Dutch Kills bulkhead erosion gets noticed by electeds

 

 Queens Chronicle 

Over the past few months, observers have noticed large portions of a structural wall along the shoreline of the Dutch Kills tributary on 29th Street have collapsed into the waterway.

As the shoreline has crumbled, it has dumped debris into the water and threatens to further cave in and affect the stability of the roadway next to it.

Last week, the Newton Creek Alliance and elected officials sent a letter to the city Department of Transportation, state Department of Environmental Conservation and Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which owns the plot of land, urging them to address the unsafe conditions that the deterioration poses to the road and surrounding areas.

“In addition to our now greatly elevated concerns over public safety regarding a potential street-collapse, there is also concern about liability, and the process for rebuilding this shoreline,” reads a section of the letter, signed by U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn), Councilmember Julie Won (D-Sunnyside), state Sen. Mike Gianaris (D-Astoria) and Assemblymember Cathy Nolan (D-Long Island City).

In response to the dangers posed by erosion, the alliance is asking the city and state go beyond merely mitigating a public threat to creating an environmental benefit. The letter calls on the agencies to rebuild the shoreline in a way that would restore the ecosystem, add public access to the water and remove the two abandoned barges from the tributary.

Though the agencies could not be reached for a response prior to initial publication, the MTA and the DOT said in subsequent statements that they are on board.

MTA Spokesperson Eugene Resnick:

“The MTA appreciates the concerns of the Newtown Creek Alliance and is collaborating with State and City partners to determine the best course of action for protecting the integrity of the bulkhead,” said MTA Spokesman Eugene Resnick.

A DOT spokesman also said his agency is ready.

"The DOT will work in collaboration with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Department of Environmental Conservation to develop strategies to limit overweight vehicular access to the street, as well as the area immediately adjacent to the bulkhead," he said.

The most recent cave-in, which took place at the end of January, the alliance says, is actually the third on the shoreline in recent years. Each has ended up dumping tires, concrete blocks and fill into the creek.

Blaz uses whole neighborhood as a congregate homeless shelter.

 

CBS New York 

 

Pam's Place is a hellhole

"From July 11 through July 25, 2018 the Dutch Kills community was forced to endure three completely unacceptable incidents directly related to clients at “Pam’s Place,” a shelter for homeless women at the former Verve Hotel at 40-03 29th Street in Long Island City.

• At 10:30 p.m. on July 11th, shelter client Yaremis Perdomo, 33, became enraged and set her 51-year-old roommate on fire. Perdomo has since been arrested and is being held on attempted murder and other charges related to the attack. The roommate remains in critical condition at the New York Presbyterian Hospital’s Cornell Burn Unit with third-degree burns to her face, arms and hands.

• An unidentified shelter client stood in the center of the intersection at 29th Street and 39th Avenue at about 5 p.m. on July 23rd, tossing loose change into open windows of passing vehicles – snarling traffic, alarming motorists and creating serious safety concerns for pedestrians. Eyewitnesses told police that the shelter client backed off when she spotted police pulling up to the scene, making it impossible for the officers to observe her actions. This unfortunately made it impossible for the officers to charge or summons the woman. The best they could do under current law was to tell the woman to stop, which she promptly did.

• A shelter client viciously, and without provocation, attacked a local woman who was walking on 29th Street near 40th Avenue on July 24th. The unidentified assailant approached the woman, punched her in the mouth and fled. The attack was not reported to police at the 114th Precinct, an NYPD spokesperson said.

I have requested Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer’s chief of staff, Matt Wallace, to call an Emergency Meeting of the Community Advisory Board of “Pam’s Place.”

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss ongoing violent and/or dangerous conditions that spill from the shelter into the Dutch Kills community. These conditions result in a fearful, dangerous environment that substantially affects our residents’, business and quality of life.

The Dutch Kills Civic Association has requested that this meeting to be scheduled for a Tuesday or Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Wallace has assured us that such meeting will take place in the near future.

The following is a portion of our agenda for this upcoming meeting. We are requesting:

• A listing of all incidents reported to the 114th Precinct regarding Pam’s Place, both inside and outside the shelter – including a client assault on a 114th Precinct officer.

• A complete breakdown of responses by FDNY and other ambulance crews relevant clients at Pam’s Place, both inside and outside the shelter.

• A complete listing of 911 and 311 calls seeking response to conditions at Pam’s Place, both inside and outside the shelter, from October 2016 current to the date of the upcoming meeting.

• A comprehensive report of all disciplinary actions taken by the operators and managers of Pam’s Place regarding troubled or combative shelter clients, from October 2016 current to the date of the upcoming meeting.

• A complete breakdown from the Department of Homeless Services and Sena Security of all incidents related to clients at Pam’s Place, both inside and outside the shelter.

Lastly, in order to ensure an open, transparent dialogue of issues surrounding Pam’s Placer Shelter for Homeless Women, we strongly urge that members of the press be informed and invited to provide coverage of the upcoming meeting.

George L. Stamatiades,
President
Dutch Kills Civic Association of
Long Island City

Dutch Kills wants firehouse reopened now that it's overdeveloped

From the Queens Gazette:

Neighbors, local lawmakers, union officials and local leaders are renewing their wake up call to Mayor Bill de Blasio and the FDNY, to reactivate Engine Co. 261 before it’s too late to save lives.

The engine company located at a hook and ladder firehouse at 37-20 29th Street in the Dutch Kills section of Long Island City served the community for more than a decade until May 2003, when budget cuts under the Bloomberg administration forced its shutdown.

Ladder Co. 116, which shared the firehouse with Engine Co. 261, remains in service at the 29th Street house. Firefighters, aka “truckees” assigned to Ladder Co. 116 are usually the first to respond to local fires where they force entry, search for victims and ventilate burning buildings. The firefighters also perform rescues and provide medical assistance at fires and in other emergency situations, officials at the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) said.

“All of a sudden, we were left with nothing but a prayer if we needed a local engine company to pour water on a fire,” Dutch Kills Civic Association President George Stamatiades said. “Fifteen years is far too long to be without adequate fire protection. The Dutch Kills community has come of age and we need the fire protection that is justified by our residential growth.

“We will continue our fight for the reactivation of Engine Co. 261 until the city is ready to acknowledge the need for increased fire protection for our booming residential community,” Stamatiades said. “Will it take a tragedy in one of the new high-rise residential or commercial buildings in Dutch Kills for the administration to wake up and smell the smoke?”

Stamatiades, one of dozens of local leaders who battled with city officials more than a decade ago to keep Engine Co. 261 activated, said Dutch Kills was a much different community in 2003.

“City officials said Engine Col. 261 had to go, because there wasn’t enough need for it,” he said. “We’re telling the city to take a new look at Dutch Kills today. Take a look at the new Dutch Kills and Long Island City communities that boast thousands of new residential units that tens of thousands of people call home.”

Another tower for Dutch Kills

From the Queens Gazette:

The owners of a parcel at 41-05 29th Street in the Dutch Kills section of Long Island City have submitted pre-filing permits for development of a 24-story, mixed-use tower at the site.

The 290-foot tall tower will feature 66.940-sqare-feet of residential space with 84 apartments measuring 707-square-feet each, including some larger rental units, and 2,050-square-feet of ground floor retail space, according to information posted on the YIMBY (Yes, In My Back Yard) website.

Permits are in place for demolition of an existing structure at the site. The developer has not announced an estimated completion date for the project.

New high school to be built in LIC

From DNA Info:

The city will construct a new high school with room for nearly 1,000 students in Dutch Kills, according to the Department of Education.

The new school, a four-story building set to include 969 seats, will rise at 40-11 28th St. between 40th and 41st avenues, a DOE spokesman said.

In addition to classrooms, the facility will include a gymnasium, library, cafeteria and kitchen, according to plans from School Construction Authority filed with the Department of Buildings Friday.

The school, which does not yet have a name, will be located right next door to the existing Newcomers High School and down the block from the Academy of American Studies, another high school.

Dutch Kills wants firehouse reopened

From LIC Post:

Dutch Kills residents are fighting to get their FDNY Engine Company back.

Residents are calling for its return after it closed 14 years ago, saying it is needed since the population continues to grow.

They held a rally Friday along with elected leaders, firefighters and union officials demanding the City reopen Engine 261 located at 37-20 29th Street.

Budget cuts under Mayor Michael Bloomberg forced the engine company, responsible for putting water on flames, to move out in 2003. Ladder Company 116, which handles rescues, remains.

The firehouse is located within blocks of Ravenswood Houses, Kaufman Astoria Studios, the Museum of the Moving Image and several schools.

Since Engine Company 261 closed, more than 12,000 new housing units have been built in Long Island City, with another 20,000-plus in the works, according to data from the Long Island City Partnership.

Concerns over LIC rezone

From DNA Info:

The city is eyeing a 50-block swath of Long Island City for possible rezoning, an effort to spur development of more office space and affordable housing — but some locals worry the change would only speed up gentrification in the increasingly pricey neighborhood.

The Department of City Planning held a community meeting Tuesday about a portion of Queens Plaza and Dutch Kills, the first in a series of public discussions over the next several months before officials make specific zoning recommendations sometime this summer, they said.

The goal is to encourage the creation of more office space in the area — which has been dominated in recent years by new residential construction — and to implement the city's new Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) amendment, which would require developers of new buildings in the area to construct affordable units on or off-site.

Worrying about gentrification in LIC at this point is like closing the barn door after the horse ran away.

Dutch Kills shelter responsible for hundreds of 911 calls

From Queens Gazette:

Civic and local leaders are trying to figure out how the city chooses clients for its homeless shelters, and why so many people with a history of mental or psychiatric conditions are dumped in the shelter system, rather than being placed in facilities where they can obtain proper care and supervision.

Case in point: a homeless shelter for 200 women located at the former Verve Hotel at 40-03 29th St. in the Dutch Kills section of Long Island City.

Just released statistics show that there are currently 180 women living in the shelter. Fifty of those women are employed and close to living on their own, while 110 to 120 women have a history of psychiatric problems.

At a meeting last week attended by representatives of shelter operator Acacia Network and community leaders, police officials reported that officers at the 114th Precinct had responded to another 291 emergency (911) calls between June 1 and September 18, each involving shelter clients. The calls ranged from felony counts and drug possession to lesser counts of harassment and resisting arrest.

“Do the math,” Dutch Kills Civic Association President George Stamatiades said. “Officers at the 114th Precinct have responded to the shelter 641 times since it opened in October 2015. Throw that number at people who complain that police response is slow.”

The fact that cops were called to the shelter 291 times in just over three months, is in itself, startling.

“But when you add to that the fact that the same officers responded to 350 similar 911 calls involving shelter residents between November 2015 and February 2016, you have to question what’s going on there,” Stamatiades said.

“Many of the calls were placed by people inside the shelter – counselors and security guards who had problems with women who became combative,” a law enforcement source said. “They called 911 when situations got out of control, or when they posed some kind of imminent danger to others.”

“A number of the calls from the shelter were ‘aided’ requests for an ambulance or medical assistance for residents,” the source said. “There were a number of calls involving disputes and other conditions that required police intervention.”

People living near the shelter made 911 calls when they spotted shelter clients exposing themselves for cash to motorists, and to remove clients who were using basement laundry rooms to have sex with “customers.”

The Patel family owns this hotel and Acacia Network runs the homeless program. Now I believe it is clear why Maspeth is fighting a shelter in their neighborhood so vehemently.

Democratic voters dump Marge Markey

It's been 18 years, and just like that, she's gone.

Bike rack didn't help make things safer

From the Queens Gazette:

Civic leaders and Dutch Kills residents have a message for city transportation officials who installed a bicycle corral at a dangerous intersection to increase traffic safety in the Long Island City community.

“It didn’t work,” Dutch Kills Civic Association President Thea Romano said. Romano provided a photo of a recent collision at the intersection of 29th Street and 39th Avenue and said the crash is “proof of the ineffectiveness” of the traffic-calming measure installed at the site earlier this month by the Department of Transportation.

Eyewitnesses told police the driver of a yellow cab traveling eastbound on 39th Avenue at about 8 p.m. on April 13 slowed to a stop at 29th Street, to check for oncoming traffic.

As the cab inched forward, a speeding car tore through a stop sign on 29th Street and slammed into the cab, shattering glass as it screeched to a halt, the eyewitness said.

“It was a miracle that no one was killed,” Romano said. “How is a bicycle corral supposed to stop drivers from speeding up 29th Street? How many people will have to be injured or die here before someone takes steps to properly secure this intersection?”

Permanent shelter for Dutch Kills

From the Queens Gazette:

The city is moving forward with a plan to keep a controversial women’s shelter located in the Dutch Kills community open through 2020.

The shelter for 200 women, located in the former Verve Hotel at 40-09 29th Street in Long Island City, was opened for a six-month period under an Emergency Declaration signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio on October 4.

The city last week proposed a four-year, $39.5 million contract between the Department of Homeless Services and shelter provider, Acacia Network, that would turn the shelter into a permanent facility.

Dutch Kills Civic Association officials said the proposed contract didn’t come as a surprise to neighborhood residents. Group president, Thea Romano, said the civic anticipated some sort of action by the city as the original six-month contract approached expiration.

Well it's a good thing the community went for that upzoning, otherwise, something as wonderful as this would never have been built there.

Dutch Kills luxury hotel built in 2007 converting to shelter

From the Daily News:

Facing a spike in the number of women entering the city’s teeming shelter system, the de Blasio administration said Friday it was transforming an old Queens hotel into housing for homeless women.

The 200-bed, women’s only shelter will be at the site of the old Verve Hotel in Long Island City, and is the second shelter the city has opened this year.

It’s the 25th shelter to open since de Blasio has taken office.

Administration officials said it is necessary because they have seen a 9% spike in the number of single women entering the system.

I like how the Daily News calls it the "old Verve Hotel" to mask the fact that it isn't. So riddle me this, how much money is the city shelling out in order to get the new owner of a luxury hotel (all of which are supposedly doing well) to agree to convert it to a shelter?

And which lucky lady will get the hot tub?

Millstones damaged yet again

From DNA Info:

One of the historic millstones on display in Dutch Kills Green had to be repaired by the Parks Department this week, after a piece of the stone fell off for the second time in the last few years.

The stones, believed to be relics from a nearby tide mill, have been on display in the Queens Plaza park since shortly after it opened in 2012 — despite calls from a local historian who worries the artifacts will be damaged in the busy outdoor spot.

One of the round stones was repaired Tuesday by Parks Department workers after a chunk of it that broke off previously came loose again, according to spokeswoman Meghan Lalor. Workers who made the repairs used a stronger adhesive to reattach the piece this time, she added.

This isn't the first time the stones have been marred — according to the Daily News, a chunk of one stone originally fell in 2012. Someone then tagged one of the stones with graffiti in 2013, as DNAinfo reported at the time.

The stones were repaired and cleaned in both instances, though local historian Bob Singleton of the Greater Astoria Historical Society believes the incidents are proof that the busy Queens Plaza park is the wrong spot for the artifacts. Their location makes them vulnerable to vandalism, pollution and the elements, he said.

Dutch Kills hotel looks very strange

From Sorabji:

27th Street near 39th Avenue in Dutch Kills is now the scene of this bizarre monstrosity: the Boro Hotel. I thought all the metal railings were some kind of scaffolding that would come off eventually. Nope. This jungle-gym façade is here to stay.

It’s not even open yet and the building is already showing signs of wear.

Seen from Crescent Street the hulking structure looks like some kind of industrial compound.

Dutch Kills hotel causing big problems

From the Queens Chronicle:

After more than a seven-years-long construction process, residents of Dutch Kills, a neighborhood whose older family homes now share space with tall hotels, are once again frustrated by one developer.

Representatives of one project in question, a nine-story hotel located at 39-35 27 St., were present at a city Board of Standards and Appeals hearing Feb. 10, where it was acknowledged that self-performed work on the site, such as improperly poured concrete, damaged nearby homes.

Ashley Haelen a representative for Baharestani — who goes by Steven Bahar — acknowledged the building’s plans had changed from those originally submitted, increasing by around 62 square feet.

“You’re not allowed to play around with floor area and get more floor area,” said Margery Perlmutter, BSA chairwoman.

Alex Matthew, another representative for developer Steven Baharestani appeared before the BSA confirming that work such as lighting and rebar were also done by unlicensed workers.

He also addressed a big violation: a cracked and unstable wall of a shed on a neighboring property. Matthew said engineers for both property owners, as well as Baharestani and the home owner, had met to assess the situation but needed to meet another time to determine if it was stable, and, if not, come up with a cure.

There was a stop-work order on the property as of press time; it is one of several received on the address.

“It’s obvious the damage has been done to the property,” he said, adding there’s a sense of cooperation.

Developer looking to unload Dutch Kills hotel

From the Queens Courier:

The owner of a controversial, partially constructed hotel in Dutch Kills is selling the structure.

Residents protested and even sued to stop construction of the nine-story boutique hotel on 39-35 27th St. in the Long Island City neighborhood in 2010, according to published reports.

But now, with more than 20 new hotels opened over the last five years, the area has become a hot hotel market, and owner Steven Baharestani of Dutch Kills Partners LLC is hoping to sell the yet-to-be completed hotel to the highest bidder.

Massive development to be built atop taxi garage

From the Queens Courier:

The trend of converting parking facilities into new sites for residential development has reached Alert Garage Corp.’s massive lot in Long Island City.

The owner of the nearly one block-sized parking garage filed permits with the Department of Buildings on Wednesday to construct a new 10-story mixed-use residential and commercial tower on the site of the lot.

The property, now used for a parking facility at 30-17 40th Ave., will be developed into a new, mostly residential building with more than 290,000 square feet and 428 units, according to city records.

GKV Architects will be designing the new tower, which will have 214 parking spaces — meeting city requirements based on zoning regulations for the area. The site, however, is located adjacent the 39th Avenue N and Q subway station, giving future residents easy access to transportation.

How many more people do they plan to dump on these over capacity subway lines?

Something reeks at Newtown Creek (and it isn't the water)!

Miss Heather has posted some eye-opening screenshots that seem to indicate that the Argentos of Knockdown Center fame have pulled another fast one on communities on both sides of Newtown Creek. How did they accomplish this? Let’s take a trip back in time to 2010…

Back then, it was announced that the City Parks Foundation was looking for participants to attend meetings to help determine how the Newtown Creek Environmental Benefit Project Funds were to be distributed. People from both sides of the Creek were invited to share their wishes, and ultimately a vote was taken to determine the top finalists.

Here is the list that was published after the vote tally:

The list was vetted by DEC and the NY Attorney General's office, and the final result was this:

You’ll note that a boathouse was the number one vote-getter. It wasn't. It actually came in third, but for some reason, it was given priority over the other projects ahead of it. It’s also controversial because the Dept of Health actually doesn’t want people paddling around Newtown Creek for health reasons, but the Parks Dept & City Planning convinced them to keep it on the list.

Christine Holowacz and "Commodore" Dewey Thompson.
Photo by Stefano Giovannini from the Brooklyn Paper.

Christine Holowacz is often referred to as a Greenpoint “community activist”. She and "Commodore" Dewey Thompson (that's what he prefers to be called) are allied with GWAPP, which is the group that pushed for the boathouse with a massive get-out-the-vote drive, including relentless blast e-mails. GWAPP members are also members of various other astroturf groups that were created to make it appear that the whole area wants a boathouse.

GWAPP seems to be under the impression that the entire $7M in Creek funds is theirs:

On October 25, 2011, the DEC and CPF submitted a letter [PDF (3.5MB)] approving the funds of the EBP to building out the boathouse, promising up to $7 million for the project. Runner-up projects would receive any leftover funding that was not used in the creation of the boathouse, however those project cannot receive funding until the principal project, the boathouse, is completed.

Unless there were some closed door shenanigans that we are not aware of, that is not the case. They were approved for $3M as noted in the screenshot above.

The address of the boathouse, as per the Newtown Creek website started December 2013, is now 437 McGuinness Blvd, aka 51 Ash Street. The website also says, "Holowacz and Thompson are currently working to finalize a location to house the boathouse and environmental education center."

Finalize a location? Why is that? The project was approved for 1155 Manhattan Avenue, the site of the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center. These are very specific, detailed plans, incorporating the architecture and history of the previously proposed site. How can they just pick up and move to a not-yet-built site? And how is DEC ok with this?

So, what do you get when you pull up the DOB filing for 51 Ash Street? An application to build a 4-story hotel, with a “private club” listed as the "community facility" that allows the owner to build larger than what is normally allowed. The owner? None other than Broadway Stages, co-owned by Gina and Tony Argento! If the "private club" is temporary, then how do they calculate an augmented FAR based on its inclusion?  Could it be the new permanent home of the North Brooklyn Boat Club?

Is the "Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks and Planning" actually pushing for a private boathouse? How do so-called environmentalists sleep at night knowing they have sold out their community to people who "lack good character, honesty and integrity" in exchange for a boathouse? The club currently charges $40 for membership per year. How can public funds be released to build a boathouse that is only open to members? Who the hell in Greenpoint, outside of these charlatans, wants to see a boathouse built with environmental settlement money inside a hotel right next to the Pulaski Bridge?

Bottom line: GWAPP is getting the money for their private club, the Argentos are getting an FAR increase to build a bigger hotel, and everyone benefits except the rest of the neighborhood.

AND NOW LET’S GET TO QUEENS.
From City Parks Foundation:

The Dutch Kills Basin Park Project proposed to construct a park with athletic fields and waterfront access. The proposed park location is along 47th Avenue between 27th and 29th Streets, in the area adjoining the Dutch Kills basin. Long Island City Roots is serving as the primary community representative for the proposed project. City Parks Foundation partnered with The Trust for Public Land (TPL) in evaluating the proposed park location. TPL submitted a letter of inquiry to the property owners of the parcels required to construct the park in the proposed location. The property owners did not respond to TPL’s letter. While awaiting response from the property owners, City Parks Foundation contracted with Goodman-Marks Associates to perform an appraisal of the proposed park location. The appraised value of the property greatly exceeded the proposed project budget. Given this information, DEC determined that the initial project location is infeasible. CPF is currently working with Long Island City community groups in an attempt to find an alternate location.

The decision posted in the second photo above states,

“If after all the projects in the primary group are implemented or projects have been determined to be infeasible to implement and additional mitigation funds remain uncommitted, the State will propose a prioritized list of projects for implementation from the secondary group.”

The language is quite clear. If a project isn’t going to happen, then it’s removed from the list and the DEC draws from the second group. It doesn't say that they'll sit and wait for the people behind a project to scramble to find an alternate location. Yet that is exactly what is happening with the Greenpoint Boathouse and the Dutch Kills Basin Park Project.

Wouldn’t it have been smarter to fund them in the order that they were ready to go? For example, planting trees could have been first and would already be making an impact. If the St. Saviour’s ULURP had been funded back in 2011, there might have been a park at that site instead of warehouses. The DEC knocked that relatively inexpensive item off the list completely, yet kept the construction of the park on, which expedited the death of the project.

The Pulaski Bridge Study was ready to go.
Renovation of McCarren Park would be finished by now.
The Greenpoint Monitor Museum was ready to go as well. (Oooooh, but that would have held back the development of the greenway along the coast! We can’t have that. The site of the Monitor Museum has been proposed for public restrooms. Which means the city will eventually own it. Which means eminent domain.)

Instead everyone now must sit by and wait for a hotel to be built next to the Pulaski Bridge. Because the actual polluting of the Creek wasn't enough punishment.

More to come! Stay tuned!

How corny

From the Queens Gazette:

Corn is growing in leaps and bounds on a sidewalk in the Dutch Kills community in Long Island City. The crop is blooming beneath some newly planted city street trees on a stretch of grass along 30th Street between 39th and 40th Avenues – beating the odds by having survived the blistering July heat wave. If you look closely, you can see almost a dozen small ears of corn among the stalks – yet another sign of growth in the community that proudly displays a stone from a local gristmill, dated to the early 1600s at its “front doorstep”, at Queens Plaza.

Who planted corn in a city tree pit and how long do you think that will last, especially now that it's been spotlighted in the newspaper?