Jackson Heights merchants to rally against plaza

From the Daily News:

South Asian merchants in Jackson Heights are riled up over an award-winning pedestrian plaza that they claim is undermining their struggling businesses.

They plan to rally on Sunday for the removal of the square on 37th Rd., between 73rd and 74th Sts., in the heart of Queens’ once-bustling Little India. The area is famous for its South Asian grocery, jewelry and clothing shops.

“Customers come from tri-state [area]... to Jackson Heights to shop,” said rally organizer Rashid Mohammad. But “the traffic has been made so complicated and so many traffic tickets have been issued that people do not like to come [anymore].”

The plaza was created last fall following a three-year Jackson Heights transportation study conducted by the city. The project received strong support from the community, prominent local organizations and was backed by City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights).

But Razi Ahmed, who plans to open a South Asian supermarket and food court in the former Eagle Theater, said local merchants were unaware of the plan.

“I’m really scared now,” said Ahmed, who plans to open the grocery within two months. “All the businesses are dying.”

“It used to be hustle and bustle,” he said. “Now it’s nothing.”

Shiv Dass, president of the Jackson Heights Indian Merchants Association, said the pedestrian zone led to the loss of about 20 parking spaces — another headache for out-of-state drivers coming into a neighborhood known for its lack of spots.

Dass voted in favor of creating the plaza at a Community Board 3 meeting last year but has since changed his mind.

“The place looks like a graveyard. There’s nobody sitting there,” he said. “Garbage is piling up. ... The homeless people are there.”

Avella OK with College Point spa

From the Times Ledger:

The man who wants to open a new spa in the College Point Corporate Park got the backing of state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) last week, and the lawmaker questioned why the proposal was ever denied by both Community Board 7 and the borough president in the first place.

“I thought it was a good idea to begin with, and now having met with you and seeing the plans I still think it’s a good idea,” Avella said, speaking at a sit-down with property owner Kwang Nam Park and representatives from the Korean community. “I do not agree with the community board’s report nor do I agree with the borough president’s report.”

The meeting took place last Thursday at 131-23 31st Ave., currently a two-story warehouse and office space the owner would like to see turned into New York Spa of College Point.

Last month, Borough President Helen Marshall also recommended that the application should be denied, citing parking issues.

But Avella said recommending to deny the spa’s application after approving another gigantic development nearby makes no sense.

In 2009, the borough president and community board voted to approve plans for a $1 billion NYPD cadet training facility, which will sit on 35 acres of land and house 2,000 parking spaces when complete.

“I don’t see how the borough president could approve something like that and not approve a small business like you,” he said to the group. “I think BSA will approve this.”

Community board member resigns over pledge

From the Times Ledger:

Right after Community Board 4 said the Pledge of Allegiance before its monthly meeting in Corona last week, a longtime member announced he would be stepping down because two other members would not salute the flag.

Nicolas Pennachio, who said he had been on the board for 24 years, prefaced his announcement by describing watching U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot in the head by a would-be assassin Jan. 8 last year and has since undergone extensive speech therapy, lead the Pledge of Allegiance with the help of her husband Mark Kelly.

After that he said he was resigning due to other members declining to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

“How can they in fairness vote for the issues brought before our democratic, American board if they feel uncomfortable and doubt whether the pledge is warranted?” Pennachio asked.

The decision took some of Pennachio’s fellow board members by surprise. Many wished him well at the end of the meeting and a man who was planning to join the board ended up withdrawing his application due to Pennachio’s resignation.

Andrew still thinks convention center will fly

From the NY Times:

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, stung by widespread doubts about his support for the privately financed construction of the country’s largest convention center at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens, offered a full-throated defense of the proposal on Thursday, saying the only cost to the state if the project failed would be “an empty building.”

Dismissing concerns about the weak economic health of the convention business, Mr. Cuomo promised that the Queens project would “cost the State of New York bubkes,” while freeing up for development the valuable land underneath the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.

In an interview with editors and writers for The New York Times, Mr. Cuomo sounded frustrated about the skeptical reaction to the convention center idea, which he proposed during his State of the State address on Jan. 4. He said the proposed development — which would include hotels, restaurants and expanded gambling, as well as the convention center — combined with the redevelopment of Manhattan’s Far West Side, would generate jobs and significant tax revenues. And he voiced confidence in Genting, the Malaysian company that runs a gambling hall at Aqueduct and proposes to spend $4 billion on the convention center.

Mr. Cuomo dismissed concerns about its distance from Manhattan attractions. He said the complex would attract “more of a mass, blue-collar clientele that probably wouldn’t be going to the Broadway shows anyway,” and said many of those who patronized the convention center would be arriving by plane.

At times, Mr. Cuomo seemed to distance himself from the entire matter, saying that if he had been governor in an earlier time, he would not have supported allowing gambling parlors at racetracks, or casinos on Indian reservations, but noting that those forms of gambling already exist in New York. And insisting that taxpayers have no risk in the project, he said, “If we were investing money that we could lose, this could be a problem.”

Property taxes increased again

From the NY Post:

Here we go again! Big Apple property owners will be hit with higher tax bills on July 1, after the city raised the assessment rolls yesterday.

In what is almost an annual event, the Finance Department reported that the total market value for property — from one-family homes to office towers — rose an average 3.8 percent to $845.4 billion.

But the bad news is that rising property values means higher tax bills.

Even though tax rates haven’t changed, a single-family homeowner will have to cough up another 2.9 percent in property taxes, bringing the average bill to $4,084.

For co-op owners, the average bill will increase 4.8 percent to $5,840.

Tax bills to condo owners will inch up 1.9 percent to an average of $7,289.

But some property owners will see their bills skyrocket far beyond the average hikes because city assessors determined that changes ranging from renovations to rising rents affected the property value.

No booze for you!

From CBS New York:

The New York State Liquor Authority has confirmed to 1010 WINS that it has denied a controversial liquor license to a proposed Long Island City strip club.

Last week, local politicians and community activists mounted an effort to block a request by the Gypsy Rose on 21st Street to have its liquor license renewed.

Had the license been approved, the Gypsy Rose — which is located near the southern side of the Queensboro Bridge — would have opened its doors to the public.

New parking regulations adopted by Council

From NY1:

The City Council on Wednesday approved three bills aimed at making parking in the city a little easier.

The Fair Parking Legislative package curbs excessive ticketing and regulates parking enforcement.

Under the new legislation, drivers who get tickets while paying at Muni-Meter machines will have their tickets cancelled on the spot.

Traffic enforcement agents will be equipped with electronic devices and be required to wipe the tickets immediately.

There's also a late fee freeze on tickets until at least 30 days after a driver is found guilty of a violation, or after their appeal is decided.

Under the current law, late fees begin to pile up 30 days after the ticket is given.

The package also puts an end to stickers posted on cars allegedly violating alternate side parking rules.

The City Council argued the stickers are excessive when tickets are also issued.

Dirty pols use campaign funds for defense

From the Daily News:

When some New York politicians find themselves facing corruption charges, they don’t have to worry about how to pay for a high-priced defense attorney — because they know they can just open up their campaign checkbooks.

Just ask Carl Kruger.

The admitted crook nearly drained his entire campaign war chest trying to save his hide — dropping $1.42 million in campaign funds on big shot criminal defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman, according to the latest state campaign finance filings.

State elected officials by law are not supposed to use campaign cash for purposes “unrelated to a political campaign or the holding of a public office or party position.”

But the state has allowed them to spend it on criminal defense lawyers — a legal interpretation that perverts a donor’s intent when they write a check for campaign dough, argued Susan Lerner, director of the nonpartisan watchdog group, Common Cause/New York.

“When contributors give to a candidate, they want to support the candidate in his election campaign — not pay for his defense against fraud charges,” she charged.

Other states require candidates to form defense committees, making clear to donors where their money will end up.

Tweeding pays off for Vito's pal

From the NY Post:

The departing director of the politically connected Ridgewood Bushwick social-services empire founded by Brooklyn Democratic leader Vito Lopez will be collecting up to $135,000 in unused sick time and vacation pay, The Post has learned.

The city ordered Christiana Fisher booted after the Department of Investigation found she had collected questionable “retroactive” pay that boosted her compensation to $782,000 in fiscal year 2009. Her 2008 salary was $336,000.

As part of the deal, Fisher was allowed to serve as an unpaid consultant to new CEO James Cameron and cash in sick and vacation time accumulated over a 38-year career up to a maximum of $135,000.

Cameron had been serving as the chief operating officer of Ridgewood Bushwick for the last 18 months.

Celebrating Rickert-Finlay

From Douglaston Patch:

Those who live in Douglas Manor have likely heard the names Rickert-Finlay many times before.

But anyone who doesn't call the peninsula formerly know as Little Neck home will likely be unfamiliar with the work of the Manhattan-based real estate developer that forever changed the landscape of northeast Queens.

Still, just driving around the meandering country roads of Douglaston, which trace the natural contours of the area, it's hard not to appreciate the forethought of Rickert Finlay and Company, the oft-overlooked planners of the Manor.

That's because in an era long before New York City zoning laws, the forward thinking Manhattan-based real estate development company had the foresight to purchase the 175-acre peninsula from William Douglas's estate and develop it in such a way to ensure that each plot sold would carry with it a set of restrictive covenants in perpetuity.

And in doing so, they ultimately preserved the architectural aesthetic of Douglaston's suburban transition in the early 1900s. Today it is a vital study of early 20th century architecture.

DOT contractors do sloppy street paving job

Freshly paved 32nd Avenue in Flushing...

LPC a day late and a dollar short

From the NY Post:

The city Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday took emergency action to block a landlord from adding a rooftop pad to a 165-year-old building on a classic row-house block off Tompkins Square Park.

Too bad the move came several hours after the city Buildings Department had already approved a permit for the East Village project.

"[The LPC] dropped the ball," lamented Andrew Berman, of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

At issue was a well-kept, $3 million-plus, four-story town home at 315 E. 10th St.

When landlord Ben Shaoul filed for a fifth-floor addition last month, preservationists sought historic status for the block to prevent it.

The LPC had 40 days to act before a permit could be issued. That deadline ended Friday.

The LPC had said yesterday’s hearing date was the earliest it could squeeze into its schedule.

A little asbestos never hurt anyone...

From the Forum:

Residents around an abandoned factory in Glendale say unsafe, un-permitted demolition is spilling over their fences and terrorizing them through nights, weekends and holidays.

For years, the industrial building at 70-20 67th Place sat fallow, but since November, it’s a hive of illicit construction activity, said Gary Jannazzo,who lives adjacent to the property.

Workers have already ripped off the building’s roof and are moving on to windows, all the while dumping debris straight off the roof and over fences and allowing dust, noise and particles to swirl, Jannazzo said.

On Jan. 11, Jannazzo and his next-door neighbor were at Community Board 5, making an open cry for assistance.

“We need help,” he said. “For weeks I can’t open my windows; my kids can’t play in the yard. I’m afraid that they’re going to be breathing in all this junk that they’re throwing off these buildings.”

Jannazzo works in the building industry in Manhattan,and his immediate concern was asbestoscoming out of this decade-sold building without proper abatement.

CB 5 has been aware of the building since 2003,when the board protested an application for constructionon the site, Vincent Arcuri, CB 5 chair,said. But in late November, Arcuri and the board got involved again.

CB 5 District Manager Gary Giordano and Arcuri observed workers violate a stop-work order from the Department of EnvironmentalProtection when CB 5 brought up concerns about asbestos.

When confronted by a DEP representative,workers harassed the inspector to the pointpolice had to be called and force work to stop,Arcuri said. But it didn’t last.

Koo flying the GOP coop!

From the NY Times:

Peter Koo, one of only five Republicans on the 51-member City Council, is set to announce early next week that he will switch parties to become a Democrat, according to people briefed on the decision.

Mr. Koo was elected in 2009 from the Queens district previously represented by John C. Liu, a Democrat who is now the New York City comptroller. His election came as a bit of a surprise — at least to people who live outside Flushing — because the district is strongly Democratic. But Mr. Koo, who spent more than $277,000 of his own money and received the endorsement of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, is a well-known community leader and has been called “mayor of Flushing” by some.

Mr. Koo has also been a strong supporter of Mr. Liu, who is considering a run for mayor, and was listed as a bundler of donations in Mr. Liu’s recent campaign finance filing — though for a relatively small amount: $7,200.

There were differing accounts, from people familiar with his decision, about his motivation. Some said that he did not feel appreciated by the Queens Republican party and that infighting in the county organization had made him increasingly uncomfortable. One person who had been briefed on his decision said Mr. Koo believed that as a Democrat, he could get more city money for his district, could increase his odds of becoming a Council committee chairman and could do more to support aspiring Asian-American politicians in the city.

No, it's because there's no competition if he runs as a Democrat. You need that spelled out for you?

Vallone trashes garbage slob

From the NY Post:

A fed-up councilman from Astoria dug through a city trash can yesterday to find out who illegally dumped personal garbage into a municipal receptacle — and vowed the “pig” would get fined.

“What kind of pig does this? Stuffs up the small opening of a public trash can with a bag of your personal home trash?” Councilman Peter Vallone fumed on his Facebook page.

After digging through the trash in a can near the Astoria Boulevard stop on the N and Q lines, Vallone ID’d its source — as Konstantinos Sidiroglou, who lives on 24th Street.

“Hey Konstantinos,” Vallone wrote. “You left your Victoria’s Secret catalogue in there ... Expect a visit from Sanitation to your pigsty.”

Sidiroglou said he knew nothing of Vallone’s discovery — and couldn’t care less.

“I was out this morning, I had some garbage in my car and I thought I’d throw it out,” he said. “And that’s it. I don’t care. It’s fine. It’s fine. This is all fine!”

And it will be a fine. Dumping household trash in a city garbage can is punishable by a $100 ticket.

Illegal Queens restaurants profiled on TV

From JamieOliver.com

This episode of Jamie's American Roadtrip takes Jamie to New York City, only this time he's trading the upscale restaurants and neighbourhoods he's used to for an apartment in one of the world's most ethnically diverse areas: Queens. From his new home Jamie explores some of the food being cooked by New York's immigrant communities: Egyptian, Peruvian and Chinese.

Jamie uncovers things he's never imagined like an illegal restaurant run in a family's living room and an anti-restaurant scene. The people who run these "supper clubs" open their homes to strangers and feed them restaurant-quality meals, without the inflated prices and hurried service. After discovering this new side to the city he's known for years, Jamie is inspired to hold his own supper club.

And there's a bonus...a guy who feeds illegal aliens out of the goodness of his heart!

Liu's fundraising way down

From the NY Times:

The New York City comptroller, John C. Liu, reported a sharp drop in his campaign donations on Tuesday, providing the clearest indication yet that his aspirations for the mayor’s office have been hurt by a federal investigation into his fund-raising practices.

After raising $1 million in the first half of 2011 and outpacing his leading rivals for the Democratic nomination, Mr. Liu collected $517,000 in the second half, trailing everyone except Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, who has already amassed the maximum for candidates accepting public money.

Mr. Liu also spent $325,000 in the second half of 2011 — more than six times what he spent in the first — with roughly two-thirds devoted to legal and other expenses related to the investigation.

Mr. Liu’s cash on hand — $1.6 million — remains significant. But in a reminder of just how much has changed since the filings in July, Mr. Liu also ended months of resistance on Tuesday and released the names of 59 bundlers who had solicited contributions for his campaign from friends, relatives, co-workers and others.

OWS occupies owned house

From WPIX:

Wise Ahadzi said he tried to negotiate with the bank to salvage the house he bought in 2007 for $424, 500, but he was forced to foreclose on the home in 2009, the year he lost his job and stopped making timely, mortgage payments. "I have everything still in there," Ahahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifdzi told PIX, "my bed, my dressers."

Last month, on December 6th, activist, Alfredo Carrasquillo, his wife, and two young children were greeted with great fanfare, as they announced they were moving into the house at 702 Vermont, with signs outside saying, "Foreclose on banks, not people." Ahadzi said he ran over to the home during the rally, asking for help to regain the house, and organizers said they would try to work with him. Carrasquillo, who works for a non-profit called VOCAL-NY, told PIX "We had no idea of the prior owner's history." Carrasquillo said the East New York community was happy to see him arrive, because the Ahadzi house had been vacant for several years, and "people were complaining of illegal activity in the house. We thought we were helping the community." Ahadzi, it turned out, had been forced to move to his brother's basement about a mile away, before he found a two-bedroom apartment in Brownsville for himself and his two daughters, ages 3 and 10.

Ahadzi said he was shocked when he toured the house. "When I went inside, I saw all the walls had been taken down!" The group told him this was because there was dangerous mold on the walls. And now, it turns out, the homeless family that was applauded last month, for finally finding "a place to call home", is not living at 702 Vermont! The father, Alfredo Carrasquillo, told PIX he stays there most nights, but there was a problem with renovations, "so due to that, I didn't feel it was a save environment for my children to live there permanently."

On Monday night, Wise Ahadzi was returning from a trip upstate with his daughters, wishing the Occupy movement would put its energies behind him. The bank acknowledges he still, technically, owns the house. "Why give this to a homeless person?" Ahadzi asked. "Why not the owner of the house?" Monday evening, Alfredo Carrasquillo told PIX, "We have tried to reach out to Mr. Wise. We're more than happy to help out in any way we can."

New NYPD spying technology raises questions

From Metro:

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced that the NYPD is pursuing a controversial new technology in the war against illegal guns: body-scanning devices.

Kelly said the NYPD, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, is working to develop a tool capable of detecting concealed firearms.

The device can read radiation, or heat, emitted from a person’s body. The radiation does not travel through metal, allowing officers to “see” the outline of hidden weapons.

The NYPD is testing the new scanners, which currently only work from three to four feet away. Kelly said he’s hoping they will soon operate at a distance of more than 80 feet. Police will install the scanners onto NYPD vans to direct at suspects.

But some are concerned that the NYPD will abuse its new power. Donna Lieberman, director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, sees the new technology as a double-edged sword.

“On the one hand, if technology like this worked as it was billed, New York City should see its stop-and-frisk rate drop by a half-million people a year,” said Lieberman. “On the other hand, the ability to walk down the street free from a virtual police pat-down is a matter of privacy.”

Using taxpayer dollars to promote themselves

From the Daily News:

The state's budget crisis hasn't stopped lawmakers from spending big bucks to promote themselves.

Members of the Senate and Assembly have spent nearly $9 million in taxpayer money this year on constituent mailings, the Daily News has learned.

The spending comes as the state faces a $9 billion budget deficit and is preparing to lay off hundreds of government workers on Dec. 31.

"It's an extraordinary amount of money when the state is broke," said Dick Dadey, executive director of the good government group Citizens Union.

"And the timing of the newsletters is geared to inform voters just before an election, which is doubly inappropriate."

Senators spent $5.3 million on postage, while Assembly members spent $3.6 million. The Senate and Assembly spent a combined $12 million last year, records show.