99 and a half won't do

NY Post

Mayor Eric Adams rolled out a record-busting $99.7 billion budget proposal on Tuesday fueled in part by an uptick in tax revenues, spending that he argued is essential for the Big Apple’s comeback from the coronavirus pandemic.

Adams unfurled his spending pitch to the City Council with great fanfare during a 50-minute speech at the historic Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, during which he highlighted his new anti-gun and homelessness initiatives, hiring hundreds of new corrections officers for embattled jail system and new funding to clean the Big Apple’s streets and parks.

“This budget puts people — especially those who have often been left behind — front and center. Success will be measured by how much we accomplish, not how much we spend,” he said. “Despite the massive shocks to our system in the past two years, our city enters fiscal year 2023 on strong financial footing.”

Hizzoner’s new spending plan would increase the Police Department’s annual budget from the $5.4 billion authorized by lawmakers to $5.6 billion and spending on the Department of Homeless Services would rise from $2.2 billion to $2.3 billion.

The massive Department of Education would see its allocation trimmed back from $31.6 billion to $31 billion, primarily due to enrollment declines and leaving hundreds of unfilled positions open.

Bill de Blasio hates your children and your parks

 

CBS New York 

 After a Queens park playground appeared to be open for a weekend and then abruptly closed, parents want to know what’s going on.

CBS2’s Jenna DeAngelis went to the city for answers, and spoke to eager Astoria residents.

“Please open the playground soon!” two young boys said.

It’s a plea to the city Parks Department from friends Archer and Arlo, who don’t like seeing the Astoria Park playground closed.

“There’s a lot of stuff to climb,” Arlo Pignataro said.

Arlo got a chance to climb and swing in the park when it was open on July 31.

“Kids were playing, and the sun was shining, so he got to go in the new splash pad, and swing and climb, and it was great. And then the next day I had to tell him that it wasn’t actually open,” said mother Amybeth Whissel.

That’s because the next day, parents like Marianna Scantlebury were asked by Parks staff to leave.

“It was like a mixed message because some of the Parks Department was saying it was unsafe and that there were tests that needed to be done and there were other people saying, oh, it had something to do with the sprinkler system,” Scantlebury said.

 THE CITY

 A major undertaking to remediate contaminated soil under several baseball and soccer fields in Brooklyn has dragged on for nearly a decade, testing the resolve of a local community still recovering from the devastation of Superstorm Sandy.

And it’s getting worse before getting better: In late July, a chain-linked fence emerged around one of the few remaining open spaces at the Red Hook Recreation Area on Bay Street, sealing off the public for at least the next 18 months.

Until recently, locals and athletes enjoyed the space’s track, basketball and handball courts, and four baseball and three soccer fields — especially after the state’s COVID-19 lockdown order was lifted and outdoor activities resumed last year.

“It’s supposed to be done,” Tony Harrison, 58, a Red Hook resident, said of the park overhaul work.

But, he added, “It’s going on and going on.”

 

Admin note: I will no longer be referring Bill de Blasio as the mayor of New York City. I don't care how many days he has left. He's abdicated his position and sold out his constituents for the last time and doesn't deserve the title anymore. Like Louis Grossman said the other day, it's time to say no more.

The city is considering burying coronavirus casualties in public parks

NY Post

A leading New York City lawmaker said Monday that officials may be forced to temporarily begin burying the city’s coronavirus victims in local parks — as morgues and hospitals struggle to keep up with the mounting death toll, a city councilman said Monday.

“Soon we’ll start ‘temporary interment’,” said Councilman Mark Levine (D-Manhattan) wrote in a series of tweets. “This likely will be done by using a NYC park for burials (yes you read that right). Trenches will be dug for 10 caskets in a line.”

“It will be done in a dignified, orderly–and temporary–manner. But it will be tough for NYers to take,” Levine wrote, adding in another tweet, “The goal is to avoid scenes like those in Italy, where the military was forced to collect bodies from churches and even off the streets.”

He later clarified his tweets, saying this “is a contingency NYC is preparing for BUT if the death rate drops enough it will not be necessary.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio was asked about the grim matter during a coronavirus press briefing Monday at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

“We may well be dealing with temporary burials, so we can deal with each family later,” the mayor said. We will have the capacity for temporary burials – that’s all I’m going to say.”

“I’m not going into details,” de Blasio said. “I don’t think it’s a great thing to be talking about.”

However, Hizzoner did mention city-owned Hart Island — the city’s longtime potter’s field and nation’s largest public burial ground, which sits just off The Bronx’s southeast coast in the Long Island Sound.

“We’re going to try and treat every family with dignity, respect religious needs of those who are devout, and the focus now is to try and get through this crisis and obviously also put all of our energy and resources into saving those we can save,” he added.

A spokeswoman for the city’s Medical Examiner’s office, Aja Worthy-Davis, told The Post there are no plans currently to begin temporary burials and that the freezers at agency facilities in Manhattan and Brooklyn have “adequate space.”

“We have no plans right now to bury anyone in city parks,” said Worthy-Davis, noting that the disturbing scenario is mentioned in a previous OCME disaster plan, but “it’s not in the works at this time.”

There is nothing dignified about this plan at all. Also undignified is the fact that this city did not did not prepare and was ill-equipped to handle a major emergency. 

Levine may be doing all the talking and tweeting about this, but this ghoulish idea has de Blasio's micromanaging style all over it.

Riis Park only improved the beach for the bazaar and boardwalk and not for the picnic area

 

Impunity City


Well another summer has departed and the belated autumn solstice has arrived today after the climate change influenced unusual warmth of last October, so this would be the right time to document and review this years spring and summer season spent at Riis Park. And it’s not good at all and it has not ended well, as the dramatic changes that came forth with certain and way overdue (and selective) renovations took place

 As the days of May got later, there actually was a itty bitty slither of hope for the people’s beach. The Riis Park Bathhouse renovation attracted more concessions and restaurant fare, as well as new food stands on the end of the boardwalk by the abandoned hospital and both were supplied with live laptop DJ’s. More food trucks were added to where the heart of the Brooklyn Night Bazaar Riis Park Beach Bazaar takes place, probably for people who do not care for the upscale foodie concept fare being sold in the restaurant inside and the stand by the pitch-and-putt course. There was also the return of the ludicrous high end slum camping concept Camp Rockaway in the dirty chigger infested backyard of the bathhouse. Volleyball courts were also added right in the next yard too for adventurous players and camp guests to play on the hard concrete. It was quite a sight to behold this year on every weekend, as people gathered to enjoy the summer breeze, sharing the company of diverse races and cultures, and extravagantly overpriced fast food, beer and cocktails. Vibrancy in action I believe it’s called.

 

 


But something was missing from all the free market vibrancy going on the boardwalk. Somehow all the restorations and renovations and all the upscale prices that went into providing a venue for the bazaar did not transfer to a very essential part of beach and parkland that was already a big attraction. In fact it was the only vibrant destination spot before the natural disaster of a category one hurricane and the unwelcome appearance of gentrifiers hit the people’s beach (yes, I’m aware of the irony that gentrifiers are people too) and that is the picnic and grilling area.

Before that bitch Sandy came, it was arguably the best and most spacious grilling area in the city. Despite how small it looks, it had ample space and plenty of tables and grills for anyone that showed up anytime. It also had a lot of wind swept trees from the powerful Atlantic Ocean winds that gave the picnic area a cool presence and a visual wonder of nature.

 

 



But where are the goddamn tables? This is a federally tax payer subsidized picnic area.

City: "Now that LIC is overdeveloped, let's worry about infrastructure"

From LIC Post:

The city has committed to investing millions in Long Island City under a new plan released today aimed at supporting sustainable growth in the neighborhood.

The Long Island City Investment Strategy, as the longterm plan is called, outlines the ways the city is and will be addressing practically all infrastructure in the neighborhood, ranging from parks, schools, transportation, and sewage systems.

To fund the improvements, the city is funneling $180 million into the neighborhood on top of $2.2 billion it says it has invested into the area over the years.

The city admits the impetus for its strategy comes from rapid residential development that has strained neighborhood resources and the quality of life of people living in the neighborhood since the 2001 rezoning.

The plan, additionally, stems from coordinating with multiple city agencies and engaging with the community since 2015, where the city heard concerns from distressed locals on infrastructure keeping pace with development.

Weigh in on new park for Nowhere's Land

The New York State Department of Transportation’s (NYSDOT) Kosciuszko Bridge Project includes open space opportunities, including development of a new public park in Queens. The location of the new park, which was selected in conjunction with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and approved by Queens Community Board #2, is approximately bounded by 43rd Street, 55th Avenue, 54th Avenue and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (see map below). Design of the new park will begin this year, and it’s anticipated it will be completed between 2020 and 2021. The new Brooklyn-bound bridge currently under construction will include a bikeway/walkway that will touch down on Laurel Hill Boulevard at 54th Road, a short distance from the new park.

The Queens park consists of two (2) parcels, located north and south of 54th Road. The smaller parcel (approximately 8,000 square feet) and the larger parcel (approximately 24,000 square feet) will provide opportunities for a variety of active and passive features. The new park will include a comfort station. To identify those features that would be most suitable for the area, we would like the input of the local community and other potential users of this destination park.

Click here for survey.

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.

Rats abound at Jamaica site

From the Queens Chronicle:

What once was a private park and playground at the corner of 109th Avenue and 171st Street in Jamaica has long been an overgrown eyesore for nearby residents.

Now it has been designated as a rat-infested danger by the city, which has laid poison in traps around the property and down holes on the lot itself.

“People in the apartment building across the street tell me they don’t want to go outside at night. That’s when they come out,” said Pam Hazel, a neighborhood activist, in one of two telephone interviews with the Chronicle in the last week.

The first treatment was put down on July 7, according to both Hazel and signs posted on the chain link fence around the property by the Department of Mental Heath and Hygiene.

During a visit by the Chronicle in 2013 the property, while already fenced off, had remnants of playground equipment and dilapidated but still recognizable park benches.

A visit last Friday showed the trees to have been cleared out, but that grass, brush and smaller trees have taken over all but the concrete-and-paving stone paths inside.

A handful of residents last Saturday staged a rally outside the property in an effort to draw the attention of the owners and elected officials from the area.

Why did a developer get control of this instead of the Parks Department?

Shocking news: Parks Dept lacks oversight of contractors

From the Queens Tribune:

A lack of sufficient oversight of construction managers has cost the city millions of dollars and led to long-delayed projects—including several in Queens, according to an audit by the city comptroller’s office.

Comptroller Scott Stringer’s audit found that inadequate oversight by the Parks Department cost the city nearly $5 million and that approximately 40 percent of construction projects managed by private firms were completed late, resulting in delays of up to three years.

Additionally, the city paid an extra 35 percent in management fees for late projects.

Removed trash baskets cause dumpers to trash neighborhoods

This PIX11 story is about a residential area in Harlem having their street corner trash baskets removed, however we're aware that this seems to be happening all over the city, even in commercial areas. There's a backwards logic that removing cans means people won't dump trash, which just is not the case.

Private Sunnyside park to become public

From Sunnyside Post:

The city is at last starting up the acquisition process for the former Phipps playground, part of the Sunnyside Gardens Historic District.

The Department of Parks and Recreation is putting forth an application with the city to ultimately turn 50-02 39th Ave., the corner lot at 39th Avenue and 50th Street, into a community park. The site, measuring 10,000 square feet, is currently owned by DBH Associates, a private developer.

The application to the Department of City Planning will be jointly filed with the Department of Citywide Administrative Services for the site selection and acquisition of the parcel of land, a NYC Parks representative said at last night’s CB2 Land Use meeting.

The project must go through public review by way of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, where it will be reviewed by the community board, the Queens Borough president, and make its way to the city council, which could take until next year.

City's war on parks continues

From the NY Times:

The latest battle between New York’s preservationists and developers is being waged over a 1.5-acre parcel of jungle gym and soccer and baseball fields, known as the Marx Brothers Playground.

Preservationists say there is no question that the space is a park. The city parks department has maintained the lot, wedged between 96th and 97th Streets on Second Avenue, since 1947. The department’s leaf symbol adorns a plaque affixed to the gate.

But city officials, who plan to partner with the developer AvalonBay to turn the site into a 68-story tower with school facilities, retail space and a mix of market-rate and affordable housing, insist the space is a playground.

That seemingly minor quibble of semantics is crucial. Parks require the State Legislature’s and the governor’s approval before they can be modified. Playgrounds do not.

Funny thing is that the Parks Dept's own website calls it a PARK.

The privatization of Frank Golden Park?

From the Queens Chronicle:

Frank Golden Park is the main home of the Queens youth athletic club, which has been using it since 2009. The group has around 600 members, with approximately 300 children.

Recently, work on a $1.6 million new field — completely using private funds raised by the athletic association — was finished there. According to Shannon Gaels Chairman Robert McDonagh, the fence that now surrounds the newly finished field is only closed temporarily to protect the new grass. Although the fence will be open during the day, it’s planned to be closed permanently at night when the park is closed.

Now, the Parks Department is seeking Community Board 7’s approval for the design of a second Gaelic football field to be operated by the club right next to the newly completed one in the park. That field, which McDonagh expects to take around 18 months to finish, is paid for by $4.53 million from the City Council and Borough President Melinda Katz.

The agreement allows Shannon Gaels to operate and maintain the section of the green space between March 1 and Oct. 31 of each year. It was written in 2014 and covers a 15-year-period, after which the Parks Department can renew it for five-year terms.

According to the document, the club is required to allow an average of 10 hours on the park’s fields each weekend for it to be used by “other groups,” which are also entitled to one full weekday evening per week. And the deal mandates that school athletic programs be guaranteed a minimum of one late afternoon session per week. Other groups must get a permit to use the space.

Rockaway getting a funding boost

From the Daily News:

On the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, Mayor de Blasio announced plans to spend $145 million on seven park projects to help protect the Rockaways from future floods.

The city will launch the projects – with federal approval – starting with rebuilding Bayswater Park. The work includes installing a berm along the waterfront, plus building sports fields, play areas and a kayaking spot.

The cash comes from $120 million left over from the $480 million the feds earmarked for rebuilding the Rockaway Boardwalk, which Sandy destroyed. The money can be moved to other resiliency projects in the neighborhood.

The city is kicking in another $25 million.

Forest Hills Garden mansion & park history

Brick Underground has a listing for a mansion in Forest Hills Gardens that is pretty interesting. The house shares a private park with other mansions and they have historic photos of both.

City, Wilpons suffer devastating court defeat

From the Village Voice:

After eight years, two lawsuits, countless delays, & three city reversals, the plan for a mall at Willets Point has finally been defeated. And much like the Mets these days, it lost badly.

In a 5-1 decision, the Appeals Court upheld a lower court ruling that held the owners of the Mets could not build a mall on city-owned parkland. The land in question, the former site of Shea Stadium, which was demolished in 2008, is currently the Mets parking lot. A 1961 law allowed that parkland to be used for stadium purposes, a cut-out that a mall would not have satisfied, the court found.

“There is no dispute that the Willets West development is proposed to be constructed entirely on city parkland,” the judges wrote, continuing that the “public trust doctrine,” which dictates the uses for public lands “is ancient and firmly established in our precedent.” Nowhere in the Mets owners arguments, was a mall found to be in line with the public trust doctrine, the court found.

The Mets owners were arguing that by using the mall to fund the remediation of Willets Point (a parcel of land on the other side of their current stadium), and eventually the construction of both affordable housing and a school, the mall was fulfilling the public trust doctrine. The court found that too to be unconvincing, and also didn’t believe the Mets owners were actually going to build the housing or schools.

But wait...these tweeders may not yet be finished! From NY1:

Although the ruling does block the developer from moving forward, the legislature can still step in and intervene.

The legislature would have to vote to use the land for Willets West for non-park purposes. It would also have to find a replacement property to designate as parkland.

Douglaston residents request park space

From the Queens Tribune:

The grassy lot next to the St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church on 234th Street has been vacant for years. Currently owned by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the lot has withstood several proposals from both the city and the church over the years—including plans for a street, nursery and parking lot. But for the past 10 years, local civic associations have opposed each attempt, calling on HPD to transfer the property to the city Parks Department to create a new public green space.

“The community remains solidly in favor of this as a park,” said state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) during a Tuesday press conference adjacent to the property, alongside representatives from several civic associations.

Developer wants to build on kids' playground

From NBC:

Plans to build a 47-story high-rise on top of a playground on the Upper East Side has residents upset: a developer wants to place it smack in the middle of the Holmes Towers public housing complex. Erica Byfield reports.

The fight for the light

From PIX11:

Go for a walk around New York City and you probably will pass right by 217 East 51st Street.

It's a tiny slice of this big place. It's tucked between Second and Third Avenues in Midtown Manhattan.

Trees spread out and green plants lounge on the walls as they soak in the light.

And yes, there's a waterfall. The sound bounces off the buildings that border the place.

Sunlight streams in, at certain times of the day. Time marches on and the nearby buildings sometimes offer shade.

But the sunlight seems to be diminished, as more taller buildings rise around this particular block and in the distance.

"There's a greater Midtown-East Rezoning Plan. We're concerned there will be buildings that will block the light in the park in the afternoon," Gail Caulkins said.

Some building owners, officials and planners have said Midtown zoning needs to be updated to keep up with the commercial area.

Greenacre Foundation commissioned its own study of the light. Supporters believe the taller buildings will cast too big a shadow.

...elected leaders have acknowledged the current fight as the zoning process continues.

This light is not something that will go quietly, if the people who enjoy the space have anything to say about it.

Kew Gardens road construction project takes over public park

From DNA Info:

A large chunk of Maple Grove Park was suddenly transformed into a parking lot for the Queens District Attorney's Office — with no timetable for when it might be restored, and neither city nor state officials saying who signed off on the decision.

For the past six years, the state Department of Transportation has had the right of way to use a lot near the 1.5-acre park tucked between Queens Boulevard, Hoover Avenue and the Van Wyck Expressway as a staging area while the agency works on the lengthy Kew Gardens Interchange project, according to DOT spokeswoman Diane Park.

The project seeks to widen the highway and rebuild its bridges and ramps between Union Turnpike and Hillside Avenue.

But recently, a portion of the green space was paved over to accommodate a second parking lot located between the staging area and the park's seating area, locals said.

A spokeswoman for the Queens District Attorney’s office, Meris Campbell, said the new parking lot is currently being used by DA's staff. She noted the lot was built by the construction company working on the Interchange project, ECCO III Enterprises, Inc., but couldn't say which city agency gave permission to build it.