Another illegal conversion leads to death

From the NY Post:

An apartment in the Brooklyn building where a blaze killed a tenant and injured 16 others had been illegally divided into cramped, dangerous living spaces, FDNY sources said.

The fire, sparked by a faulty refrigerator wire, broke out at about 12:35 a.m. Wednesday in a three-story building on Flatbush Avenue near Farragut Road that also housed a storefront church, ­according to the sources.

The tenement was plagued by perilous electrical conditions, ­including exposed wires, fire ­marshals said. After the blaze, the Department of Buildings ordered the remaining residents to vacate.

The owner of the building told The Post that without his consent, a second-floor tenant had created 11 illegal small rooms in his apartment.

Which of Shirley's pals will be next?

From the NY Post:

Disgraced former state Sen. Shirley Huntley is days away from freedom, but the fate of nine people she caught on a federal wire still hangs in the balance.

Huntley is due to be released from a federal halfway house on May 31 after completing 10 months of her one-year sentence in a corruption case. She pleaded guilty last year to stealing $87,700 in taxpayer money from her nonprofit — cash she spent on shopping sprees with Assemblywoman Vivian Cook.

To save herself, Huntley agreed to secretly record fellow politicians and two political operatives at her Queens home, where she was recuperating from a broken ankle.

In June, July and August 2012, Huntley hosted fellow lawmakers in her den, catching them on recording devices hidden in a water bottle, a key chain and a cigarette case.

It was unclear why the feds focused on the nine guests, but at least four had links to the tainted bid by the Aqueduct Entertainment Group to build a racino at the Queens racetrack. The feds reportedly directed Huntley to ask them about Aqueduct.

With the arrest last week of one of the group, Rubin Wills, the “Huntley Nine” are asking: Who’s next?

No one talked on Wills' wire

From the NY Post:

Indicted City Councilman Ruben Wills was trying to get the goods on fellow lawmakers — and get the heat off himself during a state probe of his shady nonprofit — by wearing a wire, The Post has learned.

Wills, who was arrested last week by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, was doing the secret recording at the behest of Schneiderman’s ­office, two sources said.

But Wills apparently failed to deliver.

“He was radioactive, and nobody would speak to him,” a lawmaker said. “Nobody would have anything to do with him.”

Schneiderman’s office began investigating Wills and his charity, New York 4 Life, in 2012 but took no action until last week.

“They’re mad at him for not getting the goods,” the source said.

Hoarding helped Middle Village fire spread

From the Queens Chronicle:

The FDNY has determined the fire started in the wiring of the cellar ceiling of 78-13 68 Ave.

Neighbors complained that the tenants of the home have a habit of collecting items, leaving the house and the front yard cluttered and overgrown with shrubbery.

“They are like hoarders,” Cheryl said. “They keep all of this stuff all over their house.”

Some residents said firefighters were struggling to walk through the cellar when they surveyed the home.

And the turkeys are...

From DNA Info:

She used a bum foot to lure politicians into a federal wire trap.

Last summer ex-Sen. Shirley Huntley secretly recorded seven elected officials, a former aide and a political operative in her South Jamaica home, inviting them over under the ruse that an injured foot made it difficult to travel, according to sources and a court document.

The nine caught on tape are state senators Eric Adams, Ruth Hassell-Thompson, Jose Peralta, John Sampson, Malcolm Smith and Velmanette Montgomery; City Councilman Ruben Wills; Melvin Lowe, a former political consultant; and Curtis Taylor, an ex-Smith press adviser, the court paper shows.

Eight are now targets of criminal investigations, Brooklyn federal prosecutors have said, but none of them have been accused of any wrongdoing.

Wills said in a statement that investigators told him that he is not the subject of a probe.

The names were revealed in a sentencing memorandum connected to Huntley's criminal case that was unsealed Wednesday afternoon.

Huntley, 74, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty in January to mail fraud for siphoning $87,000 from a sham nonprofit. In the run-up to her sentencing, her lawyer submitted the memorandum seeking leniency, citing Huntley's cooperation with FBI agents looking into public corruption.

The memorandum had been under seal, but a judge ruled Tuesday that it should be made public after news outlets, including DNAinfo New York, made the request.

The document details how after being busted, Huntley met with federal agents over a six-month period and told them that she knew of corruption involving elected officials.

Huntley agreed to record certain officials she invited to her modest two-bedroom South Jamaica home, where she lived with her husband, a retired guidance counselor.

She lured the targets over by claiming her broken foot kept her incapacitated, according to sources. She also suffers from sciatica and regularly takes cortisone injections to reduce inflammation in her spine, according to the memorandum.

"She said she had a broken foot but she was wired up the whole time," said the source. "Nobody thought anything of it because she's an old lady."

All nine were recorded and photographed by federal agents, according to the memorandum.

Con Ed decimates another street tree

"It was once a lovely tree on 33rd Ave near the corner of 165th Street in Flushing.

But years of Con Ed overpruning has led to this...

The red tape of death." - The Flushing Phantom

Wire maintenance question

"Are these wires live? Why are they not covered? Which agency is responsible for the maintenance of these wires?" - anonymous

Street tree remains attract trash

About 2 months ago the NYC Parks cut down a street tree at this house on the corner of 55th Street and 32nd Avenue, Woodside. You can see the damage that they caused to the wires and the gutter of the house while they cut the tree down.

The tree, which they cut up and left in the street, has now become a garbage magnet. I appreciate that they removed a possible hazard as the tree didn't look in the best of shape, but they have now created another nuisance. I am not sure why they didn't bring a chipper when they cut the tree down.

Power lines going underground?

From the Daily News:

City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley plans to introduce legislation next week that would require utility companies to bury utility lines underground - a pricey proposal that Con Edison officials have said could lead to costly rate hikes.

Queens has by far the most overhead power lines in the city, with more than 5,500 miles of exposed wires. Staten Island comes in second with just over 4,000 miles. There are no overhead Con Edison lines in Manhattan.

Crowley called the lines "unsightly" and said they can become dangerous - and start fires - when trees knock them down. A loss of power can also pose safety risks to seniors and the disabled, she said.

"They have to make this investment" to submerge the wires, she said of the company. "The longer they wait, the more expensive it's going to be."

But installing an electrical system underground is simply "too expensive," said Con Edison spokesman Chris Olert.

Burying the cables would cost the utility roughly $1 million per mile - a tab that would ultimately be picked up by customers, he said.

That doesn't even include the $5,000 to $10,000 each customers would be charged to connect to the new system, he said.

Brooklynites are not happy with the damage that tree pruning around power lines does to street trees.

On the trail of downed wires in Rosedale

Termites fell utility poles in Springfield Gardens!

From CBS 2:

There was shock on 157th Street as an entire row of utility poles dropped without warning around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in Springfield Gardens.

Five poles in total came down with one of them falling on a UPS truck and two others were left bent and leaning.

About 60 Homes on the block and businesses in a nearby industrial park were left in the dark. Workers were also sent home.

Trees down all over Queens

There are reports of trees falling down all over the borough, including one that recently fell on the westbound Grand Central Parkway. Wires are down, trees are lying atop cars and have crashed into houses. Power is out in some areas. The FDNY, Parks Dept and Con Ed are out there in force.