Mayor Adams MIA as South Queens floods

What I woke up to outside my house. Reminds me of when I woke up on Sandy. pic.twitter.com/HAM5cQNk7E

— Jonathan Lazo (@JonathanLazoNY) December 23, 2022

  

QNS

Major flooding from Thursday night’s storm has taken over the coast in the southern Queens neighborhoods of Howard Beach, Hamilton Beach, Broad Channel and the Rockaways.

Residents are being asked to move to higher ground for their own safety, according the NYC Emergency Management. 

 "There is major tidal flooding in Howard Beach, Hamilton Beach, Broad Channel and the Rockaways, please move to higher ground,” NYC Emergency Management tweeted out this morning. “Also remember, all it takes is 6 inches of standing water to move a car, never walk or drive through flood waters.”

The National Weather Service in New York has issued a Special Weather Statement for New York City for rapidly falling temperatures, gusty winds and falling wind chills. They also warned about standing water becoming black ice late this afternoon in the early evening hours. Travel is not recommended.

Early this morning, the city said that the ZIP codes affected by Friday’s storm will be 11224,11235, 11414, 11691,11692, 11693, 11694 and 11697. 

AMNY

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration handled the city’s response to flooding in coastal areas of Queens like Broad Channel and the Rockaways while reporters wondered where he was Friday.

The mayor was absent from a Friday afternoon briefing that City Hall officials provided about the storm. According to First Deputy Mayor Lorraine Grillo, Hizzoner was outside of the five boroughs, but in contact with the administration as they coordinated the response.

Grillo, who serves acting mayor when her boss is out of town, said Adams decided to take two days off and “get some rest.” She confirmed the mayor is outside of the five boroughs, but wouldn’t disclose where when pressed by reporters several times.

“I certainly do know where he is,” Grillo said. “But let me just say this to you: he might as well be here because we’ve been speaking to each other constantly throughout the day, and speaking with all of us to keep updated on what’s going on and to actually direct us to do this. But the mayor decided to take two days off and get some rest and instead of course he’s dealing with this, but just not here.”

Grillo was surrounded by a cadre of administration officials including Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives – and future first deputy mayor – Sheena Wright, city Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh and several others.

Iscol said his agency has been fanned out across the city, along with personnel from other city agencies, throughout the day responding to the damage wrought by the winter storm. The flooding, he said, was caused by a three-foot storm surge exacerbated by the new moon and windy conditions.

“This is a difficult weather event,” Iscol said. “We needed to prepare not only for rain, but also a tidal flooding that was made worse by the new moon in addition to large amounts of wind offshore that was piling water into New York Harbor in addition to Jamaica Bay, adding about three foot above mean tide flood surge.”

DOE withdraws purchase of school site that Vallone said couldn't be stopped

From the Times Ledger:

The city School Construction Authority has announced it would rescind its contract to purchase the Bayside Jewish Center along with its plans to build a 739-seat high school on the site, ending a controversy over which has been growing for months.

SCA President and CEO Lorraine Grillo issued a statement Tuesday making the announcement:

“In addition to building great schools that foster a welcoming environment for our students and families, we are laser focused on identifying appropriate locations to increase capacity in a city where space is at a premium,” Grillo said. “Unfortunat­ely, we have been unable to reach a consensus with Bayside residents and local elected officials on our proposed development site for a new high school in their neighborhood. The proposal will not be moving forward; however, we remain committed to addressing overcrowding communities face.”

This comes after Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) wrote a letter Friday, asking the SCA to halt its proposal before it went to the City Council for a vote. State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) held a rally Saturday calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to put a stop to the contract. But ultimately Grillo caved in to mounting community concerns.

Wasn't it Vallone who said this process couldn't be stopped?

Avella introduces legislation to stop SCA stupidity

From the Queens Chronicle:

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) is asking the School Construction Authority to do its homework when it comes to picking sites for educational facilities.

As the senator and Bayside residents rallied against the proposal to place a public high school at the former site of the Bayside Jewish Center, located at 203-05 32 Ave., Avella on May 14 introduced legislation that would require the SCA to give elected officials and community boards the reasons as to why a particular site was picked for an educational facility.

Avella said he has been working on the bill for a while, but introduced it two weeks ago after the city announced its plans to have a school at the 32nd Avenue site.

“You could say that was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” the senator said in an interview with the Queens Chronicle.

The bill, if signed into law, would require the city to give the reasons why a new school is required in the area, identify any other sites that were considered for the school and why the site chosen won over all other possibilities.

He also said he’s pushing for the legislation because his staff was told by SCA President and Chief Executive Officer Lorraine Grillo that they were not notified of plans for the site because the agency, “didn’t want to give him time to organize” against them.

Avella called that conversation “disrespectful” and said “I think it’s time for Lorraine Grillo to go.”