City ordered to turn over Maspeth shelter's RFP documents

From the Queens Chronicle:

The city is not planning to appeal a court ruling ordering it to turn over documents related to last year’s highly controversial planned conversion of the Maspeth Holiday Inn Express into a homeless shelter.

The Sept. 27 ruling, made by Justice Allan Weiss of Queens Supreme Court, stems from an Article 78 case brought against the city earlier this year by the civic Citizens for a Better Maspeth.

Under court order, the Department of Homeless Services must provide CBM with the city’s original request for proposals and the response documents from applying companies as it related to the proposed operation the 59-40 55 Road hotel as a shelter.

“It is ordered and adjudged that the petition is granted solely to the extent that respondents are directed to provide petitioner with copies of the Request For Proposals that were received in connection with the proposal to convert the subject Holiday Inn Express to a homeless shelter,” Weiss’ ruling reads, “and any and all plans submitted along with the RFPs which demonstrate that the space would be a conforming use under the zoning resolution.”

Zoning law only permits hotel stays of 30 days or less in manufacturing zones — the Holiday Inn Express is located in an M1-1 zone — and CBM alleges that homeless men have been staying at Patel’s building for months at a time.

Water's Edge mystery

From LIC Talk:

In February of 2016 the City decided to develop the land in and around the former Water’s Edge Restaurant on 44th Drive by the East River. Given the prospective zoning variance the city was offering, a pair of 60-story towers were possible on this choice piece of property, so the proposed project is massive. RFP’s from developers were due that May and were required to include a new school, some affordable housing, and a few other stipulations most notably a set aside for light manufacturing.

After submission the proposals would be reviewed by the NYCEDC (Economic Development Corp) and I was under the belief that shortly after the New Year they would pick 2-3 of those they deem viable for a bake-off, during which time there would be some community review and recommendations and then a winner would be chosen. Now I’m hearing grumblings that the city is going to bypass the middle step and just render a final decision.

Which is really a shame because in addition to ignoring those who are in the best position to determine local needs, it will also completely cut-off the possibility of what could be a fully integrated grand master plan for the entire northern riverfront section of Long Island City. The most obvious piece of this puzzle, the large lot just north of the Water’s Edge, is already ‘in-play,’ and the group controlling it has submitted a proposal incorporating this piece of land. This group had previously been shopping a plan just for their property that would have included a pedestrian bridge to the Cornell Technion campus on Roosevelt Island.

I don’t know anything about the rest of their plan, but that bridge alone might be worth its weight in gold to Long Island City. As an interested resident I would very much want to see how their plan stacks up to whatever other proposals the NYCEDC chooses.

Nolan comes out against EDC development plan over LIC tracks

From DNA Info:

Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan said the Economic Development Corporation's call for a developer to build apartments and retail on top of the Long Island Rail Road storage yard at 11-24 Jackson Ave. is "poorly planned" and that it has the potential to be "outsized and not right" for the neighborhood.

The EDC and the MTA issued a Request for Proposals Monday for a company to develop the site, which would require building over the 58,000-square-foot rail yard located between 21st Street, Jackson and 49th avenues.

"Considering the size of the site and its proximity to other large scale development in Long Island City there must be a better plan to increase basic services before such large scale development is considered,” Nolan said in a statement Tuesday.

The area's existing infrastructure is already strained, including crowded schools, subways and a sewage system that leaks waste into Newtown Creek when it rains, she said.

"I feel that we are now playing catch-up," Nolan said. "Our schools remain the most overcrowded in the city and every subway rider knows the daily overcrowded conditions on the 7, E, F, M, N, Q and R."

City wants development over LIC train tracks

From DNA Info:

The city is looking for a developer to construct housing, retail and open space above a rail yard in Long Island City, according to a Request for Proposals published Monday.

The city's Economic Development Corporation, along with the MTA, is seeking a third party to develop the 58,000-square-foot parcel at 11-24 Jackson Ave. bordered by 21st Street, Jackson and 49th avenues.

The city owns the air rights to the site, which is currently used by the LIRR for storage. Any development would need to be built over the existing rail yard, similar to the Hudson Yards development in Manhattan which is being built above the West Side Yard.

City seeks 100% affordable housing at NYCHA sites

From Brownstoner:

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is soliciting bids from private developers to build more affordable housing at several publicly owned sites, including the Ingersoll Houses in Fort Greene and the Van Dyke Houses in Brownsville.

NYCHA issued a request for proposals (RFP) last week for building on the vacant sites, which also includes a NYCHA location the Bronx. The plan calls for buildings containing 100 percent affordable housing for seniors and families making up to 60 percent of the area median income, or $46,000 for a family of three.

The move is part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to build the city’s affordable housing stock in the face of chronic NYCHA deficits and a dearth of federal funding.

“We must use every tool at our disposal to preserve public housing and create more affordable housing opportunities for seniors and families that are trying to make ends meet,” said NYCHA general manager Michael Kelly, in announcing the plan.

All told, NYCHA hopes to create around 500 new apartments at the three sites.

City wants large lot developed

From the Observer:

The city is looking for a developer to purchase a fee interest or a long-term lease and then redevelop a seven-acre parcel along the south side of Rockaway Boulevard near John F. Kennedy International Airport.

“This is an ideal location for businesses that benefit from the proximity to JFK International Airport,” according to the New York City Economic Development Corp.‘s recent request for expressions of interest, or RFEI.

The city-owned irregularly-shaped vacant lot is bound to the north by Rockaway Boulevard, to the south by Nassau Expressway and to the west by the Federal Aviation Administration office building, in Springfield Gardens, Queens. The area is home to one of the air cargo industry’s largest concentrations of customs brokers and freight forwarders, other airport-related industrial facilities, residences and retail uses.

Admiral's Row supermarket: take 3

From Crains:

The Brooklyn Navy Yard, the huge industrial park on the East River waterfront below Williamsburg, is hoping that three's a charm for a large development site called Admiral's Row on the property's southwest corner.

On Monday, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. released a request for proposals to build a big supermarket there, as well as additional retail space that could house shops or restaurants and more office and industrial space.

It is the third time that the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp., the nonprofit that operates the area, solicited developers for the site in as many years after two previous winners for the site, PA Associates and subsequently Blumenfeld Development Group, were dropped.

The nonprofit predicts that the project will require more than $100 million of investment and will generate 500 jobs. The deal will be structured so that the winning developer will lease the site long term.

David Ehrenberg, the president and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, said the development would provide both the neighborhood and the 300-acre Navy Yard complex with a long-needed go-to place for groceries.

"This area currently qualifies as a food desert," Mr. Ehrenberg said. "We wanted to provide a supermarket for the surrounding community and also give the growing numbers of workers at the Navy Yard a place to eat and get a cup of coffee."

The Admiral's Row development will also allow the Navy Yard to add about 127,000 square feet of office and industrial space. That square footage will largely be on the second floor of a new building that will house the supermarket on its ground floor.

Admiral's Row is named for the stately, but now badly deteriorated houses at the site that once housed the base's top naval brass. Those buildings have decayed to the point where they will have to be razed, Mr. Ehrenberg said. But two structures, one of the houses and also a historic lumber shed are required to be fully refurbished as part of the RFP. Those could be home to shops or restaurants in the new development, he said.

Terrace on the Park contract up for bid

From the Queens Courier:

Terrace on the Park operators want to upgrade the facility and are looking to get a new lease on the popular and historic Flushing Meadows-Corona Park catering hall to do so.

Their contract with the city’s Parks Department expires next March, officials said.

The department has issued a new Request for Proposals (RFP) for the 52-11 111th Street site.

“While the current concessionaire has invested more than $8 million in capital improvements, exceeding the requirements of their license agreement, it is clear that additional infrastructure investments are needed,” a Parks spokesperson said.

George Makkos, co-owner of Terrace on the Park, said they have invested $12 million so far to better the catering hall.

But the 100,000-square-foot building needs “millions” of dollars more in capital improvements which cannot be done under the looming lease expiration date, Makkos said.

“Given the size and complexity of the building, the money that we will need to spend will never be recovered in the time, in the lease that we have left,” he said.

Makkos said he and co-owner Jimmy Kaloidis want to retain and upgrade the catering hall.

Here's more on the current owner:

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/pushcart-emperors-live-high-pay-article-1.552540

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/food_filth_fight_goes_round_round_3pdSFZ9AHQUXsdBPwFUO3O

http://www.citylimits.org/news/article_print.cfm?article_id=3019

http://www.ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/press-releases/archived/nov23a_04_attach1.pdf

Let's build more new housing in Rockaway!

From Curbed:

Rebuilding is proceeding in the areas damaged by Hurricane Sandy, and one spot ripe for a new post-storm approach is Arverne East, an 80+-acre site first designated for development seven years ago. Progress stopped amid the credit crisis, and the developers (and friends) sought a new design through a two-phase competition announced several months ago. Four finalists, announced this morning, will each receive $30,000 to develop their proposals.

The four firms given the finalist nod, out of 117 submissions, were Ennead Architects, Lateral Office, Seeding Office, and White Arkitekter. Only Ennead is based in NYC—the other firms are based in Toronto, London, and Goteberg, Sweden. (Another six firms received honorable mentions—again with only one NYC-based entrant among them.) Each team has until October 7 to submit its final design, and the winner—to be announced October 24—will receive another $30,000 and the chance to be involved with the actual design of the site.

You'd think a storm buffer would be preferable, but not in NYC! We never learn.

Bloomberg hiring developers to rebuild Sandy-damaged homes

From Crains:

The Bloomberg administration has launched a program to help speed up the restoration of New York City waterfront communities that were battered by Superstorm Sandy.

The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development released a request for qualifications last week seeking developers who would help rebuild one- to four-family homes. More than six months after Sandy, hundreds of houses across the five boroughs still need to be rebuilt. The city said putting the rebuilding work in the hands of a few experts would not only make it easier for displaced families to return home but also create more continuity within affected neighborhoods. The program is entirely voluntary, however, and if individual homeowners want to work with their own developers, designers and contractors, they can.

New zoning and building codes tied to new FEMA flood maps and other regulations stemming from the storms, such as raising homes and using new materials, have been implemented.

Under the request for qualification process, the city has divided affected areas up into six groups, and developers would take charge in each area: Breezy Point in Queens; the rest of the Rockaways and Broad Channel in Queens; Staten Island; Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach and Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn; scattered home sites in the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan; and scattered mixed-use buildings (residences with attached commercial spaces, usually ground-floor retail) in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.

The program is aimed at rebuilding 400 to 750 properties with a portion of the $350 million in funding allocated to repair smaller properties from the $1.77 billion in federal Sandy aid being provided to the city. However, the total money spent for the program depends on how many homeowners participate.

More towers coming to the flood zone

From Curbed:

With construction moving forward on the first two parcels of Hunter's Point South, the city is turning its attention to the next piece of this massive affordable housing puzzle. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development released the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the second phase. Phase Two encompasses a chunk of land known as Parcel C, bound by Center Boulevard, Borden Avenue, 2nd Street and 54th Avenue. Unlike the Parcels A and B, which will be all affordable housing, only 50 to 60 percent of the 1,000 units on Parcel C will be set aside as affordable for families earning between $60,000 and $140,000 per year.

Parcel C is about 110,000-square-feet, and the new building will have 28,000 square feet of new retail space along Borden Avenue and 2nd Street. The RFP asks developers to incorporate storm resiliency measures, and all proposals must comply with the FEMA flood maps. A community space and residential parking may also be included, but they are not required.

I like how the map makes it look like an express bus runs right next to the parcel (instead of in the tunnel) as well as the inclusion of the Q103 bus line to the projects. Like the people who will reside here will ever take that.

Civic Virtue cover up!

Dear Queenscrapper,

In our continual pursuit of the truth behind the circumstances of the removal of Triumph of Civic Virtue, we have received some tangential documentation from the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) in response to our FOIL request, but not the information that we actually asked for. Among these documents are the Request for Proposals (RFPs) for services related to preservation of the statue and construction of the armature used for its transport to Green-Wood, in which we have found something quite unusual.

As a former intern with NYC Small Business Services, I had the opportunity to post several dozen RFPs. All of them were posted 3-4 weeks before the submission deadline for interested contractors, and often longer when addenda were involved. On DCAS' own open list of RFPs, this 3-4 week period is also followed. The RFPs related to Triumph of Civic Virtue however, were posted only 7 and 8 days prior to the submission deadline. This quick window is bewildering, especially given the intricate nature of the construction work involved. Furthermore, the required time period for public notice of RFPs appears to be set at 20 days by the Procurement Policy Board. DCAS has also not provided any communications pertaining to the removal of the statue that might have occurred with contractors prior to this time, and refuses to provide any of the communications that took place between itself or any other city agencies and Green-Wood cemetery related to the removal, citing attorney-client privilege.

We spoke to attorneys at the Committee on Open Government in Albany regarding this situation, and their assessment is that DCAS does not have the right to deny these records. We are considering what legal course of action to take at this point in order to receive what we have still not received months ago, namely, all records of communication. Some generalist attorneys have already expressed interest in representing us, but we are still looking for counsel with experience in matters of preservation, records access, procurement, or other NYC municipal procedure to examine documents, research the city and state statutes, and determine other help precedent that might better advise city or state legal authorities reviewing our case.

Please read more here:

http://triumphofcivicvirtue.org/2013/03/18/major-updates/

-Jon Torodash