Chalet Alpina to become Peruvian restaurant

From DNA Info:

A Peruvian restaurant will soon open on Metropolitan Avenue in Forest Hills, replacing a German eatery that closed last year — the latest addition to the stretch that has come to be known as "Michelin Road," local officials said.

Family-owned La Coya will replace Chalet Alpina, at 98-35 Metropolitan Ave., which closed in November after roughly three decades.

Norman Leibowitz, chairman of the Community Board 6 consumer affairs committee, said that the new owners are planning only minor renovations at the restaurant, which can serve more than 150 patrons.

The restaurant, according to Leibowitz, will be open from noon to 11 p.m., seven days a week, and will serve lunch and dinner.

A leopard cannot change its spots

Here's an update from one of my favorite John Ciafone properties:

Not only have the signs multiplied, but now there's some new shadiness to report.

First of all, there may be some action soon with regard to the illegal sign complaints.

Then there is an illegal gas hookup that was discovered in 2006, but never followed up on.

But the latest bust comes due to a complaint about illegal excavation of the basement.

So that's why this dumpster full of concrete and dirt was out front!

Melissa under investigation

From Crains:

New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and one of her former political consultants are subjects of a city ethics probe, Crain's has learned.

The noncriminal investigation, which is being conducted by the city's Conflicts of Interest Board, centers around Ms. Mark-Viverito's acceptance of free assistance during her 2013 race for council speaker, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

The speaker recently paid $20,000 in campaign cash to a law firm to represent her in the investigation. In November 2014 and again this month, Ms. Mark-Viverito's campaign fund made $10,000 payments to Ballard Spahr Stillman & Friedman. The Conflicts of Interest Board has been deposing figures in the investigation.

In the midst of the competition to succeed Christine Quinn as speaker, the Daily News reported that Ms. Mark-Viverito's acceptance of pro bono help from the Advance Group—a prominent Manhattan lobbying and campaign consulting shop—could run afoul of a city ethics regulation. Good-government group Citizens Union called for the Conflicts of Interest Board to investigate.

The Advance Group had helped Ms. Mark-Viverito prepare for debates and to network with council members and county leaders, who behind closed doors helped decide the internal leadership race. Though Ms. Mark-Viverito's speaker bid had advantages, including the support of Mayor Bill de Blasio, she was not especially popular at the time among many of her council colleagues, from whom she needed 26 votes, or county bosses, who controlled many members' votes.

The ethics question arose because as a public servant, Ms. Mark-Viverito is prohibited by the City Charter from taking a "valuable gift" from a firm that intends to do business with the city. Lobbyists are also prohibited from providing such gifts. The Advance Group has extensive lobbying business before city government, including the powerful speaker.

A public official found to have violated the rule can be fined up to $25,000, and someone providing improper assistance up to $5,000.

Rockaway gas pipeline almost complete

From Rockaway Times:

The Rockaway Lateral Transco Pipeline Project, running from the Atlantic Ocean, through Riis Park, and up Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, is expected to be complete by March 2015.

“We have been working nearly around the clock and remain on schedule to place the project into service by the end of the first quarter 2015,” Williams spokesperson Chris Stockton said. The Rockaway Lateral Project began construction on June 9, 2014. The project includes one mile of horizontal directional-drilled pipeline and 2.2 miles of conventionally laid 26” pipeline connected to an existing Transco pipeline in the Atlantic Ocean. National Grid’s portion of the project, the Brooklyn Queens Interconnect Project, which is complete, will connect with the Transco project. Together, the pipeline projects will bring additional natural gas into Rockaway, Brooklyn and other parts of Queens.

Williams, the company behind the Transco pipeline, has a Rockaway Community Grants program “to benefit the environment and local communities within the NYC areas affected by Williams’ Rockaway Lateral project.” The company awards grants of up to $15,000 per funding cycle for each program. In October 2014, 13 organizations received grants, totaling $115,000. Some groups included the Rockaway Point Volunteer Emergency Services, the Breezy Point Cooperative, the Broad Channel Historical Society for the Collection Preservation project, Beautify Rockaway Beach, the Roxbury Volunteer Firehouse, the Rockaway Youth Task Force and more.

AirBnB has become an even bigger problem

From Crains:

The number of New York-based apartments listed on Airbnb in 2014 that would be illegal rentals grew by 2,300 from the previous year, representing 60% of the total number of units in the five boroughs listed on the site, according to data compiled by Tom Slee, a writer who runs a data technology site. Mr. Slee's data was provided by Share Better, an anti-Airbnb lobbying group, although a spokesman said Mr. Slee was not paid for his work.

The analysis flagged Airbnb listings that showed an entire apartment available. Rooms, not whole apartments, can be rented out under New York state law, as long as the apartment is occupied during the guest's stay.

The number of units being rented by people listing two or more apartments grew by 700 units, according to Mr. Slee's data. Approximately 30% of Airbnb’s inventory in New York City is listed by users who are illegally renting out multiple residential units, including 207 users renting out five or more units.

Ridgewood rents raised more than elsewhere

From the Queens Courier:

Rents in Ridgewood last year nearly doubled since 2009, according to data compiled by real estate website StreetEasy.com at the request of The Courier, as more luxury rental buildings moved down the L and M train lines from Bushwick and Williamsburg.

The data finds the median price of rents in Ridgewood last year increased to $2,182 from $1,340 in 2009, good for first place in rents charged in Queens. Even when comparing year-to-date numbers between last year and 2013, Ridgewood experienced median rent increases of more than $382, while Astoria saw only a $50 increase and Long Island City actually had a decline.

Daneek, Danny and Paulie V. are "slugs" for keeping lulu cash

From the Daily News:

By law, the standard salary for a member is $112,500. But the Council gets around the limit by awarding lulus, supposedly for “extra” work on committees.

All told, 47 of the 51 members get the additional dough, ranging from $5,000 for those with little clout or seniority to $25,000 for Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

Who gets what is determined by the speaker, empowering her to reward friends, punish enemies and buy obedience. Independent lawmaking goes out the window.

Which is why every member of the U.S. Congress, from minority-party freshmen backbenchers to the most senior committee chairmen, gets the same salary. Not so in the Council. There, most take the money and run.

...12 members keep the cash, including six who had pledged to restrict lulus. The slugs are Corey Johnson and Ydanis Rodriguez of Manhattan, Daneek Miller, Danny Dromm and Paul Vallone of Queens and Vinny Gentile of Brooklyn.

Their word is worthless.

Melissa is up to something

From Crains:

When Melissa Mark-Viverito was raising money for her successful City Council speaker bid in late 2013, she voluntarily imposed a donation cap for contributions: $3,850. That is the limit for politicians seeking the office of borough president in New York City. Yet in recent months, Ms. Mark-Viverito has begun accepting up to $4,950, the maximum amount for a run for citywide office.

A source with knowledge of Ms. Mark-Viverito's fundraising, however, said her recent acceptance of the larger contributions should not be taken as an indication she is eyeing a citywide race. In fact, according to the source, Ms. Mark-Viverito had previously eschewed $4,950 donations because she wanted to signal that she was not seeking to run for mayor, comptroller or public advocate in 2017, but now feels comfortable that that has become clear.

LaGuardia getting an AirTrain?

From DNA Info:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans Tuesday to build a second AirTrain in Queens, connecting riders to LaGuardia Airport from the 7 train and Long Island Rail Road.

The plan calls for a 1.5-mile tram that runs along the Grand Central Parkway from the Willets Point 7 train and LIRR stations, Cuomo said.

"We just are in the initial planning phases of it," Cuomo said.

But then he said something which makes me wonder if he got the memo:

...the governor said he didn't think the project would face major problems because Willets Point is industrial and therefore not prone to "siting issues" that arise in residential neighborhoods, he said.

"It runs basically along the Grand Central Parkway. It's basically an industrial area. You're not talking about neighborhoods, etc," he said.

So does he not realize that there is a megadevelopment planned for Willets Point, or does he just think that it won't be happening any time soon?

What's going on at the LaGuardia Airport Hotel?

I got some info this weekend from a tipster who has proven accurate in the past. Connect the dots, if you will.

"SM ROUNDERS, LLC" was formed in January 2014.

In February 2014, STW LaGuardia LLC, located at the same address as SM Rounders, purchased the LaGuardia Airport Hotel for $20.5M.

In August 2014, STW applied for permits from the DOB to alter the building and change the C of O. Most noteworthy is that
1) they are trying to change the classification from "hotel" to "dormitory" and
2) the icing on the cake -

Dwelling Units:
Existing: 209
Proposed: 592

The plans were rejected by a plan examiner in October, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they get their ducks in a row and get approved for what looks very much like it may be an SRO.

The LaGuardia Airport Hotel's website is no longer active. It doesn't even say "coming soon".

Elected officials representing this property:

Julissa Ferreras
Jeffrion Aubry
Jose Peralta

and drumroll please......

Joseph Crowley

Success at the Cinemart

From the Daily News:

Movie lovers came out in force to support a historic Queens theater on the brink of collapse.

The Cinemart in Forest Hills hosted sell-out crowds for several showings of “American Sniper” and other films on the bill, said owner Nicolas Nicolaou.

The response was strong enough to postpone any short-term plans to close the financially struggling movie house, he said.

“The community wants to send a message that this theater has something special for them and the character that comes with being here for 90 years,” he said.

The public momentum spread to nearby eateries along Metropolitan Ave., including Eddie’s Sweet Shop, which had a brisk business all weekend, he said.

Nicolaou plans to meet with movie executives in Los Angeles and show them the theater should be a venue for first-run films.

The question is: will they keep coming?

Collapse causes ambulance corps to close

From the Queens Chronicle:

The Woodhaven-Richmond Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps is planning to shut down its operations almost two years after its nextdoor neighbor's building collapsed, according to an area civic leader.

Martin Colberg, president of the Woodhaven Residents' Block Association, announced the news on Saturday at the civic's monthly meeting.

"We're going to stay on top of this," Colberg said referring to the collapsed building at 78-19 Jamaica Avenue. "[But] we've run out of time for the ambulance corps, it seems."

The vacant building at 78-19 Jamaica Ave. collapsed after a downpour on April 12, 2013, causing damage to the ambulance corps building next door. The corps, after being allowed back into the building shortly after the collapse, had to leave again last year when a wall between its building and the collapsed one became damaged in a snowstorm last year.

The collapse forced the corps' main tenant, the Woodhaven Senior Center, to relocate. The senior center had been the primary source of income for the volunteer group, causing the corps to have financial difficulty in the months following the collapse.

Cuomo pushes minimum wage hike

From the Huffington Post:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Sunday that he plans to submit a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $11.50 an hour in New York City and $10.50 an hour in the rest of the state.

The proposal is something of a reversal for Cuomo, who less than a year ago was opposed to allowing municipalities across the state to set different minimum wages. Having several different minimum wages throughout the state, Cuomo said last February, would create chaos by forcing communities to compete against one another. The current minimum wage in New York state is $8.75 per hour, a figure that's set to rise to $9 at the end of this year.

Cuomo's position reportedly began to shift this summer when he was courting the support of the progressive Working Families Party and backed a proposal to let different municipalities set different minimum wages. Under that proposal, New York City would have been able to set a minimum wage as high as $13.13 an hour.

While labor groups are praising Cuomo's decision to raise the wage, Bill Lipton, the state director of the Working Families Party, expressed disappointment that Cuomo, who was re-elected to a second four-year term in November, did not go further.

“We applaud Governor Cuomo’s proposed increase in the state minimum wage as an important first step in the right direction,” Lipton said in a statement Sunday. “But $11.50 is almost $2 less than what he endorsed last spring. And the truth is it’s nearly impossible to raise a family in this state on even $12 or $13 an hour.”

Like a turd that won't stay flushed

From New York Magazine:

A little over a year after she lost New York's Democratic mayoral primary, Christine Quinn is working in politics again. Governor Andrew Cuomo has hired the former City Council speaker as a special adviser, and she appeared with him on Saturday at NYU for an announcement about preventing sexual assault on college campuses. While some see Quinn's hiring as a jab at Mayor Bill de Blasio (though he and the governor are ostensibly friends), her formal rival was cordial. "The mayor welcomes Christine back to public service," said de Blasio spokesman Wiley Norvell.

Time to bend over again!

From the Daily News:

The city’s hot real estate market led to a whopping 9% hike on assessed property values, which will likely force some homeowners to fork over more in taxes.

The Finance Department released its preliminary tax assessments on Thursday, with most of the nearly double-digit growth the result of strong real estate sales.

Another 2% was attributed to new construction — which includes a Bronx boom.

The city uses the assessment numbers to gauge how much people will pay in taxes.

According to the city’s estimates, market values on class 1 properties — primarily one, two and three family homes — rose 7%.

Market values on condo and cooperatives went up by 11%, according to the department.

Elmhurst Elks Lodge may get upgrade

From the Queens Tribune:

An Elmhurst landmark will get some upgrades, but it needs help from the community first.

Constructed in the 1920s, the former Elks Lodge at 82-10 Queens Blvd. was designated a City landmark in 2001. According to Landmarks Preservation Commission documents, some of the features that earned the building its designation include a bronze elk statute at its entrance, ornate carvings around its entryway and its brick, limestone and granite façade.

Today, these designs are somewhat daunted by the current of traffic on Queens Boulevard and the crowd of neighboring buildings. Meanwhile, certain elements of the lodge are falling into disrepair; bricks have slipped out of the exterior walls and some balustrades are chipped or missing.

Nevertheless, it is a building busy with activity, and one of the several groups that use the Elks Lodge have found a way to restore it to its former state.

Last year, the New Life Community Development Corporation applied for a grant to restore the building with the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

“We thought, maybe they would throw us a bag of cement or a couple of shovels or something,” New Life CDC executive director Redd Sevilla said.

Instead, in December, Parks awarded New Life CDC a matching grant of $500,000 for the restoration.

It was “the miracle that happened on Queens Boulevard,” Sevilla said.

According to Parks spokesman Randy Simons, the grant constitutes a 75 percent reimbursement of the total project cost, up to $500,000. This means that a restoration costing $666,667 would achieve the full $500,000 reimbursement, with New Life CDC fronting the initial cost and ultimately paying the difference.

New Life CDC has until the end of 2015 to fundraise for the project.

DeBlasio wants to build on community garden spaces

From DNA Info:

At least 15 community gardens on city-owned property could be bulldozed to make way for new buildings under the de Blasio administration's affordable housing plan, community advocates said.

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development published a list this week of city-owned sites that housing developers can apply to build on, shocking those who tend to and enjoy the green spaces.

Developers were asked to submit proposals for nearly 180 sites — which could include rentals for families earning nearly $140,000 a year and paying $3,000 in rent — by Feb. 19.

John McBride, one of the residents who helped Morningside Heights' Electric Ladybug Garden get off the ground, was surprised Thursday when he found the city had already padlocked his block's space.

"We were just getting ready to start planting for the spring and now it's padlocked," said McBride, 46, who was part of a two-year labor-intensive effort to clear rubble from the vacant lot on his West 111th Street block and replace it with clean topsoil from the Parks Department's Green Thumb this summer.

McBride said he understood the de Blasio administration's "huge commitment to housing," but he didn't understand why the city was targeting lots with flourishing gardens when it owned other parcels of land that were sitting truly fallow.

Of more than 1,000 HPD-owned vacant lots, approximately 74 have community gardens, according to research from 596 Acres, the nonprofit that helped provide technical support to transform Electric Ladybug.

City cleaning up future South Jamaica hotel site

From the Queens Chronicle:

The city Office of Environmental Remediation is preparing to clean up the site where a four-story hotel will be built.

The office is proposing to take several steps to remediate the site at 132-10 149 Ave. in South Jamaica, including the excavation of soil and the installation of a vapor barrier system.

It also plans to place a 30-inch thick concrete slab underneath the building to “prevent human exposure to residual soil/fill remaining under the site.”

The site requires environmental remediation because the city found “volatile organic compounds, pesticides, PCBs and metals” in the soil where the hotel will be located.

Why are we still building hotels when the ones we already have are being repurposed as homeless shelters? Oh, I think I just answered my own question.

Van Bramer wants LIC upzoned

From the Wall Street Journal:

It may be hard to believe given the amount of construction in recent years, but more cranes could be on their way to Long Island City.

City Hall is targeting the Queens neighborhood along the East River and just north of the Long Island Expressway for a possible rezoning that would promote the construction around Queens Plaza of more high-rise apartment buildings, including ones with lower rents.

In 2001, the city rezoned 34 blocks of Long Island City between Queens Plaza and Court Square to spur residential high-rises while looking to maintain a mix of manufacturing and commercial space.

Since 2006, more than 8,000 units have been built in the neighborhood, and nearly 20,000 are under construction, according to the Long Island City Partnership, a nonprofit local development corporation.

But in the eyes of some residents and community leaders, the changes have created an enclave of shiny towers that looks more native to Miami than New York City.

The plans to encourage more high-rise development have the support of City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer, who represents the area. Mr. Van Bramer said he also wanted to ensure that development is accompanied by improvements to schools, transportation, space for technology companies and affordable housing for artists.

“I’m very much open to this idea as long as it includes those things that I already outlined and is done in a smart way that speaks to the needs of community and takes into account the additional folks who will then be in the neighborhood,” he said.

Still, industrial advocates are concerned that the administration’s efforts to create more housing here and elsewhere could lead to the further loss of space for longtime manufacturing businesses.

Manufacturers who have been in the area for decades said they already felt they were losing ground to new residential construction. Some have been forced to consider whether to sell out.

So let's understand this...Sunnyside Yards can't be developed with affordable housing because it will lead to overcrowding, but LIC can be massively upzoned once more. Oh, Jimmy doesn't live in LIC, that's right.

T building will basically become a homeless shelter

From the Queens Courier:

A development company has signed a 99-year lease with the city to turn the historic T-Building into a 205-unit apartment building that will include housing for patients at a nearby hospital, many of whom are homeless.

“These are people that literally cannot leave the hospital because there is not appropriate housing to discharge them to,” said Michael Dunn, president of Dunn Development Corp, the company that received the lease from the city.

Speaking at a meeting with Community Board 8 members on Wednesday, Dunn continued, “The idea is to serve people whose housing instability or lack of housing impacts their health.”

Dunn Development Corp. signed a 99-year lease with the city to develop the T-Building on Queens Hospital Center’s campus into 205 apartments. As part of the deal, Dunn will not destroy the old Hillcrest tuberculosis center, but the company will embark on a major $12 million renovation to turn the former medical building into apartments.