Klein Farm finally sold

From the Times Ledger:

Fresh Meadows’ Klein Farm has been sold to tenants who recently accepted responsibility for illegally cutting down trees on the historic property.

Ziming Shen’s Fresh Meadows Children’s Farm LLC bought the farm, at 194-15 73rd Ave., last week for $5.6 million from Audrey Realty Corp., a firm headed by Henry Huang, son of notorious developer Thomas Huang.

Shen was hit with $1,600 in fines by the city after his daycare center, Preschool for America, which leased the farm, altered the driveway and cut down trees without the necessary permits.

The farm sits in the Fresh Meadows Special Planned Community Preservation District, meaning any significant changes to the property have to be approved by the City Planning Commission.

Outraged neighbors and community leaders first noticed the trees being cut down last fall and reported the arborcide to the city Department of Buildings.

The property was the borough’s last family-owned, working farm before the Huangs bought it in 2003 for $4.3 million. They then unsuccessfully tried to develop the farm into 22 two-family homes.

Neither Huang nor Shen returned requests for comment.

Selling their souls for "affordable housing?"

Map from Curbed

From the Daily News:

Leaders in Long Island City, Sunnyside and Woodside are inviting the city to look their way to put up some of the 200,000 affordable apartments the de Blasio administration has promised to create or preserve.

“The neighborhood has become too pricey," said Community Board 2 chair Joseph Conley. “In Hunters Point and Long Island City, the rents are astronomical and people are being priced out.”

Conley penned a letter to city officials proposing four swaths of land that could be rezoned to allow for taller buildings and potentially denser developments with affordable housing set aside.

They include part of Queens Plaza in Long Island City, a triangle in Woodside — bound by Broadway, Northern Blvd. and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway — and an area in Sunnyside near Northern Blvd. between 43rd to 48th Sts.

Conley also proposed building on top of the Long Island Rail Road tracks on Woodside Ave. between 63rd and 65th Sts.

I'm surprised that someone like Conley fell for the affordable housing charade. Yes, encourage overdevelopment in order to bring in a handful of "affordable" units which will be anything but and that no one from the area will actually be chosen for. Sounds like a plan.

New Rockaway benches cause skin cancer concern

From DNA Info:

The Parks Department is proposing building "tanning tables" on the new Rockaway Boardwalk, but the idea has locals seeing red over concerns about people spending the night, improper use by skateboarders and the risk of skin cancer.

The beach furniture, with chaise lounges, was proposed after members of the city’s Public Design Commission told officials they didn’t like the concrete benches initially planned.

Instead, they wanted something more “beachy,” according to an official from the Parks Department.

Designers went back to the drawing board and came up with the wooden tanning tables, along with chaise lounges that are similar to ones already in place at Beach 15th Street in Far Rockaway and at Hunters Point South Park.

But board members said they were concerned the tables would be misused by everyone from skateboarders to people looking to sleep on the beach.

They also were concerned about promoting tanning, which raises the risk of skin cancer, and voted against the plan when it was first presented in June, and at Monday's parks committee meeting.

Oh what fun it is to ride the lines!

From the Daily News:

Bedbugs were discovered on at least three subway trains on the N line this week, authorities said.

Two trains were taken out of service Sunday after the unwanted riders were found onboard some cars, officials said. And on Tuesday, a third N train was also sent to the Coney Island yard in Brooklyn for fumigation. Some of the bugs were found in seat cushions in train cabs, which are used by conductors and motormen, sources said.

“When we found them, we exterminated them,” said Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Adam Lisberg.

Groups fight phony redistricting reform

From Crains:

Good-government groups have long sought to change the once-a-decade redistricting process in Albany that has resulted in oddly shaped legislative lines favoring incumbents. But with a proposal on the November ballot to finally and dramatically alter the process, the reformers are launching a campaign against it.

Common Cause New York, NYPIRG and others are opposing what they call "fake redistricting reform" that would be enshrined in the state's constitution if a majority of voters back it. The groups say the proposal is a far cry from truly impartial redistricting, which has been adopted in states such as California, because final approval of the district maps would remain in the hands of the Legislature.

"In the end, this is an attempt to constitutionally memorialize a system where both parties run roughshod over the voters," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York.

But some fear that reformers' solutions would run roughshod over the business community instead by facilitating a Democratic takeover of the state Senate, which could lead to more regulation and mandates for employers. Democratic voters outnumber Republicans two-to-one statewide, requiring the GOP to gerrymander to keep its numbers up.

Common Cause plans to raise money for a grassroots advocacy effort, though its funding is expected to be relatively modest.

Police academy opening delayed until 2015

From the Times Ledger:

The grand opening of the new police academy in College Point has been moved back to 2015 following more delays, a police source familiar with the project said.

The academy was originally set to open in the spring, but there were delays because of damage caused by Superstorm Sandy and a fire which ripped through the new facility in 2013. It was then scheduled to open its doors in July, but suffered further delays from vestiges of the fire and flood, the source said.

The NYPD is currently working with the city Buildings and Fire departments to get all of the building’s mechanical systems approved and a temporary certificate of occupancy.

Students restoring Prospect Cemetery

From the Times Ledger:

...after renovations that included the removal of the vegetation and the restoration of the on-site vacant Chapel of the Sisters, a group of volunteers and workers from Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery are repairing dozens of the toppled headstones.

“This is very interesting,” said volunteer Luci Cooke, 19, a college student from Brown University. “It’s actually excellent because I recognized some of the names in the tombstones.”

Cooke was working alongside Vivian Normant and Ali Dore, two of the five students visiting from France and helping in the project through an exchange program sponsored by Preservation Volunteers.

They were restoring the tombstone of Angeline Cornwell, who died in 1908 at age 78.

“This is a very good experience,” said Dore. “The work is hard, but I like it.”

Normant was an English teacher in France, but now she is getting her B.A. in art history back home to teach art to high school students.

“I love the work that is being done,” she said. “We are touching a part of history.”

The group, which includes students from Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design, has restored about 50 damaged headstones. The project will also relandscape the grounds and institute an interpretative history of the place.

The colonial burial ground, next to the York College campus, dates back to 1660.

Cuomo deciding how to spend unexpected budget surplus

From CBS Local:

New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week was studying options for how to spend a $4.2 billion state budget surplus.

The windfall came as a result of recent financial settlements with banks and insurance companies, state officials said.

BNP Paribas, for example, agreed to pay a $2.2 billion penalty to the state after pleading guilty to charges that it violated economic sanctions by processing transactions for clients in blacklisted countries including Sudan, Cuba and Iran.

The administration said the windfall from the Paribas penalty will be used to help limit annual spending growth to less than 2 percent, not on special one-time programs or projects. And $298 million from that settlement will go into a special fund for addiction treatment at the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, officials said — a 51 percent boost above the agency’s budget for the year.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration said Monday that it was reviewing options for the remaining unanticipated revenue. Possibilities include paying down state debt, building up the state’s financial reserves, or spending the money on one-time capital expenses.

Posturing over pavilion

From The Forum:

Borough advocates have been pushing for preservation at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park since the city secured funding to restore the New York State Pavilion, which stands within it.

In the latest chapter of ongoing efforts to beautify the northeast Queens park, state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) announced he helped secure $250,000 along with the city Parks Department to renovate two baseball fields there, officials said. Hevesi and Parks acquired the money through a Community Capital Assistance grant and said it will help install new backstops and fencing, re-grade the infield and add grass turf in the center to prevent flooding.

[Not the Pavilion]

Hevesi’s announcement came just days after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo rolled out more than $5 million in awards to 14 different historic spots that suffered damage from Superstorm Sandy in 2012 – one of them being the New York State Pavilion.

Cuomo allotted $127,000 of that money to the city Parks Department to help pay for a conditions assessment of damages to the pavilion’s cable roof structure.

[Wow! $127,000! That's like 1/10 of 1% of what's needed to restore it.]

This month, the New York Mets baseball club also announced it would be donating part of Friday’s home game ticket sales towards the People for the Pavilion advocacy group to help preserve the pavilion in celebration of the 50th and 75th anniversaries of the World’s Fair. In a statement, the team reflected on the historic site and how extra funding was needed to help keep it standing.

The team is playing like shit. I bet that was a huge haul of dough! And the Mets just noticed that the Pavilion needed help after being in the same park with it since 1964?

If anyone thinks these efforts are serious, there's a bridge in Brooklyn I'll sell you.

Emergency housing for storms, not the homeless

From Brick Underground:

My first impression of the three-bedroom on the edge of Brooklyn Heights? It’s airy and light, 800 square feet, with a view of the Manhattan Bridge and One World Trade Center to boot. Somewhat sparsely furnished, it’s outfitted in a crisp, unfussy style that’s modern without being cold. In short, it’s the opposite of what I’d expect to live in if, say, a tornado had just leveled my apartment building.

But that’s exactly what it is: a prototype of an urban post-disaster shelter that could become New York’s answer in the event of another Hurricane Sandy.

For the last week, Jim McConnell, an assistant commissioner for strategic data in the city’s Office of Emergency Management, and his husband, Joe Hickey, have been acting as guinea pigs, living in the place and recording their observations. Another 30 OEM staffers have signed up to do the same.

Why all the testing? The problem is that in a place as densely populated as New York, other types of post-disaster housing, like the infamous FEMA trailers used in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, don’t work—particularly if victims of a hurricane, tornado, earthquake or explosion have to live in the place for a year or more until permanent housing is built. No, in New York City, we need multi-story accommodations that mimic our full-time abodes.

The prototype, situated on a city-owned lot next door to OEM’s headquarters, is a three-story building with an apartment on each floor: a 500-square-foot one-bedroom on the ground floor, an 800-square-foot three-bedroom on the second floor, and a 500-square-foot one-bedroom on the third floor.

The structure took a mere two days to put up, but it’s built to last for 50 years and can be moved to different sites. As many as 20 of them can go up on a single lot, preferably close to affected neighborhoods so disaster victims can stay close to transit and schools. This past April, the prototype was trucked to the city and constructed at a cost of $1.5 million. (The price should come down if and when it’s mass produced.)

Shouldn't these be built now to alleviate the emergency homeless crisis, and not shelved for 100-year storms? Oh wait, we sold all the city owned land for $1 to developers of luxury condos. Never mind.

This is not a new building: Flushing edition

"Here's what the house at 25-19 160 Street looked like at one time: small, with lots of yard space.

Today, the house looks like this:


Please notice the tacky external air conditioner and duct work on the front of the house. There are about 8 more A/C units on the other 2 sides – one for every room. The meter on the front of the house is also a nice touch. Nice and low-class!

The red (yucky!) pavers at the base of each entrance stop halfway to the sidewalk with the remaining portion of the walkway constructed of generic gray concrete. Why?

And why are there two main entrances? Why are there 3 rows of windows for a 2-story house?

This incredibly ugly house looks as though it was slapped together with whatever was on sale that day. There is no rhyme or reason to this hideous design. And it’s not alone – there are numerous houses like this popping up all over North Flooshing! Could there really have been an architect involved in this project? Can we track him down and sue him?" - Flooshing Rezident

Well I don't know about suing him, but how the hell is that an alteration and not a new building?

State approves protection system for Breezy Point

From CBS New York:

A multimillion-dollar request for a dune system and other coastal protections for Breezy Point, Queens is moving forward, New York State officials announced Monday.

Breezy Point lost 355 homes to fire and flooding during Superstorm Sandy two years ago.

The $58.2 million request submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency entails building a double dune on the side of Breezy Point that faces the ocean, as well as potentially constructing a seawall and groins along the bay in both Breezy Point and nearby Roxbury to prevent flooding and erosion.

The state said $1.2 million was awarded to support technical, feasibility and permitting needs for the project. Another $57 million in funds for design, engineering and construction could follow, according to the governor’s office.

Steinway Mansion property to be hemmed in by warehouses

From Brownstoner Queens:

This is bizarre: We Heart Astoria spotted DOB paperwork for two-story manufacturing warehouses proposed for 11 different addresses in Astoria. You can see 10 of the locations pictured above in white dots — all the locations fall on the perimeter of the Steinway Mansion. The buildings are all 30 feet high and range from 1,662 to 2,585 square feet. DOB documents propose eight enclosed parking spaces for the 1,662-square-foot buildings, 10 enclosed parking spaces for the 2,193 square-foot buildings, and 12 parking spaces for the single 2,585 square-foot building.

Why is it bizarre? You really didn't expect that someone was going to drop a load of money on a mansion that's falling apart and not use the surrounding space to turn a profit, did we?

Great job by Gianaris, Simotas, Markey, et al.

Flyers inside Juniper Park are a bit of overkill

This past Sunday, 8/3/2014, we were walking along the sidewalk of Juniper Park in Middle Village. There are flyers taped on EVERY street lamppost surrounding the park. They were advertising a blood drive for the American Red Cross at Trinity Lutheran Church (63-70 Dry Harbor Road, Middle Village).

First, I think everyone supports the important work the American Red Cross does and know that the supply of donated blood could be a matter of life and death for many people. Keep up the great work!

Our complaint is that this effort at Juniper Park is completely unacceptable. Flyers taped on EVERY lamp post surrounding Juniper Park is illegal and disrespectful to the neighborhood and the city. There are flyers also posted along the inner walking path and on many structures within the park.

Why so many? Wouldn’t a handful at the corners and a few in between give ample notice of this blood drive? Or better still, we have community bulletin boards in the local businesses. We have numerous Queens newspapers. We have Facebook and Twitter (Troop 106’s Facebook page has this blood drive posted).

These flyers deface the neighborhood and also teach the wrong message to the kids of Troop 106 - posting illegal flyers is OK if it’s for a good cause and be disrespectful to your neighbors and the city.

We trust that those responsible for putting them up will remove them. Be respectful to the neighborhood and city and take them down (don’t forget the tape) after the expiration of the blood drive (Sunday, 8/9/2014, 3pm).

Here is the NYC law describing postings on public property:
N.Y. ADC. LAW § 10-119 : Posting

Anonmyous

Bowne Park plan puts trees in harm's way

From the Queens Courier:

The July 10 Courier reporting on the planned “facelift” and revitalized green space of Flushing’s Bowne Park comes with a cost far greater than the proposed $2.45M capital construction expense, if we consider the large long-lived trees that populate the park. In addition to aesthetics, we must be mindful of the high economic value and benefits and services that those trees provide.

Yet, one park-wide construction facelift across a highly tree-sensitive landscape will result in needless tree losses in short time. With its heavy equipment and excavation, the harmful compaction of soils along with the deliberate absence of effective tree and landscape protections shall see scores of large park trees compromised in health. Such is the historical pattern of many NYC Parks Capital Construction park-revitalization projects populated by public trees. It is a division that is misguided and tree-unfriendly.

In 2013, the Chronicle reported on such a Parks Capital project in Queens at the Ridgewood Reservoir. Several venerable, irreplaceable 150-year old specimen plane trees and the adjacent open landscape were abused and harmed for a design scheme that did all but consider the “trees’ needs.” In 2004, a $2.0M Parks Capital lake-revitalization project in Kissena Park saw similar large shade trees abused by having protection and oversight removed to expedite the project to the financial gain of a contractor. Once magnificent, broad-canopied lakeside trees valued at $1.8M (as a living public asset) are now mere tree-skeletons, with a cost value that is quickly approaching zero.

By not addressing the trees’ needs amid construction, municipalities allow for tree abuses. When tree-unfriendly and illogical design schemes with award-winning intentions take preference over the trees’ needs, the outcome is never good. An effectively implemented and enforced state-of-the-art Tree and Landscape Protection Plan could combat this abuse. If carried out by the right arboricultural professional and given a level of autonomy and close collaboration with the project engineer, a Tree and Landscape Protection Plan could effectively reverse the tree abuse trends and consequences that have been witnessed.

Skeeter spraying at sites across borough tomorrow

For more info, click here.

Lie-lies on lulus?

From the NY Post:

Fifteen current and former City Council members promised to donate their annual taxpayer-funded bonuses to charity in recent years — but only three could offer any proof they had, a Post review found.

Despite being given at least three weeks to show that they put their money where their mouths were, only Councilmen Eric Ulrich (D-Queens) and Steve Levin (D-Brooklyn) and former Councilwoman Gale Brewer, now Manhattan borough president, could do so. They provided a mix of donation lists and thank-you notes as proof.

The remaining dozen officials — who have been public credited with not pocketing the annual political handouts from the council speaker of $4,000 to $28,000 — declined to offer documentation, provided scant detail of recipients or ignored The Post’s requests entirely.

The bonuses, known as “lulus,” are doled out to members who take leadership roles or otherwise curry favor with the speaker.

This included Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Queens), who for eight weeks was unable to provide a single receipt documenting what he has done with the $60,000 in lulus he has been allocated since 2010.

It was only after a Post reporter confronted him in person that Van Bramer’s office provided a short list of recipients, including the NAACP of Astoria and the 108th Precinct Community Council, but no amounts, dates or documentation.

Those two groups confirmed they had received donations of $100 each from Van Bramer.

But his minimal list was more than what was offered by the bulk of council members, who provided no detail of charitable giving from their bonuses.
Those include current Public Advocate Letitia James, Mathieu Eugene and Darlene Mealy of Brooklyn; Fernando Cabrera of The Bronx; Julissa Ferreras, Karen Koslowitz, Ruben Wills, and Peter Koo of Queens; and Rosie Mendez of Manhattan.

Why can't they just check their tax returns?

Weird smell in Jamaica

Ms. Boranian and Mr. La Mura you are both constituents liaison at the borough president's office. Your boss, Melinda Katz promotes a better Queens.

However, this dangerous element has been sitting idle for more than a month. Children are warned to stay clear; as residents/parents are unsure of live cables or chemicals. Regardless of its contents, it has an undesirable scent.

The corner of 171 st. street & 108th avenue has fallen victim to the broken window. Please contact the responsible agency and have this DANGER removed?

- Pamela Hazel

Big dig at Pot Cove

From the Commercial Observer:

The swirling debate over the 1,723-apartment, 2.2-million-square foot Astoria Cove proposal overlooking Pot Cove represents just one more stage in the transition of an area where Hallet’s Cove namesake William Hallet operated a brick factory and the father of Astoria, Stephen Alling Halsey, bought property before he incorporated Astoria Village.

The site where American Indians once congregated in intermittent villages, ferry service to Manhattan ran from the 18th century to the mid-1930s and the federal government blasted out reefs and rocks to open up the treacherous Hell Gate demands archaeological study before any construction begins on the property, according to both a required city Landmarks Preservation Commission study attached to the development team’s Astoria Cove proposal’s environmental study documents and research by the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

“That part of Queens is one of the most archaeologically significant and historically significant areas in all of Queens,” said Robert Singleton, executive director of the society. He added, “Those streets in Old Astoria predate Wall Street in Manhattan by a generation. It’s the largest, most historic area without any preservation in New York City.”

While excavation teams won’t likely find any more artifacts dating before the 1830s in the area once frequented by the Maspeth Indians of the Algonquin tribe, the possibility of such discoveries in the area that got the name “Pot Cove” from Native American pottery remains in the cove–as well as potential excavations of cisterns and privies that could shed light on 19th-century mansions which once dotted Astoria Village–merit digs on the Astoria Cove site, according to the development team’s commissioned survey by archaeologist Celia Bergoffen.

Poppenhusen Institute to be restored

From the Queens Courier:

The historic Poppenhusen Institute‘s foundation sits on sand and its façade deteriorates with age. After 30 years of weathering wind from the bay, the College Point cultural center is going to be restored.

The city granted funds to the historical landmark building in order to complete overdue repairs to its exterior and to also build an elevator for the three upper floors, according to city documents. The last time the building’s exterior was working was in 1980s.

Executive Director Susan Brustmann believes the repairs and construction will cost $10 million but the city has only approved $5 million. The two major jobs will begin in early 2015 and will last for at least a year, according to Brustmann.

At a time when the nineteenth century building is in danger of closing down, the city grant is a welcome relief, according to Brustmann.

“We’re facing the most challenging time in our history,” she said. “So we’re very grateful that the city has given us money. The construction will be a great thing once it’s done.”

When the repairs are completed, Brustmann hopes to attract new revenue sources like getting the HBO show “Boardwalk Empire” to come back and film another scene in the building’s party hall.

As the last season of Boardwalk Empire is scheduled to start in a few weeks, you'd best find another show to have filmed there...

Lots of bikers not renewing CitiBike membership

From WNYC:

Citi Bike doesn’t publish numbers on how many people are renewing their memberships. While the system does release monthly reports on how many people sign up or renew, it doesn’t break out renewals as its own figure.

We know that at the end of May, the system had 105,355 active annual members. Those are people who have paid $95 for a year’s worth of riding, and have activated their little blue key. At the end of June, the system had 96,318 members. Does that mean almost 10,000 people didn’t renew at the end of that month? Unclear.

But a WNYC analysis of Citi Bike data suggests that about 22,000 people renewed during May and June of 2014. At the end of last June, the system had 52,125 members. Which indicates almost 30,000 of the system’s first users have chosen not to renew so far.

A Citi Bike spokesperson did not dispute those numbers. There is no shortage of reasons why early adopters might hold off on renewing their membership: broken docks, full docks, empty docks, cracked bike seats, and the lack of Citi Bike availability in many neighborhoods. The system currently has no stations above 60th street in Manhattan, none in much of Brooklyn, and none in Queens or the Bronx.

Or maybe members are all waiting to see if the takeover of the system, reportedly imminent, resolves the hardware, software, and geographic problems. They just might have to pay more for a membership if they choose to renew later – the price could rise from $95 up to $155, according to sources close to the negotiations.

What the St. Saviour's site looks like in 2014

I suppose this may be my last post about the former site of St. Saviour's Church in Maspeth, for which the city was apparently short $70,000 to create a park. Take a look at the photos above and then what it used to look like.

This isn't a shame. It's a damn crime. As mentioned in a post here just about a year ago, the state and feds aided Liz Crowley in making sure this happened.

Now you know why they keep coming back

From the Times Ledger:

City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz’s (D-Forest Hills) previous stint at City Hall is paying off — literally.

Filings with the city Conflicts of Interest Board show Koslowitz is collecting an at least $60,000 pension in addition to her $112,000 base salary.

Koslowitz, who represented the central Queens neighborhoods of Forest Hills, Rego Park and Kew Gardens in the City Council in the 1990s, was re-elected to a third term in 2013.

Her office noted she had worked for the pension and was entitled to collect it.

Safety issues at fast-rising tower

From the Queens Chronicle:

You can see the yellow crane and the bright orange construction material from almost anywhere in Queens.

From the Mets-Willets Point No. 7 train station to the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge, the towering apartment building under construction atop the Rego Center II shopping mall in Rego Park has become a recognizable piece of the Central Queens skyline.

Despite receiving work permits just over eight months ago, the Vornado Realty-developed 24-story, 314-unit residential structure, designed by SLCE Architects, is already nearing its expected height of 288 feet.

When contacted by the Chronicle, Vornado declined to comment on progress of construction and if there was an estimated date of completion.

The project suffered a slight setback this week, as the Department of Buildings placed a partial stop-work order on the site on Saturday.

According to the order, a rail plummeted from the 24th floor into the netting placed around the seventh floor of the structure after it fell from the crane while it was being hoisted.

Rowhouses, interrupted

From the Times Ledger:

A second house is about to spring up on a Flushing block where neighbors have been raging over another recently constructed, two-story dwelling which they said dwarfs the size of their own homes.

The new house, at 146-21 56th Road, like its predecessor three doors down, will replace a one-story dwelling that was built in 1935 in a row of attached houses, according to city Department of Buildings records.

“I’m gonna fight like hell to stop what they’re doing up there,” said Mildred Higgins, who has lived on the block for 38 years with her husband John. “I was so upset when they put up the crane to rip out the front of that first house, I almost had a heart attack.”

Neighbors have said the new houses will completely change the character of their Queensboro Hill block and have caused a number of residents to sell their longtime homes.

City Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing) has called for a moratorium on any more houses being built on the block before the Department of City Planning conducts a zoning study of his district, which he has requested but the department has not committed to.

Koo’s office is set to meet with Planning officials in August over the issue.

State comptroller believes Rockaway rail line is feasible

From the Queens Chronicle:

In a report released last week, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said the reactivation of the Rockaway Beach LIRR is not only feasible, but a good investment for the financially-shaky Metropolitan Transit Authority.

The document alleged that the MTA has not restored the entire transit system to a state of good repair because it has not received all the funding it has sought and because cost overruns on large capital projects siphoned off resources that could have been used to modernize the system. In it, DiNapoli says restoring the route would cut down on costs of transporting residents in South Queens and the Rockaways and spur development in the area.

“The MTA has stated that given the fiscal constraints of the current economy, it will need to respond with new strategies to boost capacity and accessibility, and which are more strategic in scale and location and are accomplished within customers’ commuting lifetimes,” the state comptroller said in the report. “Potential new strategies include rebuilding constrained subway junctions and terminals, expanding station stairways and platforms, and converting available rights-of-way. The MTA cites the former LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch as an example of this approach. Restoring service on the Rockaway Beach Branch would be a less costly way to speed commutes between South Queens and Manhattan, improve travel within the borough, and promote economic growth.”

Katz finds development she can say no to

From the Queens Chronicle:

The proposed Astoria Cove development plan has hit a snag.

Borough President Melinda Katz has recommended the disapproval of the controversial project, citing community concerns, insufficient mass transit in the area and not enough proposed affordable housing units among other reasons.

Released late Thursday morning, Katz applauded the project being the first in the city to mandate affordable housing in her recommendation, but her worries over multiple aspects of the project were too great to warrant her approval of the plan.

In her recommendation, Katz noted that an influx of hundreds of people into the area would be "particularly hard felt" because of the peninsula's limited network of streets.

Also, she cited the already overcrowded nearby N and Q train stations and infrequent bus service as a concern that must be addressed before the plan moves forward.

In terms of affordable housing, Katz called for more units than the 1,723 proposed, 20 percent of the residential dwellings that have been proposed. She did not specify a desired number of residences or a specific percentage of units she would like to see designated as affordable.

The Borough President recommended that the proposed school, which was planned to be constructed in the final phase of the project, be built first to meet the existing need for more seats in School District 30.

As Chair of the City Council's Land Use Committee, Katz greenlighted projects that were denser, with heavier strain on infrastructure, and fewer affordable units. So...?

When the plan came to Katz two weeks ago, multiple union members at the hearing demanded that Alma Realty, the project's developer, provide well-paying, safe construction jobs with benefits. She echoed that sentiment Thursday, saying the project will only succeed "if it is built by the most skilled and professional workers to assure the quality, durability and safety of the construction."

Ah, ok.

Cross Bay rife with panhandlers

From the Forum:

There are plenty of places to spend money along Cross Bay Boulevard, but one particular option has left residents weary with both public safety and quality of life concerns.

However it is referred to, whether it is begging or panhandling, soliciting money has become an ongoing issue for Howard Beach residents making their way up and down the commercial strip. Just last week, The Forum spotted a supposed brother-sister duo on both sides of Cross Bay Boulevard near Waldbaum’s holding up signs asking for help and flashing them at cars stopped at nearby red lights.

But Joann Ariola, president of the Howard Beach-Lindenwood Civic Association, said consistent money solicitation in her hometown was both an issue of public safety and quality of life. Not only is it disturbing and sometimes off-putting to be bombarded with requests for cash, Ariola said, but it is also dangerous for those asking for money to be navigating through traffic during the busiest hours along the boulevard.

“I think that it is a huge problem along Cross Bay Boulevard,” she said. “It’s multi-faceted. It’s upsetting and sometimes, you feel threatened.”

The 106th Precinct did not respond to requests for comment.

State Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) said panhandlers were at the crux of countless constituent complaints coming through his office and recognized that community members needed to know the consequences of asking for cash on Cross Bay. The senator pointed to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative, which sought to reduce traffic-related fatalities, as a means of addressing the issue.

“I can see why residents get frustrated. Traffic is bad enough to begin with and now we have people, even kids, trying to collect money,” he said. “It’s a safety issue. I think the city needs to make a statement that it is not a condoned activity.”

And it is not only coming from the homeless or desperately cash-strapped, Ariola said. On any given day, particularly during the summer months, the civic president said she has seen young children asking for donations along Cross Bay with adult supervisors sitting nearby. Whether they are asking for money to help fund a sports team or another youth organization, Ariola said she and her civic members were unhappy with children being put in the middle of the street in the name of cash.

A look at what will replace 5 Pointz

From PIX 11:

As a construction team prepares to tear down 5 Pointz, renderings of what will replace the graffiti mecca have been released.

The two giant towers will be built in the next three to five months.

Together, the buildings will have 1,000 rental units, including penthouses and affordable housing.

There will also be a pool, a courtyard and an art wall.

One of the towers will also have retail stores.

The permits to build the towers were filed last week.

Secret Agent Man

From the Epoch Times:

On Oct. 1, 2009, a man the New York Times called one of New York’s “real mayors” looked down on the Chinese military as it marched past his seat on the reviewing stand in the Gate Tower of Tiananmen during the 60th anniversary celebration of the Chinese Communist Party.

That special seating area is reserved for elites of the Chinese Communist Party and key people doing United Front work.

When Michael Chu returned to New York, he told China’s state-run media, “When I watched the heroic, mighty, majestic Chinese army men uniformly marching on Tiananmen Square, when I saw the all made-in-China sophisticated weapons and equipment shown to the world, [I was so excited] as if the blood in my body suddenly is boiling up.”

Chu’s seat at Tiananmen Square was a reward. He has demonstrated his support for the Chinese regime repeatedly over the years.

Chu was one of the organizers of anti-American protests in New York after the United States accidentally bombed a Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia in 1999.

His business card says he’s the “commander” of the New York Defend Diaoyu Islands Anti-Japan Demonstrations.

Chu has engaged in similar operations through the years. In June 2008 China News identified Chu as a “loyal and committed Marxist” who continued taking part in politics when he emigrated from Taiwan to New York in 1983.

In a newspaper article about his experience on Tiananmen Square in 2009, Chu quoted favorably the words spoken by the editor of a newspaper closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party, “This lifetime’s hard work has not been wasted.”

Chu runs a free Chinese-language newspaper, the Asian American Times, which is regularly filled with criticism of the United States, praise of the Chinese Communist Party, and attacks on the Chinese regime’s “enemies.”

He has a travel agency, and is a busy man. His business card has nine titles on it.

Chu has ties to two of China’s main departments for foreign espionage and propaganda, which are directly under the command of the top levels of the Chinese regime.

In a phone call, Chu declined to comment.

No GOPer running in SD11 Senate race

From the Times Ledger:

September’s Democratic primary between state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) and former city Comptroller John Liu will be for all the marbles since there will be no Republican contender on the ballot.

For the first time in more than four decades, Queens Republicans have failed to amass enough petition signatures to get a candidate on the ballot in District 11, according to the city Board of Elections.

The GOP collected a mere 788 signatures for its candidate, Elio Forcina, far short of the 1,000 required to get on the ballot.

“It’s a huge disappointment to see the Queens Republican organization is just so incompetent that we can’t even get a candidate in a district in which Republicans can win,” said John Watch, the former president of the North East Queens Republican Club, who still serves on the group’s board. “It’s a joke.”

Of the signatures gathered in the district, only 545 were valid, the BOE said.

Meadow Lake getting a food stand

From the Queens Chronicle:

It appears that new amenities for park goers at Flushing Meadows are increasing frequently these days.

Travel to the north side of Meadow Lake and you’ll find kayaks, paddleboats and bicycles for rent already. Next week, a revitalized snack bar will open in that area known as the Ederle Terrace.

It was named after Gertrude Ederle, a Flushing native, who was the first woman to swim the English Channel.

The terrace was built 10 years ago, replacing the Aquacade from the two World’s Fairs that was razed in 1996. The snack bar opened briefly but has been vacant for five years.

Baig Sedeeq of S & F Petro won the 12-year concession for the snack bar and promises it will be open by Friday, Aug. 8. That will be a busy weekend as the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Races will ply the water Aug. 9 to 10.

The snack bar menu is still being worked on, but is expected to include hot dogs, chicken wings, french fries and ice cream. Sedeeq promises to be flexible when he sees what people ask for.

In addition, he will sell beer and wine in a separate area. Tables will be available for public use.

The snack bar will remain open through the fall. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

DeBlasio announces joke affordable housing initiative

From Capital NY:

Since taking office Jan. 1, the de Blasio administration has begun construction or is close to breaking ground on 8,700 units of affordable housing, officials announced at a press conference in the Bronx Wednesday morning.

The update came during an announcement that the administration, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, the non-profit Community Preservation Corporation and Citibank have created a $350 million fund to pay for 7,500 new units of affordable housing, on top of the 8,700 already underway.

The administration plans to preserve or build 200,000 new units over the next decade.

Aw, how nice! And here's an example of what "affordable housing" is considered to this administration:

Why do people in upper income brackets need affordable units set aside for them? A $2,000 1-bedroom? Take a good look at the numbers here and realize that when they say X number of units will be affordable, it really means that a fraction of X will actually be considered affordable to most people living in the area.

Affordable housing is a joke. Period. If you want to empty out homeless shelters, you'll have to build more projects or provide vouchers again. But we know that the goal is not actually to empty out the shelters or else those making tweeding money off them will be out of business.

Parsons-Archer station clean for now

From NY1:

A Queens subway station that became the last stop for many of the city's homeless is looking and smelling a lot better these days. NY1's Ruschell Boone filed the following report.

It's still a popular hub for many of the city's homeless, but the number of people living at the Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer station has dropped significantly in the last few months.

Queens activist Pamela Hazel contacted us in March after she and other riders said the issue had become overwhelming.

"It was just so filthy. It was unacceptable. It was a health hazard," Hazel said.

There were homeless people showering in the bathrooms and dozens more were on the platforms and the trains.

Back then, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it was expanding its outreach program and the police commissioner said he would be looking at homelessness in the transit system as part of his focus on quality-of-life issues.

A few weeks after our story aired, the MTA and the city conducted a massive outreach campaign which they say was already planned.

Yeah, I think the weather had more to do with the evacuation than an outreach campaign. Just wait until December.

U.S. Attorney warns Cuomo against witness tampering

From the NY Times:

In an escalation of the confrontation between the United States attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over the governor’s cancellation of his own anticorruption commission, Mr. Bharara has threatened to investigate the Cuomo administration for possible obstruction of justice or witness tampering.

The warning, in a sharply worded letter from Mr. Bharara’s office, came after several members of the panel issued public statements defending the governor’s handling of the panel, known as the Moreland Commission, which Mr. Cuomo created last year with promises of cleaning up corruption in state politics but shut down abruptly in March.

Mr. Bharara’s office has been investigating the shutdown of the commission, and pursuing its unfinished corruption cases, since April.

In the letter, sent late Wednesday afternoon to a lawyer for the panel, prosecutors alluded to a number of statements made by its members on Monday, which generally defended Mr. Cuomo’s handling of the commission. The statements were released on the same day Mr. Cuomo first publicly responded to a report in The New York Times that described how he and his aides had compromised the commission’s work.

At least some of those statements were prompted by calls from the governor or his emissaries, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation who were unwilling to be named for fear of reprisal.

One commissioner who received a call from an intermediary on behalf of the governor’s office said he found the call upsetting and declined to make a statement.

The letter from prosecutors, which was read to The New York Times, says, “We have reason to believe a number of commissioners recently have been contacted about the commission’s work, and some commissioners have been asked to issue public statements characterizing events and facts regarding the commission’s operation.”

“To the extent anyone attempts to influence or tamper with a witness’s recollection of events relevant to our investigation, including the recollection of a commissioner or one of the commission’s employees, we request that you advise our office immediately, as we must consider whether such actions constitute obstruction of justice or tampering with witnesses that violate federal law.”

Oral arguments heard in megamall lawsuit

From WPIX:

New York State Supreme Court Judge Manuel Mendez will rule shortly on a coalition of Queens community group’s lawsuit to block the development of the Willets West Mega Mall.

“We don’t want another mall. We need parks for kids,” Darryl Steckler, a Holliswood resident told PIX 11.

Many Met fans going into the game say they’ve heard enough about the proposed Willets West megamall in the shadow of Citifield to know they don’t like it.

“There are enough malls around here. We don’t need another place to buy shoes,” Jennifer Quinn said.

The proposed 1.4 million square-foot mall to be developed by Sterling Equities, the owner of the New York Mets and the Related companies would replace the auto-body shops and build on more than 47 acres of Queens Parkland, currently part of Citifield parking lot. The area has been the scene of numerous protests over the last seven years.

Opponents of the proposed mega-mall argued in New York State Supreme Court against what they called the “give-away” of parkland without the required approval of both the New York state legislature and the city’s uniform land use review commission.

“You have five malls already in Queens and they are not doing well,” State Senator Tony Avella told PIX11. “Why do we need another one?”

Outside the courthouse after oral argument. Visible (left to right): Harbachan Singh, Queens Civic Congress; Irene Prestigiacomo, Willets Point United; NYS Senator Tony Avella; Joseph Ardizzone, Willets Point United; Michael Gruen, City Club of New York; John Low-Beer, plaintiffs' attorney; Phil Konigsberg, Queens Community Board 7; Ben Haber, activist/plaintiff; Len Maniace, Jackson Heights Beautification Group. Copyright 2014 LoScalzo Media Design LLC.

It's not just about how a building looks

From New York Shitty:

Yesterday morning I had this article (which is screencapped at left) brought to my attention by my comrade over at Queens Crap. I pointed and clicked my way over to Brownstoner. This is what they elected to say about 173 Green Street:

An unusually shaped building designed by architect Natalia Donskoy is going up at 173 Green Street in Greenpoint. The front of the building is not straight across but angles in four directions.

The Alt-1 permit calls for four stories and seven units. Donskoy, a former employee of Robert Scarano, is becoming known for sometimes mold-breaking designs in North Brooklyn. What do you think of the design?

This, their post, left me absolutely flummoxed for a number of reasons. Follows are two:
1. Although it is clearly discernible in the second photo they elected to publish, no mention whatsoever is made of the Stop Work Orders. Yes, this property has not one — but two.
2. As it would happen I reside in the general area. I have seen the shitshow that is 173 Green unfold. A number of my neighbors/buddies have as well. Aesthetic considerations aside, we all agree on one thing: These Stop Work Orders issued were well-deserved.

After I got done taking the photographs which grace this post, I bumped into a friend of mine who happens to live on the same block as 173 Green Street. A neighbor, if you will. A neighbor who informed me that he/she has in fact lodged a number of complaints about 173 Green Street. Among the things this person has observed:

• Construction in violation of a Stop Work Order— at 6:00 on Sunday morning.
• Violation of Stop Work Orders has been the modus operandi at 173 Green Street. One time even the police showed up.
• The adjacent Green Oaks Club property was inadvertently (?) divested of some of its aluminum siding. Those of you who know of this community’s affect for this product understand that this is probably a hanging offense.
• The use of step ladders for workers to get from floor to floor. What would OSHA say about this?

And a litany of other offenses which generally make people upset and call 311.

Gut renovation done without approval

65-11 Grand Avenue in Maspeth has been in rough shape for a really long time. Rumor had it that a reclusive elderly lady lived inside - alone - who couldn't keep the place up. So it was a relief to many to finally see a scaffold erected and work begin on the property.

Alas, the operation was quickly shut down, and now the rickety shrouded scaffold remains. (It usually helps to get approval of your plans before you start gutting the place.)

Bell Blvd building to meet wrecking ball

From the Queens Courier:

Longtime Bayside firm Pilling Real Estate closed a big sale—its own building.

After more than 30 years in the same Bayside office at 42-18 Bell Blvd., the firm packed up everything Monday, July 28, in preparation to move after owner Betty Pilling sold the building for $1.15 million in May, according to city records.

The new owner, Bell Realty, plans to transform the building, which was built in 1931 according to the Department of City Planning, into a three-story mixed-use residential and commercial structure.

The building will expand from two stories to three and will have four residential units, according to the Department of Buildings filings. It will be similar to the relatively new building next door, a four-story mixed-use residential and commercial building, where a new fried chicken restaurant plans to open on the first floor.

And here's what's next door: