"Made in NY", but not always paid in NY

Next time a NY politician asserts that NYC residents who are relentlessly inconvenienced by the film industry should just suck it up because of all the local jobs and revenue it's generating for local businesses, their constituents should just whip out the below photo of a catering truck in Ridgewood with New Jersey plates and ask them to explain it.

With all the filming that's gone on in Queens alone, you'd think our roads and parks would be adequately maintained.

Changes coming to restaurant inspection system

From NYC.gov:

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and the Health Department announced today they are releasing for public comment new restaurant grading rules designed to reduce fines and provide additional educational resources to help restaurants maintain their high health standards and succeed throughout New York City. In the last fiscal year, fines collected fell 23 percent from its peak in fiscal year 2012. Under the new rules, which include fixed penalties, restaurants will see a further reduction of 25 percent in fines, returning to pre-grading levels despite more frequent inspections. Restaurant owners will also have the opportunity to request a consultative, ungraded and penalty-free inspection to receive tailored advice about maintaining the best food safety practices at their establishment. This will help restaurants prepare for their next inspection and give them the information and tools to improve their chances to earn an A. Speaker Mark-Viverito and Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett were joined by Council Health Committee Chair Corey Johnson, Small Business Committee Chair Robert Cornegy, Council Member Vincent J. Gentile and Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer for the announcement.

In addition to the reduced fines and penalty-free inspections, the collaboration between the City Council and the Health Department will make the entire inspection process more transparent and inclusive of small business owners.

The City Council has worked extensively to reform the City’s restaurant grading system. In October, following comprehensive forums, hearings, and a citywide restaurant inspection survey conducted by the Council, the Council passed a sweeping legislative package to improve the oversight and the performance of the restaurant inspection system.

The legislation established a new position of ombudsperson in the Office of Food Safety to respond to restaurant complaints, and expanded the Department’s food safety advisory committee, which includes nutritionists, food safety experts, and representatives from the restaurant industry. This committee will provide an ongoing review of the letter grading program.

The Health Department also announced the implementation of two other changes negotiated with the Council. Restaurants whose scores become less than 14 points after adjudication on its initial inspection will not have to pay any fines for the remaining sanitary violations on that inspection. Additionally, the Health Department will not issue a violation for a structural problem if prior inspections failed to notice it and conditions have not been changed, though the restaurant will still be required to fix it.

Jones Beach getting a makeover

From WPIX:

Millions of people visit Jones Beach every year. It is a famous New York destination. And Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday the state will fund a 65 million dollar project to renovate and revitalize the beach and its structures.

The project will take several years and is expected to restore historical details. There will be new restaurants, vendors, sporting venues and an adventure play area. According to the regional director of Long Island state parks, Wayne Horsley, the buildings will be built to withstand flooding and wind.

CitiBike not popular among tourists

From the Wall Street Journal:

Leaders of Citi Bike are moving quickly to raise tens of millions of dollars to rescue the popular bike-share program as it loses money, according to people familiar with the matter.

Leaders of New York's Citi Bike are moving quickly to raise tens of millions of dollars to rescue the popular bike-share program as it loses money. Andrew Tangel reports on the News Hub. Photo: Getty Images.

Citi Bike's bright blue bicycles have become a seemingly indispensable part of some city neighborhoods, but its managers don't believe it can survive if it doesn't become more appealing to tourists and expand to new neighborhoods, the people familiar with the matter said.

The program's leaders have approached officials in Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration about raising Citi Bike's rates, the people said.

One issue is that Citi Bike has proved more popular than expected with annual users who generate comparatively little revenue. Some 99,000 people pay $95 a year plus tax to be able to use the bikes for 45 minutes at a time.

The potential for far greater revenue, however, is with short-term users. Many of those were expected to be tourists, and they haven't used the bikes nearly as much as officials had anticipated, people familiar with the matter said.

A 24-hour pass costs $9.95 plus tax and a seven-day pass costs $25 plus tax. Purchasing short-term passes has proved difficult due in part to balky kiosks that accept payment for the bikes and computer glitches.

Operational difficulties have also troubled Citi Bike. The task of moving bikes to respond to the patterns of commuters—those who grab a bike in the West Village to Midtown in the morning but may not ride it home at night—has been more cumbersome than expected in New York City traffic. That has raised costs.

Also, some 50 batteries have to be changed manually at the system's 330 docking stations every night, requiring Citi Bike to hire a subcontractor just to do the job, according to people familiar with the matter.

Citi Bike has been forced to lay off some workers because of the financial strain, which has made it more difficult to operate the sprawling network and respond to customers, the people familiar with the matter said.

Jamaica Estates not immune from crap

From Brownstoner Queens:

The 12,000-square-foot property at 177-30 Wexford Terrace, off Edgerton Boulevard, recently hit public records for $1,875,000. There is a gorgeous detached home on the property but we’re afraid it may be demolished soon.

Trylon synagogue taken to court

From the Times Ledger:

A rent dispute between Ohr Natan synagogue and the Rego Park congregations’ landlord has landed the two in court.

Rabbi Nahum Kaziev, who leads the Bukharian house of worship, at 98-81 Queens Blvd., said Ohr Natan was served with an eviction notice after the property owners accused the temple of not paying rent.

He said the synagogue continued sending monthly checks, but was told its landlord, Trylon LLC, did not receive them.

Anthony La Vigna
The temple attempted to send more checks to account for the missing money, but Trylon argued the rent was late and moved to terminate its lease in Queens Supreme Court, according to Kaziev.

Judge Terrence O’Conner dismissed the case because of a technicality earlier this month, but Trylon LLC plans to re-file its case.

Meet the new Parks commissioner

From Crains:

The new city parks commissioner was introduced by the de Blasio administration Friday as an "internationally-renowned planning director and expert who has worked extensively on parks policy."

The language might have been a bit grandiose for Mitchell Silver, who had been the chief of planning and development for Raleigh, N.C., but he is being asked by Mayor Bill de Blasio to fulfill a substantial mission: to bring "a holistic perspective" to the city’s parks and infrastructure, "while also expanding access, sustainability and public health initiatives throughout the city’s 29,000 acres of parkland," according to the mayor's office.

At a press conference in Seward Park in the Lower East Side—the city's first municipally funded open space, according to Mr. de Blasio—Mr. Silver was introduced as "visionary" who will bring a deep expertise in urban planning and a "passion for fairness" to the job.

"He's someone who's devoted his career to thinking where we need to go, and then finding ways to get it done," Mr. de Blasio said.

Mr. Silver's appointment had been anxiously awaited by many in the parks community, who fretted over Mr. de Blasio's slow decision-making. A native of Brooklyn, Mr. Silver worked as a planning official on several New York projects, including the Harlem-on-the-River redevelopment and the Jamaica Center in Queens, before decamping to Raleigh nine years ago.

LIC residents discover that factories make noise

From DNA Info:

BluePrint Juice is a runaway hit with the juice-cleanse set but people who live near its Queens factory say noise from the site is putting the squeeze on their sleep cycles.

BluePrint, which sells cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juices at Whole Foods and elsewhere nationwide, runs a facility at 48-55 36th St., where its neighbors say workers empty dumpsters overnight and unload trailers with forklifts as early as 6 a.m.

"The windows are closed right now, but when the windows are open — forget about it,” said Larry Lembo, 63, who has lived at the rear of a building overlooking the BluePrint site since 1974. "It's like it's in your backyard."

Another longtime tenant of Lembo's building said the noise from BluePrint, which locals said moved into the 36th Street a manufacturing zone about two years ago, jars her from her sleep.

"It's something you don't get used to," the neighbor said, declining to give her name.

Lembo took his complaints about BluePrint — whose founder Zoë Sakoutis was named one of Crain's New York Business's "40 Under 40" last year — to Queens Community Board 2 and the 108th Precinct.

Commanding officer Capt. Brian Hennessy said the NYPD hasn't issued any noise summonses at the property, but there have been 22 complaints about noise related to garbage pickups at the site since January, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.

Hennessy said police have spoken to BluePrint and its waste removal company, Action Carting, about keeping noisy operations contained to more reasonable hours. Both were receptive to making adjustments, he said.

Flea market seeks liquor license

From the LIC Post:

The operators of the LIC Flea & Food are applying for two liquor licenses– which they say are needed to keep the market viable.

Executives for the LIC Flea & Food market told Community Board 2 last night that they want to cordon off a section of the parking lot at their 46th Avenue and 5th Street location for the purposes of selling liquor. They also want a license to sell liquor from an old ferry that is adjacent to that parking lot at Anable Basin.

Andrew Kirby, president of Plaxall, the company that owns the 24,000 sqf. lot and is a LIC Flea partner, said these licenses were important to the success of the market. Kirby spoke on behalf of Joshua Schneps, the founder, who was on vacation.

“They [the vendors] are telling us they are not getting enough business, and that people who buy a $13 lobster roll want to be able to buy a glass of beer,” Kirby said.

“A lot of these vendors were out summer weekends not selling anything,” Kirby said, adding that, “We may not be able to keep the flea market going if we can’t attract these vendors back… and to do that we need things like this.” He said that there is the “time clock” and that they need to get going with it.

However, the community board had a number of concerns about the licenses—such as the LIC Flea’s close proximity to the PS/IS 78Q, the lack of experience of the operators in running licensed establishments as well as noise and traffic concerns.

Public access to Pavilion on April 22

From the Times Ledger:

The New York State Pavilion will be open to the public for the first time in a generation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1964 World’s Fair April 22 — for one day only.

The iconic venue had been closed off to the public since 1987 but, thanks to the efforts of two self-described history nerds, visitors will once again gain entry between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

On April 22, the curious will be able to get an up-close look. RSVPs are not required and visitors will have to wear hard hats, which will be provided.

Hearing both sides

From The Forum:

Plans to create an upscale apartment building in the heart of Ridgewood put some residents at odds with one another at a rowdy rezoning public hearing.

There was a clear divide among those who spoke at last week’s Community Board 5 meeting. While some Ridgewood residents said the 176 Woodward Ave. apartment proposal would help uplift a community eyesore, others sounded off against a complex they felt would only cater to the more financially comfortable.

Aufgang Architects designed the proposal for the $18 million facility that includes a 90,000-square-foot structure to house 88 residential units, commercial retail space, and 118 underground parking spots. Developers said rental prices there were estimated to range anywhere from $1,100 to $1,200 for a studio; $1,400 to $1,600 for a one-bedroom apartment; and $1,700-$1,800 for a two-bedroom apartment.

Toll cheats may soon be out of luck

From the NY Post:

Drivers around the state who have cumulatively run up more than $156 million in ­unpaid tolls may soon by walking to their destinations.

Gov. Cuomo is planning to make it easier for the state to yank the vehicle registrations of motorists who zip through toll lanes without paying and ignore collection efforts.

It is against state law to drive an unregistered vehicle.

According to state rec­ords, toll cheats owe $156,686,769 in unpaid tolls, interest and penalties dating back to 2008.

The vast majority — 87 percent — shorted the Port Authority, which operates some of the most expensive bridge and tunnel crossings in the region.

Oy vey! Such an eyesore!

From the Daily News:

Convicted felon Mayer Goldberger, 50, took a timeout from his work release program to fight the foreclosure of a half-built mansion owned by his mother.

The building, a hulking monstrosity at 1670 42nd St. in Borough Park, has been plaguing neighbors since construction began 10 years ago, but now it will be auctioned on Thursday.

Neighbors have filed nearly 50 complaints with the city since 2004, and the Department of Buildings halted the construction in 2008. Among the problems with the 10,000-square-foot structure was a fourth floor that wasn’t part of the permits.

The quadruple-decker is technically owned by Goldberger’s feeble mother, but the son filed a shoddy bankruptcy case in November, trying to hold off the lenders who are looking to collect $2.8 million in loans and fees. The case was tossed on March 7.

An appraiser estimated the building’s value to be about $1.8 million.

An end to 311 harassment?

From Metro:

A City Council bill introduced by [Councilmember Steven] Matteo last month aims to end such “neighbor-versus-neighbor” 311 disputes.

Under the measure, which has bipartisan support from five other co-sponsors, a property...would be ruled the subject of harassment upon receiving three or more baseless 311 complaints within six months. For three months after that, the 311 customer service center would only document non-emergency calls about the property without referring them to a city agency.

The law would apply to any property occupants who are the subject of repeat anonymous 311 calls — be it homeowners, renters or leasers — according to Matteo’s office. Though McGrath has struggled with buildings calls, the law would also apply to other potential 311 complaints, like noise or mold.

Matteo said other council members told him that they have had similar issues with 311, but that the reports of harassment seem to be exacerbated on places like Staten Island, with more one- and two-family residences.

Oh G, is LIC screwed!

From LIC Post:

The MTA is shutting down the G Train for five straight weeks this summer—between Long Island City and Nassau Ave.

MTA officials told Community Board 2 members last night that the line would be down between Court Square and Nassau Ave/Manhattan Avenue from July 26 through September 1.

The MTA said that it needs to shut down service in order to repair damage caused by Superstorm Sandy. The tunnel that connects Long Island City with Greenpoint was flooded with 3 million gallons of salt water at the height of the storm, according to the MTA.

There will be shuttle service provided during the 5-week shutdown.

Is this the LaGuardia of the future?

From the NY Post:

This is what LaGuardia Airport could look like by 2021 — a far cry from the current dilapidated “Third World” facility.

Manhattan design firm Neoscape created renderings for the advocacy group Global Gateway Alliance that showcase a modern-looking airport with an airy main terminal, based on parameters established by the Port Authority.

The 1.3-million-square-foot space is one-third larger than the current central terminal.

LaGuardia currently handles double the amount of passengers for which it was built. About 12 million people travel through the airport each year, and the number is expected to rise to 18 million by 2030.

The new airport design leaves space for a future direct subway line.

Office space $ could be better spent

From DNA Info:

The city has spent nearly $40 million over the last 12 years on office space for Queens prosecutors and other law enforcement officials while a city-owned building attached to the borough's courthouse sits empty, DNAinfo New York has learned.

Every day, some 277 prosecutors, investigators and police officers commute along a five-block stretch of dangerous Queens Boulevard to the courthouse, often lugging sensitive case folders or pushing carts filled with confidential court and investigative reports.

Their trek begins at 80-02 Kew Gardens Road, where the city spends nearly $3 million a year renting 80,000 square feet on four floors for the DA’s team, hate crimes and special victims bureaus, a sitting Queens grand jury and the court officers and police officers who guard them.

But the city also maintains the empty Queens House of Detention, a 10-story jail that's been closed since 2002 and is directly attached to the rear of the courthouse.

A few days ago, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown illustrated the point while standing in his main conference room. He tapped on a wall that literally separates his office from the aging jail — a wall that inmates once tried to crash through to escape to freedom, he recalled.

Brown said the city has been renting space down the street as workspace for about half of his prosecutors and police investigators since before he became the borough’s top law enforcement officer 25 years ago.

It's therefore not surprising that he and other court and NYPD officials want someone to take a sledgehammer to the wall and renovate the empty jail, turning it into a thriving office space for them and other social service agencies.

College Point brush fire

From CBS New York:

A brush fire broke out and destroyed about an acre of tall grass Tuesday afternoon in College Point, Queens.

The fire broke out 4:45 p.m. at 23rd Avenue and Ulmer Street in Queens, in the shadows of LaGuardia Airport, CBS 2’s Joe Biermann reported.

The FDNY pushed into the heart of the brush fire, and appeared to have extinguished much of it by shortly after 5 p.m. No buildings were involved in the fire, and there were no reports of injuries.

The scene of the fire is in an industrial area across Flushing Bay from LaGuardia Airport, and close to College Point Fields.

Art or graffiti? You decide.

From Sunnyside Post:

Local resident George Burles has produced a YouTube video that uncovers much of the street art that can be found in Sunnyside and Woodside.

Do you consider this street art or graffiti?

The way I look at it, if it was done with permission, it's art. Otherwise, it's vandalism.

Parking scofflaws dealt with in Jamaica

From Cleanup Jamaica Queens:

At 164-22 South Road behind York College, an abandon car striped completely, sat in the driveway of a vacant house for close to a year, maybe more. I first came across this back in the summer of 2013 and of course reported it numerous times to no avail. Our elected leaders knew of this, our city agencies and other leaders in the community, but yet it sat an eyesore, every time another piece missing from it and garbage being dumped in or around it. As of March 8th, the vehicle had still be sitting there.

But in steps Jamaica's "The Untouchables" (Sgt. Cedillo, relatively new to the 103rd and his crew) this week and within one day of notifying Sgt. Cedillo, just like magic, the vehicle with no wheels vanished into thin air. Our leaders choose to do nothing for almost a year, yet Cedillo and his top notch crew, swooped in and in a blink of an eye, it was gone.

Team P/J applaud the efforts and tenacity of Sgt. Cedillo and his crew for doing what others choose not to do and bring back law enforcement in regard to these quality of life issues.