Slumlord arrested, sued

From New York Magazine:

Even in a city filled with bad landlords, Steven Croman stood out. A regular on “worst landlord” lists, his company would buy up Manhattan apartment buildings, then push for tenants in rent-regulated apartments to leave, either by buying out their leases or, tenants said, harassing them until they left. Then, once he deregulated the rent-stabilized apartments, he would charge much higher rents. But this morning Croman was charged with 20 felonies, including grand larceny, falsifying business records, and a scheme to defraud; he faces up to 25 years in prison.

That’s not all the bad news for Croman: The Times reports that the New York state attorney general’s office also sued Croman today, seeking to force him not just to give up his real-estate business, but to pay millions of dollars in restitution to tenants and penalties. In its lawsuit, the attorney general’s office, which investigated Croman for nearly two years, accused him of harassing and coercing “countless working-class and low-income families out of their longtime homes.”

Flushing Meadows park building is falling apart

Photo: Geoffrey Croft

From the Daily News:

Squirrels and sandbags are here to stay.

Or so it seems at the run-down Olmsted Center in Queens’ Flushing Meadows Corona Park, which is $1.6 million over budget and delayed with no end in sight, the Daily News has learned.

For years, workers have complained about the conditions inside the center, which dates to the 1964 World’s Fair.

The grievances include squirrels crawling into the building’s dilapidated walls and routine flooding from the ground during minor rainstorms.

Department workers are forced to place sandbags at entrances to prevent water from pouring inside.

In 2008, the Bloomberg administration set aside $25 million to revamp the low-lying building, which houses approximately 500 architects, engineers and other support staff.

But the project stalled and the department’s capital base remained a leaky mess.

Ah, Flushing Meadows. What a dump.

DeBlasio says state probe is biased

From CBS 2:

It’s the wrath of Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Under pressure from numerous corruption investigations, the mayor sought out a friendly audience, the Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, to blame his troubles on his politics enemies, CBS2’s Marcia Kramer reports.

“Now, brothers and sisters, guess what… when you do something different, opposition emerges. The voices of the status quo find many, many ways to undermine progress to stand in the way of progress,” he said.

The mayor apparently thinks Governor Andrew Cuomo is one of those standing in the way of progress. He had his lawyer, Laurence Laufer, send a scathing letter to the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics saying team de Blasio will no longer cooperate with its probe into the mayor’s non-profit and fundraising arm, the campaign for One New York. Laufer implies Cuomo is somehow pulling the strings.

He's under investigation by the Manhattan D.A. and U.S. Attorney, but the state investigation is a witch hunt. Okay...

Rats fleeing sinking ship

From the NY Post:

The fund-raising scandal surrounding Mayor de Blasio is so toxic that he hasn’t been able to sell out his birthday bash at a tiny venue, even with comedian Louis C.K. headlining.

City First Lady Chirlane McCray on Sunday — the mayor’s 55th birthday — sent out an e-mail blast urging supporters to snap up tickets to the Thursday-evening event at Brooklyn Bowl, a Williamsburg bowling alley and concert venue that holds up to 600 people.

“Remember to get your tickets now if you haven’t yet — news that Louis C.K. will be there has traveled fast and space is filling up,” McCray wrote.

The e-mail came a week and a half after the de Blasio campaign announced that the comic — who had no trouble selling out three shows at Madison Square Garden — would be introducing Hizzoner at the event to benefit his anticipated 2017 re-election bid.

Tickets cost $100 to $250, according to an invitation form on the ActBlue Web site for Democratic fund-raising efforts.

One Democratic activist said McCray’s e-mail pitch was “like the infomercial: ‘Hurry up while supplies last.’”

“I don’t know anyone who is going,” the source said.

I know someone!

Steinway Mansion contractor posts bogus police signs

Photos from George The Atheist

What an official no parking sign looks like:

Sign of the times in Bayside

Too bad it doesn't list the phone number of the local council member.

Gianaris aide involved in de Blasio scandal

From Sunnyside Post:

A representative of State Sen. Michael Gianaris’ office has been caught up in the campaign finance investigation that has embroiled the de Blasio administration.

Matt Lerch, an Astoria resident who represents Gianaris at community board meetings and local events, took on the role of being the campaign manager to reelect State Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk in 2014, one of the three Democrats that de Blasio’s fundraising team backed to put the State Senate in the hands of the Democrats.

The State Board of Elections presented a campaign e-mail sent by Lerch as a key piece of evidence supporting its allegation that de Blasio’s fundraising team, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee—headed by Gianaris — and two County Democrat committees were acting in concert to skirt campaign finance rules to get big contributions into the hands of the three must-win Senate candidates.

This e-mail was sent to Hayes Clement, the treasurer of the Ulster County Democrat Committee, asking about funds from a donor.

“Hayes, I am just following up…Has the check for $60K cleared? Below is our banking info, we need the 60 transferred over ASAP please,” Lerch wrote.

The e-mail was sent by Lerch on Oct. 16, 2014.

State campaign finance records show that the Ulster County Democratic Committee received a $60,000 contribution from the New York State Nurses Association on Oct. 14.

“This email shows that representatives of Friends of Cecilia Tkaczyk were aware Ulster County Democrat Committee had received a check from NYSNA, knew those funds would be passed on…and previously had discussions about this matter,” according to the BOE’s findings.

Get your cars off the sidewalk!

From PIX11:

Barbara Legoff said cars have been taking over her streets for years.

With PIX11 News by her side, the Woodside native got a chance to confront one of the businesses she said is one of the worst offenders.

After an earlier PIX11 story this week, the owner of Paragon Honda Brian Benstock agreed to met with this feisty grandma.

Benstock said he is listening to her complaints and have moved many of their cars to New Jersey and off the sidewalks.

"I'm listening, and you are tough cookie," Benstock said.

Seeking cease and desist zone

From the Queens Chronicle:

At a public hearing organized by state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) and state officials, members of the public testified about the need for cease-and-desist zones — a designation that allows residents of certain areas to sign up for a list with the state that makes it unlawful for real estate brokers to solicit them.

“The people in the community are complaining about people that knock on their door at 7:30 on a Sunday morning asking if their houses are for sale and the tremendous solicitation,” Fresh Meadows Homeowners Association President Jim Gallagher said in his testimony.

Between 1989 and 2009, the entire borough was a cease-and-desist zone. Under current state law, neighborhoods can be declared cease-and-desist zones if they are considered eligible. Excessive solicitation must be demonstrated to the state by residents of an area who desire the designation. In addition to door knocking, the appeals come in the form of phone calls and mail.

At the end of his testimony, Avella presented a bag with dozens of pieces of solicitation mail “for dramatic effect.”

The hearing, which happened in the auditorium of Bayside High School last Thursday, was before officials from the New York State Department of State, the agency that determines whether the zones should be adopted.

Twelve people, most of whom self-identified as members of civic associations, spoke in favor of reinstating the designation. But as Avella put it in a press release issued the following day, the 27 real estate brokers who testified against making the borough a cease-and-desist zone “organized to hijack” the hearing.

Spa Castle reopens

From NBC:

Spa Castle, a popular indoor pool and spa facility in Queens, has reopened after being shut down by the Health Department earlier this year.

Spa pools and outdoor pools at the College Point location were closed in March after health investigators discovered a water return feature in one of the pools that drew a girl underwater with excessive suction on Feb. 19, authorities said.

They also found that emergency response by the staff was not consistent to what the staff told investigators from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The Health Department said Thursday that Spa Castle "has undergone a rigorous process to correct violations and met our requirement to implement a new safety plan."

All lawyered up!

From the Daily News:

Mayor de Blasio has lawyered up — at the same time that a new report says the feds are looking into whether he used “straw donors” during his 2013 run.

And, in more trouble for the mayor, he’ll have to hire someone else to help spin the bad news.

His press secretary Karen Hinton is leaving the administration after less than a year on the job, City Hall announced late Thursday.

Her sudden resignation — after rampant rumors of inner turmoil in his press shop — was announced hours after Hizzoner issued a news release saying he’d hired lawyer Barry Berke to represent him in the ongoing federal and state probe into his fund-raising.

Berke, of the high-powered firm Kramer Levin, had been representing de Blasio’s 2013 campaign and will now handle that along with the mayor personally.

No city dollars will be used to defend de Blasio.

De Blasio’s campaign will pick up the tab, a move allowed under the state election law.

Planted ruin construction underway

From DNA Info:

Repairs to a damaged fountain in Kew Gardens began this week and will include plans to transform the site into a plaza dedicated to women of the borough, according to the Queens borough president.

The $720,000 restoration project by the city's Department of Design and Construction will repair the stonework at the base of a fountain at the corner of Queens Boulevard and Union Turnpike on the ground of Borough Hall. The project will also improve landscaping, install benches and a plaque to honor the borough's women.

Restoration of Civic Virtue statue: $50,000 vs. Creating new plaza: $720,000

Translation: Someone's relative needed a contract.

Kids destroy Udall's Cove osprey nest

From CBS 2:

Little Neck residents are outraged after an osprey nest was deliberately set on fire.

CBS2’s Tracee Carrasco reported that state investigators are trying to find who started the blaze along the Nassau-Queens border by the Long Island Sound.

Chris DeGeorge witnessed last Sunday someone setting fire to the osprey nest in Udalls Cove as neighbors said it was set by two boys and a girl.

Udalls Cove is a designated bird sanctuary and ospreys are protected under both federal and state law.

Joseph DeGeorge said it appears the ospreys are trying to build a new nest, but it may be too late in the season for any hatchling to survive.

The reward leading to an arrest has grown to more than $4,000.

Pay to play!

From NY1:

It was one of the first things Bill de Blasio did when he became mayor.

Eight days into his administration, he got a letter from the city's Conflicts of Interest Board, the agency overseeing ethical conduct for local elected officials. It granted the mayor approval to fundraise for his newly established nonprofit group that was pushing his agenda, the Campaign for One New York.

Of course, there was a catch. De Blasio could not solicit donations for that nonprofit from "anyone with a matter pending or about to be pending’" before the city. The letter went on to say quote: “It is the Board’s conclusion that, as applied to the mayor, the 'agency' referred to is the entire executive branch…”

So more than two years later, NY1 examined all of the donations to the Campaign for One New York, which is now the subject of a federal investigation. We found that at least 60 donations came from an entity that had business with the city, or a company that was directly lobbying the city or was a union with a city contract.

When you pack people into neighborhoods, this is what happens

From the NY Times:

The Lexington Avenue line is the most crowded in the system, but subway riders across New York City are finding themselves on platforms and trains that are beyond crowded. L train stations in Brooklyn are routinely overwhelmed. In Queens, No. 7 train riders regularly endure packed conditions.

Subway use, now at nearly 1.8 billion rides a year, has not been this high since 1948, when the fare was a nickel and the Dodgers were still almost a decade away from leaving Brooklyn. Today, train delays are rising, and even a hiccup like a sick passenger or a signal malfunction can inundate stations with passengers.

Delays caused by overcrowding have quadrupled since 2012 to more than 20,000 each month, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Subway ridership in New York is in the midst of a resurgence almost unimaginable in the 1970s and ’80s, when the system was defined by graffiti and crime. Ridership has steadily risen to nearly six million daily riders today from about four million in the 1990s.

But the subway infrastructure has not kept pace, and that has left the system with a litany of needs, many of them essential to maintaining current service or accommodating the increased ridership. The authority’s board recently approved $14.2 billion for the subway as part of a $29.5 billion, five-year capital spending plan.

On the busiest lines, like the 7, L and Q, officials say the agency is already running as many trains as it can during the morning rush. Crowds are appearing on nights and weekends, too, and the authority is adding more trains at those times.

Sandy-damaged properties up for auction

From AM-NY:

More than three years ago, superstorm Sandy devastated homes across the Northeast, many of them right here in New York City.

In the aftermath of Sandy, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office of Storm Recovery was tasked with purchasing damaged homes in an effort to help rebuilding efforts within some of the city’s hard-hit communities.

Now, New York state has teamed up with Paramount Realty USA to auction dozens of homes in Staten Island, Queens and Brooklyn for less than their pre-storm values.

With bids starting as low as $14,650, these Sandy-damaged homes might just be your opportunity to plant new roots in New York City at a much lower cost.

The auction will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn, located at 1100 South Ave., in Staten Island on Tuesday, May 10, 2016.

For complete information on these homes and for due diligence information, head to prusa.com.

To register for the auction, you can submit a completed bidder’s affidavit to info@prusa.com or fax it to (516) 558-1148.

Amtrak tunnel takes developer by surprise

From Crains:

A Manhattan-based developer has reconfigured its planned 1,197-unit Hunters Point South apartment complex after learning an Amtrak tunnel and power lines ran under the city-owned project site, Crain's has learned. As part of the new design, developer TF Cornerstone will include a 600-seat school for the rapidly growing neighborhood on the Queens waterfront.

In 2013, the Bloomberg administration selected the developer and nonprofit partner Selfhelp to build an ODA Architects-designed residential project, including 700 affordable apartments, on part of the Queens peninsula dubbed Hunters Point South.

Nearly two and a half years later, though, blueprints have yet to be finalized. Amtrak and the New York Power Authority have been negotiating with TF Cornerstone since March 2015 to ensure construction doesn't damage the rail tunnel or the power lines.

It is not clear why the underground infrastructure took the developers by surprise, given that plans for the peninsula released in 2008 indicated whoever controlled the site would have to build around multiple easements.

DOT caught speeding more than 500 times

From WPIX:

The wheels of government move fast.

Since the start of Vision Zero in 2014, city owned vehicles have racked up 11,367 summonses.

More than 500 of them were handed out to the city Department of Transportation, which implemented much of Vision Zero, an initiative to stem the spike in pedestrian deaths, according to a PIX11 analysis of citation records.

Druggie playground to be locked at night

From DNA Info:

The city has begun locking up a local playground overnight after complaints from parents who say they've discovered used condoms, human feces and drug paraphernalia in the play space, officials said Monday.

Sean's Place, located on 38th Street between Broadway and 31st Avenue, is supposed to close at 9 p.m. but has been a "consistent nighttime hangout" according to City Councilman Costa Constantinides.

"Parents [are] coming here in the morning and finding things you shouldn't find in a children's playground," the lawmaker said. "Not every park gets locked, but we knew that this park had to be."

Since Wednesday, members of the city's Parks Enforcement Patrol started locking Sean's Place at night, a Parks Department spokeswoman said.

Imagine locking a playground at night when kids don't use it. What a novel concept!

Monster house blighting neighborhood

MONSTER HOUSE at 233 street and 130th Ave on the border of Laurelton and Rosedale, has haunted this Queens neighborhood since 2008.
Now this MONSTER HOUSE has given birth to a GARBAGE DUMP and a JUNK YARD.

The Queens Borough Commissioner has refused to do anything outside of the stop work order placed on the MONSTER HOUSE in 2009.

This blight has plagued this neighborhood for over EIGHT (8) YEARS.