Failed Riis Park Beach Bazaar receives foul welcome to Rockaway Beach boardwalk.

  

NY Post

 The new operators of a Rockaway Beach snack bar found an unwelcome surprise when they unlocked the property last week and found it vandalized with rotting fish in the walls, noxious “food bombs” in the ducts and concrete in the drains.

Rockaway Beach Bazaar took over the lease on the Beach 97th Street concession on the boardwalk this year after outbidding the prior occupant, Rockaway Beach Club.

“It stings that somebody is going to come in and reap the benefits of all our hard work,” Rockaway Beach Club’s Andrew Field griped to Gothamist in January when the Parks Department, which owns the property, announced its decision to change vendor groups.

Police are now investigating the May 13 criminal mischief incident that caused $10,000 of damage and threatens the shack’s planned opening over Memorial Day weekend.

 A copy of a 15-page document obtained by The Post details the destruction in photos — fish carcasses found atop old air ducts that created a “pungent stench” throughout the premises, as well as mayonnaise jars filled with condensed milk and raw fish.

These “food bombs” were supposed to stay hidden inside air ducts until the extreme heat of the summer — when they would pressurize and pop, releasing a noxious odor, according to the document that was provided to the NYPD and Parks Department by the new operators.

Summer is coming. 

 

de Blasio offers to build affordable housing by Bronx tower jail and concessions to other boroughs to get Rikers shutdown plan approved

NY Daily News

Giddyup!

Horse-trading is in full swing as the City Council readies to vote on Mayor de Blasio’s controversial plan to close the notorious jail complex on Rikers Island and replace it with four new facilities.

The plan calls for jails to be built in Downtown Manhattan, the South Bronx, central Queens and Downtown Brooklyn by 2026, at an estimated cost of $8.7 billion.

That’s a bitter pill to swallow for some residents of those nabes. So the de Blasio administration is offering a proverbial spoonful of sugar to Council members rep’ing the areas.

The city is committing to building up to 233 units of affordable housing next to a new jail sited at 320 Concord Ave. in the Bronx nabe of Mott Haven, according to Councilwoman Diana Ayala.
 

She hopes new housing might mollify residents in the area, where the community board unanimously rejected the mayor’s plan in May.

“I’m sure that they’re not going to be excited about this, either,” Ayala said of the new jail’s opponents. “In an effort to try to do the best thing by both the community and shutting Rikers, this is the best place I can get to.”

In spite of pockets of opposition from pols like Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer — who’s been tormented by socialist activists as he seeks the Queens borough president’s seat — the Council is expected to pass the mayor’s plan. The Land Use Committee will conclude a review process known as ULURP on Wednesday, followed by a full Council vote Thursday.

Council members in districts where the new jails were sited were likely “yes” votes from the start of the debate.

But an insider noted the ULURP process, in which the Council tends to defer to the votes of colleagues rep’ing areas where projects are proposed, gives members in Ayala’s shoes lots of leverage.

“If you’re a member who’s going to vote yes, then why not secure benefits?” the Council insider remarked. “The ULURP provides a rare occasion to provide community benefits. Why not?”

Liu finally admits he lost

From the NY Observer:

John Liu’s comeback bid is over.

The former city comptroller and mayoral candidate formerly conceded to State Senator Tony Avella this morning, acknowledging that a gap of 568 votes was too great to overcome with paper ballots.

“Public service, to me, is a calling, not a career, and this race was always about the opportunity to continue to serve our community,” Mr. Liu said in a statement. “While we may have fallen just short in the voting booth, our message resonated loud and clear – the people of this district want a true Democrat who will stand up for our progressive values and we will hold our elected officials accountable by their actions, not just their words.”

The Queens Democratic Party, led by Congressman Joseph Crowley, coaxed Mr. Liu into running in a Democratic primary against Mr. Avella earlier this year. Drawing on the support of local elected officials, a bevy of unions and a significant fund-raising advantage, Mr. Liu came last week within 5 percentages points of knocking off Mr. Avella, according to unofficial Board of Election returns.

But it was always an uphill slog for Mr. Liu in an oddly-shaped eastern Queens district where Mr. Avella, despite his alienation from the political establishment, remains popular. Mr. Avella’s win came as he crushed Mr. Liu in the heart of the district–the 26th Assembly District, including the neighborhoods of Whitestone, Bayside, Bay Terrace, Little Neck and Douglaston–by nearly 1,000 votes. Assemblyman Ed Braunstein, one of many Queens Democrats to back Mr. Liu, represents the district.

Meadow Lake getting a food stand

From the Queens Chronicle:

It appears that new amenities for park goers at Flushing Meadows are increasing frequently these days.

Travel to the north side of Meadow Lake and you’ll find kayaks, paddleboats and bicycles for rent already. Next week, a revitalized snack bar will open in that area known as the Ederle Terrace.

It was named after Gertrude Ederle, a Flushing native, who was the first woman to swim the English Channel.

The terrace was built 10 years ago, replacing the Aquacade from the two World’s Fairs that was razed in 1996. The snack bar opened briefly but has been vacant for five years.

Baig Sedeeq of S & F Petro won the 12-year concession for the snack bar and promises it will be open by Friday, Aug. 8. That will be a busy weekend as the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Races will ply the water Aug. 9 to 10.

The snack bar menu is still being worked on, but is expected to include hot dogs, chicken wings, french fries and ice cream. Sedeeq promises to be flexible when he sees what people ask for.

In addition, he will sell beer and wine in a separate area. Tables will be available for public use.

The snack bar will remain open through the fall. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Donald got a real sweetheart deal

From the Daily News:

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg apparently wasn’t satisfied with simply handing Donald Trump control over one of the most expensive public golf courses ever built in this country – the new $236 million, 18-hole Parks Department course scheduled to open next spring at Ferry Point Park in the Bronx.

Bloomberg’s aides quietly added a slew of financial giveaways in the 2012 deal with The Donald that no other city golf course concessionaire enjoys, a Daily News review of Parks Department golf contracts has found.

Those giveaways include: no concession fees for four years; then decades of extraordinarily low revenue-sharing with the city; tens of millions of gallons of free water annually; even a five-year delay for Trump to build a $10 million clubhouse, his only major capital investment in the project.

Start with the greens fees, the basic charge for a round of golf; virtually all of the city’s existing 13 public golf courses charge $48 per person during weekend peak hours, higher for non-city residents.

But the new Trump National Golf Course at Ferry Point plans to charge nearly three times as much — $125 per person.

Trump’s split of revenues with the city, however, will be far less than all other courses.

No time like the present to clean up Charles Park

From the Queens Courier:

Howard Beach residents just want their park cleaned up.

Before plans Frank M. Charles Memorial Park are made, Community Board 10 wants the joint effort between the NYC Parks Department and Gateway National Recreation Area to get more local input.

Board members on Thursday, April 4 unanimously voted on a resolution to ask the coalition to remove Charles Park from consideration in the development of Jamaica Bay until further measures are taken.

“That park is in deplorable condition. It has been in deplorable condition for years,” Board chair Elizabeth Braton told a Parks representative. “When the City of New York entered in this agreement where the Parks Department would be allowed to go into Gateway and do some things, it was not the expectation of the local community that the first thing the Parks Department would do is engage in a revenue-making operation there.”

Parks and Gateway, which is an arm of the National Park Service, formed an agreement last summer to help drive more tourism to Jamaica Bay. Requests for Proposals (RFPs) were released last month for developers to create bike terminals, kayak launching areas or food concession stands.

Unstable stables

From the Daily News:

A popular urban stable in Queens is being temporarily shuttered after city officials said an “alarming” number of horses died at the site, the Daily News has learned.

Six horses died in the last half of 2012 without “adequate explanation” at the Cedar Lane Stables, a city concession run by the Federation of Black Cowboys, Parks Department inspectors said.

Some horses were malnourished and housed without proper food and bedding, according to documents obtained by The News. One horse named Wyatt tried to eat its bedding of wood shavings in a stall with no water or hay.

The existing concession — a “rough board” arrangement — allows the federation to rent out about 50 stalls to individual horse owners for about $165 a month. But the cowboys are under no obligation to care for those animals.

Some owners who board at the stable hire caretakers to make sure their horses are exercised, groomed and fed. But others do not. Members of the Federation are also boarders at the stables.

Gateway units getting some grub

From the Daily News:

Jamaica Bay, a hidden jewel in New York City for nature lovers, could become a destination complete with food stands and rental stands for kayaks and bikes.

The Parks Department and the National Park Service are putting the finishing touches on a request for proposals to place concessions at several locations around the bay in Queens and Brooklyn.

The new concessions are part of a larger plan between the two agencies to cooperatively manage the 10,000-acre site, which is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area.

Parks officials unveiled the plan at the Community Board 14 Parks Committee meeting last Thursday. They posted a map of the area that showed several locations where concessions could be created.

But the agency declined to discuss the proposal until the RFP is released next week.

Beach islands coming to Rockaway

From the Daily News:

The beaches in storm-battered Rockaway will be dotted with a series of new and revamped bathrooms, lifeguard facilities and concession areas this summer, city officials said Thursday.

The new landscape includes modernistic comfort stations, raised high off the sand to ward off future damage from raging storm waters.

Decades-old concession buildings that weathered Superstorm Sandy will be freshened up with shaded outdoor seating areas.

And food vendors are planning to create pop-up sites in shore-front areas, including the iconic concrete bus shelters on Shore Front Parkway, to feed hungry beachgoers until the buildings are up and running.

But three miles of boardwalk, destroyed by the storm, remain missing until longer-term plans are hashed out.

Meanwhile, boardwalk “islands” will be built around the bathrooms and concession areas.

Boardwalk repair plans in place

From the Daily News:

[Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski] outlined a three-phase plan: clean up, “safe up” and open up the shoreline ravaged by Superstorm Sandy.

While only portions of the boardwalk remain, Lewandowski promised the same number of lifeguards will be assigned to Rockaway beaches.

Dangerous sections of the battered walkway are being fenced off and dismantled. When that work is done, beachgoers will access the sand through “breezeways” every few blocks.

The city is planning to create boardwalk “islands” around comfort stations, park offices and popular concession stands.

The concessions feature an eclectic variety of food and have been a major draw in recent years, luring new crowds to Rockaway.

Sections of the boardwalk from Beach 9th to 35th Sts. and from Beach 40th to 60th Sts. are in relatively good shape and will be open this summer, she said.

Beach 60th to 68th Sts. will be closed off. The city is considering leaving a remnant of the displaced boardwalk in the area of Beach 68th to 74th Sts. as a sort of natural work of art.

The section between Beach 80th to 86th Sts. held up well, she said. But the boardwalk from Beach 86th to 126th Sts. was either blown off the concrete pilings by the storm or ruined beyond repair.

In addition, play equipment including the skate park and handball courts were destroyed or damaged in the area of Beach 88th to 109th Sts.

Forest Park ponies will ride again

From the Daily News:

Both historic carousels in Queens will be spinning again by the spring, city parks officials promised Tuesday.

The city is close to sealing a deal with a concessionaire to operate the Forest Park Carousel and the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Carousel.

“We received responsive proposals and will have more information once a proposal has been selected,” the agency told the Daily News in a statement. “We expect to have an operator in place to open the carousel this spring/summer season.”

The news was hailed by historians and civic leaders who have been fighting to get the city to reopen the Forest Park Carousel, a hand-carved wooden treasure.

The city has searched in vain for an operator since the 100-year-old amusement was shuttered at the end of 2008.

Valerio Ferrari, president of Central Amusement International LLC, showed up for a site visit for prospective bidders last month.

Insiders said the company, which created Luna Park at Coney Island and Victorian Gardens at the Wollman Rink in Central Park, is the odds-on favorite to get the concession.

He shoulda been a contender

From the Daily News:

Sal Napolitano has built a reputation over the past four decades as the city's carousel man, helping fix and operate its priceless, historic merry-go-rounds.

But Napolitano's expertise wasn't enough to convince the Parks Department he could operate two carousels in Queens - even though he may have been the only bidder for a contract.

Earlier this month, agency officials rejected his bid to reopen the shuttered Forest Park Carousel and continue running the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Carousel.

There is no one lined up to reopen the Forest Park Carousel or take the reins of the more lucrative Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Carousel next year.

Parks officials declined to comment on their decision. Officials previously told the Daily News that the agency received "no viable proposals." A new Request for Proposals to operate both carousels is being prepared.

Terrace on the Park concession is disappointing

From the Daily News:

The company that runs catering hall Terrace on the Park, a historic relic of the 1964 World's Fair, hasn't lived up to promises to build a grand restaurant garden, a city audit charges.

The report from Controller John Liu also hammers two other park hot spots, the Flushing Meadows Ice Rink and the World's Fair Marina Restaurant, for failing to finish contracted improvements.

The neighboring facilities highlight the Queens portion of an investigation into the city Parks Department's ability to ensure that concessionaires live up to their license agreements.

Facility operators painted the audit as misleading and inaccurate. They acknowledged the initially promised structures were not built, but said alternatives were designed to best serve the community.

But Liu's office stood by its evaluation of facilities such as Terrace on the Park, where auditors noted water-damaged panels and the unfulfilled contractual obligation to create a $345,000 garden restaurant.

The Parks Department said the walkup restaurant was scrapped in favor of a snack bar.

Terrace on the Park did not return calls seeking comment.

Parents can't resist Mr. Softee

The caption for this photo in the Daily News reads: 7-year-old Lindsey Tourgeman enjoys a vanilla cone from a local soft serve ice cream truck, under the disapproving eye of her mother, Melissa, in Brooklyn.

Now when I saw this initially, I thought that maybe the kid was stealing the mother's money to buy ice cream or that grandma/grandpa was slipping her an Abe Lincoln now and then. But then I read the article and became astounded.

“It’s very frustrating that they’re here every day,” said Carroll Gardens mom Meryl Allison, who picks up her son Ben at Public School 58 and has to take him past a Mister Softee truck to go to Carroll Park across the street. “You’re a trapped audience. It’s hard to say no to your kids.”

Wha? A NYC mama not able to say no? I do not recall my mother having similar issues when I was a kid. In fact, she said no more times than I remember her saying yes. And what I wanted must not have been all that important because all these years later, I can't remember anything I had asked her to get for me in the first place.

“I’ve had fights with my daughter in the past about it. You kind of feel like it’s pushed on you,” said Tourgeman, who said she lets her 7-year-old daughter Lindsey get a cone about twice a month.

“It’s one thing if they’re just in the neighborhood, but to be here by contract [with the city], they might as well be selling drugs.”

Honestly...just say "no" and stop whining to the papers.