Construction worker falls to his death at luxury public housing tower development site

QNS 

The Myrtle Point development, also known as Ridgewood Towers, located at 3-50 St. Nicholas Ave., will be 17 stories — making it the tallest building in the area once completed. The mixed-use building will be used for retail and residential spaces.

According to the DOB, the first four floors will be dedicated to commercial use.

In the months leading up to this fatal incident, DOB issued a total of eight violations regarding safety conditions at the construction site. These violations could total thousands of dollars in fines pending an Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings investigation.

One violation issued in March cited a “failure to institute/maintain safety measures resulting in worker injury due to inadequate housekeeping at time of inspection…”

Ted Renz, the executive director of the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District, said that this accident was a tragedy. 

“We are deeply saddened by this tragic accident and loss of life at this construction site,” Renz said. “This is a major development in the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District that will bring major retail and new housing opportunities to the community.”

On March 23, just a couple of weeks before the fatal fall, DOB issued safety violations after another worker was injured due to “poor safety conditions.”

The Ridgewood Towers project was originally met with much opposition from the local community and its leaders when it was proposed over five years ago.

Springfield Gardens civic condemns arriving luxury tower

Queens Chronicle

Several civic association leaders and members have banned together in opposition to the development of an apartment complex in Springfield Gardens that would change the zoning for the area and it could also have larger implications on other Southeast Queens neighborhoods.

“When this item popped up here, putting a seven-to-eight story apartment building here, we were like that is not the character of this neighborhood,” said Bill Perkins, the project manager of the Southeastern Queens Zoning Preservation Task Force. “That is not the character of this neighborhood and that’s not why people have moved to this community.”

The proposal is for an eight-story mixed-use building at 146-93 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. of 42 units (13 would be income-restricted) studios to two-bedrooms within 33,500; square feet, with 46 parking spaces and 4,000 square feet of commercial space, according to Mark McMillan, the district manager of CB 13. Springfield Gardens and the surrounding neighborhoods of Laurelton, Brookville and Rosedale do not having apartment buildings that high and tend to have mostly one-to-two family homes.

“This is the biggest issue in the community,” said McMillan. “I’ve never seen this much opposition to something.”

CB 13 voted down the proposal 32-0 with zero abstentions, according to McMillan, earlier this week.

“We stay connected through our civic associations,” said Perkins. “We want to make sure our communities’ voices are heard.”

The Springfield/Rosedale Community Action Association, the SpringJam Block Association, the Spring-Gar Community Civic Association, the Eastern Queens Alliance, the Rosedale Civic Association and the Federated Blocks of Laurelton are all against the proposal from developer Ranbir LLC.

“The tallest facility that exists in this community board is Saratoga Shelter right on Rockaway between Guy R. Brewer and Farmers,” said Lonnie Glover, president of Spring-Gar. “This is a very heavy intersection between 147th Avenue and Guy R. Brewer.”

The area was only built for one-to-two family homes and when sewer projects were initiated in the 1990s to alleviate flooding in the area, apartment buildings were not taken into consideration, according to Glover, who has lived in Springfield Gardens for more than two decades. The area already has high traffic and overcrowded schools.

“We are also oversaturated when it comes to parking,” said Glover. “When you add 36-plus units, some of these people are probably going to have more than one car. In fact, this used to be an empty lot. It was an unofficial parking space for people going to JFK Airport.”

If the zoning changes on the Springfield Gardens site it will have a domino effect on other neighborhoods in Southeastern Queens, according to Perkins, who lives in nearby Rosedale.

“We didn’t move here for that,” said Perkins. “Also, it depreciates the home values here.”

Blissfully overbuilding in Blissville

The status as of November 2020: Here it is in 2021: So what the hell is this?

Wait for it....

Stevie needs one more homeless shelter before he exits stage left.

Peruse the filings at your own will.

Sent by the original Crapper

Community and Council member calling for investigation of bad Blaz's bribe derived blood center tower deal

  

NY Daily News

A community group opposed to a contentious Upper East Side rezoning is demanding two city watchdog agencies investigate Mayor de Blasio and a law firm pushing the land-use change, citing what it describes as de Blasio’s “potential conflict of interest.”

De Blasio, who supports the rezoning, owes the law firm Kramer, Levin & Naftalis an estimated principal debt of $300,000 for work it did to defend him against multiple corruption investigations starting in 2015. With interest, the total debt comes to about $435,000 — but so far, none of it has been repaid.

Kramer Levin is also representing the New York Blood Center, a non-profit blood bank, which is pursuing the rezoning so it can replace its three-floor headquarters with a tower more than 300-feet tall.

The plan has been a lightning rod in the community, with locals saying the proposed building isn’t a good fit for the mostly residential neighborhood and area elected officials lining up against it.

 De Blasio and several members of the City Council, however, are backing the plan, which has led one community group that opposes it — Eastsiders for Responsible Zoning — to question the mayor’s considerable debt to Kramer Levin, citing it as a red flag that the city’s Department of Investigation and Conflicts of Interest Board should further examine.

“Mayor de Blasio currently owes Kramer Levin a substantial sum stemming from Kramer Levin’s representation of the mayor in multiple corruption probes of his fundraising activities,” the group’s co-founder Bill Angelos wrote in a letter to DOI dated Nov. 8. “The non-payment of this debt represents a potential conflict of interest.”

Angelos goes on to write that the mayor’s support for the project and his efforts to whip votes in its favor stems in part from “the substantial obligations the mayor owes Kramer Levin.”

“Most concerning is that there’s no payment plan disclosed,” he continues. “With each passing month, this debt grows by an additional $4,000, creating more and more leverage for Kramer Levin against the mayor.”

Residents raise ruckus over displacement of theater synagogue and diner for luxury tower

NY Post

More than 3,500 residents have signed a petition to save the beloved Ohr Natan Synagogue — housed in an Art Deco-style building with an iconic clock tower — and the Trylon Theater & Tower Diner in Rego Park, according to a change.org petition.

The project was hotly debated at a Community Board 6 meeting Wednesday evening.

“This is one of the most cultural, social, significant, historical, and architectural sites of the community,” the petition proclaims. “The redevelopment plan would not only demolish historic buildings, but uproot a synagogue providing religious & humanitarian services, and likely pose an economic hardship on all the small businesses in the area.”

During the public hearing period at Wednesday night’s meeting, many locals voiced their opposition to the plan.

“This proposed change is not just disturbing, it is devastating,” Queens resident Carol Hagarty said in written testimony to the board.

“No accommodations are in place to preserve whatever is of historic, architectural, or social value on the block!” said Hagarty, who has lived in the area for over 40 years.

Another public commenter, Joanne Davis, wrote: “Build apartment buildings elsewhere. Raze ugly square buildings. Do not destroy this beautiful building.”

Queens City Council crony acts as proxy for Brooklyn City Council crony to approve luxury public housing tower in her district

  

Brooklyn Paper

 The City Council moved to approve the controversial 840 Atlantic Avenue rezoning this week, despite its failure to gain support from Community Board 8.

The City Council Land Use Committee voted to approve the application — which will allow for an 18-story building on the corner of Vanderbilt and Atlantic Avenues in Prospect Heights that currently hosts a McDonalds drive-through — on Sept. 13, leaving only the full City Council to vote before it’s written into law. 

An updated version of the proposal was presented to and approved by the community board’s land use committee on Sept. 2. The latest version of the proposal reduces the number of affordable units to about 54, but cements their affordability at a deeper level under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program at option 3. It also reduces the building’s bulk by about 10 percent. 

The proposal to erect a dense mixed-use building at the corner of the two heavily trafficked thoroughfares was rejected numerous times by the boards land use committee, and by Borough President and would-be mayor Eric Adams, who requested a less dense alternative be proposed.

Committee members repeatedly raised concerns that the development was out of step with the long-planned M-Crown rezoning, which seeks to rezone the industrial corridors of Prospect and Crown Heights for development while retaining jobs in the area. The developer, Atlantic-Vanderbilt Holdings LLC, was asked by board members to resubmit their application.

Community boards play an advisory role in the Uniform Land Use Review Process, but they must officially weigh in before a project can move forward. 

The exact identity of Atlantic-Vanderbilt Holdings LLC remains murky, though Simon Duschinsky of the Rabsky Group development firm is known to be a passive investor in the project. 

According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Councilmember Laurie Cumbo, who represents the area and has the most influence over land use decisions, brokered a meeting between select committee members and the developer, which led to the most updated version of the proposal being presented to the committee and approved. 

Neither Cumbo nor any of her staffers participated in the meetings, which were attended solely by committee members and representatives for the developer, according to the source.

A statement read by City Council Land Use Chair Francisco Moya during a Sept. 10 meeting of the land use subcommittee indicated her support, though Cumbo has not attended any of the public meetings regarding the project. 

“840 Atlantic Avenue presents a rare opportunity to secure truly affordable housing and an affordable long term home for the beloved arts organizations and job-generating commercial space on a site that is currently home to only a parking lot and fast food restaurant,” the statement reads. 

A representative for Cumbo did not return a message seeking further comment. 

 

Donnie Richards approves luxury public housing tower in Woodside...a month ago.

 

Queens Post 

 A developer’s application to rezone a large piece of property on Roosevelt Avenue received the blessing of the Queens Borough President last month and the project’s fate is expected to be determined by the city council in October.

The application calls for the development of a 13 story, 213 unit complex—including 54 affordable units—on Roosevelt Avenue­ between 62nd and 63rd Streets. About 10 stores along the avenue will have to be bulldozed to make way for the project.

The project was approved by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards on July 20, about six weeks after Community Board 2 voted in favor of the project, 30-5, on June 3.

The developer seeks to construct a 211,500 square foot building that would also include 7,500 square feet of space dedicated to arts groups—in addition to the affordable housing.

Without a rezoning, the building would be limited in size to 119,500 square feet (nine stories)—and only 123 units could be built. The developer, however, would not be required to provide affordable housing or offer art space.

Richards came out in favor of the project, subject to a number of commitments from the developer that Community Board 2 also sought.

He called on the developer, Woodside 63 Management LLC, to provide family sized units and to make sure that the 54 “affordable units” are offered to households earning an average Area Median Income of 60 percent. This equates to a household income of $68,220 for a family of four.

 

Better not shout you better not cry you better not pout I'm telling you why, the tower prison is coming to town

 

Queens Post

Workers have broken ground on a community space and parking garage near Queens Borough Hall — the first major step in the construction of a borough-based jail in Kew Gardens, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.

The new facility, which will be 105 feet tall, will include a 25,000-square-foot multi-purpose community space and more than 600 public parking spots.

The facility is being built adjacent to the future site of a 195-foot-tall jail — where the decommissioned Queens Detention Complex at 182-02 82nd Ave. is located. The detention facility will be demolished while the garage is being built.

The garage/ community space building will be erected on the west side of an existing parking lot at Union Turnpike between 126th Street and 132nd Street. The future 886-bed jail will eventually span both the site of the former Queens Detention Complex and the east side of the parking lot.

However, the east side of the lot, with 140 parking spots, will remain open for public usage during construction of the parking garage — which is expected to be completed in early 2023.

The facility is being built ahead of the new jail — which earlier proposals slated design and construction to begin in 2023. 

 The future jail is part of the city’s larger $8.3 billion plan to close the jails on Rikers Island by 2026 and replace them with four smaller jails in every borough but Staten Island.

“Today we move one huge step closer to our goal of a fairer and more equitable jail system for all New Yorkers,” de Blasio said in a statement. “Closing Rikers Island will make our city stronger and more just, and I’m proud to deliver a system that better reflects this city’s values.”

Giant Grand Central tower proposal gets a push back from architecture expert

  

NY Post

 An 82-year-old preservationist is single-handedly waging war against a 1,645-foot mega-tower that’s set to go up next to Grand Central — claiming the behemoth building would mar the “heart of New York.”

Christabel Gough, the secretary of the Society for the Architecture of the City, filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court Wednesday seeking to stop the project at 175 Park Avenue, which the complaint says would “completely overwhelm and resign to utter insignificance the grandeur of Grand Central.”

“I came here with my grandfather when I was a small child,” Gough told The Post.

“This is the heart of New York and it should be protected. Why do we have a landmarks law if not to protect buildings like Grand Central?”

Developed by RXR Realty and TF Cornerstone, the proposed building would be more than five times the size of the 26-story Grand Hyatt hotel its replacing on East 42nd Street.

In her suit, Gough marvels over the transportation hub that she says she “regularly frequents” to enjoy its “beauty, historic and architectural eminence and cultural significance.”

She is accusing the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission of issuing an advisory opinion, instead of greenlighting the 83-story structure with a formal opinion, which is legally required and entails a higher bar for approval.

The LPC should have required the MTA, as the owner of Grand Central, to file an application for a “certificate of appropriateness” for the project — since it will alter the terminal and its viaduct, the court papers say.

But instead, the LPC allowed the MTA to merely file a request for a “report and recommendation” — a more relaxed and non-binding standard for project proposals, the filing alleges.

The LPC issued that report and recommendation in February.

Rego Park diner and other small businesses will be destroyed for luxury public housing tower

 Queens Post

 A developer has filed permits to demolish a number of buildings in Rego Park, including a popular diner and a synagogue that occupies a historic Art Deco building.

RJ Capital Holdings, under the name Trylon LLC, filed the demolition permits on May 3 for the triangular lot at 98-85 Queens Blvd. where Tower Diner, Ohr Natan Synagogue and several businesses sit.

The development company aims to rezone the site in order to build a 16-story mixed-use building on the soon-to-be empty lot. The rezoning plans have yet to be certified by the Dept. of City Planning, with the public review process still to take place.

 Rudolf Abramov, managing principal of RJ Capital Holdings, previously told the Queens Post that he aims to offer Ohr Natan Synagogue space in the new building, as well as any other current tenants who are interested.

The synagogue is a popular place of worship for members of the Bukharian community in the neighborhood. It occupies the building that once was the historic Art Deco-styled Trylon Theater, which opened in 1939 and closed in 1999. It serves a congregation of roughly 1,000 members, mostly residents of Rego Park and Forest Hills.

The leaders of the synagogue and the development company have been at odds with each other for years, but have since reconciled and hope to establish a home for Ohr Natan in the proposed development.

Billionaire row tower crane spins like a music box ballerina and drops 8 ft. blades on 57th St.

 

 NY Post

A crane on top of a high-rise apartment building in Manhattan went spinning in the wind Thursday evening, sending debris from the under-construction building falling to the street below. 

The crane, atop a Midtown building under construction on West 57th Street near Sixth Avenue, spun wildly in the wind and rain, video taken at the scene shows. 

Fire officials said the FDNY was responding to building debris at 111 West 57th St. It was not clear if there were any injuries in the incident. The NYPD also warned pedestrians to avoid the area because of falling debris.

“Please avoid the area of West 57th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues due to an unstable crane and falling debris. 

Expect emergency vehicles and traffic in the area,” the department said in a tweet.

The Department of Buildings said the crane was safely secure, but “weathervaning” in the wind, a normal crane function which allows them to swing 360 degrees when not in use. 

The agency was investigating what caused the debris to come crashing down from the building.

Ridgewood's late Happy Days store gives way to 7-story apartment building.

 QNS


In January, the new owner of 17-11 Hancock St. — formerly Happy Days children’s clothing store — filed permits to build a seven-story residential building on the property.
 
The property was sold along with adjoining plots at 56-40/56-42 Myrtle Ave., near the M and L subway lines, for $9.3 million in November.
 
The proposed 70-foot-tall development will yield 60 units and 47,756 square feet — 39,673 of which is designated for residential space. The plans call for a 30-foot-long yard in the back of the building.
 
The owner on file, Leo Kaufman, listed the application under the Hancock Residence LLC. Over the past five years, Kaufman has developed two other small-scale apartment complexes nearby at 18 Stanhope St. and 79 Stanhope St. on the other side of the Bushwick border.

Multi-family homes will be destroyed for mega tower.

LIC Post

Three more century-old homes in Long Island City are slated for demolition.

The multi-family homes are all located on the same block – one at 23-10 45th Ave. and two at 45-03 and 45-07 23rd Street.

The demolitions will clear the way for the construction of a 45-story building near the southeast corner of 23rd Street and 45th Avenue in the heart of Court Square.

Development Site

Permits for the demolitions were filed Nov. 8. A total of seven multi-family homes on the block are in the process of being torn down to make way for the new high-rise.
The addresses of the buildings to be bulldozed extend from 23-10 to 23-16 45th Ave., and 45-03 to 45-09 23rd St.

The new project, however, will not cover the corner two-story building currently at 45-01 23rd St. The developer noted in city filings that attempts to purchase the property and its development rights from the owner were unsuccessful

Wolkoff adds public library to "5 Pointz" tower, community board approves

THE CITY

A Queens community board reversed its opposition to a new proposal for 5Pointz Towers — a luxury complex planned at the site of a famed former Long Island City street art mecca — thanks, in part, to a library.

The yes vote came just over two months after Community Board 2 wrote a letter to the City Planning Commission recommending denial of the application, alleging the developer had “sought every way to thwart community board review.”

On Thursday night, the board made a surprise 180-degree turn — in the middle of its meeting. First, members voted 20-to-8 against the developer’s application. Then they voted 23-to-5 in favor of the towers after a proposal to set aside 5,000 square feet for a library.

The space was viewed by board members as a possible replacement for the Court Square Library, which is in danger of losing its longtime home in the Citigroup Building.

The board’s land use chair, Lisa Deller, said after the meeting the idea had not been previously discussed with the developers or the Queens Public Library.

The board’s advisory vote marked the latest chapter in the saga of 5Pointz — the former warehouse complex that drew artists and art lovers from around the world until the owners whitewashed the walls before demolishing the buildings in 2013.

Developer David Wolkoff, who co-owns the property with his father, Jerry, filed an application with the City Planning Commission in May to build 1,100 apartments and to increase each of the complex’s two towers by one floor, tweaking previous plans.

“I’ve been in the community over 47 years,” Jerry Wolkoff told CB2 Thursday night. “The community never had a problem with me until I wanted to build this building.”

Woodside community strikes back at tower development by elevated train tracks

Sunnyside Post


A 17-story, 90-unit apartment complex is planned to go up on Roosevelt Avenue and members of Community Board 2’s Land Use Committee oppose it—saying the building would be out of character with the area and put additional pressure on nearby infrastructure.

The developer, Peng Li of HW LIC One LLC., plans to build two structures on the corner of 51st Street and Roosevelt Avenue—with one being a 17-story mixed-use building and another a four-story school building.

The development is slated to go where the blue-colored J & Sons Supply building once stood, flush against the elevated 7 line. The building was recently demolished.

Li needs the Board of Standards & Appeals to grant him a special permit before he can move forward with the project. The site is located in the flight path of LaGuardia Airport and the proposed building is 190 feet tall—exceeding the permitted height in the flight path by 50 feet.

The community board gets to weigh in on Li’s application with a non-binding recommendation.

A luxury tower grows in Flushing

QNS


A new proposed Flushing development may become the tallest building in the borough of Queens outside of Long Island City. 

The 400-foot-tall structure consisting of two residential towers, 39 stories each with four floors of underground parking and an official address of 71-12 Park Ave., will include 488 apartments, according to plans pre-filed with the Department of Buildings (DOB) on Tuesday. 

Plans to construct the two development sites, with a total area of 2.4 acres, were announced by David Marx, of MDG Real Estate Global Limited, who purchased the lot for himself, The Real Deal reported. On Aug. 4, MDG announced that the sale had been completed, but New York City property records do not show any transfer of real property. 

MDG’s Israeli bondholders approved the deal in May. Marx purchased the vacant lots for roughly $54 million off of his British Virgin-Islands registered holding company, MDG Real Estate Global Limited. 

Nothing written here about affordable apartments. And such an impressive amount of money invested in this with millions and millions diverted from a island account. I'm not a federal agent or an economy scientist, but this all looks as dirty as what's behind that green mesh fence.

Supertall tower development to be crammed onto street corner by elevated train tracks.

 
LIC Post


Long Island City could soon be home to yet another large tower, with a 45-story development planned in the heart of Court Square.

The proposed tower would rise at the southeast corner of 23rd Street and 45th Avenue, immediately adjacent to the elevated 7 line tracks and on the same block as the Court Square station entrance. The building would also rival the 50-story One Court Square across the street.

The tower, being developed by Tavros Capital Partners, would span around 308,500 square feet, and includes approximately 250 residential units. About one-fifth of the building would be made up of office space, with some space allotted for retail use.

The development, with a height of 524 feet, also has an L-shaped footprint that covers seven low-rise multi-family buildings currently on site. The addresses of the buildings, which will be torn down to make way for the project, extend from 23-10 to 23-16 45th Ave., and 45-03 to 45-09 23rd St.


Long Island City could soon be home to yet another large tower, with a 45-story development planned in the heart of Court Square.

The proposed tower would rise at the southeast corner of 23rd Street and 45th Avenue, immediately adjacent to the elevated 7 line tracks and on the same block as the Court Square station entrance. The building would also rival the 50-story One Court Square across the street.

The tower, being developed by Tavros Capital Partners, would span around 308,500 square feet, and includes approximately 250 residential units. About one-fifth of the building would be made up of office space, with some space allotted for retail use.

The development, with a height of 524 feet, also has an L-shaped footprint that covers seven low-rise multi-family buildings currently on site. The addresses of the buildings, which will be torn down to make way for the project, extend from 23-10 to 23-16 45th Ave., and 45-03 to 45-09 23rd St.