"We the People" for NYC?

From CBS New York:

A system based on the White House’s “We The People” online petition platform is being considered for New York City.

The White House promises that any petition on the website that gets 100,000 signatures within 30 days will get a response.

Councilman James Vacca of the Bronx is sponsoring a bill to make a New York City version of the site.

Vacca believes such a system would help get more people involved with the issues facing the city.

Better notification of construction disruption

From the Daily News:

Neighborhoods will now get 72 hours’ notice when city construction projects close down their streets, cut off electricity and water or remove parking spaces.

Councilman Jimmy Vacca (D-Bronx) introduced a bill last month to force the change — but after meeting with the Department of Design and Construction commissioner Thursday, the agency agreed to make the change immediately.

Notices will go out by email to residents, businesses and local pols, and be followed by an in-person notice.

Forcing ticketers to produce photos

From the Daily News:

Ticket-happy city inspectors would have to get the picture under legislation being pushed by a city councilman.

New Yorkers who receive summonses for sanitation violations, health code violations at restaurants and some parking offenses wouldn’t have to pay unless there was photographic proof.

Councilman James Vacca (D-Bronx) says the measure is a no-brainer with today’s technology. “People have a right to insist that there be evidence of what they’re being charged with,” Vacca said. “Why have a he said-she said situation? ”

Sanitation workers would have to snap pictures when they fine homeowners for uncovered garbage or unshoveled sidewalks, and health inspectors scrutinizing restaurants would have to photograph the mouse droppings and dirty counters they plan to ding business owners for.

The parking ticket requirements, which would start with a one-year pilot program, would require photos with any ticket for parking too close to a fire hydrant or in a crosswalk; in a bus stop, a handicapped spot or bike lane or for failing to display a license plate.

Vacca said the move would cut down on complaints from New Yorkers who feel nickel and dimed by the city, which collects more than $800 million a year in fines.

“People are basically found guilty until they prove their innocence,” he said. “I want people to be innocent until proven guilty.”

A separate bill to be introduced by Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-Staten Island) would outfit some health inspectors with body cameras to make sure inspections are on the up and up.

But he said it would also aid city agencies by discouraging people from filing false challenges when they’re clearly guilty.

Council seeks to reduce speed limit

From The Politicker:

The New York City Council hopes to pass legislation that would reduce the speed limit on most residential and side streets to 20 miles per hour, Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced today.

“We are actively working on that bill and our goal is to pass it before the end of the year,” Ms. Quinn said during an unrelated press conference this afternoon before the month’s final council meeting. “We’re actively working on it right now.”

The bill, introduced by Councilman David Greenfield, is aimed at reducing serous pedestrian injuries and traffic fatalities. Last year, 148 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents and crashes.

“We are working to fine-tune this life-saving legislation that will slow down automobiles on narrow residential streets. I am hopeful that we can get consensus on this important legislation, which will literally save lives once it is enacted here in New York City,” he said in response to the speaker’s comments.

But there are complications. The city’s Department of Transportation has argued the proposal would conflict with state law, which only allows limits that low if other traffic-calming devices are used. Last Friday, Councilman Jimmy Vacca, chair of the council’s transportation committee, told WNYC the bill was being “tweaked a little bit” and that members were “aiming for 25 miles per hour on narrow, one-way streets.”

In other traffic safety news, a problem intersection in Astoria is under scrutiny and Woodhaven Blvd solutions are being pondered.

They even bribe each other!

From Crain's:

Some of the most likely candidates to become the next New York City Council speaker are spreading campaign cash to other campaigns, in an apparent early effort to curry favor and votes among potential colleagues in 2014.

Over the past several months, Queens Assemblyman Mark Weprin, who is jockeying to be selected speaker by his council peers, has given out seven $1,000 donations. The $7,000, most of it doled out in recent weeks, has gone to members of the Assembly running for the City Council who are not only likely to win their races, but have a relationship with Mr. Weprin from his own days as a member of that body. Recipients include Assemblymen Rafael Espinal and Alan Maisel of Brooklyn, Councilman Vincent Gentile of Brooklyn, Costa Constantinides of Queens, Assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson of the Bronx, Mark Levine of Manhattan, and Manhattan Assemblyman Micah Kellner.

Not to be outdone, speaker's race rival Dan Garodnick, has given more: nearly $18,000. The Manhattan councilman, whose campaign account is flush from an aborted citywide run for comptroller, has given the $2,750 maximum contribution for a primary to six different candidates. Most of it was paid earlier this month. The recipients include Mr. Constantinides, Ms. Gibson, Mr. Levine, Bronx Council candidate Andrew Cohen, Brooklyn's Chris Banks and Manhattan Councilwoman Rosie Mendez. He also has given $500 to Bronx Councilman Andy King, and $750 to Bronx Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez.
Another likely contender, Bronx Councilman James Vacca, has given three donations to council campaigns: $2,700 to Mr. Cohen, $1,000 to Ms. Gibson and $1,375 to Mr. King.

Ticket recipient to get refund

From the NY Post:

A Bronx business owner forced to pay a $115 ticket for parking in a bike lane that doesn’t exist — after losing two appeals — will get a refund, officials told The Post.

After The Post exposed the unfair citation, red-faced officials at the Department of Finance admitted the ticket should never have been written, said City Councilman James Vacca, whose district includes the nonexistent bike lane at 1820 Hone Ave. in Mott Haven.

“They researched it and went back and forth with the Police Department,” said Vacca. “They admitted the ticket was written in error.”

Phyllis Cannon — who paid the ticket on July 2 after five months of fighting to avoid getting hit with late fees — will receive a refund in the mail shortly, said Vacca.

Pols request outer borough transportation options

From AM-NY:

With more New Yorkers taking jobs outside of Manhattan, the City Council is urging the MTA and Department of Transportation to add quicker ways for them to get to work.

"More workers are commuting from Brooklyn to Queens, from the Bronx to Westchester, from Staten Island to New Jersey or Brooklyn than ever before and yet our city's transit infrastructure has not kept pace," transportation committee chair James Vacca told officials from both agencies Tuesday. Vacca added that many people feel compelled to drive to work because of a lack of mass transit options, saying, "If it means that a person is going to take three buses, that person is likely to get into a car."

The MTA and DOT said they were tinkering with ways to ease congestion, and were eyeing extra bus service in the outer boroughs, including adding Select Bus Service along Webster Avenue in the Bronx, Utica Avenue and Brooklyn and making changes to buses that go to LaGuardia Airport, such as creating bus lanes or collecting fares off-board.

The MTA is still mulling a plan to bring Metro-North service to Penn Station, but only after its East Side Access megaproject to bring Long Island Rail Road trains to Grand Central is completed in 2019.

New online parking guide

From Crains:

New York City is launching an online map that will show drivers where and when it's legal to park.

The Department of Transportation and City Council officials announced the launch of the map Tuesday. The map is meant to help motorists decipher the parking rules for any block in the city.

City Councilman James Vacca, chairman of the Transportation Committee, says in a statement that the city's parking regulations can be as difficult to understand as morse code.

City Councilman Dan Garodnick says the idea for the map came from his mother, and he hopes it will save drivers some headaches.

Users can search the map by intersection or address. The map will show alternate-side parking schedules and other parking rules.

City Council comes up with more stupidity

From NY1:

The City Council is proposing letter grades for the city's subway stations.

During a Transportation Committee hearing Wednesday, Councilmember Peter Koo suggested the agency should come up with letter grades similar to those issued to restaurants for each of the 468 subway stations.

The committee's chairman, Bronx Councilman James Vacca, says he plans to introduce a non-binding resolution urging the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to do so.

"We rate the restaurants and every takeout place. Why can't we rate stations on cleanliness, water, garbage, graffiti? That's a good idea, councilmember, I'm with you," Vacca said.

MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota says the agency does not have the money for station letter grades.

The MTA does publish station cleanliness ratings by line and borough but does not break down the information station-by-station.

Questioning billboard safety

From the Daily News:

After an illegally stationed billboard next to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway fell onto traffic lanes in Brooklyn last month, Councilman James Vacca is demanding more accountability on how permits for the structures are granted.

"There are now more questions than answers," said Vacca, chair of the City Council’s transportation committee.

A giant Mega Millions Lottery sign flew off a Greenpoint rooftop in 40-mph winds on Jan. 13 and smacked into the westbound area of the elevated BQE.

Vacca cited at least three billboards in his district in the east Bronx that are not in compliance with the law regulating commercial billboards, which states they are supposed to be at least 200 feet away from any major highway.

Push to bring back Q79 bus

From the Daily News:

A group of eastern Queens community leaders are hoping a little creative rerouting can restore some bus service along a defunct MTA route.

The Queens Civic Congress is pitching a proposal to alter bus routes adjacent to the former Q79 line to revive at least some public transit options to the area.

Since the Q79 bus line was axed last summer, attempted alternatives in the area have flopped. The Taxi and Limousine Commission launched a pilot program that used commuter vans along Little Neck Parkway but the operator quickly pulled out, citing low ridership.

At a city Department of Transportation meeting last month, City Councilman Jimmy Vacca (D-East Bronx) promised the frustrated civic group that he would review a proposal to alter other routes in the area to fill in service gaps. If the plan is feasible, Vacca said he'd press the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to implement it.

DOB forces developer to tear down shitboxes

From the Bronx Times:

Kiss $2 million goodbye.

The developer of the Teddy Place luxury homes at 3250 Rawlins Avenue, after losing an appeal, was forced to raze two of five houses, so that he could proceed with marketing the remaining three Country Club properties formerly occupied by a decrepit old mansion. The demolition of 3 and 4 Teddy Place was completed on Tuesday, May 10.

The project’s architect and developer originally filed a self-certification application with the Department of Buildings to build the houses in a cluster format around a private street named Teddy Place, and to have the development treated as one house. Upon DOB review, an egregious mistake was discovered.

The homes were both too close to one another and set too far back from the street to meet Country’s Club’s R-2 zoning regulations.

The project’s owner, listed as 3250 Rawlins Avenue Partners, was left with no choice but to level 40 percent of his original investment.

The application for the demolition permit was filed on Tuesday, March 8, and the permit was granted on Tuesday, April 26.

“I think what we had here was someone who didn’t understand the local zoning and who took a chance and got stuck,” said Councilman Jimmy Vacca. “Our neighborhood has worked very hard to stop the kind of over development that we had here, and I hope this sends a message that no one should try to skirt our local zoning. Most importantly, hopefully soon the residents of Rawlins Avenue will no longer have to look at a construction site every day and we can now see this project move.”

The architect, Gerald Caliendo, declined to comment.

From a zoning expert:

"And why hasn't Caliendo lost his architect's seal and ability to file? Vacca's statement about the developer 'not knowing the zoning laws and taking a chance' is pretty ridiculous. Caliendo knew exactly what he was doing."

You'd think this sort of malfeasance would get one kicked off a community board, but in Queens, this is exactly the type of person the borough president appoints again and again. Caliendo has been on CB1 for more than 30 years.

Streets of Iraq better than Ozone Park?

From the NY Post:

A city lawmaker faced off with Mayor Bloomberg's transportation officials over the city's expansion of pedestrian plazas yesterday, claiming they haven't done enough research on the impact of the plazas on surrounding neighborhoods.

"I truly think that they're not studying 'what do we do' when pedestrian plazas are constructed and traffic is diverted to other streets," City Councilman James Vacca (D-Bronx), Transportation Committee chairman, said during a hearing.

"What traffic-mitigation plans do we have? How do we make sure that we're not just shifting and diverting traffic and that the problem that we had in one spot moves to another?" he said.

"My worry is that when we have instituted pedestrian plazas, we have only moved traffic to other surrounding streets."

While most council members praised the plazas, Vacca pressed Department of Transportation officials to more thoroughly study traffic, air quality and business impacts on areas around the pedestrian plazas.

Pick up your dog's crap!

From the NY Post:

Department of Sanitation officials are going easy on New Yorkers who neglect to scoop up after their dogs, according to new figures obtained by The Post.

The agency has slacked off in the number of tickets issued to dog-walkers who fail to clean up after their pets, prompting one city lawmaker to bark in protest.

City Councilman James Vacca (D-Bronx) -- usually a critic of Mayor Bloomberg's zealous ticket agents -- fired off a letter to Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty yesterday demanding he put his staff on a shorter leash when it comes to enforcing the law.

"This issue has absolutely hit the fan," Vacca wrote. "I get complaints on a regular basis about sidewalks and park areas that have become completely impassable because of dog waste."

During fiscal year 2011, which ends June 30, Sanitation Department enforcement agents have issued only 250 violations of the law that requires dog owners to clean up after their pets -- that's a little more than half of the 510 tickets written in fiscal year 2010.

But the enforcement record has really gone into a tailspin compared with 2008, when 909 tickets were issued. City officials claim that the drop is due to better compliance with the law that followed a hike in the fine from $100 to $250 in November 2008.

As predicted...

From the Daily News:

Queens residents may not love the idea, but the City Council is undeterred: A 6-1 committee vote this afternoon cleared the way for the full council to rename the only free route out of their borough as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge.

Just last Friday, a Quinnipiac University poll found 70% of Queens residents -- and 64% of New Yorkers overall -- opposed to the renaming.

Still, Queens council members Elizabeth Crowley, Daniel Dromm and Julissa Ferreras voted for it today, as did James Vacca of the Bronx, Melissa Mark Viverito of Manhattan and Vincent Gentile of Brooklyn.

The only objection came from Queens Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who said that while he likes the former mayor, his constituents are unanimously opposed to changing the name.

Should city pay for damage caused by potholes?

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – If your car was damaged from the thousands of potholes across New York City, the city council says you shouldn’t have to pay for repairs.

With the harsh winter we’ve had, banging in and out of potholes is a regular occurrence. If your car is damaged from one of the potholes in the city, should the city pay for damages? One councilmember says yes.

“If your car is damaged due to a pothole I want you to report that to the city and I want you to put a claim into the comptroller’s office because if that pothole was previously reported you may have a successful claim,” said City Councilmember Jim Vacca.

If there is proof the pothole wasn’t filled during a specified time period, the city should be liable for the damages to your car, said Vacca.

City forgets Willets Point again

Council demands bike accident stats

NEW YORK (CBS 2) – After the Department of Transportation called CBS 2’s Bike Bedlam reports false, they reneged on its claim and admitted that there was a lack of bike safety data in New York City.

Now, the New York City Council is taking steps to document accidents involving bicycles, CBS 2’s Tony Aiello reports.

The Councils’ Transportation Committee is now considering a bill that requires the DOT and the NYPD to collect data on bikes hitting people and other bikes.

“We cannot assess traffic safety without knowing how many accidents are caused by bicycles and where,” committee chair Jimmy Vacca said. “It’s an important part of our attempt to improve pedestrian safety in the city.”

Critics said the city should have started collecting bike safety data before spending millions on all the new bike lanes.

“This has been done in an abrupt and high-handed manner and again the public is paying through the nose for it,” bike safety advocate Jack Brown said.

On Thursday, Council members slammed the transportation agency, pushing for better safety data.

“We’re happy to keep working with the Council on all the legislation they’ve raised,” DOT member David Woloch said.

Woloch admitted bike safety needs a lot more attention but refused to endorse a specific bill.

Sponsors hope to bring the bill before the full Council by early next year.

A little on the side

This comes from the Gotham Gazette. Interesting ranges there...

Council closes overdevelopment loophole

From the Daily News:

The East Bronx won another battle yesterday in its war against overdevelopment.

The City Council approved a zoning change to close loopholes that allowed developers of mid-rise buildings to waive parking requirements, a trick many neighbors despised.

"We don't need more housing," said resident Andrew Chirico. "We need more parking."

When the city downzoned much of the area in 2004, it prohibited developers from building rowhouses where one- and two-family houses are the norm.

But the downzone, which also included suburban-style parking regulations, skipped some blocks in Pelham Bay and Zerega, where taller buildings are permitted.

On those blocks, some developers subdivided lots to escape the parking regulations. Developers who crammed apartment houses onto tiny lots were also allowed to slash parking spots.

The change, sponsored by local City Councilman James Vacca, holds developers to local parking regulations - no matter what.

"It puts more teeth into our downzone efforts," Vacca said.

Chirico applauded the change because he considers overdevelopment the cause of most problems in the East Bronx, from empty storefronts to crowded classrooms.