FBI SUBPOENAS CB7's FILES

From the Queens Tribune:

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York has issued a subpoena for records to Queens Community Board 7 regarding land use decisions and procedures.

CB 7, which covers Flushing, College Point, Whitestone and other Northern Queens neighborhoods, has had many land use applications come before them as the area has undergone a development boom over the years. Construction in the past decade adds up to some billions of dollars, a number that will continue to grow as more and more developers set their eyes on Northern Queens.

Documents obtained by the Queens Tribune show the court issued an order on May 29 for records for the period of January 2005 to present. Records requested include minutes from board and board Land Use sub-committee meetings; letters, memos, recommendations and other communications from the board Land Use committee to CB 7, the district manager or others; documentation of any and all recusals or notification of potential conflict of any board members for matters that came before CB 7; and attendance and voting records.

According to the subpoena the Federal Bureau of Investigation, acting on behalf of a federal grand jury, requested the documents.

Some past projects that have gone before CB 7 were controversial, including relatively recent proposals for Flushing Commons, Willets Point and the RKO Keith Flushing Theater. No specific projects or proposals were mentioned in the subpoena.

Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside), who found out about the subpoena on Wednesday, expressed shock at the probe.

“We are surprised at this week’s unexpected news regarding the investigation into Community Board 7,” the statement read.”This is the first we’ve heard of it and we will be watching the situation closely.”

You may recall this post from 2008:


The proposed Willets Point development undergoes land use review at Queens Community Board 7 during 2008. 
Recording © 2008. Originally published by Willets Point Industry and Realty Association.

What happened to the parking lot plan?

From Curbed:

Something big is going up on the site of the shuttered Flushing Mall. Rumors of the mall's demise have been swirling since way back in 2011, but the foodie haven finally closed its doors this year and, it seems, will be razed to make room for a new development. YIMBY spotted plans for a 13-story, 192-apartment building with cellar-floor retail space near the site, and believes they're connected to the Two Fulton Square development. The new plans were filed by One Fulton Square developer F & T Group for the site bounded by College Point Boulevard, 37th Avenue, Prince Street, and 39th Avenue.

I seem to recall that the plan for this site was for it to be replacement parking for Municipal Lot 1 while construction was taking place, which will take years. So why are we seeing building plans for this site now?

Flushing Commons still a safety hazard

From the Queens Tribune:

Traffic issues around the Flushing Commons construction site have yet to cease, despite an amended stipulation with the Dept. of Transportation, made last December, requiring the placement of traffic control agents around the site during the duration of the construction.

However, according to State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), developers with TDC Development, the Rockefeller Group Development Corporation and AECOM Capital hired a couple of flagmen to direct traffic, instead of complying with the agreement.

One of the main reasons for the congestion was a closed sidewalk along Union Street, between 37th and 39th avenues. But after repeated complaints, the DOT agreed to provide a temporary pedestrian walkway on Union Street, to create a safe walking area.

While the DOT held up its end of the agreement, Avella said the developers failed to act responsibly by not fulfilling their commitment. On Feb. 19, Avella held a press conference to call on the developers to provide on-duty traffic control agents around the site.

Another reason for the congestion is a blocked lane along 39th Ave., between 138th Street and Union Street. Apart from increasing traffic jams, the closed lane limits room for the Q13, Q16 and Q28 busses to pickup and drop off passengers.

According to Avella, police in the 109th Precinct – located only a few blocks away from the construction site – and the local Fire Department complain that emergency responders are also having a tough time trying to get down the narrowed street.

Wellington Chen nominated for LPC Commissioner

From the Queens Chronicle:

Longtime Flushing activist and planner Wellington Chen has been nominated by Mayor di Blasio to serve on the 11-person Landmarks Preservation Commission as a lay member.

His nomination will now by vetted by the city and voted on by the City Council.

Chen has been executive director of the Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corp. in Manhattan for nine years.

The Flushing resident previously served as a planning advocate for TDC Center, a Flushing developer. The firm, in conjunction with others, is now creating the mixed-use Flushing Commons, at the former site of Municipal Parking Lot 1.

Chen considers himself a preservationist and cites his involvement in trying to get the RKO Keith’s Theatre landmarked and saving Flushing Town Hall from neglect.

Chen also points to his involvement in saving Flushing Town Hall, which had been leased and was rapidly deteriorating. He called a meeting with the leasee and eventually the property reverted to the city.

CB 7 District Manager Marilyn Bitterman, who worked with Chen for years, said the mayor couldn’t have made a better choice in selecting him.

Rosemary Vietor, president of the Bowne House Historical Society, said Chen’s background “is perfect for this.” She pointed to his involvement in restoring Flushing Town Hall, adding, “I am very enthusiastic about him.”

But not everyone in Flushing is a fan of Chen. Paul Graziano, a historic preservationist and zoning consultant, said he has “great reservations” about the nomination. “I am very concerned because he is not a preservationist, but a longtime fixture in development issues.”

Jerry Rotondi, a member of the Committee to Save the Keith’s, said he doesn’t think Chen will be an asset on the LPC.

“He is too politically connected and I don’t see him as a champion for Queens because he’s on the side of too many developers,” Rotondi added.

Avella gets somewhere with DOT

From the Queens Chronicle:

Score two for state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) for getting the city Department of Transportation to take action on two problematic locations in Flushing and Little Neck.

The worst of the two is the area around the Flushing Commons construction project at the former municipal parking lot in Downtown Flushing. Avella and others, including the developer, have complained that lack of signage has backed up traffic on 37th and 39th avenues from Union to Main streets and on Union from Roosevelt Avenue to Northern Boulevard.

In addition, there is no pedestrian walkway on part of Union Street, making it dangerous for people who must walk in the street.

Avella has held two press conferences at the site and met with Queens DOT Commissioner Dalila Hall there seeking solutions to the problems.

On Friday, Avella announced that Hall had agreed to amend a stipulation with the developers to require them to provide traffic control agents for the duration of the construction, which is scheduled through 2021.

Hall has also agreed to install a temporary pedestrian walkway on Union Street.

In Little Neck, Hall has OK’d partial resurfacing and repair of Depew Avenue. It is scheduled to be completed in January.

DOT studying traffic controls near Flushing Commons project

From CBS 2:

Along Union Street, the sidewalk is cut off; instead of adhering to signs, people walk in the traffic lanes anyway.

“I have to follow the flow I guess,” one pedestrian said.

As Murdock reported, having no sidewalk is just one issue—the traffic is another.

The area is a mass transportation hub with thousands of people and hundreds of cars at any given time. Because of construction, three lanes are now down to two.

Senator Tony Avella says right now, there are more questions than answers about how this nightmare came to life.

“Why was permission given, if it was, to the contractor to close off that one lane of traffic, which is also a bus route? Two, why was the contractor allowed to close off the sidewalk?” he said.

Murdock repeatedly asked the same questions of the Department of Transportation, to which it said it was exploring the addition of a left turn signal and other traffic controls nearby.

Shouldn't this have been figured out before construction started?

Flushing Commons construction is a pain in the ass for many

From the Queens Chronicle:

Work on Flushing Commons, the large mixed-use development, has not only affected area businesses but the historic church next door as well.

The house of worship, located at 37-22 Union St., is on one side of the $1 billion project that is also bounded by 138th Street and 37th and 39th avenues. So while construction work — which began officially in June — continues through 2021, the 203-year-old congregation will have to put up with noise, dirt and a definite hemmed-in feeling.

Although 1,144 parking spaces remain during construction, using them is no longer free at certain times. The site previously served as a municipal parking lot and parking was free on Sunday and for some evening hours.

The remaining piece of the former municipal lot is being developed by the church. It has constructed a 14-story, 142-unit affordable housing structure located adjacent to the house of worship.

It was completed months ago, but the city is taking its time in making inspections before giving the project a certificate of occupancy.

More than 40,000 applications were received by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Prior to the start of Flushing Commons construction, Korean stores on Union Street feared a loss of business due to the work.

The city, however, has set up a $2.5 million small business assistance fund for all Flushing merchants that is being administered by Asian Americans for Equality and the city.

But Ikhwan Rim, president of the Union Street Small Business Merchants Association, said on Monday that businesses are closing down. “I’m okay, hanging on, but it’s not too good for business,” the jewelry store owner said.

He blamed the drop-off in commerce to lack of parking, the cost of what remains and additional traffic due to construction. “The developers need to work harder for us,” Rim said.

Stop work order at Flushing Commons

From the Daily News:

Work has been halted at a major Flushing development site since Friday, when a baseball-sized boulder flew across 39th Avenue, shattering the window of a bank and injuring a security guard.

Construction workers were chopping rocks at the Flushing Commons site on Aug. 8, as part of excavation for the $1 billion mega-development, when the dislodged stone flew over the 8-foot wall and soared like a well-struck chip shot across the crowded downtown street.

A security guard from the Woori America Bank was hospitalized from the shattered glass with serious but non-life threatening injuries, an FDNY spokesman said.

Developers said they held a safety meeting on Tuesday and were working with the city Department of Buildings to rectify the situation.

3rd termers are raking it in

From the Times Ledger:

Although the next round of city elections is more than three years away, the delay has not stopped those with special interests from contributing to the tens of thousands of dollars amassed in Queens elected officials’ campaign coffers.

An executive behind the massive Astoria Cove housing bid in Hallets Point donated $1,000 to Borough President Melinda Katz’s campaign. And telecommunications companies concerned about the city’s Wi-Fi contract strategy have kicked $1,250 into the campaign account of Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens), chairman of the Zoning and Franchises Committee, who also sits on the Technology Committee.

Once campaign spending is factored in, Katz has $78,109 on hand for a re-election bid, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Glendale) $51,541, Weprin $38,019, Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) $16,132, Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) $12,906 and Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) $14,000.

Van Bramer’s and Crowley’s campaign committees have not yet declared that the politicians are running for re-election, but those close to their campaigns confirmed both are seeking a third term in City Hall.

Katz’s re-election campaign account has profited from employees at the lobbying firm Greenberg Traurig LLP, where she previously worked, and a political action committee it finances that have collectively contributed $3,810.

Others who donated generously to the borough president’s bid include Eugen Gluck, chairman of the E. Gluck watch company moving to Little Neck, who gave $2,000; leaders of the F&T Group behind the Flushing Commons development, who collectively gave $1,320; executives of the TF Cornerstone firm selected to construct the middle-income Hunter’s Point South housing complex, who collectively gave $1,000; and an Alma Realty developer managing the Astoria Cove residences proposed in Hallets Point, who gave $1,000.

As borough president, Katz is charged with issuing recommendations on proposed zoning and land use changes.

Katz spokesman Nathan Smith said her fund-raising adhered to all regulations.

Flushing Commons construction begins

"The last nail in Flushing's coffin has been placed." - The Flushing Phantom

Flushing Commons project will start any day now...

From the Times Ledger:

The developers of Flushing Commons have cleared their last major hurdles before construction can begin on the long-delayed, $850 million development.

F&T and the Rockefeller groups have put together $313 million to pay for the first phase of the project, scheduled to start this spring.

The developers closed on a $235 million loan from Starwood Property Trust at the end of March to help finance the cost.

The remaining $78 million includes debt and equity investment.

Once completed, the project will turn Municipal Lot 1, at the corner of 39th Avenue and Union Street in downtown Flushing, into a multi-use complex with residential, retail and commercial space, as well as a 62,000-square-foot YMCA and 1,600 parking spaces. The developers reached a deal with the city at the end of 2013 to buy the lot for $20 million.

It was originally proposed eight years ago and passed by the City Council in 2010, but was delayed for years because of funding problems.

The Rockefeller Group has also set up a website at flushingcommonsupdates.com to post updates in order to keep the community informed about the project’s progress.

Phase 1 is expected to be completed in early 2017 and will include 220,000 square feet of commercial and office space as well as 150 units of housing.

Questions for Katz

From Crains:

Q
What kind of development would you like to see in Queens?

A
For things that are already happening, we have a task force for the Willets Point area; we have a task force for Flushing Commons. I'd love to see more retail and hotels in Jamaica. One of my goals is also to have much more affordable housing there, to utilize the zoning that we put in place five years ago, to build hotels for economic development. In Long Island City, we have a great opportunity to leverage the Cornell tech school that's coming to Roosevelt Island. And for people in their 20s, we want them to stay in Queens.

Q
What's it like working with the de Blasio administration?

A
For someone like me, who's been in elected office 20 years, I spent the whole time with a Republican administration. So it's a different atmosphere. What I find now from most of the commissioners and the deputy mayors is the openness to other elected officials—our ideas, what we think is best for our constituents. There seems to be a team effort, more than there has been with the other administrations.

Q
Do you think you'll be more active than your predecessor, Helen Marshall, who was known as being low-key?

A
Everyone brings their own characteristics, but for me, if I'm home on a Thursday night, it means someone screwed up my schedule. Although I'm not sure I've been home on a Thursday night yet.

Flushing Commons renderings are full of white folk

Brownstoner Queens has renderings of Flushing Commons. Click to see what Downtown Flushing would look like without Asian people. Oh, and another interesting factoid: " Phase 1 should finish by April 2017 and Phase 2 will break ground in 2018. The whole shebang should wrap in the early 2020s and cost a grand total of $850,000,000."

Heh. Haven't we been talking about this project for more than a decade now?

Flushing Commons & Ridgewood Post Office site are both toxic

From the Times Ledger:

Just before the new year, Essex Capital Partners Ltd., a Manhattan-based national real estate firm, submitted paperwork to demolish a shuttered post office and two one-story commercial buildings, at 16-14 through 16-32 Madison St., and build a 63,395-square-foot apartment building in their place. The developer plans to include 46 parking spots, according to city Department of Building filings.

[In August], 1614 Madison Partners inked a Brownfield Cleanup Program agreement with the state Environmental Department of Conservation. Under the cleanup initiative, the state attempts to spur owners of contaminated property to redevelop the sites by offering them tax benefits to remediate the pollution.

The developer’s two-lot purchase once housed the Philru Knitting Mill and contains concentrations of a toxic chemical often used to dry clean fabrics and de-grease metals that exceed state guidelines, according to paperwork 1614 Madison Partners filed with the DEC.

The DEC received a draft investigation work plan for the site and invited the public to share feedback through Jan. 10 on how the LLC proposes to examine the site’s contamination.

After adjusting the investigation plan, if necessary, 1614 Madison Partners will use the results of environmental tests to compile a report and draft a proposed cleanup plan. The public may view and comment on the proposal before the state decides whether to sign off on it.

Preliminary tests found concentrations of tetrachloroethene — commonly known as PCE — above state limits in shallow soil, soil vapor and groundwater, according to the draft investigation work plan.

The Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry has determined that exposure to high concentrations of PCE can cause dizziness, headaches, sleepiness, confusion, nausea, difficulty speaking or walking, unconsciousness and death, according to the agency. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has concluded that PCE “may reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen” because it has caused liver and kidney tumors in rodents.

From the Times Ledger:

The developers of the Flushing Commons project have opted into a city-run, environmental cleanup program after low levels of contaminants were found below Municipal Lot 1 — protecting them from future enforcement actions from city or state environmental agencies.

The mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation said the plan to remediate conditions at the site covers only the first phase of the Rockefeller Group’s $850 million development scheduled to kick off in March.

A 2006 investigation by Flushing Commons’ engineers found contaminants in the soil and groundwater below the parking lot at marginally low levels, but because they may pose safety hazards as construction crews excavate and dispose of about 178,000 tons of soil, the plan lays out guidelines for the safe handling of the soil.

The city’s voluntary cleanup program also offers Rockefeller the guarantee that city and state environmental agencies will not pursue enforcement actions that could delay construction schedules.

Tests at the site found methyl tert-butyl — a gasoline additive commonly found as a pollutant in the city — the dry cleaning solution PERC and metals such as lead and nickel in the groundwater at levels nominally higher than the quality standards set by the state.

Lead was found in the soil at levels deemed safe for residential use but too dangerous to use in sensitive wetlands or as fill on farms.

While the source of the contaminants has not been determined, it is suspected it may have come from a 1-foot-thick layer of soil fill found below the pavement.

Parking mess at Flushing Commons

"Came to work this morning and found a sign up regarding the Parking situation. Called the sign on there for monthly parking rates and was told to call: 1-734-771-1685. Forwarded to voicemail with no response. Please help us find out how much everything is so that we can continue to commute. Thank you so much! Attached is the picture." - anonymous

Well, I don't know anything about this situation. But perhaps Peter Koo does since he sent out a newsletter about it.

Flushing Commons runs into parking problem

From the Queens Chronicle:

Parking at the proposed Flushing Commons mixed-use development project seemed to be on the minds of officials Thursday at a meeting of the Community Board 7 District Cabinet meeting.

Michael Meyer, president of TDC Development — which is working with the Rockefeller Group to develop the five-acre project on the site of Municipal Parking Lot 1 — outlined plans at the cabinet’s monthly meeting held at the Queens Botanical Garden.

But those in attendance were more concerned about long-term parking than when the first shovel will go into the ground. Although the entire project is not expected to be completed before 2021, 1,144 parking spaces will be retained during construction.

Meyer explained that the project has been broken up into two phases so as not to disrupt parking during the conversion. The site is bounded by Union and 138th streets and 37th and 39th avenues.

He said the plan will reduce congestion and benefit merchants. But CB 7 Chairman Gene Kelty was less sanguine about the plan, which calls for extended long-term parking on the second level of the existing lot.

“We want to divert commuter parking to Citi Field to open up more parking downtown,” Kelty said. “Instead, commuters will only have to pay $16 for the maximum time.”

The chairman said the announced plan “was not what we were told” and “that’s a big problem.”

He was supported by District Manager Marilyn Bitterman and representatives of the business community.

“If it becomes a problem with commuters hogging spaces, we can control it through pricing,” Meyer said.

The developer explained that rates will be different than the city’s, but that they will be locked in by the city until a year after the project’s completion.

If you don't like the deadline, just move it!

From Crain's:

Eight years after the city and a pair of developers announced plans for an $850 million mixed-use project in Queens called Flushing Commons, the deadline to begin work has been pushed back. Under the new schedule, the developers will close on the $20 million purchase of the property, a city-owned parking lot, by the end of the year. Ground is to be broken shortly afterward. Previously, the developers had faced a deadline of Thursday, Oct. 31, to get a shovel in the ground.

The project will be undertaken by a joint venture of TDC Development International and The Rockefeller Group.

Earlier this month, the developer filed for a construction permit to begin the first phase, which will include an underground parking garage, about 160 residential units, 350,000 square feet of retail or commercial space, a 1.5-acre open space and a 62,000-square-foot YMCA.

Shifting closing dates for projects as large and complex as Flushing Commons is not unusual, the Economic Development Corp. noted.

Will Flushing Commons finally break ground?

From Crain's:

Eight years after floating plans for a huge residential/retail project, and just weeks before a deadline for breaking ground, the developers of the $850 million Flushing Commons project in Queens filed for their first permit to actually begin the work.

The city Department of Buildings is currently reviewing the application filed by TDC Development International and The Rockefeller Group. The duo is seeking approval to spend $3.5 million to modify a portion of Municipal Lot 1, the 5.5-acre parking lot in the bustling neighborhood. That initial job will begin to lay the groundwork for the project's first phase, which includes construction of about 160 residential units and 350,000 square feet of retail or commercial space. It will also include a YMCA and park. Another 450 residential units and 150,000 square feet of retail or commercial space are slated for the second phase of the project, for which no starting date has been set.

Under their agreement with the city, the developers' first priority has to be rearranging the parking spaces in the downtown area to maintain the same parking capacity currently provided by lot, which will be demolished over time to make way for the new buildings. According to sources familiar with the project, the initial work under the permit will allow the developers to move some of the lots entrances and exits to clear the way to excavate for a new garage.

Under the contract signed between the developers and Economic Development Corp., which shepherded the project through the approval process, TDC and Rockefeller were required to break ground by Oct. 31.

Flushing Commons to be built in phases

From the Times Ledger:

Civic leaders reacted with skepticism after the city announced Tuesday that Flushing Commons will be built in two phases beginning this fall.

Developers of the long-stalled, mixed-use development are expected to break ground on the project in November, according to the city Economic Development Corp.

The $850 million project has been slated to rise over Municipal Lot 1 ever since a special permit was approved in 2010. But the major players — EDC, TDC Development and Construction Corporation and Rockefeller Development Group — left the parking lot untouched for years with virtually no explanation until this week.

The first phase of the project will include the two community benefits outlined in the original proposal — a 1.5-acre public open space and a 62,000-square-foot YMCA. It will also feature most of the total proposed commercial space, about 350,000 square feet, and about one-third of the housing, or 160 units.

Neither EDC nor the developers had a projected start date for phase two, which includes 450 residential units, 150,000 square feet of parking and 15,000 square feet of community facility space — a zoning designation that allows specific uses that would benefit residents, but is often sought by developers because it can allow slightly bigger buildings.

Because only the southern half of the parking lot will be developed first, the city and TDC maintain that no parking will be lost during the construction process.

Where does Flushing Commons stand?

From the Times Ledger:

On the heels of what appeared to be a fund-raising trip to Asia, the developers of Flushing Commons are back in Queens and in the process of inking contract deals for the $850 million downtown project.

Michael Meyer, president of TDC Development, attended meetings in cities including Hong Kong and Beijing in early March, e-mails obtained by TimesLedger Newspapers through the Freedom of Information Law show.

Meyer was upbeat, calling the tete-a-tetes “excellent,” but it was unclear exactly what was discussed, since details about the project were not released as part of the information request.

Meyer declined to comment at this stage in the project, but has said in previous interviews that Flushing Commons did not have enough funding to get a shovel in the ground.

A FOIL officer from the city Economic Development Corp. said the documents specifically related to the progress of Flushing Commons — which was approved in summer 2010 but never broke ground — were legally exempt because releasing them would affect a bidding process affiliated with the project.

The officer was not specific, but said the developers were currently negotiating new contract deals as part of the mega-project that is proposed to take the place of Municipal Lot 1 downtown...

But while Meyer was updating the EDC twice a month, community leaders who approved the project more than a year-and-a-half ago have been kept in the dark ever since.