Get ready for the development avalanche!

From The Real Deal:

New York City’s new development activity has long been focused on popular neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn. But with home prices on the rise in Queens, some major Manhattan developers are now venturing into the borough for the first time.

Builders like the World-Wide Group, the Lightstone Group, L+M Development and Property Markets Group are building massive rental towers in Queens, most of them in rapidly developing Long Island City.

Statistics on Queens’ new development are hard to come by, since the city’s largest brokerage firms don’t track transactions in the borough. But over the next three years, Queens is slated to see the construction of more than 8,000 units of new residential housing, according to estimates from the brokerage Aptsandlofts.com. That figure is a big increase from the immediate aftermath of the recession, brokers said, and it’s roughly on par with the pace of building in Manhattan, where approximately 5,350 new rental and condo units are expected to come online in the next 24 months, according to data from new development marketing firm Corcoran Sunshine.

Willets Point, 5 Pointz and Hallets Cove were approved yesterday. I'll have more on these tomorrow. There's a lot to say about them.

Old time tweeder tête-à-tête

From the Politicker:

A small group of Queens officials quietly schmoozed with disgraced ex-Comptroller Alan Hevesi last night, reuniting with him for a “welcome home” dinner after he was jailed for his role in a massive pay-to-play scandal.

Mr. Hevesi, a power broker who was close to the Queens County Democratic organization before he admitted to receiving $1 million in kickbacks while investing the state’s pension fund, dined with State Senator Toby Stavisky, Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz and former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman at a local diner in Rego Park.

Mr. Hevesi, reportedly nicknamed “Hevey D” by rapper Ja Rule in prison, served 20 months and was released on parole at the end of last year. “This was their welcome home dinner for him,” explained a well-placed source. “Just the four of them.”

When he entered Shalimar Diner, Mr. Hevesi, also a former assemblyman and city comptroller, was immediately recognized by a hostess, who led him to the rear of the dining area. There, the four pols nibbled on salmon, bread and soup, catching up and laughing loudly until lowering their voices in the middle of the meal–perhaps noticing a reporter sitting nearby.

While Mr. Hevesi has departed from the political scene, his legacy lingers in the borough. His son, Andrew, is an assemblyman representing his dad’s old district and a former protégé named Melinda Katz is likely to become the next borough president.

Reflecting on Ms. Katz’s victory in last month’s Democratic primary, Mr. Hevesi told Politicker, “It’s good stuff.”

Ridgewood Theater to house 40 apartments

From WyckoffHeights.org:

The new owner of the shuttered Ridgewood Theater has filed to enlarge and convert the landmark building into mixed commercial and residential occupancy, with ground floor retail and 40 dwelling units. The proposed work, which would roughly double the floor area of the existing building to 44,500 square feet, was oddly filed as a new building application:

Proposed conversion of exist movie theater into mixed use commercial/residential building, including construction of new floors within existing shell & minor vertical enlargement. NB application is filed due to extend of the work, however existing 3 story entry portion & all existing walls & existing foundations at theater portion will remain.

The Times Newsweekly reported last month that the theater had been purchased by Bushburg Properties, a Borough Park company that also owns The Loom and 385 Troutman (a residential conversion under the expanded loft law).

The Architect for the theater conversion is Nataliya Donskoy, a Robert Scarano alum who is not known for contextual alterations.

Woodside sidewalk mystery

George the Atheist took photos of a wacky paint job on the sidewalk in front of a house at 37-61 61st Street in Woodside on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the paint was gone!
The possibilities:
1. A vandal came by with a gray paint can.
2. The artist couldn't stand his/her own oeuvre and destroyed it.
3. The authorities read the riot act.
4. The religious festival has concluded.

Company plans more stink trains from Long Island

From the Queens Courier:

Residents and community leaders are trashing a company’s plan to increase garbage export from Long Island through their neighborhoods.

One World Recycling, which processes garbage in Lindenhurst, Long Island that is hauled by New York and Atlantic Railway through tracks in Middle Village, Ridgewood and Glendale, has applied to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to nearly triple its output from 370 tons of garbage per day to 1,100 tons.

“We’re going to have garbage all day and all night, that’s how we see it,” said Mary Parisen, chair of Civics United for Railroad Environmental Solutions (CURES). “We’re not happy about it.”

After One World applied, the community of Lindenhurst rejected the idea during a public hearing period that ended on August 16. But following procedure, the DEC has until 90 days after that date to review the application and make a decision.

With just about a month remaining until the deadline, community leaders in Queens are worried the DEC will make the wrong choice and plan to meet with agency officials to work towards a solution.

5 Pointz final vote today

From the Daily News:

The owners of the 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center are so eager to knock down the graffiti haven and replace it with high-end apartments that they have more than doubled the number of units they’re willing to set aside for affordable housing.

Jerry Wolkoff and his son David Wolkoff, of G & M Realty, agreed to increase the number of affordable units from 75 to 210 when they seek City Council approval Wednesday for the 41- and 47-story towers, which would require a special permit to build bigger than current zoning allows.

Preference is expected to go toward city workers, teachers, veterans, seniors and residents of Community Board 2, which encompasses the area.

Amanda looking to stick around?

From the Daily News:

Mayor Bloomberg’s chief of city planning gave an unexpected shoutout Monday to mayoral hopeful Bill de Blasio’s proposal to provide more affordable housing.

“The incoming, possible, mayor ... he says you shouldn't be able to build any housing unless you include affordable housing," Amanda Burden told a conference. “It's an interesting idea.”

Zoning changes by the Bloomberg administration have included offering developers incentives to create affordable housing. Under one change, a developer that agrees to make 20% of a project’s units “affordable” can build a bigger building in return, an arrangement known as “inclusionary housing.”

But many developers have rejected this incentive.

De Blasio backs a plan, called mandatory inclusionary housing, which would require landlords to include affordable units in their projects no matter what.

In praising De Blasio’s plan, Burden defended hers. Her staff feared extra regulations would stymie construction, she said.

Astoria megadevelopment expected to be approved today

From Crain's:

The City Council is likely to approve plans for a $1 billion mixed-use project on the Astoria waterfront Wednesday, although support from a key Queens lawmaker is still up in the air.

The council's Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises is currently ironing out a few remaining issues concerning the largely residential, seven-acre Halletts Point project following hearings last week.

"I expect that it is going to go through," said Councilman Mark Weprin (D., Queens), who chairs the subcommittee. "We just have to tie up some loose ends."

Should the subcommittee give the plan its nod, it would likely work its way up to the full council for approval the same day, the last opportunity before the application expires.

The planned Lincoln Equities Group development consists of ten towers boasting a total of 2,200 apartments, 20% classified as affordable. The first building is projected to be entirely rental and Lincoln will determine the rest of the development. It would rise in the shadow of the huge, 22-building Astoria Houses, a public-housing project that is home to 20,000 residents—many of whom have long complained about a lack of several basic amenities on the peninsula.

In response to such concerns from the community, Lincoln has pledged to build space for a bank as well as a moderately-priced, 35,000-square-foot grocery store. The development will also have space set aside for a school should enough children move into the district, plus a publicly-accessible park along the East River waterfront.

But City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., who represents the area, has expressed concerns over how the influx of the projected 6,000 new residents will affect already sparse transportation options. He has yet to give the project his blessing, which could be crucial for the project's fate. Instead, he and the subcommittee are exploring options for increased bus and ferry service to the proposed development.

"I'm working on that now with the administration and the developer, and it will come down to the last minute," said Mr. Vallone. He concedes it would be difficult getting a commitment for ferry service since he reckons that work on the first buildings will not actually be completed for another three years.

Why is the City Council so hellbent on approving everything that lands in front of them?

Leg found near Fort Totten

From the Queens Courier:

A body part believed to be a human leg was discovered in the water near Fort Totten Park Monday afternoon.

Police responded to a call of a possible body part found in the vicinity of Duane and Underhill roads around 4:30 p.m. yesterday, said cops.

After determining that the body part was likely a human leg, police searched the shoreline area, but found no additional body parts.

The Medical Examiner’s Office will determine if the leg is human and its origins. The investigation is ongoing.

More trouble at precarious crane site

From the Daily News:

The city partially halted work at an upscale residential building Monday after a crane malfunction left a 35,500-pound weight dangling above West 57th St.

The incident occurred around 9:30 a.m. as the city braced for high winds and heavy rain.

The crane was lifting the massive counterweight and was about 30 stories high when its mechanism jammed, a spokesperson for the Dept. of Buildings said.

DOB slapped the condo development at 157 West 57th St. with a partial stop work order pending a full investigation of the faulty crane.

When One57 is completed later this year it will be the city's tallest residential building at 1,004 feet. One luxury condo has already sold for $90 million.

FDNY and NYPD initially responded to the scene and closed 57th St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves for most of the day.

No injuries were reported. By 4 p.m. the counterweight had been safely lowered and the crane put out of commission until it passed a safety inspection.

The One57 site has had similar problems before. Last October a different crane at the same location came unglued during Superstorm Sandy.

The huge piece of machinery toppled during the storm and was left hanging precariously. Workers eventually dismantled the crane.

Why the hell should taxpayers foot the bill for the Wilpons' highway ramps?

From Crain's:

Two days before the New York City Council is set to issue a preliminary but critical verdict on a $3 billion plan to build a huge retail complex at Willets Point, Queens, local officials have raised the ante. They have asked for the city to guarantee it will pay $70 million for traffic ramps leading into the development, which will ultimately include hotel and residential space, from the Van Wyck Expressway.

On Wednesday, two City Council subcommittees are set to vote on the plan, one of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's biggest economic development projects. His administration has already spent more than five years and millions of dollars putting it together. From the subcommittees, the plan will go in front of the full City Council as early as next week for a final vote. Usually, the wider Council votes in line with the decisions of its subsidiary committees.

The city has previously pledged to pay for the ramps, but the funds have not yet been allocated to the project in the city's capital budget. The Council, including Councilwoman Julissa Ferraras, whose district encompasses Willets Point and who is negotiating with the city, is asking that the ramps be woven into a deal the city arranged last year with the massive project's developers, The Related Cos. and Sterling Equities.

In response, Willets Point United has issued an open letter to the Council Members:

Apparently, you are DISREGARDING a primary objection of the community to the entire proposed project: the 1.4 million square foot shopping mall that would be built on 30+ acres of Queens parkland. Opposition to that mall on public parkland includes the Queens Civic Congress, which consists of 100+ civic associations throughout Queens; the Roosevelt Avenue Community Alliance, which recognizes that a mall at that location will destroy and displace numerous family-run businesses in Corona and Jackson Heights; and Queens Community Board 3, which voted 30-1 to DENY this application in part because CB3 opposes the mall on parkland; among many other groups that are opposed because of the MALL.

Regardless of whether or not the City provides $70 million for highway ramps, the community DOES NOT WANT THE PROJECT, because of the mall on parkland. Therefore, if you respect the will of the people, you will vote "NO".

But even if you succeed in obtaining an ironclad guarantee from the City of $70 million for highway ramps – and we don't believe an ironclad guarantee is possible now – that alone still does NOTHING to guarantee the housing and affordable housing, which a large sector of project opponents wants to see built. That's because regardless of the availability of $70 million, the project contract between Sterling/Related and NYCEDC still allows Sterling/Related to pay a cost-of-doing-business penalty of $35 million (in 2025), and build NO housing. Moreover, simply setting aside $70 million for highway ramps does not alter the text of the contract which states: "For the avoidance of doubt, in no event shall EDC or the City be required to construct the Ramps as part of the Development." [Contract Section 3.3.]

It's quite sad that Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is at the mercy of a bunch of Machine hacks...one of which is soon retiring from the Council (and likely will become a deputy BP), one of which is running for Speaker and the third who has no problem shortchanging her community in order to advance her political career.

Tweeders, all.

Bus line may run under M train in Ridgewood

From Streetsblog:

The MTA is working on a plan for a short busway in Ridgewood that would run for six-tenths of a mile beneath the elevated M tracks, between Fresh Pond Road and Palmetto Street. While the project wouldn’t transform a car-choked traffic sewer into a pedestrian-friendly transit boulevard (the right-of-way is currently a series of weed-strewn parking lots), it could be NYC’s first new separated busway since the Fulton Mall opened in the 1970s.

The busway would have one lane in each direction and three bus stops. (Overhead, the M train stops at Fresh Pond Road, Forest Avenue, and Seneca Avenue.)

In its recently-released 20-Year Capital Needs Assessment, the MTA said the busway, which leads directly to the Fresh Pond bus depot, ”will reduce travel times and reduce operating costs for several bus routes.” The MTA says the project would save approximately $1 million in operating costs annually.

If anyone can explain to me how a bus line duplicating an already existing subway line makes sense, I'm all ears. The train line replaced the trolley line that ran here a century ago.

Schneiderman going after AirBnB

From the Daily News:

The state’s top cop is throwing the guest book at AirBnB — demanding host data from the 225,000 New Yorkers on the Web's biggest apartment sharing site.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman subpoenaed the data as part of an investigation into the website stemming from a 2010 law that makes it illegal to use such sites to rent out your own apartment.
AirBnB has until Monday to turn over the data.

The site has 225,000 users in the city, but only data from those who rent out their place is being sought, according to sources. That would affect only about 15,000 of New Yorkers.

The legal strike comes just days after AirBnB CEO Brian Chesky tried to appease state lawmakers by agreeing that its users should collect the normal hotel occupancy tax and promising to work with pols to root out bad hosts.

Proposed Glendale shelter to house sex offenders

From the Daily News:

Convicted sex offenders could be among the inhabitants of a homeless shelter that’s being proposed in Glendale, and civic leaders have been even more fired up since they made that discovery last week.

The revelation came after Samaritan Village — the Queens-based group that wants to convert a vacant warehouse on Cooper Ave. into a 125-family shelter — outlined their plans in a letter to Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi.

“[City Department of Homeless Services] has both a mandate and obligation to provide shelter to any eligible homeless person or family, regardless or criminal background,” the group wrote to Hevesi, in response to a question as to whether the population would include felons and sexual deviants. “The Sex Offender Registration Act does not restrict where a sex offender may live.”

The proposed shelter has drawn unanimous opposition among the area’s elected officials and civic leaders — and the details left many of them aghast.

“This is frightening,” said Kathy Masi, of the Glendale Civic Association. “It’s walking distance within two schools.”

Samaritan Village said it would maintain 24-hour security, a 9 p.m. curfew and a strict no-visitors policy.

What happens when they miss curfew? They sleep in Atlas Park?

Bryant High School has a mini-jail on campus

From the NY Post:

The principal of William Cullen Bryant HS in Long Island City, Queens, has rounded up more than 20 failing kids with behavior problems — and put them in a trailer where they stay all day.

Principal Namita Dwarka calls the boxy, red trailer housing the confined misfits “the Scholars Academy.”

Teachers come to the trailer for English, math, science, history and other classes. Even lunch is brought in. If kids go into the cafeteria, they are not served, one told The Post. The only break is phys ed in the yard, when a teacher “rolls out the balls.”

“Most of the kids are not happy with the situation,” a staffer said.

Gus Prentzas, president of the Bryant HS parents association, calls the treatment “unacceptable.”

Some “act crazy” during class, making it difficult to concentrate on work, one trailer student said. Others defiantly listen to music on headphones.

Well, what are you supposed to do with disruptive students since you apparently can't suspend or expel them anymore?

Rockaway line makes list of proposed MTA projects

From the Daily News:

Queens residents who have lobbied to see trains again chugging along the defunct Rockaway Beach Rail line got a shot of hope last week when the MTA listed its reactivation as a possibility for future expansion.

Tucked into the agency’s lengthy 20-Year Capital Needs Assessment is a suggestion that restoring the line could help link riders from Howard Beach and Ozone Park to buses and subways in Woodhaven.

Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder and others have long argued that fixing up the 3.5-mile abandoned line — which runs from Rego Park to Ozone Park — would provide south Queens residents with a faster way around the the borough and into the city.

Trains stopped running along the line about 50 years ago.

“I think it shows the MTA recognizes the best way to plan for the future is to look at the existing right of ways,” said Goldfeder (D-Rockaway).

“We will have to fight for the funding in Albany to make it a reality,” he added.

Sterling/Related dishonest about Willets Point remediation plans

From a letter posted by Willets Point United to NYC Council Members:

Thorough remediation of Willets Point property has always been touted as an alleged benefit of this proposed development. Sterling/Related have even tried to create the impression that the remediation of Willets Point property is such a benefit, that the public should tolerate the drastic changes that Sterling/Related want to impose on the redevelopment plan that was approved in 2008. But now we find that Sterling/Related are even deceiving us concerning the remediation.

Sterling/Related have said that they are enrolling the project into NYSDEC's Brownfield Cleanup Program ("BCP"). But what Sterling/Related have not publicly said, is that they are deliberately excluding from the BCP certain notorious property that, by the developers' own reasoning, may be most in need of remediation and most deserve NYSDEC scrutiny pursuant to the BCP.

We understand that Willets Point Phase One property that is not owned by the City cannot be enrolled in the BCP at this time. But the City claims to already own 95 percent of the Phase One property. All of the City-owned lots within Phase One that Sterling/Related intend to develop should be included within the developers' pending BCP application. But that is not the case. Numerous City-owned properties located within Phase One – lots which Sterling/Related fully intend to develop – are mysteriously excluded from Sterling/Related's BCP application.

For example, Block 1824, Lot 1 – a relatively large property – is already owned by the City, but Sterling/Related have deliberately omitted it from their BCP application. Compare the attached maps depicting the intended Willets Point Phase One development excerpted from the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (showing Assemblage Options 1 and 2), both of which include Block 1824, Lot 1, with the next attached map excerpted from Sterling/Related's BCP application, specifying which blocks and lots Sterling/Related intend to enroll in the BCP, which mysteriously excludes Block 1824, Lot 1.


It so happens that Block 1824, Lot 1 was for several decades the location of Sambucci Bros. Auto Salvage – an automobile wrecking and dismantling businesses that handled a large quantity of vehicles. By Sterling/Related's own reasoning, property with a history of such use is exactly the kind that should be most in need of remediation – and that the public wants to be assured will be remediated to the high standards of the BCP Certificate of Completion, and nothing less. Yet, Sterling/Related have deliberately omitted this property from their BCP application, so that it will be excluded from the BCP. Why?

In addition to Block 1824, Lot 1, other properties that are owned by the City and intended to be developed by Sterling/Related are also deliberately excluded from Sterling/Related's BCP application, such as Block 1824, Lot 12; Block 1824, Lot 21; Block 1824, Lot 28; Block 1825, Lot 55; Block 1826, Lot 1; and Block 1826, Lot 31. Online City records indicate that the City acquired all of those lots long before Sterling/Related submitted their BCP application to NYSDEC.

It is not in the public's interest for Sterling/Related to cherry-pick certain Phase One properties – especially properties whose prior uses fit the profile that Sterling/Related allege requires extensive remediation – and deliberately omit those lots from the BCP application so that they are excluded from the BCP, and so that no Certificate of Completion for those lots will be issued by NYSDEC pursuant to the BCP.

Sterling/Related have never publicly explained why they are deliberately excluding certain properties – including the former Sambucci Bros. Auto Salvage site – from the BCP; nor have they even publicly admitted that they are doing so.

To the contrary: Sterling/Related's representative testified to the City Council on September 3, 2013 that "we're gonna clean our 23 acres; we have enrolled this project into the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program" – creating the false impression with the Council that all of the affected Phase One properties will undergo the program.

Withholding property from the Brownfield Cleanup Program should be the last straw – a clear warning to decision-makers that this development, which is supposed to remediate property once and for all, is not being properly implemented. It is bad enough that Sterling/Related have already compromised the affordable housing, the schedule, the new Van Wyck ramps, 30+ acres of Queens parkland, and so much else. It is too much to allow them to also compromise the remediation that is literally at the foundation of this project.

The pending ULURP application of Sterling/Related has obviously been rushed to coincide with the end of Mayor Bloomberg's final term, and the integrity of the Willets Point project originally approved by the City Council in 2008 has been sacrificed. None of that is necessary. Denying this ULURP application of Sterling/Related will allow the next City administration to take a fresh look at this project, and to ensure that its goals – including thorough remediation of property – are respected, not evaded by a developer.

Samaritan Village responds to elected officials' questions regarding Glendale homeless shelter

Samaritan Village Response

That's some roster of electeds representing Glendale. Expect a "compromise" plan to be put forth.

Turn on the lights, already!

At left is a photo "taken on Freedom Drive this morning. These are the conditions walkers / joggers have to contend with now in our parks and greenways. These conditions have been reported for weeks and week, directly to the Queens Commissioner of the DOT -- and this is the result. Would you let your daughter jog / walk along this path?" - Edward Wendell












Actual unedited footage:

Satire:

Whitestone doesn't want high school

You have to love the quotes from this piece from CBS New York:

“I think it’s a terrible idea. I mean I think that we do need a high school. but I don’t think we need it here,” Lucille Seeto said.

“You know what’s going to happen. They’re going to start busing people in from all over the place and you know this just not the neighborhood for it,” Ronnie Mund said.

“My home, I put $800-thousand in my home, I knocked it down when it should be worth $2-million. I’m offered $900-thousand, they feel it’s a fire sale now,” Kevin Shields said.

Also, I couldn't help but notice that Queens County Democratic Machine candidate Paul Vallone seemed to be leading this rally. Since when are Joe Crowley's council picks against building schools? Or is that just something they say until they get into office?

House or church or something more?

"This church is on 45 ave and 202 street. This church has been up for a few years now and I am just wondering how it is still standing? This church has a violation against it and had 2 complaints against it already. The other problem with this church is that it owns five attached houses! How was this church even allowed to buy 5 attached houses and make only one of them a church and another one a community center instead of just tearing the lot down and building an actual building or buying an actual empty lot? I had questioned CB11 about this and they had told me that it was legal, however, they have a violation against them which they said they will address at their meeting with the Dept. of Buildings. So when they did question them, they had told the CB11 that they will look into it. This property had this violation from 7/2011 and is still not resolved!

The woman who lives right next door to this church has told me that they only open their doors on Sunday and when they do, the very few members that it does have, block her driveway. Meanwhile, they have signs up on their own property's windows saying "no parking in driveway". She has told me that when she called the police, they had told her she had no right to complain since she only rents her house. She also told me that they blast music every Sunday morning, not even in the church but outside of the church!

I was even told from another source that from Monday-Friday a woman comes in to clean at 5:30am then they play the church music and for the rest of the day, it is not opened! With 8.3 million people in this city, I wonder why they were allowed to buy 5 houses when NYC is already in a housing crunch? Call me suspicious but I think there is something more going on with this location than what the community board wants to admit!" - anonymous


At one point, they planned to put a 3-story building here, until DOB shot them down. My favorite is the herb store in the basement.

Junk cars still on the street a week later

From Cleanup Jamaica Queens:

It has been a week since I reported the two demolished cars, one sitting on 90th Ave between 168th Pl & 168th St and one on 168th between Jamaica Ave & 90th Ave. As of today they both still sit there even though it has been reported to 311, Department of Sanitation, local elected leaders, community board #12 and the 103rd precinct, which both cars are right near. From "long-term investigation" and "police find no evidence of a violation" to Officer Costa from 103rd Community Affairs telling me that he was not aware of it, then letting me know that the one on 90th should not have been placed in the impound lot, then the tow truck had an issue and then telling me that he will report it to the supervisor and it will be taken care of (By the way Officer Costa has been extremely nice and helpful, but the cars still sit). The one, completely demolished, doors unlocked, windows open, bumper with license plate sitting on demolished hood also has oil and other fluids leaking onto the road.
Why no help from local elected leaders on this? Why no help from Community Board #12?

And so the Jamaica bullshit and non-sense continues and no one does anything.

Do you think this would really fly in an all white community?

Terra Cotta Building finally being repaired?

From Brownstoner Queens:

This week, a few workers were on site at 42-10 Vernon Boulevard, the 1892 building that served as the office for New York Architectural Terra-Cotta Works and is now an abandoned landmark. The DOB issued permits for general remedial repairs earlier this year, although the historically decrepit building needs more TLC than that.

Why would a chain clothing store want a liquor license?

From DNA Info:

Urban Outfitters' grand plan for its first multi-sensory consumption haven in New York, where shoppers down booze and drunkenly buy floral skirts, might not have a shot at seeing the light of day.

The chain store, which is proposing a three-story center in a converted North Sixth Street warehouse, was denied its liquor license by the local community board's liquor license committee Thursday night after an hour-long exchange between impassioned Urban Outfitters staff and perturbed local residents.

The staff insisted the booze was part of a way to become "an integral part of the community" with a restaurant, pop-up booths and a rooftop space, but the committee didn't buy their pitch.

Illegal hotel and illegal cigarettes

From Queens Courier:

The investigation of an illegal cigarette trafficking operation led to the arrest of a Flushing family that was allegedly running an illegal hotel out of the home next door.

During the investigation of allegations of illegal cigarettes being sold out of a Saull Street residence, detectives noticed unusual activity going on at the two-family house next door, according to District Attorney Richard Brown. Multiple people were observed leaving the home with suitcases, and after further investigation, officials discovered that the residence was being advertised as a hotel on Chinese language websites.

Following a year-long investigation, a search warrant was executed on the home Thursday and Qiumin He, 55, his wife, Chun Y Tu, 56, and their son, Xiaoshan He, 34, who all live at the home, were arrested. They are currently awaiting arraignment and have been charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, according to Brown. Xiaoshan has also been charged with second-degree obstructing governmental administration for allegedly interfering with the arrests. They face up to one year in jail if convicted.

During yesterday’s search of the alleged illegal hotel, Department of Buildings inspectors were present as well as inspectors assigned to the New York City Fire Department, who found “numerous egregious violations, including insufficient egress and lack of required sprinkler systems and fire alarms and no exit signs,” said Brown. DOB inspectors had tried to enter the home several times over the last year, but weren’t allowed inside.

And you thought Queens Borough Hall was bad

From the Daily News:

The city has abandoned its own long-delayed plan to fix the crumbling bluestones in front of Borough Hall — and is dumping the blame on the very politicians who have complained about the bone-breaking mess.

In April, the Parks Department announced it wanted to spend up to $9.5 million to replace the disintegrating tiles on Brooklyn's most visible plaza.

But five months later, the Bloomberg administration has not set aside a single dime for the project — nor has any Brooklyn pol.

Advocates for parks — and untwisted ankles — are fuming.

"It's outrageous that the Parks Department continues to put the city at risk instead of fixing what has been a problem for many, many years," said Geoffrey Croft, president of New York City Park Advocates, a watchdog group.

The bluestone coverage in the plaza is thin and fragile — yet for years, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz let people drive and park on the plaza, a move banned by his predecessor.

The result is pocked pavement and petrified pedestrians.

Another Bloomberg big idea

From the Daily News:

Mayor Bloomberg wants to build a new New Amsterdam in the East River to protect Lower Manhattan from future superstorms — so naturally, he’s going Dutch.

City Hall has just selected Arcadis, an Amsterdam-based engineering firm, to study whether Hizzoner’s so-called “Seaport City” is even doable.

In May, the mayor unveiled a plan to build a neighborhood on acres of levees stretching south from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Battery.

Now, Arcadis and other experts must determine if this unorthodox “Battery Park City East” is technically, financially and environmentally feasible.

Building the landfill alone, to say nothing of the residential towers of the gleaming Seaport City, is expected to cost billions — by far the largest of the mayor’s post-Sandy projects to reform the waterfront.

But a big vision is required for a big undertaking, the mayor’s “Sandy czar” said.

Dude, you're leaving in less than 3 months. Stick to tree planting and stop wasting money.

Rockaway condo owners are still waiting for repairs

From NY1:

Residents who live at the Belle Shore development say rebuilding efforts are tangled in federal red tape. Management for the property, who want to remain anonymous, say it took about six months for the Small Business Administration to approve a $2 million loan. But not a penny has been distributed. Residents can't get their homes repaired.

"If SBA is released they can continue to finish my apartment and the others who have not been completed at all," said Nancy Calvin, a displaced homeowner.

Management says getting permits to fix plumbing and electrical work is stalling the process. Calvin recently let NY1's cameras inside what she calls her dream home -- practically gutted by sandy -- to where she's been living since the storm: A basement studio in Sheepshead Bay that she shares with her husband and two dogs.

"We were told we were going to move in September, then it became October and then it became I don't know when," she said.

Calvin is working with the condominiums' board of directors and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's office to try and help about 26 other displaced residents.

NYPD tow pound takes community by surprise

From the Queens Courier:

College Point leaders fear crumbling roads in an already congested neighborhood will not be able to handle a new police tow pound that “magically appeared” out of nowhere.

State Senator Tony Avella said NYPD tow trucks have been bringing cars in and out of College Point Corporate Park for more than two weeks without first alerting the community.

“This is going to have a major impact on the local area,” he said. “You have tow trucks coming and going all hours of the day and night. You now have more congestion in that area.”

The 31-22 College Point Boulevard lot in the industrial, retail center is approximately 174,000 square feet, according to a spokesperson for the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).

The NYCEDC oversees the corporate park but has not run the property in question since November 2012, the spokesperson said.

Local leaders said they know little about the use and duration of the operation. An NYPD spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

According to DOB, this site is for retail and is not owned by NYPD.

Expensive cheese coming to LIC

From the Daily News:

A former warehouse in Long Island City that’s owned by the developers of the Chelsea Market will be transformed into Queens version of the celebrated foodie paradise, the Daily News has learned.

Jamestown Properties is already bringing in artisanal food makers to occupy the ground floor of the Falchi Building on 47th Ave. near LaGuardia Community College.

“It’s the right type of image for the neighborhood,” said Dana Frankel of the Long Island City Partnership. “It aligns well with the neighborhood’s history and culture of creating things.”

One of the flagship tenants in the new market will be Artisanal Premium Cheese, which buys and sells curds from all over the world. The company will have a shop and a restaurant in the new market and will expand its aging caves.

About 20 full-time workers will be hired, too.

(Artisanal means it's going to be overpriced.)

5 Pointz at the City Council

From WPIX:

It’s really just a warehouse on Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, Queens. Some businesses operate in and out of it.

Technically, the address is 22-44 Jackson Avenue, in an M1-5/R7-3 District, within the Special Long Island City Mixed Use District in the Borough of Queens, Community District 2, Council District 26.

Most people know it because of its exterior.

It’s visible from the 7 as our trains enter and leave the borough.

Most everybody calls it “5 Pointz.”

The owner, Jerry Wolcoff, says the building will be coming down.

No approval is needed for that.

However, a plan to build taller structures (40-story towers) on the site does need NYC Council Approval. Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer held a hearing today. Artists spoke about the significance of the site. Supporters of the new plan praised the economic impact from the new construction and development.

The full council will vote on the request for taller towers this month.

Developer demands access to properties it damaged

From the Queens Courier:

Developers of a nearly complete medical center in Astoria plan to take adjacent homeowners to court to gain key access to their backyards, residents said.

Pali Realty needs permission to enter the backyards of about five adjacent homes in order to wrap up an eight-story ambulatory care center project at 23-25 31st Street.

But dozens of residents, who say they have suffered foundation cracks and water damage since the project broke ground in late 2009, plan to adamantly deny them entrance.

“We don’t want them in our yards,” said homeowner Robert Draghi. “They have done severe damage to numerous houses and they refuse to even discuss settling damages. They never made a single offer to any of the homeowners.”

The company is prepared to gain access through a court order, according to a letter it sent the homeowners early last month.

Pali Realty wants no more than 60 days to waterproof and apply a cement stucco finish to the back wall of the medical center, the letter says.

The developer would need access to a four to six foot wide strip of land behind the building to erect scaffolding and remove piles of shoring steel.

It said it would obtain “additional insurance” to cover any potential damage to properties.

But Draghi, who has lived in his home for 13 years, said that promise has been made before.

“We have a letter from two years ago saying if any damages happen during construction, they would fix them,” he said. “They didn’t do that.”

Draghi said the homeowners would only grant Pali Realty access if developers formally agree to repair damages made since construction began.

Astoria shopping plaza a pig sty

"I am a big fan of what you do for our community.

Check out the attached pictures of a lovely shopping plaza around the corner from me on 21st Street between 34th avenue and Broadway in Astoria. This is how it looks every single day. If our elected officials are serious about Astoria's garbage problem, this wouldn't be a bad place to start.

I love my neighborhood but it really is filthy and people just seem to accept it, which is crazy. It's the people --not everyone, not even most-- but enough people to ruin it for everyone else.

Here, I blame the owner of the strip mall, but I have to say that I do not really blame the city for the overall situation in Astoria. No amount of trash cans could be put on the corners, no amount of work by the Department of Sanitation could keep up with the volume of trash discarded at random on every well-traveled street in this neighborhood (Ditmars actually isn't so bad).

Last weekend I was walking down the street, when an individual emerged from her house in the middle of the day and scooped an unfinished plate of food onto the street --right in front of me-- made eye contact and calmly walked back into her house.

I can't even count the number of times that I've walked home from work from the Broadway stop, literally kicking garbage out of my way as I walk home; I've gotten used to that, but I don't think I can get used to people dumping their leftovers onto their own street in front of my eyes." - anonymous

Willets Point on the brink

Quotation of the clergyman at the end: "Julissa -- We are your people.
This will destroy our neighborhoods; change our lives. Council members,
listen to us: Vote "NO" on October 9."

Civic laziness

Dear QC,

Some time back shortly after the Triumph of Civic Virtue had been removed, the tarp left over the site was tagged with graffiti, as you posted on your site prior. Those who have walked by the site lately may mistakenly believe it was cleaned up, but a closer look proves that to the contrary, all DCAS has done is flip the tarp around.

Queries made to DCAS have been met with silence.

This site continues to offer emblematic examples of failure, neglect, and obfuscation from city government on issues in Queens.

Sincerely,

Jon Torodash

Knockdown Center update

From the Daily News:

Tyler Myers, the manager of the Knockdown Center, said he was surprised by the response, saying the facility has been a good neighbor.

He said the center has had temporary city authorization for all its previous events, which range from a Tiki Disco party to an architecture and music collaboration called SoundCorridors.

"We have had permits for anything we have done,” he said.

Really. And how long can you keep applying for temporary permits for the same space? You've been there more than a year thus far and have hosted more than a handful of events.  And what is the space used for the rest of the time?  Artist studios for which there is no C of O?

“We want to be in a place where we can do a variety of different things — weddings, community high school reunions and civic association meetings. We have a spectacular and gorgeous building that can function in the community well.”

There may be some twisted hipster brides who want to get married there, but high school reunions generally happen at the schools themselves or at restaurant-style catering halls and there isn't any civic association that I know of that would be interested in holding meetings there. Nice try, though! Why not mention the noise parties you are famous for?

("They handed out ear plugs at the entrance so that Maspeth, Queens wouldn’t become ground zero of a city-wide tinnitus epidemic. - Fader"

“It sounded like machines with their gauges buried in the red were fixing to blow the roof off. Each of the acts were punishingly loud. The sounds from each space bled together to create an intense soundscape. Erik was with me and passed on using ear plugs. I'm guessing he spent a good portion of today asking people to repeat themselves. I've seen a lot of shows this year. This was by far the loudest.” - Quooklynite)

There's no soundproofing at this facility and most of it is outdoors anyway, yet you schedule events like this and claim to want to be a "good neighbor".  Okay.

Now back to the Daily News:

City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), whose district includes other portions of Maspeth, has been the business’s lone champion, saying it will bring much-needed jobs to the community.

“It seems like a good way to revitalize the factory,” said Crowley, who added one of the investors — Gina Argento — also owns Broadway Stages, which employs more than 1,500 people at its Brooklyn site.

“Those are good union jobs,” Crowley said about Broadway Stages. “I have known the owners for a long time. They also do good philanthropic work.”

Broadway Stages may have 1,500 "good union jobs" but the 30 jobs that will allegedly be created in Maspeth certainly won't be union. Unless you count membership in the Freelancers Union as "union jobs". I can't even believe she went there. And this venue's main caterer is Roberta's, who got caught being not so nice to its workers.

And...what philanthropic work?  Owning a business or donating to politicians?

Do you folks know to whom Gina Argento, co-owner of Broadway Stages, is married?  None other than John Ciafone, a failed Democratic Astoria City Council candidate, who is listed as the CEO of Broadway Stages in Ms. Crowley's campaign filings and, as you may recall, has plastered Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Astoria and LIC with banners for his services on residential buildings for which there are no permits.  He's also on Bll DeBlasio's slumlord watchlist:

Another landlord, John Ciafone, made it on to the list in 2011 with a property at 34 Driggs Ave. in Brooklyn, that had 195 violations. He made a $4,950 donation to de Blasio in January 2012.

The de Blasio campaign returned Ciafone’s money but kept another $11,300 raised by relatives and employees. The building his now down to two code violations and has been removed from the list.

(To top it all off, the couple actually lives in Whitestone.)

Again, I ask: Why should people who refuse to follow basic rules and laws be trusted with a liquor license?

Miss Heather has a better solution:

So why not make this another film facility instead? This would certainly be better than the thirty jobs the Knockdown Center claims it will create if given a liquor license. But there I go using “logic” again…

Yes, please stop doing that. Something like an expansion of Broadway Stages would be welcomed, actually provide real jobs to people who live nearby and, get this - conform with the zoning for this location. But it's more fun to shuttle in thousands of people from other neighborhoods to booze parties and call it an "arts center". What do they care? None of them live there.

What does he have to hide? A lot, apparently

From DNA Info:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a private way of discussing city business — using an email account from his company, Bloomberg L.P.

DNAinfo New York has learned of correspondences between Bloomberg and a deputy mayor in which each uses an @bloomberg.net email address to discuss city-related matters.

The identity of the deputy mayor, the dates of the emails and the content of the correspondences are being withheld by DNAinfo to protect the source.

It isn't clear how often the mayor uses a private email account to communicate with his inner circle. But the discovery of the @bloomberg.net correspondences drew concerns from good government groups who see it as a way of avoiding oversight.

“It’s an end run around public access to public documents,” civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel said.

Like most government employees, Bloomberg and his staff have City Hall-issued email accounts. Under state law, the public has the right to see copies of those emails.

Siegel and Bob Freeman, the executive director of the Committee on Open Government, both said that the public also has the right to officials’ personal emails when the correspondences discuss government matters.

However, the public first needs to know the addresses of those personal accounts, Siegel said.

“I do believe that when public officials do public business using their private emails, those emails are subject to the Freedom of Information Law,” Siegel said. “When people resist giving up that information, it’s an end run around. We should criticize that kind of behavior.”

A search of a Bloomberg L.P. terminal shows that at least nine members of the mayor’s inner circle have @bloomberg.net email accounts.

They are: deputy mayors Patty Harris, Cas Holloway and Robert Steel; chief policy adviser John Feinblatt; director of intergovernmental affairs Haeda Mihaltses, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott; counselor to the mayor Michael Best; senior adviser Shea Fink and mayoral spokesman Marc LaVorgna.

Illegal hotel owner bitches about snitch

From the Daily News:

The West Side’s mysterious “Hotel Hunter” has shut down two illegal B&Bs in Harlem — but their owner is assailing his “Nazi” tactics.

Tom Cayler of the ad-hoc Westside Neighborhood Alliance's Illegal Hotel Committee sicced the Department of Buildings on the Sugar Hill Harlem Inn and its sister hotel a few blocks away — and now the owner of both places has shuttered rather than allow in city inspectors.

“It's like Nazi Germany,” said the inns’ owner, Jeremy Archer, who moved to Harlem more than a decade ago and became an unauthorized hotelier in 2005. “They (investigators) tried to come in here. It was a violation of the Fourth Amendment. They had no warrant."

Archer said he didn’t know Cayler’s “illegal” hotel group and he had no idea why it had targeted him.

"I never heard of him, but he is causing me a lot of problems," Archer said from the foyer of his empty seven-room, four-story guesthouse at 460 W. 141st St., where he once charged $125 to $275 a night — well below the city’s hotel room average of $281 a night.

"October is my busiest month. I am losing a lot of money over this," Archer added, mentioning that he also closed his other hotel on Convent Ave. to dodge city inspectors.

Turning a house into a profitable crash pad requires more than just sprucing up the space and posting it on Craigslist and Airbbnb. City law requires a proper certificate of occupancy from the Department of Buildings and the collection of the city’s 6% hotel tax.

Archer did neither — plus he violated city zoning, which forbids commercial operations such as hotels in residential districts.

Time to install that security system

From DNA Info:

Burglaries in Forest Hills have gone up significantly this year.

In April, break-ins jumped 90 percent over the same time last year, fueled by a rash of burglaries in which jewelry and cash were taken, police said.

Overall crime in the 112th Precinct, which covers Forest Hills and Rego Park, is down more than 6 percent this year. But there were 120 burglaries between Jan. 1 and Sept. 15, compared to 92 last year during the same time period, a 30.4 percent increase.

In the wake of the break-ins, Capt. Thomas Conforti, the commanding officer of the 112th Precinct, encouraged residents to consider getting security systems and cameras, which act as a deterrent and can provide police with evidence.

How do you solve a problem like the Q58?

From NY1:

At the Corona Avenue and 91st Place bus stop in Elmhurst, commuters contend daily with swarms of students in a scramble to climb aboard a Ridgewood-bound Q58.

"You have to wait like 30 minutes or more. The buses are super full and we get to school late," said one rider.

"Mornings are crazy because all the students need to get on the buses," said another rider.

The overcrowding occurs daily from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., with students trying to get to school, commuters trying to make it to work and many of the buses too packed for anyone to get anywhere fast.

The MTA says some help is on the way. It plans to start putting empty buses into service at the stop but didn't say when, meaning the morning commute isn't getting any easier for now.

After all that money spent, Queens Plaza is still a problem

From LIC Post:

Elected officials held a press conference on Friday to draw the public’s attention to the number of pedestrian deaths/injuries in the Queens Plaza and Dutch Kills neighborhoods.

The event was held following the death of a pedestrian at Queens Plaza on Sept. 13 who was crossing from the south side of Queens Plaza to the north side. The woman’s death followed a July incident where a woman almost died crossing Queens Plaza as well.

“We have a growing epidemic where pedestrians are not safe and we are calling on the DOT [Department of Transportation] to make it safer,” said Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer.

Van Bramer said Queens Plaza is becoming one of the busiest neighborhoods in the city, as residential towers and hotels continue to be built—while corporations flock to the area. With this influx, “a greater number of people are living and working here—and are crossing the street,” Van Bramer said.

A common problem cited by business owners and residents is that the pedestrian countdown clock is too short and pedestrians don’t have enough time to cross the street. Officials want the pedestrian time clock to be extended.

Furthermore, the bike lanes are not clearly visible—putting pedestrians at risk of being hit by cyclists. Van Bramer said that there is a greater need for bike-lane signage.

Pardon me, but didn't we just spend millions reconfiguring Queens Plaza to "make it safer?"

It's that time of year again...

From the Queens Courier:

The number seven is proving to be an unlucky number for Long Island City.

Once again, the No. 7 train will not run in the area for multiple weekends, starting next month.

For the October 12-13, October 19-20, October 26-27, November 9-10 and November 23-24 weekends, there will be no service on the subway line between the Times Square-42nd Street and Queensboro Plaza stations from 12:01 a.m. on Saturday to 5 a.m. on Monday, according to the MTA.

During these weekends, there will be a free shuttle running during between the Vernon-Jackson and Queensboro Plaza stops. The MTA is also increasing Astoria line service during the shutdowns.

But the alternative service isn’t enough for residents and business owners who say they’ve suffered through too many No. 7 train weekend shutdowns.

There will also be weekend suspensions in early 2014, but no dates have been set yet, said an MTA spokesperson.

Running Rikers is expensive

From Huffington Post:

New York is indeed an expensive place, but experts say that alone doesn't explain a recent report that found the city's annual cost per inmate was $167,731 last year – nearly as much as it costs to pay for four years of tuition at an Ivy League university.

They say a big part of it is due to New York's most notorious lockup, Rikers Island, and the costs that go along with staffing, maintaining and securing a facility that is literally an island unto itself.

"Other cities don't have Rikers Island," said Martin F. Horn, who in 2009 resigned as the city's correction commissioner, noting that hundreds of millions of dollars are spent a year to run the 400-acre island in the East River next to the runways of LaGuardia Airport that has 10 jail facilities, thousands of staff and its own power plant and bakery.

The city's Independent Budget Office annual figure of $167,731 – which equates to about $460 per day for the 12,287 average daily New York City inmates last year – was based on about $2 billion in total operating expenses for the Department of Correction, which included salaries and benefits for staff, judgments and claims as well as debt service for jail construction and repairs.

But there are particularly expensive costs associated with Rikers.

The department says it spends $30.3 million annually alone on transportation costs, running three bus services that usher inmates to and from court throughout the five boroughs, staff from a central parking lot to Rikers jails and visitors to and around the island. There were 261,158 inmates delivered to court last year.

Taking matters into their own hands

From the Daily News:

Stop spying on us. Stop harassing us. Enough is enough.

That’s the message business owners along Dyckman St. in Inwood want to send to camera-wielding residents, who have been a ubiquitous presence along the bustling strip.

The citizen-snappers loiter in front of restaurants, taking photos and videos in an attempt to prove that the owners are turning their eateries into illegal after-hours cabarets.

"It's horrible," said Ingrid Rodriguez, 34, a waitress at Papasito Mexican Grill and Agave Bar. "They walk around taking pictures on the sneak tip. They're always spying on us all the time."

It’s one of the tactics that has taken root in recent years, as Dyckman St. has been transformed into a nightlife magnet from Broadway to the riverfront, where booming La Marina has become a notorious hip-hop hangout.

The buildup has fed a full-scale feud, putting the merchants on the defensive as residents insist the revelry and traffic is ruining their lives.

Residents, complaining that some eateries have skirted the rules by morphing into late-night dancehalls, have been making plenty of noise of their own.

“I want to see restaurants stay restaurants and don’t become nightclubs,” said Nancy Preston, who lives at Dyckman St. and Seaman Ave. “If you’re a nightclub, say you’re a nightclub.”

Frustrated by what they call a lack of enforcement, the residents have taken it upon themselves to document the activity.