Tuesday, September 29, 2015

F*cked up in Flushing

This house at 30-35 150th Street in Flushing is kind of cute, eh? Well don't get too attached to it.
This is what the homeowner/architect applied to do to it.
This is what they actually did to it.
So tell me, how is a project that was audited and found to be non-compliant, with a "notice to revoke letter" sent out in June, allowed to continue into September - a partial demolition - with no construction fence and without the proper permits?

58 comments:

(sarc) said...

Don't worry.

It will look cute when they are done...

Anonymous said...

The DOB is so crooked. Everyone knows it and all the crooked home builders are taking full advantage. The councilmen don't care. We need to from a class action lawsuit against the DOB and include the Mayor for not making them do their job.

stapeliad said...

Once upon a time in Flushing....

there was a cute house.

then it got turned into a covered cat litter box illegally.

No one lived happily ever after.

the end.

Anonymous said...

Lemme guess, Asians? Diverse and Vibrant!

Anonymous said...

DOB is in business solely to make money for NYC.
Building permits = money! That is what they're here for.
This is a REBNY city. Build to the max. Build ugly. Build shoddy.
Nobody really cares.
Then you have pols who get their campaigns funded by developers.
Then it Comes full circle when council members like Paul actually lobby for developers.
I watched that city council committee hearing on private covenants.
Vallone's bill is a bogus bill.

Anonymous said...

Not Asians this time.

Anonymous said...

Monday about 1pm, 1 marked and 3 unmarked police cars were at this house. After knocking on front door they went in. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera or phone with me so I couldn't take a picture, for proof.

Anonymous said...

It will sit like this for a couple years; then the crew will come back in and McMansion-it out. That's the M-O.

Anonymous said...

"Proposed minor interior renovation in existing one family house."
Is there any other city in the US, where houses like this sell for close to ~ $1 mill or more, where something like this would be tolerated?
I am sure that the day that this demolition started, neighbors started to call 311 to file complaints.
I wonder how many such calls were logged about this address during this period, and if any inspector was ever sent there.
In a sane culture, every involved party would be fined, and the 'professionals' - architects, contractors - would have their licenses revoked.
This goes on all over Queens. There are many such 'minor renovation' projects which have led to vacant, uninhabitable houses that sit for years.
Come to Queens, do whatever the hell you want.

Anonymous said...

North Flushing and it's quality of life in on the decline. Sad but inothing will stop it, cash out while you can.

Anonymous said...

Is there any way to expose what is happening? There has to be a way. This is atrocious.

Anonymous said...

Do you really think it's time to cash out? I Have given up on the quality of life about 5 years ago. Now I'm all about selling for the most money and high tailing it out of here. Friends who are realtors say to hold on for 5 to 7 more years. They say when the big stuff really starts happening in downtown Flushing the prices will soar. That we ain't seen nothin yet!

Anonymous said...

Do you really think it's time to cash out? I Have given up on the quality of life about 5 years ago. Now I'm all about selling for the most money and high tailing it out of here. Friends who are realtors say to hold on for 5 to 7 more years. They say when the big stuff really starts happening in downtown Flushing the prices will soar. That we ain't seen nothin yet!

SO WHICH POLITICIAN DO YOU WORK FOR? PROUD OF WRITING STUFF LIKE THIS?

Anonymous said...

Old Flushing is dead and buried. Long live the New Flushing.

(sarc) said...

anon #1

We have hundreds of thousands of ILLEGALS pouring over the border and the administration buses them all over the country, especially here in NYC, and does not deport them. Maybe that's why DOB is doing nothing because we need all the housing we can get for all the illegals and "refugees".

We have a former Secretary of State who mishandled top secret classified information on numerous levels, as well as perjured herself on numerous occasions.

We have a President with a pen and a phone doing whatever he pleases via executive fiat.

And you thing you can get a lawyer and judge to get a couple of schlubs at DOB to do their job? Try and get people to chip in to pay for a class action suit, lemme know how that goes. Lawyers don't come cheap, times are tough, and sadly most don't care...

Rich Parkwood said...

I used to live on 31 Avenue right around the corner from this house. Used to be a lovely neighborhood.

As for waiting to cash out: If you can endure this crap for another 5-7, you have a stronger constitution than I. I did receive a cold call from Better Homes & Gardens Realty this morning, but we're not quite ready to get the hell out yet - as much as I'd love to.

Anonymous said...

Blogger Rich Parkwood said...
I used to live on 31 Avenue right around the corner from this house. Used to be a lovely neighborhood.

As for waiting to cash out: If you can endure this crap for another 5-7, you have a stronger constitution than I. I did receive a cold call from Better Homes & Gardens Realty this morning, but we're not quite ready to get the hell out yet - as much as I'd love to.



"Rich Parkwood" is full of shit. There is no 31st Avenue in this part of Flushing and if he had lived there, he would know it because it's totally obvious. And, his statement is very similar to at least two other posts above.

The trolls are out in force on this thread. Clearly either a malcontent or a realtor trying to drum up business to get listings in North Flushing.

Paul Graziano

Anonymous said...

Actually not a malcontent or a realtor. Just genuinely curious what my fellow Flushing people think about selling now vs waiting with regards to value. Realtors don't need to drum up business using the Queens Crapper. They come right to our doors and call our homes. What do YOU think about the future of home values here, Paul? Particularly if we do NOT get land marked.

Anonymous said...

Paul, this anonymous person is saying to WAIT for 7 years. Not to sell. I hardly think he is a realtor. Realtors would be presenting a fire and brimstone scenario and telling people to get out NOW. 31st Avenue is complete BS though. Anyone from here should have known that.

Anonymous said...

Why do you think the cops were there?

Rich Parkwood said...

Paul Graziano: Go fuck yourself. I'm no troll. I lived on 31 Avenue in Astoria. That's how I made the mistake here. The house I lived in was 150-14 32 Avenue.

Malcontent?? You bet!! The way this city operates, who wouldn't be??

Anonymous said...

Paul's in a bad mood because deep down inside he knows the land marking is never going to happen.

Anonymous said...

@Rich Parkwood

Now I'm completely confused. You lived in Astoria and you lived in Flushing.
So go ahead and start cursing me out as well.
Class act.

Anonymous said...

Paul's in a bad mood because deep down inside he knows the land marking is never going to happen.


Keep dreaming, troll. Besides, the house in this posting is nowhere near Broadway-Flushing.

Paul Graziano

Anonymous said...

Paul Graziano: Go fuck yourself. I'm no troll. I lived on 31 Avenue in Astoria. That's how I made the mistake here. The house I lived in was 150-14 32 Avenue.

Malcontent?? You bet!! The way this city operates, who wouldn't be??
----

Sounds like a Vallone Drone. Astoria has done enough damage....keep it in your nabe no one else wants it.

The fact is we need to start to talk to people from other boroughs and other neighborhoods - the Queens press, the Queens community boards, and the Queens pols no longer have credibility with people.

Anonymous said...

@ Rich Parkwood

All you needed to do is apologize that you made a mistake in your first posted comment. And that's all. There's no need for your additional nasty comments on this site. Or in real life, for that matter.

Ps; I don't know you, however I do know Paul Graziano. He's a resectful guy. You don't sound too respectful on here.

Anonymous said...

The community boards are useless advisory groups with minimal influence.
The pols control them anyway.
The system is broken

Anonymous said...

@ Rich Parkwood

All you needed to do is apologize that you made a mistake in your first posted comment. And that's all. There's no need for your additional nasty comments on this site. Or in real life, for that matter.

Ps; I don't know you, however I do know Paul Graziano. He's a resectful guy. You don't sound too respectful on here.


Thanks, anonymous. I actually sent the photos on this posting to Queens Crap yesterday and was threatened by the "workers" as I snapped them. This entire situation is not normal.

As for Parkwood's obnoxious comments, it's really not important, as he doesn't live in North Flushing (he lives near Woodhaven/Richmond Hill according to his blog); if he ever did, he left a long time ago and no longer has any vested interest in it. For those of us who care - and I know there are a lot of us out there - I'm going to continue busting illegal development and protect my neighborhood.

Paul Graziano

Rich Parkwood said...

I'll be more than happy to apologize for making a mistake in my post (and didn't I correct myself in the follow-up?). If my tone was disrespectful to Paul Graziano, than so was his for calling me "full of shit". Respect is a two-way street.

And, yes, I left North Flushing a long time ago, but I still have friends and relatives that live there whom I go to visit often. Just because I longer live in the area does not mean that I don't care what happens to it - or the rest of Queens.

Anonymous said...

I'll be more than happy to apologize for making a mistake in my post (and didn't I correct myself in the follow-up?).


Only because it was called out.


And, yes, I left North Flushing a long time ago, but I still have friends and relatives that live there whom I go to visit often. Just because I longer live in the area does not mean that I don't care what happens to it - or the rest of Queens.

Making comments like "used to be a lovely neighborhood" and "if you can endure this crap for another 5-7, you have a stronger constitution than I" shows that you don't really care about this neighborhood.


North Flushing is *still* a very nice place to live, and a whole bunch of people including myself are doing everything they can to keep it a nice place to live. We've changed the zoning to the most restrictive in the city and ARE pushing for landmark status for Broadway-Flushing; gotten laws passed to stop people from paving over every square inch of grass on their front lawn, and slowed down the targeting of our neighborhood by houses-of-worship by requiring parking on-site. It could be much, much worse - and it will be if people don't keep fighting against it. Apathy is the worst response to a problem.

When I look at how messed up other neighborhoods have gotten in Queens, including parts of Woodhaven, Richmond Hill and Ozone Park for example, neighborhoods which I am very familiar with, or even other parts of Flushing, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Jamaica Estates, Holliswood or Bayside, Douglaston and Little Neck for that matter, I think we're doing pretty well despite the challenges that we face from unscrupulous developers.

Paul Graziano

Anonymous said...

LOL!
"Rich Parkwood"?
Who,came up with that alias? Sounds like an old Hollywood 1930s screen name.
Maybe it's an anagram.
Hmmmm....maybe it's Park Woo!

Anonymous said...

It's a small house. Like it or not people want bigger these days. And if they can expand, they will.
As to the legality....that's another matter. And this one stinks in that department.

Anonymous said...

The real estate values certainly are not dropping in North Flushing....especially Broadway North.
That's the bottom line. All you naysayers had better find a better line of BS to sell. I was just offered $980,000
For my home which I have inserted deed restrictions into my deed. FU!

Anonymous said...

^ "I was just offered $980,000
For my home which I have inserted deed restrictions into my deed. FU!"

Bravo! A man on integrity. There are many more of here than you imagine and they are staying here, standing strong.

Anonymous said...

pornstar alias???

Rich Parkwood said...

Paul Graziano: You insult me by saying that I’m “full of shit” and a “troll” and then have the audacity to take umbrage at my response? You are a sanctimonious self-aggrandizing prig. Get over yourself.

Is where I lived on 32 Avenue not around the corner from this house? Haven’t you ever misspoke or typed? You could have easily pointed out my error without starting a flame war.
_____________

pornstar alias???

Sure! Why not?! lol

Rich Parkwood said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...

@Rich Parkwood

Now I'm completely confused. You lived in Astoria and you lived in Flushing.
So go ahead and start cursing me out as well.
Class act.


What's so confusing about moving several times over the course of a lifetime?
You didn't curse at me, so I didn't curse at you. It's that simple.

Anonymous said...

"I was just offered $980,000

Of course you were, Broadway-Flushing is the hottest ticket in town and the word is out. We need local landmarking ASAP!!!

Anonymous said...

Maybe Vallone can come up with a new bill for the DOB, a registry of houses that look like boxes. That will be as useful as his last registry bill.

Anonymous said...

Paul Graziano: You insult me by saying that I’m “full of shit” and a “troll” and then have the audacity to take umbrage at my response? You are a sanctimonious self-aggrandizing prig. Get over yourself.

Is where I lived on 32 Avenue not around the corner from this house? Haven’t you ever misspoke or typed? You could have easily pointed out my error without starting a flame war.


My "insults" were based on you putting down my neighborhood without cause or basic facts informing your statements. I think you're the only one continuing this "war" and the name-calling - I explained myself pretty well in my last statement.

Paul Graziano

Anonymous said...

Richie Baby. Chill out.

"Haven't you ever misspoke or typed""

I believe you need the participle here.

Haven't you ever "mispoken"?

Anonymous said...

*misspoken

Anonymous said...

Goodness Gracious. Flushing by far has the highest concentration of crazies.

Anonymous said...

Dontchaluvit?
Rich Parkwood joins the legendary porn stars, Johnny Wad and Harry Reams..
LOL!

Anonymous said...

Vallone's bill is a bogus bill and we residents know it.
Did you see old chrome dome on TV?
I love the way he proped his sunglasses up on his dome to try to look so Butch.
Everyone knows that Paulie is really a REBNY bitch.

Anonymous said...

Paul Graziano has done more for Flushing then anyone else in the past 20 years! (And that includes the Stavisky dynasty) Paul please keep up the good work and run again for elected office. Hopefully more people will vote on issues and not just name recognition.

Anonymous said...

Paul Graziano has done more for Flushing then anyone else in the past 20 years! (And that includes the Stavisky dynasty)


Yeesh. I should hope so...it's not too hard for anyone to have done more than them.

Paul Graziano

Anonymous said...

The Stavisky "dynasty" track record has been abysmal - except for Toby getting herself re-elected and Evan getting political consulting jobs.

Throw Stavisky out of her Senate seat in 2016!

Anonymous said...

My wife's family had a house in Little Neck. It sold for a million dollars in 2005, despite being a non-renovated, post-war shack, before the Bush bubble burst. Her mother lives on the largesse in Fort Worth. The new owners wanted to McMansion it, but, the Republican economy tanked, as they always do. Look it up. Suddenly there was "Jewish lightning". Funny, but they couldn't even get that right. The house has been remodeled to approximate its former self. Weird.

I love the poster blaming President Obama and Hillary Clinton for the graft in NY building. It's adorable.

Come to my house in unincorporated Tarrant County, stone and brick custom on an acre and a half. In NY, it would be 6 million. In Texas, 500K. Yes, Texans are idiots, and I am returning to the East Coast, but, thanks, Trump, South Jersey real estate is cheap!

Anonymous said...

Your wife's family must be really happy to know the 'family home' was sold to and another family that was willing to take care of the house. I'm sure the neighbors where even more happier that you received a million dollars! Just curious how much of that million dollars did you share with the neighbors that kept the block clean, put away your garbage pails, and picked up the mail when you went away on vacation? I'm sure that after the fire happened you checked in with the adjacent home owners, the same ones that are fighting like mad to protect a block and neighborhood that you cashed in on.

If you moved away and having nothing but nonsense to post about how great and cheap such and such place is stay off this blog. The community that you deserted is fighting to correct the situation you created. We are grass roots effort and do not need the negative comments.

Thank You Graziano and Avella!!! We need more rally's like the one in Bowne Park a few weeks ago!!!

Andrei V. said...

Having come across this post, Senator Avella sent the following letter to DOB:

October 1, 2015

Hon. Derek Lee
Queens Borough Commissioner
Department of Buildings
120-55 Queens Boulevard
Kew Gardens, NY 11424


Dear Borough Commissioner Lee:

I am writing to you regarding ongoing construction at 30-35 150th Street, Flushing, NY 11354.

I understand that according to the Department of Buildings website, the owner/architect applied for “Minor Interior Renovations to an Existing One Family Home”. However, reports indicate that construction is occurring on the exterior of the home (see enclosed photos).

Given this information, I would appreciate your conducting an audit of the plans and an inspection as soon as possible. Please share the results with me when completed.

Sincerely,

Tony Avella,
State Senator
11th Senatorial District

Anonymous said...

All of these wannabee princes and princesses who momentarily have the money to build tasteless Mc Mansions better hope that they can afford them long term.
Look at Little Neck Hills, south of Northern Blvd. Mc Mansionville.....and a lot of those went on the market just a few years after they were built. Big dreams of nouveau riche lords and ladies dashed into the gutter.

Anonymous said...

October 1, 2015

Hon. Derek Lee
Queens Borough Commissioner
Department of Buildings
120-55 Queens Boulevard
Kew Gardens, NY 11424


Dear Borough Commissioner Lee:

I am writing to you regarding ongoing construction at 30-35 150th Street, Flushing, NY 11354.

I understand that according to the Department of Buildings website, the owner/architect applied for “Minor Interior Renovations to an Existing One Family Home”. However, reports indicate that construction is occurring on the exterior of the home (see enclosed photos).

Given this information, I would appreciate your conducting an audit of the plans and an inspection as soon as possible. Please share the results with me when completed.

Sincerely,

Tony Avella,
State Senator
11th Senatorial District


Thank you for your prompt attention, Senator Avella.

I would suggest that there should be an immediate Stop Work Order (SWO) at this site, as it's very clear that the plans filed are not only totally bogus but also have no information posted. I will be forwarding additional issues so that your office can respond as effectively as possible to the Department of Buildings (should they actually do their job!).

Paul Graziano

Anonymous said...

Grazie Mille, Tony Avella!

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmm.....more letters and press conferences.What do they accomplish with a crooked DOB?
Yawn......I think I'll return to my afternoon siesta. Great PR, though.

Anonymous said...

Practically everything is f****d up in Flooshing!
Toby Stashitsky only cares about her dynasty's continued dominance.
She, herself, will be history soon. A good Asian candidate will beat her next time.
She did not win by much this time around.
Maybe she will go and live with sonny boy Evan in Rockland County.
Still not a grandma yet, eh Toby?

Anonymous said...

RU kidding?
Evan is married to politics not his "wife".
Maybe she's his "beard".
Give mamma Toby a grandchild and grow a longer "beard".
LOL!

Anonymous said...

everybody complaining for this and nothing really happened. the new owners leaving life and happy.