Residents suspicious of new hotel

From the Queens Chronicle:

Developer Rajendra Patel says the key to a successful business is building a strong relationship with the community, and that’s what he plans to do as he pursues his latest venture, a seven-story hotel in downtown Jamaica, scheduled to open in 2013.

Patel bought the site, a 75-by-84-square- foot vacant lot at 89-34 162 St., in 2007, for $2.1 million, submitted plans to the city’s Department of Buildings the following year, and obtained work permits from the agency about two months ago.
The hotel, a Comfort Inn, which is expected to cost between $7 and $8 million, will feature a breakfast area, fitness and laundry rooms, and a storage area. It will have 72 guest rooms and is expected to provide between 10 and 20 jobs for area residents with experience in the hospitality industry, Patel said.

Patel said he chose the location because it will provide a moderately priced option for visitors, is located between two major airports and is close to the Jamaica Avenue business corridor, where transportation, shopping, food and entertainment are readily available. But not everyone thinks it’s an optimum spot for such a business.

“It seems like an odd location,” said CB 12 Chairwoman Jacqueline Boyce. “Although I have not met with the developer yet for discussion, I wonder who would stay there. It seems to be a location that’s away from our major airports and might not attract people that are traveling for an overnight or week’s stay.”

Adjoa Gzifa, three-term immediate past chairwoman of CB 12, expressed similar sentiments, adding that hotels are better suited to main commercial strips. She believes that if the business were to fail, the owner would probably sell the land to the city and it would be turned into a homeless shelter — something that usually happens with unwanted properties in the district, which is already saturated with such facilities, according to Gzifa.

The City's latest money pits

From the Daily News:

The Hudson Yards development project on Manhattan’s far West Side is about to become New York’s next big money pit.

The city could be on the hook for more than $500 million by 2015 just to pay interest on $3 billion in Hudson Yards bonds — largely because commercial and apartment building construction in the area has not reached anywhere near the level Mayor Bloomberg’s top aides predicted back in 2005.

Meanwhile, costs have ballooned for Hudson Yards’ two main public improvements: extension of the No. 7 subway to 34th St. and 11th Ave., and construction of a new ribbon park and midblock boulevard between 10th and 11th Aves.

During the past few months, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has quietly revised the price tag for the subway extension to nearly $2.4 billion from $2.1 billion.

City Hall continues to insist, nonetheless, that the overall project is still on budget.

“Total project cost for the 7 train and redevelopment area was and remains $3 billion,” mayoral spokesman Marc La Vorgna said recently.

So how do the mayor’s number-crunchers manage to make this increased cost disappear?

They miraculously found $235 million in “cost savings and unused contingencies elsewhere within the project budget,” according to a Hudson Yards bond document released in October, while also adding $32 million to pay for “certain 11th Ave. reconstruction work necessary to construct the subway extension.”

Well, not exactly.

By a maneuver worthy of Houdini, the city has buried more than $10 million in infrastructure costs for Hudson Yards in the budgets of other agencies.

From the Brooklyn Paper:

The cost of a proposed footbridge from Brooklyn Heights to Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 — a key amenity for residents seeking quick access to the world-class park — jumped 26 percent after park officials upgraded the design then failed to find a contractor who could meet the original budget.

On Monday, Brooklyn Bridge Park announced that Kelco Construction won a $6.2-million contract to design the Squibb Park Bridge, a 400-foot timber structure that will link Columbia Heights to the verdant park below that was budgeted to cost $4.9 million.

City planning experts called the 26-percent cost increase common in city government but still significant.

Liu's fundraiser a tax deadbeat

From the NY Post:

City Comptroller John Liu’s top political adviser is an accused tax deadbeat.

Chung Seto, Liu’s longtime campaign manager, owes the federal government up to $175,000 in back taxes, The Post has learned.

The IRS slapped Seto with two separate tax liens, for $100,871 for the 2007 tax year and $74,206 for 2008.

The liens — issued in August and June of this year — claim that Seto’s liability centers on underpaying personal income taxes.

“This is a personal tax matter that is being worked out with the IRS,” said Liu’s campaign spokesman, George Arzt.

Liu has paid Seto a total of $304,000 through his campaign accounts since 2006, records show.

The IRS scrutiny is just the latest concern for Liu’s political operation.

Cemusa bus shelters causing injury

Above is a photo of a Cemusa bus shelter bench in Fresh Meadows. Note that the shelters are new.

To Whom It May Concern:

There are 3300 Cemusa bus shelters and the information below applies to all of them. There are over 80 personal injury cases in Bronx, Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn. The court papers are available for public to review. DOT and NYC Comptroller's office have a database for personal injuries that are related to Cemusa bus shelters.

I learned from FOIL documents that there were over 80 personal injury cases related to Cemusa's bus stop shelters against the New York City and DOT. Many of the injuries are due to shattering or falling components of the bus stops including large glass panels. Some of these panels weight more than 300 lb. As I have reported to DOT, Cemusa was aware of the defects. New York City should not be the responsible party in these suits in my opinion. Cemusa was given enough time to correct these deviations and repair these defective bus stops. Too many corners were cut without the knowledge of any professional engineer during the manufacturing and installation of these bus shelters. There was no oversight.

I wish that NY City would take action soon to prevent other personal injuries that may occur around Cemusa bus shelters.

Jen Bolay

Vito charity gets lots of state cash

From the Daily News:

The Assemblyman Lopez-founded Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council -- which has been the subject of several recent investigations -- received three grants totaling $845,806 to build or renovate housing in Brooklyn, according to documents released by the administration today.

“There was a search for projects that if funded right now could create jobs very quickly - that really had built in infrastructure and support,” said Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of the Empire State Economic Development Corporation.

New York City received only $66.2 million for a total of 50 projects, which ranked fourth from the bottom among the 10 regions awarded funds at Thursday morning's lavish ceremony.

Adams and other administration officials defended the awards, saying they were chosen based on merit by a “Strategic Plan Review Committee.” The Committee scored presentations made by each of the Regional Economic Development Committees.

“The goal was to identify the best projects, not spend $1 billion,” Adams said.

Whitestone brownfield for sale

From Crains:

A rare 18-acre development site—the largest available in Queens—is up for grabs at a deep discount, according to Massey Knakal Realty Services, the brokerage tapped to exclusively market it.

The waterfront property, located at 151-45 Sixth Road in the borough's Whitestone section, was approved by the city for 52 single-family homes, according to Stephen Preuss, first vice president of sales at Massey Knakal. The plot includes six underwater acres suitable for boat docks or a marina.

The previous owner defaulted on his loan and the site was taken back by the lender, said Mr. Preuss. According to public records on PropertyShark.com, Capmark Financial Group is the lender and the original mortgage on the site was $4.2 million. There is no asking price for the property at this point.

“This is a unique area of Queens and is ideal for a local multi-family developer,” said Mr. Preuss, who would not disclose how much debt is on the property now, but said that the total “far exceeds what the property will sell for.” He stressed that the property will be delivered to the new owner clear of any liens.

The previous owner received approvals to build 52 single-family homes averaging at least 3,200 square feet designed for middle to middle-upper income families.

Of course, this is referring to Bayrock Whitestone.

The owners got into a little legal trouble.

An open letter to Peter Koo

Dear Councilmember Koo,

In a story that ran on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 on Fox 5 News, Ashley Mastronardi reported on the Broadway-Flushing Homeowners Association's (BFHA) efforts to receive New York City Landmark Historic District status for their neighborhood. Broadway-Flushing has already been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, with over 1,300 properties within its boundaries.

BFHA has spent significant time and capital in our quest to further protect our neighborhood from overdeveloopment, which we consider landmarking to do. Over 85% of the residents in Broadway-Flushing are in favor of designation and every elected official that represents our neighborhood has supported us, including former Councilmember and now State Senator Tony Avella, former State Senator Frank Padavan; Assemblymember Rory Lancman; Councilmember Dan Hallloran; and Borough President Helen Marshall. Community Board 7 voted twice - unanimously - to support landmarking of our neighborhood in both 2005 and 2009.

Which brings us to the point: your staff member, James McClelland, was interviewed at your constituent office (with you in attendance at some point as was shown on Fox 5 News) for this particular story. Mr. McClelland first stated that "he is against turning the neighborhood into a historical district because development is inevitable and good for the community." He also stated that "it's tough to legislate good taste or what you think is good taste...they bought the house, they paid the mortgage and unless it's, you know, mandated by some kind of city code, they should be able to do what they want."

We are extremely confused as to why he should make this statement when A) when you were a member of Community Board 7, you voted both times to support the creation of a Broadway-Flushing Landmarked Historic District; and more importantly B) BROADWAY-FLUSHING IS NOT LOCATED IN YOUR COUNCIL DISTRICT, NOR HAS IT EVER BEEN.

Councilmember Koo: There are over 100 historic districts in New York City. Very few of them are in Queens and none are located in Flushing, not because those neighborhoods don't deserve it, but because of politics and opposition from some of the residents who live there.

We know that we have a fantastic neighborhood or we would not have been able to receive National Register of Historic Places status already. We know that even with landmarking, new development will take place. Landmarking does not freeze neighborhoods like a fly in amber, it merely helps to protect what is considered architecturally or historically important and makes sure that new development fits in better with the existing neighborhood. That is why a supermajority of our members and residents of Broadway-Flushing are in favor of it.

While we support your right to your freedom of speech and your opinions, we are disturbed by your opposition to something that has overwhelming support from the residents and property owners of Broadway-Flushing and the elected officials who represent us and that you yourself had previously supported as a member of our community board. We are also very concerned that your office is commenting negatively on an issue that is geographically outside your district that is supported by your fellow Councilmember who represents our area. Finally,we are outraged that your staff member would state these opinions on a network television news program without identifying your office as NOT representing our neighborhood.

Mel Siegel, President
Broadway-Flushing Homeowners' Association

Maspeth developer shut down by DOB, runs to BSA

From the Queens Gazette:

The next monthly meeting of Community Board 5 (CB5) will be conducted on December 14 at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria of Christ the King Regional H.S., 68-02 Metropolitan Ave., Middle Village. The agenda includes a public hearing regarding BSA Cal. #173-11-A, for property at 68-10 58th Ave., Maspeth. This is an application to the city Board of Standards and Appeals seeking a determination that the owner of said property has a vested right to complete construction and obtain a Certificate of Occupancy for a proposed three-story alteration (enlargement) to an existing mixed-use building at this location. (Block: 2777; Lot:11).

Let me translate: If DOB catches you building something they didn't authorize, you can just run to BSA and they'll help you out. Didn't follow the architectural plans? No parking? Have outstanding violations? No problem!

See previously:
Revolting R-4 residence (Jan. 7, 2007)

Return to Revolting R-4 residence (Aug. 6, 2008)

BSA: Bailing out shady developers since 1991!

MF Global guy quits Liu's office

From the Wall Street Journal:

The former chief executive of MF Global Holdings Ltd. has abruptly left his job at the New York City comptroller's office.

Kevin Davis started work in September as head of commodities in the comptroller's Bureau of Asset Management.

His hiring had drawn criticism from stakeholders in the city's pension system. MF Global was sued by four public pension systems outside New York. Davis left the company in 2008 after it lost more than 90 percent of its market value.

A spokesman for Comptroller John Liu tells The Wall Street Journal it was Davis' personal decision to resign on Wednesday.

Chief Investment Officer Larry Schloss will assume his responsibilities.

Davis did not return a request for comment.

Illegal signs in Woodhaven

Not the last we've heard of Eric Gioia

From Sunnyside Post:

As investigations cloud John Liu’s political future, some insiders have suggested Eric Gioia—once a rising star in city politics—could be a formidable comptroller candidate in 2013.

Since finishing behind Bill de Blasio and Mark Green in the 2009 public advocate’s race, the former Queens councilman has not hidden his interest in a political comeback.

Does this ever end?

From Capital Tonight:

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced today that four people — including an aide to Queens Democratic Sen. Shirley Huntley — will be indicted for filing fraudulent documents in order to pocket $30,000 in member-item cash meant for a non-profit.

The indictments and ongoing investigation is the fruit of an agreement between their offices to audit and investigate public malfeasance. The indictments also help the attorney general contradict claims made by his primary and general election opponents last year that the then-state senator would not aggressively pursue his Democratic colleagues once he moves to the AG’s office.

The investigation found that the president and treasurer of the Parent Workshop, Inc. filed phony documents with the state in order to receive public money via a legislative member item. The indictment says that instead of using the money for public programs, two of the defendants pocketed about $29,950.

The indictment names the non-profit’s president, Patricia Savage, who also serves as an aide to Huntley, along with Lynn Smith, the organization’s treasurer who also shares a residence with Huntley. Officials allege that the defendants falsely claimed they would use the money for workshops and to conduct outreach to parents on the workings of the New York public school system.

Parking placard abuse in LIC

Hospital may not make payroll

From the Daily News:

The federal judge overseeing the Peninsula Hospital bankruptcy case expressed her frustration Monday, urging the stakeholders to hammer out a deal before the financial axe drops on the hospital later this month.

Without a much-needed cash infusion, the Far Rockaway facility will be unable to meet payroll after Dec. 26 — a fact that is causing “enormous anxiety” among employees, union officials said.

Judge Elizabeth Stong urged Peninsula and its creditors to settle their differences before the eleventh hour.

“It’s not a good idea to wait until the last minute,” Stong said.

She noted during the hearing at Brooklyn federal court that she refused to let the stakeholders’ “emergency” become the court’s “problem.”

Before the embattled facility can get a cash infusion, the court must approve terms of the loan, including compensation for creditors. Peninsula filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September following a precarious summer when it seemed it may close, potentially putting hundreds of people out of work.

Johnny generous to employees

From the Daily News:

Embattled City Controller John Liu has quietly doled out pay raises of anywhere from 3% to 8% to 126 employees in his office — a move that surprised some in his inner circle.

Liu, whose fund-raising for the 2013 mayoral race is being probed by the feds, told his closest confidants about his generosity Wednesday morning — leading government watchdogs to question his decision to give discretionary raises in tough financial times.

“Though possibly deserving, the timing is a little off,” said Dick Dadey, executive director of the Citizens Union. “You can’t afford to have another discussion about discretionary money when questions about his campaign fund-raising are going on.”

The just-in-time-for-the-holidays pay hikes, handed out by his office on Nov. 28, mark a sharp deviation from the city’s regimented bargaining process — and are not the first time in recent years that most of the workers have gotten a bump.

How Howard got the fence fixed

From diving pool to concert stage

From NY1:

Some big changes are on the way for one of the most iconic landmarks in Queens.

While Astoria Pool may be the busiest in the city, the diving pool nearby has not been used in some 30 years.

Now parks officials are set turn it into an outdoor performance space.

The city hopes the new project will make the park more accessible to residents.

Officials are also hoping to attract many community theaters, dance companies, and musicians in an effort to bring a whole new crowd to the park.

Let's read between the lines here. Does Astoria really need a "performance space?" Does the Bloomberg Administration suddenly like Peter Vallone again and think his constituents are deserving of a cultural venue? This is being done to spur more development. That rezoning happened just as the building brakes were put on and there's more gold in them thar hills.

Liu tried to pull a fast one

From the NY Post:

Comptroller John Liu’s plan to turn a Chinatown holiday bash into a campaign fund-raiser has been nixed over legal questions.

The scandal-snared Liu, whose aggressive fund- raising has been under scrutiny for months, had planned to solicit donations at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association’s annual holiday party.

But after The Post reported last week that the party could violate campaign-finance as well as IRS nonprofit regulations, he changed his mind.

Jack Eng, president of the 130-year-old CCBA, said it had been unaware of the regulations when it agreed to allow Liu to set up a table to collect contributions.
“Now we understand we can’t do it,” Eng said.

The federal tax code prohibits tax-exempt groups from advocating for political candidates or making their facilities available without charging a fair market price.

Liu’s campaign was not going to be charged a fee for the table.

New diner opens in Jackson Heights

From the Times Ledger:

State Assemblyman Michael DenDekker (D-Jackson Heights) and City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) joined the owners of the Jax Inn Diner for its ribbon-cutting last week.

The officials said the new Northern Boulevard eatery is filling a hole left by the Mark Twain Diner, a longtime Queens meeting place formerly situated on the spot.

“It shows a faith in the community,” Dromm said. “It shows faith in the economy.”

Brothers Anastasios and Peter Giannopoulos opened the Jax Inn Diner, at 72-12 Northern Blvd. in Jackson Heights, Nov. 7 and held their grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 22.

Peter Giannopoulos said they decided to open a new diner at the spot since the neighborhood was in a “dire need” of one.

Justice is served

From the NY Post:

A former correction officer who was facing up to 25 years in prison for shooting two men outside of a Queens bowling alley was acquitted of double attempted murder and assault charges.

“His defense was one of self-defense,” said Michael Iavecchio’s trial attorney, Stephen Worth, after a jury cleared his client of all charges on Monday night.
Iavecchio, 55, was working as a security guard at the AMF bowling alley on 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights on Feb. 6, 2010 when he asked Justin Donaghy and Gerard Hourigan to leave the building.

“There was a videotape of the crime which showed the two men attacking him one at a time,” said Worth, who proved that Iavecchio’s actions were justified because, “He was worried they would overpower him and take the gun.”

Filthy nabes get BID director fired

From the NY Post:

BID boss Sharada Devi was recently canned from her $45,000-a-year job overseeing a district in Jackson Heights and Elmhurst after a City Council member complained about graffiti, garbage and neglect along Roosevelt Avenue and 82nd Street, the BID’s central corridors.

“These are not entitlement jobs,” warned Small Business Commissioner Rob Walsh. “I oversee the BID program, and I was embarrassed.

“It was unacceptable. There was just such neglect. Blatant neglect.”

Like the other 65 special zones around New York, the district charges local businesses extra fees that are supposed to fund improvements that, in turn, help draw shoppers and new companies to an area.

But Walsh said Devi’s BID, with an annual budget of $230,000, had broken and empty planters and torn awnings, and needed a good sweeping.

And he vowed to have a new board and executive director in place within 100 days.

Junior Hevesi on the warpath?

From the Daily News:

The assemblyman son of jailed former state Controller Alan Hevesi may be gearing up for a nasty personal war against the man who put his father behind bars — Gov. Cuomo.

Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Queens) was quietly put in charge earlier this year of a committee that has subpoena power to investigate Cuomo and the executive branch agencies.

Sources close to the younger Hevesi said he’s livid over the treatment his father received at the hands of then-Attorney General Cuomo during a massive pay-to-play pension fund scandal probe. They said he’s considering delving aggressively into the agencies that Cuomo controls.

“The real dysfunction in state government is not the Legislature, it’s the executive branch and their agencies,” one Hevesi source said without providing any specific evidence.

Andrew Hevesi wouldn’t comment.

Who is telling the truth?

From the Daily News:

A Queens family of seven is scrambling to find a place to live after their landlord served them with an eviction notice the day before Thanksgiving.

Laura and Thomas Cavanagh said began withholding rent on the Broad Channel home after their landlord refused to fix dozens of problems — ranging from black mold under the sink to a rodent infestation in the attic.

The city Department of Housing Preservation and Development has slapped property owner Anthony Adamkiewicz with more than two-dozen violations.

But Adamkiewicz’s son, Gerald, said the Cavanaghs were “horrible” tenants.

“They wrecked our house,” said Adamkiewicz’s son, Gerald. “They caused all these violations so they didn’t have to pay rent and then they wouldn’t let us fix anything.”

Street tree attitudes: Compare and contrast

I don't usually post Long Island stories, but this one struck me.

Notice how the people who live in Jericho are mourning the loss of their trees. Compare them with the Queens residents who poison the street trees in front of their homes because they don't want to clean up leaves.

And check out the removal technique. Why is it that the Town of Jericho can remove a tree so that you wouldn't even know there had been a tree there if you didn't live there, yet in the advanced society of NYC, ugly stumps that you can trip over are always left behind?

Liu took donation from bank fraudster

From the NY Post:

Embattled Comptroller John Liu, the city’s chief fiscal officer, took an $800 campaign contribution from a man who was convicted of bank fraud along with Liu’s father, The Post has learned.

Lung Fong Chen, a disbarred lawyer, gave Liu the contribution last December for his 2013 campaign.

Joanne Chen, of the same Flushing address, also gave Liu an $800 contribution on the same date last year, and previously gave $7,000 for Liu’s 2009 comptroller’s race.

Liu had returned a donation from Chen during his 2001 race for City Council, after Chen and Liu’s dad, Joseph Liu, were convicted of bank fraud. Chen was chairman of Flushing-based Great Eastern Bank. Joseph Liu was the bank president.

The two were also business partners in a real-estate company that provided land for the bank’s headquarters. They were convicted of conspiracy for improperly steering $1 million to their real-estate business and creating false entries in bank records.

Chen served an eight-month sentence, and Liu’s dad was sentenced to one month.

Critics said it’s just another case of Liu, whose campaign fund-raising operation is under federal investigation, showing poor judgment.

Lung Fong Chen was Tommy Huang's lawyer and had a big hand in the RKO Keith's disaster. He also sat on the board of Flushing Town Hall for years.

Any day now...

From the NY Times:

The New York City comptroller, John C. Liu, whose campaign finances are under federal investigation, plans to reveal the names of his biggest fund-raisers sometime next week, a spokesman said Friday.

Mr. Liu had resisted calls to immediately release the names of those people, known as bundlers, after a report in The New York Times raised questions in October about the source and legitimacy of some of his campaign contributions.

But three weeks ago, federal prosecutors arrested Xing Wu Pan, a fund-raiser for Mr. Liu, saying Mr. Pan had sought to help an F.B.I. agent posing as a businessman to circumvent campaign contribution limits.

Mr. Liu called the accusations of improprieties “quite embarrassing” and promised a full accounting.

And on Friday, his campaign promised to release the names of bundlers.

Photo from Epoch Times.

Heathens abandon Halloran

From the Village Voice:

Disappointment in Halloran by the members of his tribe, some say now, was instant: They’d already had their doubts while he was running for office.

“If you’re a Republican, and you’re a heathen, you’re shooting yourself in the foot!” says Valadia Kasandria Kristoffersen, an early member of New Normandy who goes by the name Kasidy. “I mean, if you’re a Republican, and you’re not a Christian, they don’t like you.” (Kristoffersen, who swore her oath to Halloran’s “Luck” as a member of his “Reich,” says she “defended him to death” for years. Now, she is more likely to call him “that slimy son of a bitch.”)

On the campaign trail, Halloran seemed to go back and forth about his beliefs. During a Tea Party speech from Bowne Park in Flushing right before the election, he said, “My gods!” (plural) at one point. At the end, though, he wound up screaming about “programs that never worked, never will, and ultimately come back to bite us in the ass,” and then slipped back into the singular deity as he yelled, “It’s our nation, one nation, under God, and indivisible with liberty and justice for all!”

If Halloran were ambivalent on the campaign trail, as an elected official, he seems to have abandoned his love of the Germanic deities altogether.

Kristoffersen expressed disdain that, as a councilmember, Halloran has been “giving his money to all of these religious charities, but he’s never given, one time, as far as I know, to any pagan groups,” a sentiment echoed by other former followers. In an interview with the website Pagan+Politics, Halloran said that he had “funded Orthodox Jewish, Catholic, mainstream Jewish, Lutheran, Protestant, Buddhist, and Hindu” organizations. He mentioned nothing about pagan groups and said nothing about his own New Normandy.

Kristoffersen describes the meetings of New Normandy in the Camelot days as being “the most amazing thing. It was like being family. It was like coming home.” With Halloran as their Atheling, for several years, Kristoffersen and others were excited to have a leader serious about the historical accuracy of heathenry. Under his leadership, this wasn’t lightweight fairy stuff like Wicca: This was the real deal, re-creating the life of their heathen ancestors.

Now, she says, “not a single person from that era is still there.” No one the Voice spoke to in 2009 about New Normandy is still in the group.

“There is not a man who knows him well, not a one, who doesn’t hate his guts now,” another former follower says.

Pomonok in bad shape

From the Queens Tribune:

Pomonok Houses is a sprawling 60-year-old public housing development, and Eli Goldstein is one of its earliest tenants. When Pomonok creeps into the news lately, it is usually for the random acts of violence that plague any housing development, or in one instance, garbage that piled up on a handball court. Life there is generally free of the greater strife that plagues the more desperate, crime-riddled developments in the city.

Yet interviews with residents reveal a troubling truth. Life in Pomonok isn’t what it used to be, and relief is not around the corner. Mailboxes are ripped up and not repaired. Toilets are fixed, only to break again. Lolloway, who is unemployed like her husband, lives with her three children in her father’s asbestos-tainted apartment. They are supported by the money her brother brings home, the disabled veteran checks her father receives – he was awarded the Purple Heart – and his pension, which he earned as a retired postal worker.

“We can’t get answers,” Lolloway said. “The apartment looks like a bomb hit.”

Longer wait for mail

From Bayside Patch:

More than 100 postal employees, several dozen area residents and a few local politicians turned out Friday night to discuss the United States Postal Service’s consolidation plan.

The current proposal recommends closing down all Queens mail processing and distribution centers and calls for the elimination of first-class overnight local delivery service, replacing it with a standard two to three-day delivery policy.

Both ideas have been met with harsh criticism.

“You are basically signing a death warrant for the entire postal service,” said state Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside.

Adding to the overall fury of last night’s meeting was the manner with which the Postal Service has handled the evaluation process for the elimination of the College Point facility.

“The period of time that you have given us to discuss the issue is far too short,” said Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, as he addressed a panel of Postal Service Management employees.

Late last month, the postal service announced an aggressive consolidation plan that would close over 300 of its 500 nationwide processing centers.

On the proposed chopping block is a USPS facility located at 20th Avenue and the Van Wyck Expressway in College Point.

“I’m all for making the government more efficient. But I think it’s extraordinary that we’re standing here today discussing the closure of a Queens-wide facility without giving the various elected officials the proper opportunity to be here to comment on this,” Halloran said.

However, the management team of the United States Postal Service said that consolidation of its mail processing operation would save the organization billions of dollars a year, estimating a total cost savings of over $30 million annually just by closing the Queens facility.

Making lemonade out of lemons?

From Huffington Post:

A remnant of the Great Recession is hiding behind a paint-splattered wall in Chinatown, in an empty lot where a building was supposed to rise into the sky.

The plywood barely conceals the mess behind it: a pile of cement blocks and tangled metal and empty bottles of beer. It is, in short, exactly the sort of place that draws the ire of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

"There's a lot of bad things that happen in stalled construction sites," says Stringer, whose office issued a report earlier this year cataloguing the more than 600 stalled sites that are scattered throughout New York City. "Especially if everybody sort of ignores the site and lets it grow in a very unpleasing way."

Instead of allowing these lots to become eyesores, some developers are coming up with creative ways to use them temporarily until construction can begin. Grow vegetables in milk crates? Sure. Sell doughnuts out of a shipping container? In New York City, where open space is a precious commodity, just about anything goes.

Scarano still up to his old tricks

From the Brooklyn Paper:

On Friday, the city blocked Grimaldi’s from moving to its new location next door after the owner apparently tried to install a coal-fired oven under the cover of darkness.

Frank Ciolli was supposed to relocate his famed pie shop this week after losing his lease and setting the stage for an unexpected comeback by 80-year-old pizza king Patsy Grimaldi, the venerable pizzaiolo who will reclaim the ultra-rare coal oven that he sold to Ciolli in 1998.

Ciolli couldn’t be reached for comment, but Marcello Pervido, who owns the new Grimaldi’s location at 1 Front St. assured pie lovers that the joint would open with a dual gas and coal cooker soon.

“Everything was done legitimately,” Pervido said. “It was just a mistake on the part of the architect in filing the papers — that’s all it was.”

But this “mistake” was not the work of a mere “architect,” but the firm of Robert Scarano, the so-called starchitect of the New Brooklyn, who is best known for his modern designs and for being stripped of his right to certify his own plans after a long history of falsifying documents.

Ciolli claimed that he hired Scarano to apply for a construction permit — but Scarano apparently only asked the city to approve the installation of a “pizza oven”; he never mentioned using coal.

Scarano maintains that Ciolli really was installing a gas oven that simply uses coal for flavor.

“Unfortunately, he wasn’t finished and instead of telling everyone, he blamed my firm so we resigned,” Scarano said. “I wish him good luck. … And hope he makes better pizza there.”

Image from Curbed

Developers' promises are always empty

From the Brooklyn Paper:

The organization that promised to deliver jobs for black supporters of Atlantic Yards has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from developer Bruce Ratner to help train workers for the positions — but has only secured work for 15 people at the $5-billion mega-project.

The mostly black members of Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development who were promised some of the 1,500 jobs per year over the project’s 10-year buildout loudly supported Atlantic Yards during the approval process, often appearing in hard hats at rallies and hearings and presenting a contrasting face to the project’s mostly white opponents.

BUILD’s President James Caldwell said that the group has helped 400 people find work around town — but he admitted that only 15 of those positions were on Ratner’s Prospect Heights development, which currently consists of only the under-construction Barclays Center near the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues.

Residents filed a lawsuit against Ratner and BUILD last Tuesday in federal court, claiming that executives at BUILD and Ratner’s company falsely promised them union memberships and jobs in exchange for completing a “sham” 15-week training program run by the Downtown nonprofit in 2010.

3,000 more luxury units coming to Queens

From Crains:

TF Cornerstone recently closed on a $265 million construction loan for what will be the developer's largest luxury rental tower along the East River in Long Island City, Queens. The 820-unit, 40-story tower will be the second to last building to rise in the former industrial area that once housed a Pepsi-Cola bottling plant, among others. When complete, the developer's 20-acre waterfront development, simply dubbed East Coast, will boast a total of more than 3,000 apartments.

TF Cornerstone expects to fetch rents in the high-$40s per square foot to low-$50s per square foot for apartments at 4615 Center Blvd., according to Mr. Shell. The developer expects to close on financing and begin construction on the final 585-unit rental project building in East Coast, which will go up at 4610 Center Blvd., by the first half of 2012.

Lots of shooting around these parts lately

From the NY Post:

A cold-blooded ex-con killed one man and wounded another yesterday on a crowded Queens bus he was using to flee the scene of an earlier murder, police said.

Panicked riders surged toward the front of the Q111 bus in Jamaica when the gunfire erupted at 4 p.m. near a major transit hub.

Marvin Gilkes, 36, a student who worked at a nearby Home Depot, was hit in the back of the head and died instantly as he stood by the rear exit of the bus, talking on his cellphone, cops said.

Passenger Jojuan Lipsey, 29, a married dad of two, was struck in the face at the front of the bus and stumbled onto the sidewalk, officials said. He was rushed to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition.

Paranoid lunatic Damel Burton, 34 — newly released from prison after serving seven years behind bars for robbery — later told cops he killed Gilkes because “I didn’t like the way he was looking at me.”

Burton claimed he similarly targeted Lipsey “because he was staring” at him, sources said.

From the Daily News:

Police are chasing leads in the brutal assassination-style killing of a Queens man who was shot nine times early Saturday morning in Howard Beach.

Witnesses said gunmen in a dark-colored Lexus fired at the victim, a 29-year-old Hispanic male, as he tried to speed away from them in a white Acura sedan.

The victim, whose name has not yet been released by police, finally crashed into two parked cars at the corner of 155 Ave. and Huron St.

The shooters then approached the wrecked car on foot and shot the wounded driver again, said a witness who wouldn’t give his name.

From NY1:

The hunt is on for a man who brazenly opened fire on police in broad daylight on a Queens street.

Investigators say two officers were walking in Jackson Heights shortly before 4 p.m. Friday when they were told about a man acting suspiciously at 37th Road and 76th Street.

Police say the officers walked over and saw the man in the above surveillance video. He was wearing a fake beard, a hat and dark glasses.

When they asked him for ID, police say he pulled out a black revolver and fired twice before taking off down 77th Street.

The officers weren't hurt. They chased the man but did not find him.

Johnny makes a weird selection

From the Daily News:

For the umpteenth time lately, the question must be asked: What was city Controller John Liu thinking?

If he was thinking at all.

Wonder arises anew with the discovery that Liu hired a Wall Street macher named Kevin Davis to a $175,000 position advising the city pension funds on commodities.

Davis was sacked in 2008 because his firm, MF Global, dropped 90% in market value after a rogue trader lost $141 million speculating on wheat futures. That bad bet blew huge holes in four municipal pension funds.

Though none of that money was from New York, the retirement fund connection makes Liu’s hiring of Davis especially head-scratching.

If the name MF Global sounds familiar, it’s because that’s the firm later taken over by former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, who then oversaw its total implosion. None of Corzine’s failures, it must be said, have anything to do with Davis.

But Davis has his own — and that makes him a bizarre choice to advise the city’s $120 billion employee pension funds.

And thus, the long list of Liu missteps grows.

Former Bronx BP gets away with accepting bribe

From the NY Post:

Ex-Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion — who is said to be exploring a 2013 run for city comptroller — was fined $10,000 yesterday by the Conflicts of Interest Board for accepting services from an architect who had a major housing project requiring approval from his office.

Carrion claimed he didn’t realize Hugo Subotovsky, who designed his porch, was also the architect of the then-proposed Boricua Village apartment complex.

Subotovsky was hired in 2006 to design a $26,000 porch for Carrion’s City Island home. Construction was completed in March 2007 — the same month Carrion green-lighted Boricua.

And Subotovsky did not bill Carrion until after reporters began asking why. On April 15, 2009, Carrion was billed $4,247.50 and quickly paid it. By then, he was serving as President Obama’s “urban czar.”

Group wants legislation to curb illegal signs

From the Queens Tribune:

Make $50 an hour working from home. Get cash for that old car. Free iPads. Get a free estimate for new windows!

Consider it a more traditional form of spam. On the borough’s telephone poles, lampposts, traffic lights, elevated train structures and even road signs, illegal advertisements promising a good deal or promoting a political candidate or new musician, have become a symbol of New York City life, and has led to the infamous “Post No Bills” warning on scaffolding at construction sites.

But even after the yard sale is over, the lost dog is found, or that mystery gold buyer is no longer buying, rusty staples remain imbedded in the telephone poles, and the glue from the tape has done its damage to lampposts. According to city law, it is illegal to post any type of flyer, whether a commercial ad or a lost dog poster, on any city-owned structure or tree. Now, the indecorous-looking signs are a target of a crackdown by the Dept. of Sanitation looking to get rid of the marketing eyesores that often damage city property.

On Nov. 21, Sanitation enforcement agents removed dozens of illegal signs in Ozone Park, Woodhaven and Richmond Hill in what was called “Operation Sign Off.”

From the Queens Chronicle:

Members of the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association wrote a letter this week to Assemblyman Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven) and Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), asking them to support changes to city law that would allow private citizens’ testimony to be used in prosecuting individuals or businesses who illegally hang signs on telephone poles, street lights and trees.

According to the Sanitation Department, the city cannot currently prosecute those responsible for hanging the signs if a resident takes down the paper because only a sworn statement by a city official, such as a sanitation worker, can serve as evidence.

WRBA members pointed out that city officials cannot take down the signs as quickly as residents, who pass by them far more often than sanitation workers.

Work resumes on more stalled sites

From Crains:

As more projects were quietly restarted across the city last month, the number of stalled construction sites fell 8% from year-earlier levels to an average of 638, according to a recent New York Building Congress analysis released Wednesday. The group noted that the number of dormant sites in the five boroughs have now either decreased or remained steady for 11 consecutive months, a sign that the market is stabilizing.

The bad news is that the number of such sites is still 40% above the level recorded two years ago.

The total stalled sites, which include vacant lots where buildings were supposed to rise but no work was started, have an aggregate value of $1.3 billion, according to estimates from the city's Department of Finance. Nearly two-thirds of the stalled sites, 62% of them, are residential projects, according to the Building Congress.

The situation is at its worst in Brooklyn, which alone has 299 stalled sites, nearly half the citywide total. There, the number has fallen only a slightly below-average 6% from year-earlier levels. Queens appears to be faring best. There, the number of stalled sites dropped 14% to 131, in a performance nearly equaled by Staten Island, where the total fell 13% to 52. Bringing up the rear were Manhattan, where the number of stalled sites slipped 3% to 126, and the Bronx, where the number was unchanged at 30.

18 busted in car scam

From the Daily News:

Eighteen people - including a murder suspect - have been indicted in a $1.9 million auto-loan fraud scheme, Queens prosecutors said Thursday.

Among those busted is Andre Dickenson, 31, of Brooklyn, who was charged earlier this year with a 2009 double murder at the Long Island condo of former Jet Jonathan Vilma. Dickenson was allegedly involved in the loan scam before the murders of two men.

He is one of 12 suspects who bought high-end cars such as Escalades, Porsches and Maseratis by using straw borrowers who took out loans in exchange for kickbacks, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

The car owners would quickly stop paying back the loans but hang onto the autos.

Some of the defendants pulled their scam a different way - using straw borrowers to take out car or home improvement loans, then simply keeping the money without making a purchase.

Reservoir project delayed

From the Queens Chronicle:

Completion of the first phase of construction at the Ridgewood Reservoir is being pushed back to next summer based on safety hazards uncovered by the city’s Parks Department in recent months.

“After debris was removed from the site, several unfavorable conditions were uncovered, including structurally unstable paths and walls that will require extensive technical revision,” said a spokesman for the Parks Department in an e-mail on Wednesday.

“As always, safety is of paramount concern, and correcting these conditions will require that we postpone laying asphalt replacement until next spring,” the e-mail continued.

The changes mean completion of phase one, which included a resurfaced trail, new lights and fencing, will be pushed back slightly from its original spring 2012 date.

Shady limo company's retribution for arrest?

"The psycho from Ecstasy limo (Muttagi Harun) was recently arrested and had an order of protection placed on him for attacking a homeowner multiple times. (It took several videos and a lot of work to finally get the local police to do anything.) 9 days later, (the present) the psycho from the limo company injured himself with a bruise and made up a fantasy story about the home owner coming out of the house at 1am the Saturday after Thanksgiving throwing a "mysterious object at him" as he stood outside in the driveway for whatever reason and going back in the house. Obviously psycho has no proof and no video for this fantasy event. (The homeowner that the sleazebag is accusing has 5 adults who saw exactly where he was and what he was doing at the time of this alleged attack.) So naturally the police are treating THIS like the crime of the century and the homeowner is currently in a holding cell awaiting arraignment. So now we can add filing false police reports to Ecstasy Limo's resume." - anonymous

Alan staying in the pokey

From the Daily News:

Disgraced former state Controller Alan Hevesi was denied his first attempt at parole Thursday and will spend at least another year behind bars, the Daily News has learned.

The once powerful Queens Democrat is serving a one-to-four year sentence at medium-security Mid-Hudson Correctional Facility in Oneida County for his role in a massive pay-to-play pension fund scandal during his tenure as state controller.

A three-member parole panel voted 2 to 1 to keep him locked up, citing his “shallow” attempt at accepting blame.

Abandoned Jamaica lot finally cleaned

"After many many months of complaining about this empty lot in Jamaica, Queens (169-13 90th Ave) in regards to all the garbage in front of it (including a dead raccoon) and a huge wooden fence that was falling down into the sidewalk, the situation has finally be taken care of. After many complaints to the City, Councilman Leroy Comrie, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, Community Board #12 and Howard Thompson from Help Me Howard, this terrible eyesore and dangerous situation in Jamaica, Queens has been fixed. Don't just stand idly by, take a stand and let your local political officials know about the situation and do not let up until the problem is solved. A small victory here in Jamaica, Queens." - Joe M.

(I'm sorry but I couldn't find the Help Me Howard report. - QC)

Halloran rants at civic leader on Facebook

From the Times Ledger:

As a Whitestone civic group fights to turn an overgrown, empty lot into a community sports complex, one resident’s innocuous post on Facebook has spawned a well-documented and surprisingly candid discussion into opinions on both sides of the fence.

The Malba Gardens Civic Association has been toying with the idea of building baseball, soccer and running facilities on the vacant, 6-acre lot along 150th Street for years, according to the civic’s president, Alfred Centola.

“My idea is to reacquire the land and give it back to the kids of the community,” he said of the lot, between 3rd and 6th avenues, which was previously owned by the Catholic Youth Organization.

The quest was laid out in an October Daily News opinion piece written by Centola, and it all seemed like a good idea to Steve Behar, who posted “Nice Op-Ed. My brother and I went to that CYO camp” at 5:56 p.m. Oct. 5 on Centola’s Facebook page.

Twelve minutes later, City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) replied: “Steve — and who’s going to come up with the tens of millions to acquire, remediate, develop, build, and staff this facility?”

Halloran often tempered his responses with phrases like “guess you didn’t know that” or “you have no clue how discretionary spending works.”

Centola at one point referred to the councilman as “testy” and said “try and relax yourself, you might give yourself a heart attack.”

Well, at least he didn't drop the F-bomb repeatedly this time.

Oh, Boy-land, are we getting hosed!

From the Daily News:

William Boyland Jr., the Brooklyn assemblyman accused of soliciting a bribe to pay for his lawyers has found another sucker to pick up his legal tab: you!

It didn't cost the Democrat a nickel to beat the corruption case brought by Manhattan federal prosecutors earlier this year because he was represented by court appointed counsel.

The same legal dream team, Richard Rosenberg and Michael Bachrach, have been appointed to reprise their roles in the new corruption charges filed against Boyland this week by the feds in Brooklyn. It will be on the taxpayer's dime at $125-per hour, again, because Boyland says he's broke.

Guy makes six-figures and needs a public defender?

And his bag woman/chief-of-staff was pinched yesterday as well. Will she also be using a public defender?

State Comptroller finds DOB enforcement lacking

From the Daily News:

Oh, that's comforting: A new audit by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office finds the NYC Department of Buildings has "allowed major code violations that could pose immediate and severe threats to life and safety to linger unfixed for months." (Now updated with Buildings Dept. response - see below.)

DiNapoli reports that "A review of 1,206 open violations written in April 2010 showed that 1,063 re-inspections had been performed by December 2010. However, 94% of these inspections did not actually occur until four, five or six months after the citations were written. And when those inspections did take place, inspectors found the conditions had not been corrected and continued to pose an immediate threat in almost half of the cases."

Well, they did get 3 illegal hotels in Manhattan to shut down!

Guess who said something inappropriate this week?

Comptroller John Liu at Pat Dolan's memorial service:

"While what happened was a horrible way to die, I think that Pat went out in the way she would have wanted to - in the line of duty."

He also claimed that he was a prodigy of hers. As if she would condone racist pandering and campaign fraud...

Mobsters busted for human smuggling

From NY1:

Immigration and law enforcement officials have arrested and charged 20 people, including five Queens residents and three Brooklyn residents, in connection with a human trafficking operation that allegedly brought women from Russia and Eastern Europe and forced them to dance in various strip clubs in the city.

The charges, which were unveiled today at Federal Plaza in Downtown Manhattan, allege that four members of the Gambino crime family and three members of the Bonnano crime family worked with Russian collaborators to bring the victimized women into the country on work and travel visas.

Once the women were brought into the country, they were forced to work as exotic dancers.

Visa rules forbid employment in adult entertainment.

Authorities conducted raids for evidence early this morning at clubs where the women were allegedly forced to strip, including Cheetah's Gentlemen's Club on 43rd Street in Midtown and Gallagher's in Long Island City, Queens.

Other women were forced to marry men in Binghamton, N.Y.

The 20 defendants are facing varying charges, including visa fraud, marriage fraud, racketeering, extortion and transporting, harboring and inducing the entry of illegal aliens.

DOT gets even flakier

From NBC New York:

New York City is using poetry to boost traffic safety.

Colorful 8-inch square signs featuring safety messages in haiku are being installed at high-crash locations near cultural institutions and schools, including the Bronx's Grand Concourse, MoMA, downtown Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announced the new safety campaign, called Curbside Haiku, on Tuesday.

Funded by a state grant from DWI funds, the series includes 12 designs with accompanying haikus that each deliver a targeted safety message by focusing on one transportation mode.

Elmhurst perv on the loose

From the NY Post:

A man molested two 12-year-old girls in Queens after driving up and asking directions, cops said last night.

The first attack occurred on Nov. 7 when the perv, in a white sedan with a flag sticker on the driver’s door, approached a girl at around 8 a.m. on 54th Avenue in Elmhurst, cops said.

The creep showed the girl a piece of paper with numbers on it and asked if she knew the address. He lured her into his car and then groped her, cops said.

The second attack, with the same m.o., occurred at around 4 p.m. Friday on 55th Avenue. Neither girl was injured.

When it comes to pigeon poop, Danny Dromm gives a crap

NY1 VIDEO: City Councilman Daniel Dromm and Jackson Heights residents have raised a stink for a long time about the pigeon waste that falls down from the beams of the Roosevelt Avenue/Jackson Heights subway station, but Dromm says he has a tough time getting the MTA to regularly clean it.