The million dollar bitty planetarium

  

Gothamist

New York State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris announced Thursday that Queens residents will soon receive a new planetarium that will cost roughly $1 million to add to a new building that will be constructed.

The new science facility will be built as part of the expansion of the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens, a nearly 70-year-old institution in Astoria created to offer a safe learning and playing environment for the community’s children. The institution is undergoing a complete renovation that will include a new zero-emissions building that will house the new planetarium. Gianaris is holding a launch event at the club Thursday afternoon.

“I’m an astronomy buff,” Gianaris said. “It's nice to have the big one [Hayden Planetarium] at the Museum of Natural History, but the kids in Queens have to travel far away to enjoy that kind of education, and we thought it would be terrific to bring it right here in Queens.”

The new planetarium will seat approximately 70 people and is expected to serve up to 10,000 people annually. The funding has already been secured through the state budget for fiscal year 2022-2023. The project came out of the senator’s love of science and the need to provide more resources for kids to engage in that field, hands on.

 Gianaris said ideas for who will narrate the new planetarium's feature programs are still being floated. His favorite suggestion so far is actor Christopher Walken because of his very distinct voice and his roots in Astoria.

Hold the lines

 

Queens Chronicle

A New York State judge struck down the recently agreed upon legislative maps Thursday afternoon, sending state lawmakers back to the drawing board. They have until April 11 to agree upon new maps, the ruling says; the previously approved maps are not to be used in the upcoming election cycle. 

This comes hours after legislators left Albany for the weekend, doing so without the state budget — which expires at midnight — approved. 

The maps just nixed by Acting Supreme Court Justice Patrick McAllister of Steuban County were the culmination of a drawn-out redistricting process following the 2020 Census. For the first time in its history, the state had given an Independent Redistricting Committee the task of drawing the lines; when the committee failed to reach an agreement, at the end of January, the Democrat-controlled Legislature took up the mantle as it had in years past.

The ruling includes the proposed maps for New York’s congressional, state Senate and Assembly districts.

Soon after that, Republicans filed a lawsuit challenging the lines, as many anticipated. Asked about a possible challenge at the time, state Sen. Mike Gianaris (D-Astoria), who has been on the front lines of the redistricting fight, told WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, “When the time comes, we’re confident we’ll make our case to the court and be successful.”

Albany Democrats present blatantly gerrymandered redistricting map, Gianaris claims it's justified

 

 NY Politics

A new and long-awaited proposed New York congressional district map was released by the Senate and Assembly on Sunday. As a result of the 2020 census, the map reflects the state’s loss of one congressional district, bringing the state’s delegation down to 26 members.

New York State legislators are expected to pass the map later this week and send it to Governor Kathy Hochul for her approval. New maps for New York State Assembly and Senate district maps are also expected to be released and approved later this week. Following those enactments, county boards of elections will realign election districts with the new Assembly Jdistricts so petitioning for Spring 2022 primaries can get underway in early March.

The task of drawing the initial line drawing fell to the New York State Legislature after the state’s advisory “Independent Redistricting Commission” failed to agree on congressional and state legislative maps in early January. The commission had been created under a 2014-enacted state constitutional amendment that aimed to remove the legislature from the initial line-drawing process.

This map represents the first opportunity for Democratic Party legislative leaders to manage drawing the state’s congressional maps in 90 years.  In those prior years, Republicans or a politically divided legislature drew the maps. The current congressional lines were drawn by a federal court in 2012 after the legislature failed to come to an agreement on a map.

City & State

State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who has led his chamber’s redistricting efforts, asserted that his party did not engage in gerrymandering despite proposing a new congressional map that clearly benefits Democrats. In an interview with City & State, Gianaris stood by the controversial proposal that could cut the number of Republicans in the New York delegation in half.

The maps clearly disadvantage Republicans, who will likely lose four seats in the next election cycle if the proposal stands. The GOP was quick to denounce the new lines and promised to take the matter to court. But they weren’t the only ones crying foul. The left-leaning think tank Brennan Center for Justice, which focuses on voting rights, said Democrats took a heavy hand to district drawing. Michael Li, the organization’s redistricting expert, called the New York maps an “aggressive gerrymander,” and even asserted they would be struck down under the John Lewis Voting Rights Act that Democrats are championing in Congress. 

Still, Gianaris defended the maps against claims that they were overly partisan, especially in some of the most unusually shaped districts. “We’re very confident this adheres to the current requirements,” Gianaris said, adding that he fully expects the issue to end up in court. “Other people make those decisions, we’ll make our case why we believe it does.”

Given specific examples of districts that have drawn scrutiny, Gianaris offered a legal claim for each. For District 11, currently held by GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, he claimed the new lines “conform to some historical norms for that district” – which apparently just happen to turn the right-leaning swing district into a fairly safe Democratic seat. Expanding District 3, being vacated by Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, from Long Island into the Bronx and Westchester unites communities of interest along the Long Island Sound, according to Gianaris. He added that this particular decision came from public input from a coalition representing communities of color that presented a “unity” plan, but the move seemed to baffle many. 

 Democrats have been accused of using redistricting to strengthen their position in the state Legislature despite criticizing gerrymandering in the past. “As we unravel the gerrymanders of the past, it doesn't make it a gerrymander of today,” state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who chaired the legislative task force that oversaw redistricting along with Assembly Member Kenneth Zewbrowski from the Hudson Valley, said on The Brian Lehrer Show Tuesday. “These are districts that are drawn fairly,” Gianaris added. Whether or not Gianaris’ rationale rings true despite the proposed Democrat-friendly lines, Republicans did use methods other than line-drawing to help them maintain their state Senate majority in the past. Packing more people in Democratic districts versus GOP areas was one strategy.

Melinda Katz and Mike Gianaris making a go for State A.G.

  

THE CITY

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez is weighing a statewide campaign for attorney general if Letitia James leaves the seat to run for governor, eight people familiar with the matter told THE CITY.

In recent weeks, they say, Gonzalez has been making calls to his top supporters and elected officials to float a possible campaign in the 2022 race.

“He’s looking to run. He’s fishing around,” said a close ally of Gonzalez who has helped him raise campaign cash in the past.

Also sniffing out support are Queens DA Melinda Katz and state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), according to sources familiar with their activities.

Gonzalez served for years as a prosecutor in the Brooklyn DA’s office before ascending to the top job in 2016 following the death of his predecessor, Ken Thompson. The following year, Gonzalez became the first Latino to be elected as a district attorney in New York.

 Meanwhile, Katz, who secured the Democratic primary win for Queens DA in 2019 by just 60 votes when she was borough president, is also considering a run for the statewide office, according to four sources familiar with the matter.

One source close to Katz told THE CITY Thursday that “she’s certainly going to be ready to run” if James vacates her position to run for governor.

“Melinda is the candidate to run against the DSA and more in alignment with the mainstream Democratic voters,” said the source, referencing the Democratic Socialists of America who backed soon-to-be councilmember Tiffany Cabán in the Queens DA race.

Gianaris, who heads the Senate Democrats’ campaign efforts, is also contemplating an AG campaign, pending James’ decision, according to people close to him. The Senate’s deputy majority leader has amassed a $3 million warchest for past attorney general runs that didn’t materialize and in his state Senate campaign account.

 

Caption these 3 Queens politicians

 

Costa really likes that water.

Affordable housing hotel conversion bill passes

4 Hotels by Suthpin Blvd, Jamaica (JQ LLC)

 

 

QNS

With the legislative session winding down in Albany, state Senator Michael Gianaris passed his Housing our Neighbors with Dignity Act (HONDA) in the upper chamber Wednesday, June 9.

The legislation will allow the state to finance the purchase and conversion of distressed hotels and vacant commercial office space into permanent affordable housing by nonprofit organizations to ensure every New Yorker has access to a safe and affordable place to live.

Gianaris noted that $100 million was included in the state budget in April to fund such conversions under HONDA.

“New York has seen a decades-long affordable housing crunch exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic devastation,” Gianaris said. “This legislation is a good way to tackle the dual problems of distressed properties and lack of affordable housing. I am thrilled that this passed, and that we have a funded program that will provide real relief going forward.”

Under the legislation, new affordable housing must be made available to low-income households, and people who were previously homeless. At least 50 percent of the units will be set aside for individuals who experienced homelessness immediately prior to applying for converted units.

The legislation passed in the Assembly Thursday, June 10. Jackson Heights Jessica González-Rojas Assemblywoman co-sponsored the measure. (Let's see how fast this works-JQ LLC)

New York abolishes federal opportunity zones land grab program

 

NY Daily News

 This is one opportunity New York won’t miss.

The state budget passed by lawmakers last week includes a provision decoupling the city and state tax codes from the federal Opportunity Zones program, a Trump-era policy that opponents say is nothing more than a handout to wealthy real estate investors.

Part of the Republican-led 2017 federal tax overhaul, the program was aimed at incentivizing private investment in economically distressed areas.

Critics, however, derided the designations, saying they included many areas already suffering from over-development and gentrification.

“The opportunity zone program is a scandalous giveaway to wealthy developers who didn’t need the money to do the development, and I’m glad the state pulled ourselves out of wasting state dollars for this effort,” said Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), who first introduced a measure to end the tax breaks on the state side in 2019.

Under the federal program, developers who put money into an opportunity zone project could defer federal and state capital gains taxes for up to seven years with a modest cut in the taxes owed.

Additionally, they would not face any capital gains taxes on properties within the zones as long as they don’t sell it for at least 10 years. When New York decided to conform to the federal program, it meant capital gains deferred or excluded from taxation at the federal level were similarly deferred or excluded from state and local taxes.

New York designated 514 “low-income community” census tracts as Opportunity Zones. However, the program allowed investors in projects in neighboring tracts to also benefit from the tax breaks, regardless of how wealthy or developed the areas were.

Parts of Hell’s Kitchen on Manhattan’s West Side were included in the program, as was a stretch of the Upper East Side and already-gentrifying areas of Queens from Astoria and Long Island City to Flushing.

Holden's opponent campaigns in the wrong district

This article was published in QNS and I couldn't help but chuckle at it. For example, here is a passage about the pictured business owner who was visited:

Lagos made some time, and spoke about the hardships of maintaining his business for what is nearly a year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lagos, who noted Tasty’s has been in Ridgewood for 40 years, said not having indoor dining and getting “a bunch” of violations from the Department of Transportation for his outdoor setup are some of his biggest issues.

The response from the candidate during the listening tour?

When asked for his response to [incumbent Robert] Holden’s calls to open indoor dining to 50 percent capacity, Ardila said it’s “irresponsible.” Holden wants the governor to allow for the city’s restaurants to open indoor dining at the same capacity of Long Island, where there is a higher positivity rate of COVID-19 compared to the city, before more go out of business.

Sorry, Mr. Lagos, but Juan thinks you should just suck it up, because COVID spreads more in Queens restaurants than it does in Nassau County ones, or something like that.

Also interesting is the fact that the Tasty Diner is not in Council District 30. In reality, only about 3 blocks of the Ridgewood section of Myrtle Avenue are, and only on one side of the street. This diner is in Antonio Reynoso's district but he's too busy running for Brooklyn Borough President to care.

But do you know whose State Senate district this actually is? Not Jessica Ramos' but Michael Gianaris' who also endorsed this guy. Unfortunately, Mike sadly can't find anyplace outside of Astoria even if he uses Google Maps.

Keep voting for people who don't give a flying fig about you, because that's worked out well so far.

Amazon had a shitlist of officials and critics against their HQ2 deal

NY Post


Amazon brass kept a “burn book” to memorialize unkind comments made by those who opposed the online retail giant’s headquarters move to New York before pulling the plug on the project, it was revealed Wednesday.

The Microsoft Word document called “NY Negative Statements” was filled with criticism from officials and neighbors, who said the move to Queens would send real estate prices soaring — and that it wasn’t worth the thousands of new jobs Amazon promised.

The book had a specific section for politicians who opposed the project, which by late January appeared to be in jeopardy despite Mayor Bill de Blasio’s and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s support, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, had his own chapter in the document that included him dissing Amazon’s founder while addressing shivering union members in late January: “It’s a cold day in New York, but not as cold as Jeff Bezos ’ heart.”

City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, whose district included Amazon’s new campus, complained that his anti-Amazon campaign appeared to be going nowhere.

“We were punching, and no one was punching back,” Van Bramer told The Journal.
But Amazon was taking notes.

One of the first entries in the book came from state Sen. Mike Gianaris, a Democrat like Van Bramer whose district also included the new campus.

He and Van Bramer had signed a letter in 2017 supporting the project but a year later were having second thoughts about the fat tax breaks.

“We were not elected to serve as Amazon drones,” Gianaris wrote in a joint statement sent with Van Bramer.

Gianaris had the longest section, with 25 entries.

The caption is already there...

Gianaris finds exploitative faults with President Trump's "Opportunity Zones" real estate investment program

NY Daily News

State Sen. Michael Gianaris’ war on Amazon has led the Queens lawmaker to target tax incentives tied to the Trump administration and meant to spark investment in poorer neighborhoods.

Gianaris, whose Queens district includes the Long Island City blocks being eyed for the company’s proposed new outpost, announced legislation on Wednesday that would eliminate state tax breaks for capital gains when investing in federal Qualified Opportunity Zones.

“What was intended to benefit investment in economically distressed areas is now being used to boost investment in very wealthy area,” Gianaris said. “It’s completely bastardized the intent of the program and turned it on its head.”

 The area around the waterfront site is one of 306 census tracts in the city that Gov. Cuomo recommended as “opportunity zones.” The Treasury Department signed off on the designations late last year.

The company is already in line for $2.8 billion in grants and tax breaks from New York state and the city. Lawmakers and labor leaders argue the company is not doing enough to earn the incentives.

Gianaris and other critics also contend separately that the Trump administration program provides deep tax cuts to companies investing in already gentrifying areas.

 Meanwhile, a poll, conducted by HarrisX on behalf of Amazon, found 69% of New Yorkers approve of the internet retailer coming to the city, with 19% opposed.

Senate Majority Leader gives Gianaris ability to quash Amazon corporate welfare deal as de Blasio starts job training program designed for it

 

QNS


Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins recommended state Senator Michael Gianaris as a member of the state Public Authorities Control Board, which could potentially veto the Amazon project.

 
Gianaris, the deputy majority leader of the Senate, has been a leading opponent of the Amazon deal due to the incentive package worth nearly $3 billion in taxpayer funds.
 
“New York needs responsible fiscal stewardship now more than ever and ensuring our economic development dollars are well spent is a responsibility I take very seriously,” Gianaris said Monday. 

“I appreciate Leader Stewart-Cousin’s faith in me and am honored she submitted my name to serve on the PACB.”

We shall see.

Meanwhile...

QNS

As it gears up for the full arrival of Amazon’s HQ2 campus in Long Island City is the coming years, the de Blasio administration announced Jan. 28 it is offering up to $300,000 in micro-grants to qualified organizations that specialize in workforce development.

The grants will support research and planning into innovative approaches the city could take to promote training and hiring of underrepresented New Yorkers in tech and other in-demand sectors.

“Preparing New Yorkers for the jobs of tomorrow and making sure those jobs are accessible to residents from all backgrounds with different skill sets is critical to leveling the economic playing field,” the New York City Economic Development Corporation President and CEO James Patchett said. “We are excited to partner with the Office of Workforce Development to catalyze innovative workforce training programs that will help ensure New Yorkers are ahead of the game as the city’s tech sector booms.”

 Through a request for expressions of interest, known as an RFEI, the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development and the NYCEDC will work with community-based organizations with funds to develop effective, innovative programmatic concepts the city and its partners can use to help ensure local talent is prepared to access new hiring tech opportunities.

Amazon will be too much

From NBC:

Amazon could be coming to Long Island City, bringing 25,000 jobs to that part of Queens. But could mass transit handle the influx? Local city officials say the infrastructure needs to be repaired before Amazon potentially moves in. Andrew Siff reports.

Gianaris suddenly concerned about LIC's dearth of open space

From the Times Ledger:

State Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) and several Long Island City community organizations are urging the city to include park space in Court Square as the neighborhood continues to grow at an unprecedented pace.

Gianaris called on the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Department of Transportation to renovate public land located underneath the Queensboro Bridge ramps between 23rd Street and Thompson Avenue and turn it into public space to reflect a proposal made in the 1999 Department of City Planning study.

“Long Island City is one of our fastest growing neighborhoods and we must ensure community needs are met as we grow,” Gianaris said Sept. 21. “More public park space must be part of the planning process and utilizing this parcel would be a great way to start.”

The public-owned lots are currently used by the city Department of Transportation and while the city can not build on them, it has proposed transferring air rights to The Lions Group, which plans on building two residential towers at 27-01 and 26-31 Jackson Ave. The Court Square Civic Association organized a rally against that plan last Saturday at the corner of Dutch Kills Street and Jackson Avenue.

Caption contest doubleshot!

(Interesting how all the Crowley kiss assers are lining up behind someone who not only beat him but doesn't have much competition in the general election. Where were they before the primary?)

"I’m a fan of Bob’s more than anyone but it’s a great one." - Jack

Who will be appointed to AG role?

This article mentions Letitia James and Michael Gianaris as possible Schneiderman replacements. Please take either one! We're not using them.

It's a good time for some bad taste...

It's Friday. I don't understand the obsession that Albany legislators have with pretending to be fast food workers. But this is a great photo caption opportunity!

Pols call for closure of Show Palace

Cuomo aide says Albany drama is all because of Gianaris

From the Daily News:

A top aide to Gov. Cuomo says reunifying the fractured state Senate Democrats will be almost impossible as long as Sen. Michael Gianaris remains in a top leadership role for the mainline Dems.

The personal animosity between Gianaris and Bronx Sen. Jeffrey Klein, who heads up a group of eight breakaway Senate Democrats aligned in a leadership coalition with the Republicans, is the single biggest roadblock for Dem control of the chamber, the Cuomo official said.

The aide sought to peg most the problems on Gianaris, who has had his own tensions with the governor, most recently over the mass transit crisis.The Cuomo aide accused Gianaris, of Queens, of trying behind the scenes to torpedo any deal because he’d rather be deputy leader in the minority than lose influence if the Dems are in the majority.

“This is the oldest story in the book — it’s power, who gets it and who loses it,” the aide said. “When Jeff Klein rejoins the Democrats, Mike Gianaris gets displaced, and therefore he is working to further the divide.”

To break the stalemate, the Cuomo official said, the governor has gone “so far as to offer Mike a job in the administration or offer to support him to run for Queens County (district attorney) down the road.”

The Penn Station blues

From the Wall Street Journal:

Diverted passengers who face a grueling commute this summer because of rail disruption at New York’s Penn Station deserve discounted tickets on the Long Island Rail Road, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday morning.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Suffolk County board member later suggested such a discount could be up to 15%.

As Mr. Cuomo made his suggestion, during a news conference at Penn Station, the head of the MTA, which owns the LIRR, told a committee of the agency’s board in lower Manhattan that the MTA will withhold regular payments it makes to Amtrak for use of Penn Station and that the MTA will send Amtrak a bill for costs incurred by the disruption.

Amtrak, which owns and operates the Midtown Manhattan terminal, will reduce weekday rush-hour service into and out of the station beginning July 10. The outages are needed so that Amtrak can carry out extensive repair work to rails and switches following two low-speed derailments earlier this year.

From NY1:

City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer is not mincing words when it comes to his opinion on the MTA's plan for Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) riders this summer.

“I think it is ridiculous,” he said.

This week, the agency announced it would cancel or divert close to three dozen rush hour trains into and out of Penn Station while Amtrak does emergency track work. That means more LIRR trains originating or terminating at stations in Brooklyn and Queens, including Hunterspoint Avenue in Long Island City. Passengers there would then either take a ferry or transfer to the 7 train.

“To take Long Island Rail Road users and divert them to the 7 train is stupid,” Van Bramer said. “We know the service is unreliable as it is.”

From NY1:

A State Senator from Queens says taxing the rich is how to fund repair work at Penn Station.

Senator Michael Gianaris says his bill would require millionaires in New York to pay a three-year temporary state income tax surcharge. It would apply to those living in any county where the MTA operates.

Gianaris says it would generate close to $2 billion dollars for the MTA every year.

Hotel taxes would also see a new $5 fee on top of the already existing tax in the city.