Caption Claire Shulman's Statue

Borough Hall address honors illegal lobbying practitioner

From the Forest Hills Post:

The entrance to Borough Hall has been adorned with a new address to greet visitors for years to come.

Queens Borough Hall has been given a new vanity address in honor of late Queens Borough President Claire Shulman.

The address of the Kew Gardens building, where Shulman served as the borough’s first female borough president for 16 years, was designated “One Claire Shulman Way.”

They forgot to mention this tidbit in Claire's bio. In related news, there is now a push to name the proposed Kew Gardens jail after Donald Manes, Claire's mentor. (J/K, but would it surprise you?)

Claire Shulman, who followed Donald Manes as Queens Borough President, has died.

AMNY


Former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman died Sunday, Aug. 16, according to her family.
Shulman, 94, had been battling lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. She passed away in her home, surrounded by her children, Ellen Baker, and Larry and Linda Shulman.

Shulman was the first woman to be elected as Queens borough president, a position she held for 16 years, from 1986 until 2002, when she was term-limited. During that time, dozens of neighborhoods were rezoned, generating development which led to the economic revitalization of downtown Jamaica, Flushing and Long Island City.

As borough president, Shulman was pivotal in ensuring the progress of a number of cultural institutions, including the Queens Museum of Art, the New York Hall of Science, Queens Theatre in the Park and the Museum of the Moving Image.

She played a major role in securing funding for 35,000 additional school seats and the completion of the Queens Hospital Center, a $170 million complex serving 400,000 patients annually that is the largest health care provider in the borough."

Steamrolling Flushing Creek hyper-development plan doesn't include a hospital

NY Post

A $2 billion development along toxic Flushing Creek will pollute the neighborhood with gentrification, critics say.

Affordable housing activists, unions and mom-and-pop shops have packed public hearings on the waterfront proposal, pushing back against more luxury apartments and designer stores.

And as livid as they are about the revitalization, they are just as angry about the government-approval process — claiming Community Board 7 and ex-Borough President Claire Shulman have steamrolled the project through. After wrapping up 15 years as beep, Shulman set up a nonprofit that makes private investments like the Flushing Creek venture possible.

Three developers — F&T Group, United Construction and Development Group, and Young Nian Group, in a partnership called FWRA LLC — want to transform 29 mostly unused acres into 3.4 million square feet of 1,725 apartments, a hotel, retail shops and offices that would generate a projected $28 million annually.

Their plan — the land is on the opposite side from the infamous junkyards near Citi Field — includes privately maintained roads and public access to the waterfront after an environmental cleanup of the area, polluted for decades by industrial waste.
“We believe this is the poster child for future waterfront development, and a legacy project for the owners who live and work in the community,” said their attorney, Ross Moskowitz, who pointed out supporters have turned out in big numbers at the public hearings — alongside the protesters.

“You can disagree with the project, but to say it has been steamrolled is just not right,” he said, adding the owners have followed the city’s statutory timeline for both land use and environmental reviews. “Already, he said, the owners have spent about 18 months on the reviews.

But opponents still think the process has been shady. As evidence of shenanigans, they point to Chuck Apelian, CB7’s first vice chair and land use committee chair, acting as a paid consultant to the developers and to Shulman, who received more time to speak during a Feb. 10 public hearing that turned so nasty cops were called. At times, demonstrators shouted “Shame” and “Let us speak.”

Donovan Richards is running for Queens borough president with Claire Shulman's backing

NY Daily News 

Far Rockaway City Councilman Donovan Richards jumped into the race to succeed Queens Borough President Melinda Katz Wednesday, running on a platform of equitable economic growth.

“As we watch the skyline transform and grow in front of our eyes, each and every day, there are too many of us that are being left behind,” Richards told the small crowd, adding that economic growth must be “managed correctly.”

He went on to tout three committee chairmanships in his six-year tenure on the council: public safety, zoning and environmental protection.

As Borough President, Richards pledged he’d diversify community boards, expand public transit options in Eastern Queens, conduct participatory budgeting, and overhaul the Queens property tax system, which he described as racially biased.

He told the Daily News that he will accept real estate donations, adding that, “My integrity would never be compromised.”

Cuomo decision allows Claire to rezone Flushing waterfront

From QNS:

A 62-acre portion of land on the Flushing waterfront may soon see substantial redevelopment after receiving a special designation from the state.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) designation for an area of land in the western area of downtown Flushing, bounded to the north by Northern Boulevard, to the east by Prince Street, to the south by Roosevelt Avenue and to the west by Flushing Creek and the Van Wyck Expressway.

The Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corporation (FWCLDC) presented the application for the BOA, which is described as a vacant, underdeveloped and/or polluted area where, under the program, economic environmental conditions are examined and redevelopment opportunities are identified in an attempt to attract public and public investment.

The designation opens up several benefits for future developers, including support from state municipalities and a potential for tax credits.

“I thank our entire board for its support during this process and now look forward to the next phase which will include a formal ULURP application to implement the zoning recommendations included in our nomination study,” said Claire Shulman, president and CEO of the Flushing Willets Point Corona LDC said in a letter to the LDC’s board. “The LDC thanks the Department of City Planning for its stellar work on our nomination study and environmental assessment report. Our staff at the LDC also deserve thanks for their hard work in overseeing and ensuring completion of this critical phase of our work. The LDC will apply for funding for the next phase of our work (implementation) as soon as it becomes available from the state.”

But does the fountain work?

From NY1:

Borough President Melinda Katz and other elected officials cut the ribbon on the newly-dedicated Women's Plaza in Queens Tuesday. It now has new masonry, benches and plants.

The monument on Queens Boulevard and Union Turnpike used to be home to a statue called the "Triumph of Civic Virtue." It depicted a man standing over two women symbolizing corruption and vice.

“It really represented old-fashioned, old-fashioned thoughts about women,” said Claire Shulman, a former Queens Borough President.

As do you, grandma!

Flushing West being studied

From City Limits:

Two years ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio chose this unusual area named Flushing West as one of the first three neighborhoods (along with Brooklyn's East New York and the Jerome Avenue corridor in the Bronx) to undergo comprehensive studies for likely rezonings under his affordable housing plan.

Like other neighborhoods that are set to be rezoned, the proposal for Flushing has drawn some criticism—although there are also forces in Flushing that support a redrawing of the map for the area.

Before a rezoning could be contemplated, a study of the area was needed first, and the Department of City Planning’s Queens Borough Office began one last year. It focused on an areas below Northern Boulevard (on its north side) running west from Prince Street to Flushing Creek north of Roosevelt Avenue, and from College Point Boulevard west to the creek from Roosevelt down to 40th Road and the LIRR tracks. A sliver of undeveloped land on the west side of the creek, pinched between the water and the Van Wyck Expressway, is also included.

The DCP is not the first to study the area. The Flushing – Willets Point – Corona Local Development Corporation, led by former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman, received a $1.5 million grant from the state’s Department of State to redevelop the waterfront. The area is a brownfield site, one of many contaminated areas the city noted for redevelopment in 2011.

Alexandra Rosa, project consultant for the LDC, says the mayor's announcement complimented LDC’s goals for the waterfront.

There are so many conflicts of interest here, and so little time to expose them all... Suffice it to say that all the usual suspects have their fingers in this pie.

Shulman's pet project up for review

From the Times Ledger:

The Department of City Planning said it will release preliminary recommendations this fall for a project to revitalize the Flushing waterfront and bring affordable housing to the area.

In 2011, the Flushing-Willets Point-Corona Local Development Corporation got a $1.5 million state Brownfield Opportunity Grant to finance its Flushing Riverfront Project, which would clean up and rezone 60 acres on the Flushing waterfront. The project would create a planned community with waterfront access and housing and commercial space.

City Planning decided to integrate the corporation’s project with its study of Flushing West, part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 10-year affordable housing plan.

The agency plans to conduct outreach events in September, make some recommendations in October and start the environmental review process in November.

The review process would entail looking at a variety of environmental issues, including noise, air quality and the potential for any hazardous materials in the areas the agency rezones.

Shulman back to her old tricks again

Crain’s New York Business has an eye-opening article, reproduced below, questioning the propriety of Claire Shulman’s local development corporation (LDC) instigating the re-zoning of 60 acres of Flushing waterfront property, and the LDC hiring the NYC Department of City Planning as a subcontractor.

However, nowhere does Crain’s mention that this isn’t the first time that Shulman’s LDC has attempted to influence a re-zoning – and its prior attempt was deemed unlawful by the NYS Attorney General.

Crains 6-29-15

You wouldn’t know it from the Crain’s article, but Shulman’s LDC has already illegally attempted to influence the re-zoning of Willets Point property. Re-zoning is legislation, and all local development corporations are prohibited by law from attempting to influence legislation. After a 3-year investigation, NYS Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced in 2012 that Shulman’s LDC had “flouted the law” in the Willets Point re-zoning, and Shulman’s LDC signed a stipulation that it would never do it again. The NY Times reported that Shulman’s LDC admitted its illegal activity, as did the NY Daily News:

NYDN 7-3-12

Crain’s does not report that history, or mention AG Schneiderman's prior finding of illegality by the LDC – instead giving the mistaken impression that the LDC’s rezoning of Flushing waterfront property is an isolated case. But it isn’t. It’s the LDC’s second re-zoning attempt – after the first has already been deemed illegal.

If, as AG Schneiderman has already determined, it was unlawful for Shulman’s LDC to attempt to influence the re-zoning of Willets Point, then it must be no less unlawful for Shulman’s LDC to now attempt to influence the re-zoning of the Flushing waterfront.

All of which begs the question: If AG Schneiderman was satisfied in 2012 with a wrist-slap for Shulman’s LDC, what will he do now if he finds a repeat offense? As the saying goes: “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

Brooklyn gets opulence, Queens gets crap

Western Flushing is the next overdevelopment target

From Crains:

The Department of City Planning will launch a study of western Flushing in Queens to explore the potential for increased residential development there, a city official announced Monday. The largely industrial area, most of which sits along Flushing Creek, has long been eyed by planners, including a group of them who received a $1.5 million grant several years ago to study development opportunities there.

The new study will be part of the administration's citywide effort to identify neighborhoods—such as East New York, Brooklyn or the Cromwell-Jerome neighborhood in the Bronx—that could be rezoned to allow for greater residential development, with the caveat that any new construction would have to include affordable apartments.

The de Blasio administration's move comes three years after the Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corp. received a $1.5 million grant to study a sweeping redevelopment of part of the area. In 2012, the group presented a study showing what a reimagined, 60-acre swath of land would look like. At the time, the plan reportedly featured nearly 10 redeveloped blocks, a waterfront park and the potential for nearly 1,600 units of housing.

The department will begin by reaching out to the many stakeholders in the area for the possible rezoning, the start of what could prove to be a years-long process.

Claire's project? Expect eminent domain and another lobbying scandal.

Muni Lot 3 project may replace Willets Point

From the Queens Chronicle:

During a recent quarterly meeting with concerned parties, members of Community Board 7 demanded input in the review process for development of Municipal Parking Lot 3 in Downtown Flushing.

Bids on the mixed-income, affordable housing complex planned near the Long Island Rail Road station were due earlier this month to the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Agency spokesman Eric Bederman said a designation of the winning plan is expected in the first quarter of next year.

But CB 7 members want to offer their input before a decision is made. Chuck Apelian, board vice chairman, said it’s not enough to review the project when it comes up for a public Uniform Land Use Review Procedure hearing. “It’s a done deal by then,” Apelian said.

The site is located on 41st Avenue near Main Street. The 43,200-square-foot location abuts the LIRR and has 156 parking spaces. Plans call for an equal amount of parking to be retained.

The city envisions affordable housing across a range of incomes and community and retail space. It wants to rezone the area R7X, which allows for greater height and bulk, usually in a nine- to 13-story building.

The project was first announced in 2010 by former Borough President Claire Shulman as a Transportation Opportunity Development project to make the LIRR more accessible to affordable housing.

As part of the project, the LIRR will add elevators and modernize the station next year.

The city has since linked the project with Willets Point to find an alternative site for affordable housing since it has been delayed at the Iron Triangle.

About 872 affordable units were planned for Willets Point, but they will be delayed for years and may never be built at all.

Is anyone surprised at the bait and switch? Willets Point was *never* about affordable housing.

Katz tells Civic Virtue group that she's not interested

From the Queens Tribune:

The group hopes to get the support of Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, but that appears to be unlikely.

In its press release, the group said they met with two of Katz’s staffers, Barry Grodenchik and Nayelli Valencia, to state their case for bringing the statue back to Queens. Iritano said that Grodenchik told them they would consider that, along with other options for the site, and have more meetings scheduled with them in the future.

When asked about the issue and the meeting, a spokesperson for Katz said the Borough President’s position on what to do with the vacant area remains unchanged from what she said earlier this year: she prefers that the site be converted to a plaza that honors women of Queens and outside the City for the work they have done. This was an idea first mentioned by her predecessor, Helen Marshall.

Iritano said Grodenchik gave them the impression that they would consider bringing back the statue and they had no knowledge of Katz’s position prior to their meeting with Katz’s staffers in April of this year.

Katz’s spokesperson said they should have not gotten that impression and the Borough President’s position on the matter remains unchanged, despite the meeting.

Hmmm...Perhaps we can alter the statue to honor women of Queens. Here's my proposal:

Big pile of crap on Flushing River is stalled

From the Queens Chronicle:

One of the former owner-developers of the RKO Keith’s Theatre in downtown Flushing has been sitting on a 3.75-acre waterfront site for two years with no immediate plans to build.

Shaya Boymelgreen’s Olympia Heights Management Team of Brooklyn bought the property at 39-08 Janet Place, off Roosevelt Avenue, in 2012 for $33 million and plans to turn it into retail and residential space.

The proposal is as of right, meaning the owner does not need zoning variances to proceed. The area is zoned C4-2, which allows for both residential and commercial space. And thus far, the developers have been tight-lipped about when they might build.

Nick Roberts, project manager of the Flushing, Willets Point, Corona Local Development Corp., said he calls Olympia Heights every month for updated information, but most recently spoke to someone there last fall.

Claire Shulman, who heads the LDC, said the whole area needs to be rezoned “to make the area harmonious and to open up the waterfront.” Shulman and Roberts believe financing may be holding up the project.

The waterfront property has had several owners. They include the Lev Development Group, the Vintage Organization and Abs Flushing Development.

Another Flushing municipal lot to be developed

From the Queens Chronicle:

At what was called a “Community Visioning Meeting” on Dec. 18, officials announced that the long-evolving project to develop Municipal Parking Lot 3 in Flushing to provide affordable housing is moving forward.

Representatives of various agencies and several elected officials were in attendance at the meeting, but the public was noticeably underrepresented, owing, apparently, to the short notice and early meeting at 5 p.m.

The project aims to convert the lot, located at 41st Avenue and abutting the Long Island Rail Road station, into much-needed affordable housing, as well as providing commercial space, while maintaining as many of the 157 existing parking spaces as possible.

A still-fluid timetable, offered by the city Department of Housing, Preservation and Development, indicated that construction could begin within a year, with the actual work taking between 18 and 24 months.

In a presentation on behalf of the HPD, Director of Pipeline Planning Eunice Suh said the project’s feasibility analysis would begin sometime this winter. According to plans, the Request for Proposals would be released by the spring with the RFP submissions due by next summer. The RFP developer selection is expected to be announced by next fall.

One instrumental figure in the project’s development, former borough president Claire Shulman, who heads the Flushing, Willets Point, Corona Local Development Corp., said that the project has been discussed for many years. “Everyone agreed this was a great project. Here we are four or five years later. Better late than never.”

Shulman suggested progress on the project was “held back because of the EIS at Willets Point.” It was a reference to the challenges to the Environmental Impact Statement, a document that describes the positive and negative effects a proposed action could have, in that controversial case. “The city didn’t want another lawsuit,” she said.

“Our preference is affordable housing with the possibility for senior housing,” she said of the 43,200-square-foot-lot, citing requests from the Asian community which, she said, has faced suicides by seniors who found themselves with no viable place to live. “Affordable housing is a very important issue in Flushing, an absolute must.”

Along with the housing developments are planned improvements to the LIRR station. A representative said the LIRR is in the process of updating the “entire station environment,” including two elevators, both accessible from Main Street. In addition, lighting on the platform will be replaced. Also planned are new stairways and a new ticket office.

If the words "affordable housing" and Claire Shulman are involved, you know this is nothing more than a big tweeding project. Expect one of the usual suspect developers to get the contract.

IMPORTANT: This Claire Muni Lot 3 project (which has been gestating for years) is one of the two affordable housing projects that Julissa Ferreras touted on October 9 at the Council vote as concessions towards an approval vote of the Willlets Point / Willets West special permit. From the Council's press release:

"the Administration has agreed to release a Request For Proposals for two lots in Queens to construct additional affordable housing."

CB7 has since referred to one of them as Claire's Muni Lot 3 project.

In other words, they knew all along that the Muni Lot 3 project had been proposed and was in the pipeline (and only delayed, as Claire said, because disclosing it could provide more ammunition for lawsuits challenging the Willets Point EIS) -- and then Ferreras touted it as a concession resulting from her negotiations re: Willets Point / Willets West. More swindle.

Old time tweeder tête-à-tête

From the Politicker:

A small group of Queens officials quietly schmoozed with disgraced ex-Comptroller Alan Hevesi last night, reuniting with him for a “welcome home” dinner after he was jailed for his role in a massive pay-to-play scandal.

Mr. Hevesi, a power broker who was close to the Queens County Democratic organization before he admitted to receiving $1 million in kickbacks while investing the state’s pension fund, dined with State Senator Toby Stavisky, Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz and former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman at a local diner in Rego Park.

Mr. Hevesi, reportedly nicknamed “Hevey D” by rapper Ja Rule in prison, served 20 months and was released on parole at the end of last year. “This was their welcome home dinner for him,” explained a well-placed source. “Just the four of them.”

When he entered Shalimar Diner, Mr. Hevesi, also a former assemblyman and city comptroller, was immediately recognized by a hostess, who led him to the rear of the dining area. There, the four pols nibbled on salmon, bread and soup, catching up and laughing loudly until lowering their voices in the middle of the meal–perhaps noticing a reporter sitting nearby.

While Mr. Hevesi has departed from the political scene, his legacy lingers in the borough. His son, Andrew, is an assemblyman representing his dad’s old district and a former protégé named Melinda Katz is likely to become the next borough president.

Reflecting on Ms. Katz’s victory in last month’s Democratic primary, Mr. Hevesi told Politicker, “It’s good stuff.”

Willets Point: Yes indeed, the fix is in

Dear Editor [Queens Chronicle]:

The Chronicle’s report on the Willets Point public hearing held September 3 by the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises (“Willets vote delayed; hunger strike ends”; Sept. 5) focused on the tenant businesses’ grave complaint about their eviction without group relocation, but omitted many other newsworthy aspects of the hearing.

At issue was not just relocation, but the application of developers Sterling/Related, which if approved by the Council would result in a 1.4-million-square-foot “Willets West” mall being constructed on Queens parkland, Willets Point property worth $200+ million gifted to Sterling/Related for just $1, an additional $99 million grant of taxpayer funds, no contractual obligation to construct new Van Wyck access ramps, and therefore no clear path to construct any housing — among many abrogations of promises made in 2008.

At the hearing, those opposed to the Sterling/Related application significantly outnumbered those in favor. Testifiers in opposition included the Queens Civic Congress, representing 100+ civic associations; individual community organizations; the Property Rights Foundation of America, whose president traveled from Albany to testify; and New York City Park Advocates, among others. Testifiers said why constructing a mall on parkland is illegal; explained how it doesn’t deliver benefits touted during 2008, or makes them susceptible to contractual escape clauses; summarized the severe, unavoidable traffic impacts; and recounted how the state Attorney General determined that NYCEDC and Claire Shulman’s local development corporation illegally lobbied for approval of the development — and yet the development not only proceeds but is awarded to Sterling, owned by the owners of the Mets: premier financiers of Shulman’s development corporation as it illegally lobbied.

The circumstances of the hearing were also newsworthy. With minimal advance notice, it was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on the morning after Labor Day, when many people were away. Less than half of the committee members were present for the Willets Point portion of the hearing. Subcommittee Chairman Mark Weprin only allowed each speaker two minutes, and prohibited Willets Point United from showing its PowerPoint presentation — even though people would have ceded their time for it. In our opinion, all this demonstrates the Council’s contempt for public comment about the proposed development.

These latest examples of bias come on top of expanding the development from 62 to 108.9 acres including a mall on parkland, in a private process that shut out the Queens-based Willets Point Advisory Committee from participation, contrary to multiple written promises.

The fix appears to be in; let the Council now show us otherwise.

Gerald Antonacci
For Willets Point United Inc.
Flushing

Shulman, Ferreras, called out at Willets Point press conference

From A Walk in the Park:

Opponents of the Willet's Point West attempted land grab in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park gathered on the steps of City Hall on Wednesday and voiced their overwhelming opposition toward the mega-development project planned on more than 30 acres of public parkland.

Under the proposal a massive 1.4 million sq. ft. mall would be built in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park on parkland currently used for Citi-Field parking. The majority of the land for the $3 billion Willets Point project would be taken from the public parkland.

Critics of the plan argue that if the 40-plus acres being proposed for mall use are no longer needed for parking then it should revert back to its original recreational use.

The City and Bloomberg-preferred developer the Related Companies in partnership with Sterling Equities, the real estate firm controlled by the owner of the Mets - are attempting this without seeking State Alienation legislation as is required under state law to use parkland for non-park purposes.
Critics denounced numerous issues regarding the Willets Point redevelopment project including:

1. This was not the deal that the Council approved: The affordable housing component has been delayed and subject to escape clauses, and the agreed living wage provision has been eliminated;
2. No project - let alone a 1.4 million square foot mall - should be built on public parkland;
3. The City Administrative Code does not authorize or provide any legal basis for the construction of a mall on 30+ acres of parkland, in violation of the parkland Public Trust Doctrine;
4. No massive development should be built in this area without new access ramps being built to and from the Van Wyck Expressway before any other construction;
5. No private property should be taken to merely be paved over as a parking lot;
6. Developers Sterling and Related were selected via a process that excluded the Willets Point Advisory Committee and Queens officials – contrary to written promises made by the City administration in 2008;
7. The City must be compensated for the $200 million it has spent to buy Willets Point property;
8. No team of billionaire developers should be given said property as a $1 gift;
9. No developer who was part of an illegal lobbying scheme should be allowed to profit for engaging in the illegality;
10. No development deal based on an illegal lobbying scheme should be approved by the City Council

Press Conference Statement from Irene Presti, Willets Point property owner:

My name is Irene Presti and I own property at Willets Point that is threatened by the illegal and unethical deal that the Bloomberg administration has put forward to develop the Iron Triangle. 

That’s right, the entire development was promoted by a violation of not only the not for profit lobbying laws of New York State; but by the brazen violation of Federal law as well.

In order to promote this dirty deal the city helped to set up a phony not for profit local development group headed by Claire Shulman. The group, made up of rich developers with the names Muss, Wilpon, Mattone and TDC, was never anything but a not for profit but in name only-it was put in place to advance the special interest of its real estate company members.

Incredibly, NYC EDC forwarded $500,000 in tax payer funds to finance this illegal lobbying scheme.

Unfortunately, this LDC was barred from doing any legal lobbying from the standpoint of the NY State law on local development corporations. Don’t just take my word for it. In July of 2012, the NY State Attorney General cited the violation of the law but, shamefully, failed to do anything to sanction the illegal behavior.

Apparently, some people are considered to be above the law and the AG even failed to demand that the Shulman group refund the illegal contribution from EDC and the tax payers. So small property owners like myself were forced to fend off the big real estate companies who were publicly funded in the campaign to take away my property.

But it gets worse folks. When the Shulman group filed for tax exempt status with the IRS there are two important boxes it checked. The first was: Will you be doing any lobbying? The second was: will you be doing any economic development? The group, lying through its teeth, answered no to both questions-even though Shulman told the NY Times that the entire purpose of the group was to lobby for the Willets Point project.

Did the IRS act on this blatant violation of the federal not for profit laws? Not on your life. It was busy chasing the Tea Party and didn’t have the time to investigate and punish a clear violation of law. So on the state and the federal level, law enforcement is a partisan activity and justice be damned!

Now, however, it gets much worse. We see that Mr. Wilpon of the Mets-the prime mover of the illegal lobbying group- has been awarded the development rights to Willets West and $200 million worth of property for $1. And there is no one with the courage to step in and put an end to this criminal scheme. Who says crime doesn’t pay?

Not only that, but the entire original development deal has been changed in a breathless bait and switch that has eliminated the affordable housing and living wage pledges that were the heart of the approval in 2008. Instead of the “next green neighborhood” we have been given a huge mall and a parking lot. For this we are abusing the eminent domain process?

I am a proud member of Willets Point United. If my group had done what EDC, Wilpon and Shulman have conspired to do, we would be under arrest and awaiting trial. Instead, Shulman remains at large and Wilpon is poised to reap billions of dollars for evading the law and ripping off the tax payers.

Willets West is a scandal and the conspirators should not be rewarded for their illegal scheme. The city council must vote, No-and let the next mayor sort out this scandal.

If you love infill, why complain about it?

From Astoria Ugly:

Just, just: ugh. It’s apartment-complex-at-the-commuter-train-stop architecture, shoehorned into Queens rowhomes. With ample parking, of course.

Yes, well that's what infill looks like, pal. Remember when you commented that you "live in a city and appreciate the value of density"? (Sorry, but this sounds like something a transplant would say.) "Oh, the suburbs are so boring!" Well, Astoria is part of a city and the borough it is situated in hasn't been considered suburban for about a century. Most parts of Queens used to be quite lovely and, if you look back at my nostalgia-tinged posts about past places of enjoyment, not boring. Of course, this was mainly before infill. These days, if you don't visit a spot for awhile, you end up not recognizing it when you return. Large public gathering places are replaced with the sort of "cram in as many as we can" structures pictured. Hell, they are even selling off pieces of Queens' signature park for development.

This has been going on for a long, long time and sadly, the last person to actually try to do something about it - believe it or not - was Claire Shulman.

A variety of architecture that strikes the right balance is desirable. Nice big houses on large lots with lots of trees, apartment buildings with courtyards, rowhouses - they all have their place. Blocks containing walls of blond-brick Fedders nightmares replacing architecture containing life-affirming features, I can do without.  An 8-story building sticking up like a middle finger where there previously was a one-family house, I can do without.  And I think most people feel that way.