If you recall the numerous street flooding of past years in large part contributed to by large-scale conversion of pervious surfaces to impervious surfaces where storm water run-off overburdened catch basins.

Little has changed other than repeat annual increases in our sewer and water fees to fund new costly NYC DEP flood control projects, and little enforcement of these violators.

NYC DOB 311 Complaint Service Request obtained on-line
for 140-20 Poplar Ave. Attached a few photos of the violations, pre and post construction

1. Violation of the paving law. Removal of all lawn area / greenspace by full paving of front, side and possibly rear yard.

Service Request #: C1-1-922270731
Date Submitted: 12/29/13 10:53:00 AM
Request Type:
Details: Residential Space

2. Violation of the 4-ft fence height law.

Service Request #: C1-1-922270621
Date Submitted: 12/29/13 10:42:38 AM
Request Type:
Details: Residential Space

Tall fences make good neighbors

George the Atheist reports that a wooden fence has been erected (heh) around "Bear Eats Man" at Socrates Sculpture Park.

Former home of Civic Virtue looks lonely

"Now on partial display: The Pedestal" - anonymous

Stop blocking the sidewalk!

"Hi Crappie,

On 146-01 23rd Avenue in Whitestone, NY there's a driveway with a garage at the end of the lot.

This family always park their car(s) in that driveway leaving both gates wide open thus completely blocking the sidewalk consequently forcing pedestrians (children going and coming back to and from school, runners like me, people coming from supermarkets and laundromats with their shopping carts, people walking their dogs) to either take the street or to change sidewalks by crossing the middle of the block exposing them to an accident.

As many other New Yorkers they have no concern for the safety and welfare of others." - Whitestone Walker

LIRR fence fix needed

From the Times Newsweekly:

Children in Elmhurst have been taking advantage of a hole in a fence across nearby Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) tracks, according to a local resident—and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has informed the Times Newsweekly that it is investigating the hazardous condition.

Elmhurst resident Paul Neuendorf, who lives near the fencing, contacted the Times Newsweekly regarding an 80-foot hole in the fence separating the south end of the street at 45th Avenue and 90th Street from the railroad tracks which he claims has existed since October 2012.

The tracks are part of the LIRR’s Port Washington branch; in fact, the old Elmhurst station, which closed in 1985, is two blocks west of the location.

“We have a chronic condition of kids running on the tracks,” Neuendorf stated.

He noted that those youngsters include students from Newtown High

-CONTINUED FROM PG. 1- School, located only a few blocks south of the location.

Neuendorf claimed that Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) representatives had been notified of the hole several times, yet the agency has yet to make repairs.

Peter Vallone, Jr's swift cleanup action

From the Queens Gazette:

On December 14, Councilmember Peter F. Vallone Jr. and his staff removed more than a 1,000 pounds of garbage from Sean’s Place Playground in Astoria. An alley next to the neighborhood park has been a constant target of litterers, and some of the trash has remained there for decades. Among the debris were wooden planks with rusty nails, glass bottles and needles. Located a few blocks away from Steinway Street, the park is frequented by many neighborhood children.

Previously, the area behind Sean’s Place was closed off by a fence and could not be accessed to perform a cleanup. However, the Department of Transportation recently replaced the fence with a gate that could be opened and locked with a key, allowing for regular maintenance of the area.

From the Queens Chronicle:

“It became a place to get rid of junk, but it isn’t anymore,”Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) said.

The improvement started in April when the community organization contacted Vallone. His office led by his legislative director, Jonathan Szott, started talks with the DOT and the Parks Department. Now nearly eight months later a solution has been reached.

“All the agencies worked together,” Vallone said, adding that coordinating with multiple government organizations often takes time.“But now we can get to the space without contacting everyone.”

So let me get this straight...

This dumping has been going on for decades.
Peter Vallone, Jr. has been in office for 11 years.
He only noticed the problem this past April when someone pointed it out to him.
It took him eight months to get the DOT to open the gate so it could be cleaned.

Pete sounds like the ideal borough president candidate, dontcha think?

Quaker graveyard still has pole in it

From the Queens Chronicle:

There is some unfinished business at Flushing’s Quaker Meeting House.

The concrete base of a misplaced utility pole buried on the house’s property stands as the sole remnant of flawed construction work next to the house.

The concrete support is 8 feet below the surface, at the southern end of the house’s historic cemetery. Members of a committee designed to address ongoing problems with the adjacent construction site want it gone, but lack the means to remove it.

Work at the planned apartment building at 136-33 37 Ave. has been suspended by a stop-work order issued as a result of its incursion into the Quaker house’s property. The Chronicle first reported in April the work was being carried out by Pinnacle Engineering without Meeting House members’ knowledge, necessary archeological testing and permits from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Workers on the construction site tore down the Quaker Meeting House’s chain-link fence and erected a makeshift plywood barrier about 4 feet onto the historic property. They also slapped a utility pole into an old graveyard dating back centuries.

The LPC must approve any construction work at or near a historic graveyard, a process which typically includes archeological testing to see if any remains are below ground.
The apartment project’s owner, Jeff Huang, quickly responded after the LPC informed him he could face substantial fines for the work, with the utility pole’s above-ground portion taken down and the fence moved back.

He then paid for the cost of an archeological assessment of the disturbed area in May, a process that involves sifting and sonar to search for any remains. Remains were not found in the area, though the site’s age could be a reason.

The LPC does not require the pole’s base be removed, a process that has the potential to further disturb the cemetery. The Meeting House committee plans otherwise...and is working on an alternative plan that would see it taken out.

Concrete king owes $20M in fines

From DNA Info:

The Brooklyn developer and concrete tycoon who hopes to expand his Red Hook shipping terminal with toxic landfill owes the state tens of thousands of dollars in fines for illegally dumping into Gowanus Bay.

Records show the amount John Quadrozzi is on the hook for could be as much as $20 million.

Quadrozzi, the owner of Gowanus Bay Terminal and the 46-acre Gowanus Industrial Park in Red Hook, left a large pile of potentially contaminated fill on a broken pier near the bay in May 2006, according to court documents provided by the state's Department of Environmental Conservation.

The fill, comprised of dirt and other unknown materials, washed into the water during high tide shortly afterward. The pollution "compromised the ecology of the shoreline," the DEC said in an email to DNAinfo.com New York.

"Since the origin and composition of the material is unknown, it is…possible (not certain) that the material contained chemical constituents that would…not be acceptable in tidal waters," a DEC attorney wrote.

"The environmental consequences may have included... the clouding of waterways and interfering with the habitat of living things that depend on those waters."

The DEC ordered Gowanus Industrial Park to pay the state $60,000 in civil penalties in May 2007, an amount that was to be submitted in 10 monthly installments through 2008. The company has yet to pay $45,000 of that original fine.

The DEC also directed GIP to remove an 18-foot-tall, 200-foot-long corrugated metal fence it had installed without permission between Henry Street Basin and the Red Hook Recreation Area, which effectively walled-off the area's waterfront views.

Quadrozzi and his company ultimately fought both orders and submitted only the first three payments totalling $15,000, the DEC said.

They also left the fence in place for more than a year, contending that it kept trespassers out of the terminal and "promote[d] the health of the people of the State of New York by preventing a spreading of dust" — a claim the DEC labelled "a stretch at best," according to court documents.

Quadrozzi and GIP eventually removed the fence in 2009, but only after an appeals court found their contentions against removing the fence "without merit."

The fines could multiply hundreds of times over. In 2008, the DEC filed suit seeking $10,500 for each day the remainder of the outstanding $60,000 fine has not been paid since May 23, 2007, plus an additional $10,000. To date, that amounts to nearly $20 million.

The fines, however, have not stopped Quadrozzi from seeking to expand the Gowanus Bay Terminal, located in Gowanus Industrial Park.

SWO & TRO on bowling alley conversion

"DOB placed a Full Stop Work Order (Entered on 09/24/2008 at 14:08:59 by Badge # 1962 Gonzalez Robert, Bin: 4284059; Complaint # 4373342. See also Complaint # 4350617) on 245-02 Merrick Blvd., Rosedale, New York, Block: 13209 Lot: 50 and 60, yet DOB allowed construction to proceed.

On September 15, 2012, 245-02 Merrick Blvd. LLC removed the chain link fence on its neighbor boundary and installed a fence on the neighbor’s property. The neighbor sued at the New York State Supreme at Queens County and obtained a TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER entered by Hon. Joseph J. Esposito on September 18, 2012 (a hearing was heard on October 4, 2012 and the TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER was ordered to continue). We are now watching 245-02 Merrick Blvd. LLC and its cohorts at DOB."  - Anonymous

What I have gathered from looking at the info on DOB's site is that a defunct bowling alley was supposed to have been converted into a drug store back in 2008; the DOB approved those plans. Then for some reason, the owner withdrew that and applied for a demo permit and new building. What's been going on since is anyone's guess.  Here's the whole history of permits.

Vacant Ozone Park lot kind of cleaned up

From the Queens Chronicle:

The chirping of crickets and clanging of trains are still prominent on the corner of North Conduit Avenue and Cohancy Street, but the plot of land on the northeast corner of the intersection looks somewhat more aesthetically pleasing.

Gone are the overgrown weeds and wildflowers that erupted through unkempt decades-old concrete. No more are the advertisements — one on a makeshift wooden billboard, another hanging from a century-old brick building with boarded-up windows.

It was just a week ago that Howard Kamph, president of the Ozone Park Civic Association, was trying to rally forces to clean the site, which is actually four lots on a triangular plot of land bordered by North Conduit Avenue, Cohancy Street and the A subway line. By Friday evening, the lot closest to the corner had gotten some much needed attention.

“They got to it really fast, I’m really happy about that,” Kamph said.
Cleaning crews hired by the owner cleared out the brush and removed the signs, as well as some overgrown vines on what used to be an auto body shop.

But some issues remain at the site. The rusty cyclone fence is still there though a section of it is missing Kamph would like to see a new fence put up, one that includes some privacy features that would keep the lot out of view from the street.

"Keep your pants on..."

From the Daily News:

Rockaway residents fed up with getting an eyeful from a nude beach are demanding the city rebuild a fence to shield their gaze from naked sunbathers.

Dozens of scandalized locals rallied at the beach Sunday — pushing to rebuild the fence that separated the federally controlled adult beach in Riis Park from the tamer sands of Neponsit.

The fence blew down during Hurricane Irene last year - and the protesters said the nude beachgoers have been in their face ever since.

"The city needs to put the fence back up, plain and simple," said City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens). "This is about protecting families and children. This is about protecting the community. This is about protecting decency."

City officials have been reluctant to rebuild the fence, saying the law requires undivided public access to beaches below the high tide line. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said in a letter to local officials that the city Parks Department and the National Parks Service, which runs Riis Park, are trying to manage their properties with a “more holistic approach.”

Tall fences make good nature preserves

From the Times Ledger:

Construction on the Ridgewood Reservoir is in full swing, which pleased some park-goers but continued to enrage community activists.

...one contentious change will be the new fence that is set to replace the chain link barrier that currently surrounds the reservoir.

The new fence will be about 4 feet tall instead of the nearly 8-foot version and has generated friction between the city Parks Department and Community Board 5. Representatives from the board believe the fence is too short and would allow curious explorers unencumbered access to the nature preserve.

“I can step over a 4-foot fence,” said Steve Fiedler, chairman of the board’s Parks Committee. “We want a deterrent.”

People already slip into the reservoir through the dilapidated, porous fence to sleep, consume alcohol, do drugs or even stage paintball matches, he said.

“There is no security there, no cops,” Fiedler said. “It’s a free-for-all.”

But Parks said the shorter fence will allow visitors to actually see the foliage.

Reservoir construction to start soon

From the Times Ledger:

Construction could begin soon on new fencing surrounding the Ridgewood Reservoir despite objections from members of the community and borough lawmakers.

The contract has been awarded to a Maspeth construction company for $6.4 million, according to the city comptroller’s database, and the work is set to be complete by the end of the year.

But several members of Community Board 5 criticized the city’s plan for the renovation, citing unnecessary spending and inadequate protection of wildlife.

“I’m trying to fight them, but the contract is already awarded and registered in the comptroller’s office,” said Steve Fiedler, chairman of CB 5’s Parks Committee. “Nobody wants to listen.”

One of Fiedler’s objections shared by the rest of the board is that the proposed fence, at 4 feet tall, is too short and would invite trespassers into the natural enclave.

State Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) also had objections to the department’s plan to install new lighting.

The city plans on installing lights along the path at 15-foot intervals. There are currently dilapidated lampposts located on the outside of the path, but the city’s plan would move them to the inside and install a shade that would shield the animal and plant life from the lights at night.

“We could save money by building on the existing side,” Addabbo said. “I’m not an engineer, but ... I’d like to respectively disagree with the Parks Department.”

I think he means "respectfully". Anyway, John Liu will sign off on this if he thinks it passes muster.