The last resident of Willets Point

When Ardizzone was a child, Willets Point was still mostly farmland, and his family kept chickens and goats on their property. The World's Fair in 1939-40 gradually started to change all of that, and by the 1960s and '70s, the chops shops and warehouses had taken over.

The rest of the families that made up the neighborhood eventually moved out, but Ardizzone stayed, living in the rooms that he grew up in, above a coffee shop.

"Where would I go?" he asks. "My sister is always trying to get me to move out, but I like it here. It's quiet in the evenings, and there is always somebody to talk to."

Mayor of Willets Point: The last man standing

Preservationists want more money for LPC

Preservationists are lobbying the City Council this week to add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the budget of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, one of five city agencies whose 2009 budget has not been cut by Mayor Bloomberg.

In Time of Cuts, Extra Funds Sought by Preservationists

The Municipal Art Society, the Historic Districts Council, and several council members are scheduled to rally on the steps of City Hall tomorrow, calling on the council to approve $300,000 in additional funding.

Landmarks has a budget of $4.3 million for fiscal year 2008, and proponents say the addition of $300,000 in any other financial environment would receive scant notice. Given Mr. Bloomberg's call for more than $1.3 billion in budget cuts and his pledge that spending in the city would remain almost completely flat, any additional funding, regardless of its size, receives added scrutiny.

Yes, please allocate more tax money toward boosting the LPC, because they are doing such a great job of preserving our neighborhood landmarks.

Wave goodbye to special leaf collection

At the same time that Mayor Bloomberg is stepping up his campaign to plant 1 million trees, the Sanitation Department plans to eliminate a special leaf-collection program due to budget cuts.

The agency pruned $2.2 million from its $1.3 billion budget for fiscal 2009 as part of a larger reduction Bloomberg imposed throughout city government to deal with the economic downturn.

Actually, Sanitation Department spokesman Vito Turso said leaves would continue to be collected with regular trash.

What's being eliminated are four special Sunday leaf collections, each falling within 37 of the city's 59 tree-laden community boards, covering all of Queens and Staten Island and sections of Brooklyn and The Bronx.

Those leaves were brought - on overtime - to collection centers and turned into compost.

CITY LEAVING LEAVES BEHIND

Forced demolition for Bklyn building

A Brooklyn Heights building on the verge of collapse was evacuated so an emergency crew could remove the top two floors before they toppled, witnesses said yesterday.

TENANTS FLEE BUCKLING BROOKLYN HEIGHTS BUILDING

Workers were rushed to 100 Clark St. - which was built in the 1850s - after an anonymous tipster called 311 on Saturday and said the top floors were buckling.

When they arrived, the top of the five-story, red-brick building was protruding 13 inches over Clark Street, prompting an immediate evacuation of the structure's three occupied apartments.

The Penson brothers - who have fought tenants at other properties over maintenance and rent issues - have been slapped with a violation for failure to maintain the building, authorities said.

State pols will vote themselves a fat pay raise

Legislators will return to the Capitol after the November election to vote themselves a pay raise that will take effect in January, one lawmaker predicted.

"We’ll probably do about 3 percent a year, but keep it (base pay) just under $100,000," said the lawmaker, who spoke about the issue only if he wasn’t identified. "Then we’ll jack up the lulus too," he said, referring to payments for leadership posts.

Pay Raise for New York State Assembly & Senate

Base pay for legislators, $79,500, was last increased in 1999. A 30 percent raise would bring that total to almost $106,000. All 62 senators and 42 Republican members of the Assembly get extra payments that boost the average pay well over $90,000. About two-thirds of the 108 Democrats also get the payments.

If the pay raise is passed after the Nov. 4 elections but before the end of the year it would allow lawmakers to avoid a voter backlash and also have the hikes take effect in January when a new Legislature takes place. By law lawmakers can’t raise their own pay, but can of an incoming Legislature. In practice, of course, almost all of those now holding office will still have their seats in January.