City fails to maintain bike lane, causes injury

From the Daily News:

A bicyclist was injured when he hit a pothole and impaled his neck on a nearby fence in Queens on Sunday, authorities said.

The cyclist, a man who appeared to be in his 40s, was rolling along near Stockholm St. and Woodward Ave. in Ridgewood when he hit the hole and crashed about 11:42 a.m., officials said.

The man fell off his bike and hit his head on the ground, stood up, stumbled, and then fell onto a metal fence, impaling his neck, police sources said.

"He hit his head really hard," said one witness who declined to give his name. "Then, in a daze, he starts stumbling onto this fence. He falls onto the fence and skewers his neck. (It went) all the way through his neck. It was the most gruesome, weird thing I have ever seen."

Emergency responders cut off a portion of the waist-high fence in order to treat the man. He was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in stable condition, sources said.

Build bike lanes.
Encourage people to use them.
Fail to maintain them.
Repeat.

Petition to clean up Charles Park

From the Queens Chronicle:

Having Charles Park Beach so close to her house was a major selling point when Debra Ann DiMeglio moved to Howard Beach in January.

But all wasn’t as it seemed. She quickly became disappointed to see how many people were throwing their garbage on the beach and its surrounding park — a longtime problem in the area, according to residents.

“It’s just terrible what’s going on there,” DiMeglio said. “It doesn’t give a good face to the community.”

Now, she and her sister are on a mission to get the National Parks Service to improve the maintenance of the federal parkland — and their cries are backed by close to 250 people who so far have signed onto a petition in want of a cleaner park.

“The whole park needs to be cleaned up. This should not be,” DiMeglio said.

In an online petition at Change.org, DiMeglio and her sister Sheri say Charles Park, located at 9600 165 Ave., “was once a beautiful park, where residents would enjoy their visits and the beautiful view.”

They couldn’t say the same for today.

“The beaches are horrendous,” DiMeglio said. “When I walk around I’m seeing all the debris and dirt and people barbecuing. There’s barbecue charcoal everywhere.”

She’s not alone in that assessment.

“The park looks like a junkyard,” Steven Sirgiovanni said. “I wouldn’t want to have a kid or a dog going in there.”

No left turn GPS option could improve road safety

From CBS New York:

Many people turn to Google for answers, and now two New York City Council members say the technology giant has the answer to making city streets safer.

As CBS2’s Tracee Carrasco reported, members Brad Lander (D-39th) and Ydanis Rodriguez (D-10th) have asked Google maps to include an option for drivers to select a route with reduced left hand turns.

The councilmen believe the request falls in line with the city’s Vision Zero plan to reduce the number of deaths on city streets.

According to the NYPD, so far this year there have been 62 pedestrian fatalities, and 5 bicyclist fatalities. The Department of Transportation’s stats show that approximately 10 percent of all pedestrian fatalities in the last 18 months involve left turns.

Fun articles about the Rockaways

Both the Rockaway Times and AM-NY have interesting articles about the history of Rockaway this week. Well worth a poolside read.

(But don't read this one or you'll vomit.)

So how exactly did this happen?

From the Daily News:

A Long Island Rail Road train sideswiped another train in Queens, Friday, causing massive delays that left thousands of rush hour straphangers stranded, officials said.

Investigators are trying to determine if one of the trains slightly derailed before scraping against the train just outside the Jamaica station at 6:30 p.m.

No injuries were reported, according to an LIRR spokesman.

Telling it like it is on Willets Point

Letter to the Editor of the Queens Chronicle:

An apathetic public is a hack politician’s best friend. That cannot be said of a group of concerned citizens who took on former Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council, the City Planning Commission, former Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, the Wilpons of the Mets ballclub and their affiliates Sterling Equities and Related Companies, who are for all practical purposes a cabal trying to usurp a large portion of Flushing Meadows Corona parkland that houses a parking field so private developers can construct a 1.4 million-square-foot shopping mall. The Appellate Division: First Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, in a unanimous decision, hit a home run in holding the proposed development was not sanctioned by law.

In heralding the court’s decision, the Queens Chronicle’s July 9 editorial, “A major victory, just outside Citi Field,” pointed out the developers’ claim that the 1961 law that allowed the construction of Shea Stadium also authorized the mega-mall was nonsense, as indeed it was.

Equally nonsensical were the claims by the developers that they could not proceed with the 2008 Willets Point plan without the mega-mall to generate the necessary money. The developers are billionaires, and the claim they needed a mall to make money is the height of absurdity. While accepting the 2008 plan, it is evident they never had any intention to pursue it, but only to use it as a wedge for other purposes.

Not only did Bloomberg, the City Council, the City Planning Commission and Marshall approve this charade, but they rewarded the developers with the property for $1, millions in taxpayer subsidies and the right to forfeit $34 million and walk away from any obligation to construct affordable housing, which was the lynchpin in the 2008 plan to begin with. $34 million dollars for these billionaire developers is tantamount to the tip one gives the youngster who delivers your groceries. Make no mistake once they had a mega mall, they would walk. Equally outrageous was Bloomberg’s saying Willets Point was a blight and had to go, when it was the city that caused the blight, collecting sewer rent when there were no sewers and letting the infrastructure fail.

These officials’ complicity in this sordid municipal episode would cause the infamous Boss Tweed to tip his hat in admiration. Mayor de Blasio has remained silent on the subject. There now exists a good opportunity for him to demonstrate to the public whether there be any real difference between himself and Bloomberg.

Benjamin M. Haber
Flushing

It's time to clean up the blight

From AM-NY:

Dozens of city-owned homes intended for low-income New Yorkers have sat vacant for years, sometimes for at least a decade, with some attracting squatters while others become a blight in their neighborhoods.

But after years of neglect and failed strategies to deal with the properties, including stalled plans to sell them off, the New York City Housing Authority says it has a new approach to rehabilitate the 63 single-family homes by partnering with two groups -- Habitat for Humanity New York City and Restored Homes -- that have proven track records in fixing up houses.

First-time homeowners would then get an opportunity to move in.

"The whole point is to stabilize communities," said Nicole Ferreira, senior director of real estate development at NYCHA. "We don't want the vacant homes hanging out there."

But she agreed the homes have been neglected for far too long. "There has been a stall over the last 10 years," she said.

The houses, located in Queens and Brooklyn, were foreclosed properties acquired by NYCHA from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 through 1982. They are the last remaining properties from a portfolio of 730 that were largely sold off and repurposed for low-income families. Yet these lingering homes have gone years without occupants and their condition shows it.

"The age and condition of the houses has deteriorated over time, rendering the houses unsuitable for continued operation as well as creating a negative influence on their neighborhoods," the NYCHA board stated in a resolution in July 2014.

Habitat for Humanity and Restored Homes are expected to be charged $1 for each property, with the understanding that they would find financing and lead the rehabilitation of each. Habitat for Humanity said it received 13 NYCHA homes in 2012, and that five have been renovated and are ready for families to move in; eight are under construction.

Some policymakers said finding a solution for these homes helps combat the affordable housing crisis, even if there are a relatively small group.

And the latest from the Steinway Mansion...

Courtesy of George the Atheist

Crooked housing inspector heading to the pokey

Jefferson Seigel/Daily News

From the Daily News:

A crooked city housing inspector was sentenced to up to 7 1/2 years in prison Thursday after being found guilty of taking cash bribes in return for the dismissal of code violations.

Luis Soto, 52, a former inspector with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), was sentenced to 2 1/2/ to 7 1/2 years in prison for accepting bribes of up to $2,500 per property to remove housing code violations, prosecutors said.

Soto, of Staten Island, and Oliver Ortiz, 51, received more than $41,000 in bribes in total, prosecutors said.

Grimm gets only 8 months in prison

From NY Magazine:

Former representative Michael Grimm was sentenced to eight months in prison on Friday, after pleading guilty to a federal tax-evasion charge late last year.

Grimm resigned from his seat shortly after winning reelection in 2014. Dan Donovan, the district attorney in charge of the Eric Garner investigation, now represents the district.

Grimm's lawyers had hoped to avoid a stint in prison; they argued that the Staten Island politician was "tremendously remorseful over his offense" and "will live with the shame of it the rest of his life.” A federal investigation into Grimm's campaign fund-raising ended with charges accusing Grimm of paying employees at his Manhattan restaurant Healthalicious off the books — and thus avoiding taxes.

Car dealerships should park legally

From Sunnyside Post:

Car dealerships are displaying their vehicles on the sidewalk along Northern Blvd and street safety advocates are sick of it.

Angela Stach of Transportation Alternatives and Cristina Furlong of Make Queens Safer, two pedestrian safety advocacy groups, have spoken out against these dealerships, stating that this practice creates a danger for pedestrians.

Both stated that these dealerships force pedestrians to walk around the vehicles, often into the street.

“It puts pedestrians in the very dangerous position of having to walk into oncoming traffic in the street,” Stach said. “Especially on Northern Boulevard, which is one of the most dangerous streets in Queens.”

There have already been a number of pedestrians hit and in some cases killed by vehicles along Northern Blvd, including an accident that left five people injured after a Mazda sedan struck them at a bus stop on Northern Boulevard and 48th Street, in February, 2014. Noshat Nahian, an 8-year-old heading to school, was struck and killed in December of 2013, while crossing the intersection at Northern Boulevard and 61st Street.

While the practice of dealerships parking on sidewalks had nothing to do with these incidents, “these dealerships along Northern Boulevard put more people at risk,” Furlong said. “It is really insulting to see nothing get done.”

Furlong said that there are over 20 dealerships and garages along Northern Boulevard from 40th Street down into the 60’s.

Funny how people have been compaining about this for years, but it's only when Transportation Alternatives gets involved that it's considered newsworthy.

Queens properties to get LPC hearing

From the Times Ledger:

Preservationists were outraged in December when the Pepsi-Cola sign in Long Island City and seven other historic sites across the borough were put in jeopardy after the chairwoman of the Landmarks Preservation Committee proposed to remove them from consideration for protection. The blowback was so fierce that Chairwoman Meenakshi Srinivasan reversed course less than a week later and decided not to “de-calendar” them and to consider a new plan to deal with a backlog of nearly a hundred buildings and sites citywide.

The LPC announced last week that its Backlog Initiative would begin addressing the properties with a public comment period and then a special hearing on the 95 properties that were placed on the commission’s calendar decades ago.

Each property, including the Douglaston Historic District, the Old Calvary Gatehouse in Sunnyside, the Bowne Street Community Church in Flushing, the Spanish Towers and the Fairway Apartments in Jackson Heights, the First Reformed Church and Sunday School of College Point and the Ahles House in Bayside will each get a months-long process of public review and hearings.

Throughout the period the public is welcome to submit written statements to backlog95@lpc.nyc.gov. Those statements will be entered into the record and be distributed to the LPC commissioners.

All Queens properties will be addressed at a public hearing on Oct. 8. Speakers will be allowed to testify for three minutes and can register by e-mail at backlog95@lpc.nyc.gov.

The LPC will vote for or against designation of each property in 2016. The commission can also choose to issue a “no-action letter” for some items, which would remove them from consideration but would not disqualify them from landmark designation in the future.

Still scammin', now more than ever

From the Queens Chronicle:

There is an apparent rash of scams targeted at unsuspecting apartment hunters in parts of Western Queens.

According to the office of state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst), several constituents have filed complaints that victims have given money in advance to agencies that promise to find an apartment to rent, describing themselves as “multi-service agencies,” and acting like a broker.

Many of those targeted are native Spanish speakers.

But, in some cases, said Peralta, the apartment promised as an option to a prospective tenant is not even on the market — with some landlords not even aware that an apartment would be shown as a rental possibility — and would-be tenants are left with their fees lost.

In one case, a constituent said that he gave an agency $3,000, according to Peralta’s office.

When the victim and his family moved into the unit, they discovered a gas leak and bed bugs.

One woman, who remained anonymous, said she was cheated out of $6,000 by someone she thought to be a real estate agent when trying to secure an apartment in Woodside at the beginning of June.

Company advertises illegally all over Fresh Meadows

From the Times Ledger:

State Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Fresh Meadows) is calling on the city Department of Sanitation to address illegal advertising throughout Fresh Meadows.

In a letter dated July 13 to Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, Rozic requested an investigation and immediate removal of unsolicited commercial ads posted across Fresh Meadows detailing sewer cleaning services.

Residents informed Rozic’s office of a sudden increase in ads being posted illegally on city streetlights and lampposts by Liberty Developer USA, Inc., a company in South Ozone Park.

The sticker ads listing a telephone number for a “24 hours sewer service” can be found in residential areas between 164th Street and 188th Street from the Long Island Expressway to Union Turnpike.

Jim Gallagher, president of the Fresh Meadows Homeowners Association, said residents were “totally disgusted” by the ads.

He said he thinks multiple people were involved and that it took place at night.

“It gives you an address of a two-family house in South Ozone Park, not too far from Aqueduct Race Track, so why is he coming all the way over here to advertise in that particular way?” Gallagher said. “It’s very hard for Sanitation to get them off because of the heavy glue that’s on the poster and when you take the glue off, off comes the paint. That’s no way of advertising.”

Liberty Developer hung up the phone when asked to comment.

Starbucks opening in Jamaica

From DNA Info:

Jamaica is getting its first Starbucks, and it's looking to hire from the community.

The coffee chain is set to open a new cafe in a recently renovated building at 89-02 Sutphin Blvd., across the street from the Queens County Civil Courthouse in downtown Jamaica, the company announced Thursday.

The new store is launching as part of the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative, a plan in which more than a dozen American corporations commit to hiring 100,000 unemployed young people by 2018.

The Jamaica location is slated to be among the first five stores scheduled to open in 2016, according to Starbucks.

The cafe on Sutphin will include an employee training center, and the chain plans to hire about 20 to 25 employees from the community, the company said.

$10M to bring broadband service to projects

From CBS:

Free broadband Internet service is coming to public housing in New York City.

The city will invest $10 million at five New York City Housing Authority developments in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx to provide high-speed broadband service.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and other officials announced the initiative Thursday at the Mott Haven Houses in the Bronx, 1010 WINS’ Mona Rivera reported.

U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro said the federal government will help the city with the initiative. Also, private companies are donating technology, including Sprint, which will make mobile Wi-Fi devices available to NYCHA households in the Bronx with school-aged children.

So the projects are literally falling apart, but at least the residents can sign into Facebook. Great priorities here.

61% of Queens households own cars

I received an email from "addressreport.com" letting me know that it's mostly wealthy people in Manhattan that own cars. Well, duh. But they included another tidbit of info that pretty much proves the point that if you live in Queens, you're probably going to own a car.

Manhattan overall: 21% of households have at least one car
Brooklyn overall: 43% of households have at least one car
Queens overall: 61% of households have at least one car
Bronx overall: 39% of households have at least one car

61% of Queens households own a car because in most Queens neighborhoods a car is required to get around expeditiously. The bus system sucks and the subway is great but only if you live near one and want to go to Manhattan. That Ridgewood-Bayside run is gonna be a pain in the ass without a car. But those of us not trying to overdevelop the city knew that already.

Tax benefits are lucrative for builders of luxury high rises

From Capital New York:

One57, the luxury condominium building on West 57th Street in Manhattan, was thrust into the center of a debate this year about the future of a controversial tax break known as 421-a.

Affordable housing activists railed against a maneuver by lawmakers in Albany in 2013 that allowed developer Extell and four other building owners to receive the lucrative tax break for high-end condos without requiring affordable housing, even though they did not qualify for it.

Yet almost two-thirds of Extell's tax relief last year resulted from a state-controlled property tax system that benefits condos and co-ops, and only one-third came from 421-a, according to a study released Tuesday by the New York City Independent Budget Office.

The I.B.O. found that in the 2014 tax year, Extell received $25.4 million in tax breaks—$16 million from the assessment system and $9.4 million from 421-a, which, come January, will require affordable housing of its recipients with few exceptions.

The eight-page report demonstrates that the abatement pales in comparison to the property tax system in how it affords relief to expensive condos.

Stop pissing in the streets already!

From WPIX:

Local tutor Lionel Bourjolly, who works here in Corona, says based on what he sees, public urination is the end result of a bigger problem.

“The real causes are underlying. Underemployment. Unemployment. And it’s especially tough for an immigrant community – because they have fewer resources to rely on. These people have a tenuous hold on society, alright? They don’t have good jobs, they don’t have good housing, and they’re just trying to survive,” said Bourjolly.

We don’t want you to think the problem of people taking a classic sidewalk siesta, is just a black, brown, or working, lower class problem.

Manhattan based attorney Jason Stern says a full third of his practice involves public urination cases.

You might be surprised to hear what kind of clients he represents.

“My clientele is primarily made up of three groups. One would be out of towners – tourists, college students, and the other group is white collar professionals. Doctors, accountants, advertising executive…somebody who works on Wall Street,” said Stern.

This was an entertaining report. For example, I had no idea that being an immigrant meant that you had a harder time finding a pot to piss in. I also thought the biggest group of urinaters could be found outside CitiField after any Mets game.

HUGE development coming to Flushing shore

From the Queens Courier:

The former Asian grocery Assi Plaza, located in Flushing, is about to change hands again to make way for redevelopment.

Eastern Consolidated’s Capital Advisory Division has negotiated a $42 million bridge loan from a private lender on behalf of Triple Star Realty LLC, which used the loan to purchase the nearly 100,000-square-foot property on which the former supermarket sat. The total acquisition cost was upwards of $90 million.

Triple Star Realty plans to raze the existing structures on the former supermarket site in order to develop a 631,752-square-foot, mixed-use waterfront complex that will consist of a 360-unit condominium and a 200-room hotel, as well as a supermarket, retail and office space, and parking. The development will be comparable to other large-scale projects, such as Sky View Parc, Flushing Commons and Willets Point.