Po-Ling publicly polls horse's ass

From the NY Times:

Getting the Upper Hand on a Horse Named Bloomberg

Po-Ling Ng, the irrepressible director of the Open Door Senior Citizens Center in Chinatown, has figured out a formula for putting Mr. Bloomberg on the spot.

First, call him names.

Acting as the M.C. of her center’s annual Lunar New Year celebration on Tuesday, the energetic Ms. Ng first called Mr. Bloomberg a “horse,” but she meant no disrespect. She was simply pointing out that the mayor was born in the year of the horse. She also did something that few people would dare: call him by his last name, referring to him simply as “Bloomberg,” and thanking “our lovely Bloomberg.”

Second, demonstrate an astonishing familiarity with Mr. Bloomberg’s family.

Ms. Ng — who is also a horse, as she proudly boasted — noted that Mr. Bloomberg’s grandmother was born on Mott Street. She also presented him with a souvenir of two gold-plated horse wall hangings, signifying the bond between Mr. Bloomberg and his daughter Georgina, a competitive equestrian.

Third, demand money in front of hundreds of elderly citizens.

Ms. Ng praised Mr. Bloomberg for being smart and charitable. And she reminded him of a promise he once made.

“He knows how to make the money,” she said, eliciting big laughs from the crowd. “I said: ‘Bloomberg, you are so rich. You are so rich. Could you donate us some money from your personal package?’ So he said yes. He’s so sweet.”

Then, she put Mr. Bloomberg — a billionaire who is the richest person in the city but sometimes bristles when asked about his money — on the spot. “Will you keep your promise?

“Yes,” he said, a bit sheepishly.

Fourth, make sure he does not forget.

As yet another parting gift, Ms. Ng presented Mr. Bloomberg with a red envelope: a Chinese New Year tradition in which parents give money to children. Mr. Bloomberg’s envelope contained a $20 bill.

“When you see this lucky money,” she said, “you should give us the big check.”

Buh-bye!

From NBC:

The Zazi subway bomb plot would have involved three suicide bombers targeting the trains during rush hour, NYPD police commissioner Ray Kelly confirmed Tuesday.

Kelly added that new information in the case will be released soon. All this after NBCNew York's Jonathan Dienst first reported the terror plot centered on three suicide bombers targeting the subways near Grand Central.

Najibullah Zazi admitted in court Monday to a plot to bomb New York City subways, saying he was recruited by al-Qaida in Pakistan for a "martyrdom plan" against the United States.

The 25-year-old former Denver airport shuttle driver and Afghan native pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support for a terrorist organization.

When asked by the judge if he was trying to be a martyr, Zazi responded: "Yes, your honor. I have a different explanation to that. To me, it meant that I would sacrifice myself to bring attention to what the United States military was doing to civilians in Afghanistan by sacrificing my soul for the sake of saving other souls."

He admitted that his goal all along had been to detonate an explosive device on the the city's mass transit.

He faces life in prison without parole in a plea deal.

One of the people familiar with the Zazi case told the AP that Zazi decided to offer the information after being warned that his mother could face criminal immigration charges.

Now instead of 72 virgins, you'll be doing Bubba for eternity. Awesome!

Bayswater State Park to close

From Crains:

New York parks officials have recommended shutting 41 parks and 14 historic sites in the fiscal year starting April 1, with service reductions at 23 other parks and 1 historic site as the state faces an $8.2 billion budget deficit.

The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation says it's also proposing $4 million in fee increases.

Some of the most popular among the 178 state parks and 35 historic sites would remain open and staffed. Jones Beach on Long Island would close its west swimming pool and eliminate July 4 fireworks. Niagara Falls State Park would reduce its interpretive programs.

In Queens, Bayswater Point State Park will close and on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Riverbank State Park will reduce its operating hours, close its outdoor swimming pool, and eliminate seniors classes and community events.

Parks spokeswoman Eileen Larabee says Friday that officials would review each closed park to determine whether the public could still visit, though parking areas would likely be closed.

Taxpayer money for nothing and TVs for free

From the NY Times:

For all the booms and busts he has lived through, Vincent Riso never thought it would come to this: Offering free 42-inch, flat-screen televisions to lure buyers into government-subsidized homes.

Units at Waters Edge, city-subsidized condominiums in Far Rockaway, Queens, have sold much more slowly than expected.

Historically, such homes have sold quickly. But not at Waters Edge at Arverne, a stretch of 130 town house condominiums Mr. Riso’s company, the Briarwood Organization, built between Far Rockaway’s boardwalk and the A train’s rust-streaked overpass in Queens.

So last spring, Briarwood, which got $12.8 million in city and state subsidies for Waters Edge, began throwing in as much as seven months’ free maintenance on some units, along with the TV. Still, as of mid-February, roughly three years after the units began arriving on the market, 22 of them had yet to sell.

The city has received accolades nationwide for its efforts to provide housing affordable to middle- and lower-income households. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has pledged to build, save or restore 165,000 such housing units by 2014. But while the city is still filling up low-income rentals, the housing program is struggling on the ownership front.

Sales are sluggish at some projects, particularly ones in poorer neighborhoods aimed at middle-income buyers. Few units will be built any time soon: since July 2008, the city has made only two deals with developers for new home ownership projects, down from two dozen deals in the 12 months before that.

New York's Puerto Ricans must get new birth certificates

From NY1:

Identity thieves interested in buying someone else's birth certificate may not have to look very hard, as Puerto Ricans in New York say a certificate from Puerto Rico is easy to find.

The government of Puerto Rico says hundreds of thousands of copies of birth certificates from the island are floating around unprotected and can sell for as much as $10,000.

"Puerto Ricans are selling the birth [certificates]," said one Bronx resident. "They got so many in here pretending to be Puerto Rican, but they are not."

An old law required Puerto Rican residents to leave original copies of their birth certificates in various public and private offices as they filled out paperwork, which opened the door to massive identity theft.

Puerto Rican-Born New Yorkers Have To Get New Birth Certificates
"If you physically look Latino or physically look Puerto Rican, and you show up with a Puerto Rican birth certificate, no questions are asked," said Bronx Congressman Jose Serrano. "Because Puerto Ricans, as you know, are born American citizens and can just leave Puerto Rico and travel to the United States."

Now, a new law that takes effect on July 1 will force anyone born in Puerto Rico to get a new birth certificate.

"The objective of this law is it will invalidate the old birth certificates so that they will lose their value on the black market," said Luis Balzac of the office of Puerto Rico's governor.

City is dishing out the dough

From the Daily News:

The city plans to dish out $2 million on dinner for city workers who stay late during the next two years, budget documents show.

The so-called "supper money" kicks in after two hours of overtime for all unionized civilian workers, except teachers, under a little-known agreement that left many veterans scratching their head.

The dining dollars are set by each agency and generally based on previous spending for meals.

Workers - who see the cash in their paycheck, not actual food - are supposed to put in for meal money only if they agree to take comp time instead of paid overtime...

But the rules are fuzzy, even to agency bosses.

Tell the State Legislature to Protect Our Environment

Protect Queens Environment
Op-Ed BY MARCIA BYSTRYN, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters
(Originally in the Queens Courier)

In this economic downturn, the necessity to exercise fiscal prudence could not be greater. However, when cuts to state programs are proposed, they must be done in an equitable manner. That is why Governor David Paterson’s proposal to disproportionately slash environmental funding is especially troubling and shortsighted.

For the next fiscal year, which starts in April, the governor has proposed a whopping 33 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) – that’s far larger than cuts proposed for other state programs and a move that will put the health and safety of both the environment and the public at risk.

The EPF pays for three main programs: protecting wildlife habitats, improving our parks and recreation, and tackling the state’s solid waste management challenges. Under a plan approved in 2007, this fund was supposed to receive $300 million in 2010. However, the Governor is proposing less than half that amount, just $143 million.

The Governor also wants an all-out ban on habitat purchases (at a time when prices are down by a quarter or even a third) along with a huge cut (40 percent) to our zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums. These institutions play a vital role in our urban environment by educating children and nurturing them as future stewards of our world.

The EPF also plays an important role in Queens’ economy, having funded over $5.3 million in work right here in recent years.

It has given more than $800,000 to Queens businesses and organizations, such as the Greater Jamaica Development Corp. and Long Island City Business Development Corp., to help institute recycling programs. The Community Environmental Center, based in Long Island City, received $250,000 to open a building materials reuse center that cuts down on waste that would otherwise end up in landfills.

Programs related to municipal parks in Queens, such as the development of the Alley Pond Nature Center, have received over $1.5 million. In addition, the borough’s extensive shoreline has benefited, with projects that give residents greater access to Jamaica Bay and improve the much-damaged wetlands near Flushing Creek.

This vital initiative – along with the green jobs it creates – is now in the hands of Queens’ legislators. The borough’s Senators and Assembly members play key leadership roles, and they have proven their environmental bona fides in the past. Let us hope we can count on them again in these tough times to protect the EPF, for our sake and for the sake of Queens’ long-term environmental health, too.

Use this form to contact them.

When will we finally bury Queen Catherine?

From the Queens Chronicle's trivia contest:

Answer All Three Questions

1. What year did the U.S. Open move from Forest Hills to Flushing Meadows Park?

2. Name three famous musicians from Queens.

3. Who is the borough of Queens named after?

Okay. 1 and 2 are easy. But 3 is a trick question. What they probably want you to say is that Queen Catherine of Braganza is the person after whom Queens is named. But that would disqualify you. Why? Let's consult an expert. From the NY Times:

Jim Driscoll, vice president for history at the Queens Historical Society...

"I never really understood the Catherine-Queens connection," he said. "She probably didn't even know Queens existed."

Catherine was no ordinary royal: married to King Charles II of England, she was a Portuguese princess whose family benefited from the slave trade and persecuted Jews in Europe. The borough was supposedly named for her.

Behind the planned removal [of her portrait from borough hall] is a widespread, if contested, belief that Brooklyn, or Kings County, is named for Charles II and that Catherine, his wife, served the same role for Queens. Historians say these stories are unproven, but many residents of Queens say that, regardless, Catherine should not be a symbol of a borough that bubbles with cultural diversity.

And from Wikipedia:

Although some have claimed that Queens, a borough of New York City, was named after Catherine of Braganza, her name is not mentioned in the first 200 years of historical documents that have been preserved in the county archives. She was, however, queen when Queens County was established, alongside Kings County (Brooklyn) in 1683.

I'll explain this simply...

"Queens County" is named after the title, not a particular queen.
"Kings County" is named after the title, not a particular king.

Just as...

"President Street" is named after the title, not a particular president.
"Governors Island" is named after the title, not a particular governor.

Get it?

The entire Queen Catherine movement was nothing more than a Claire Shulman tweeding effort. Sadly, they are teaching this shit to kids in school (see p. 92).

Make sure that when you enter the contest, you put the right answer!

Subway ridership is really down

Self-certification = garage curb cut in crosswalk

Ladies and gentlemen,

I present to you...

A curb cut and parking garage exit in a crosswalk.

164th Street and Northern Blvd in Flushing.

The list of violations for this one is quite interesting. Naturally it was a self-certified job that doesn't conform to approved plans and DOB can't get access to do their audit.

But did they not notice the freakin' curb cut when they came to inspect? That doesn't require access...

You can't make this incompetence up, folks.

Judge overturns convictions in deaths of firefighters

From the NY Times:

A Bronx judge on Tuesday overturned the convictions of the owner and former owner of a building where two firefighters leapt to their deaths from a fourth-floor window to escape advancing flames.

A jury convicted the defendants of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment a year ago; prosecutors had argued that they knew about the illegal partitions that had turned the apartment building into a dangerous maze that helped disorient the firefighters as the flames quickly spread.

But Justice Margaret L. Clancy of State Supreme Court took the unusual step on Tuesday of overturning the verdict because, she said, prosecutors had failed to prove that the defendants — the company that owned the building, and Cesar Rios, its former owner — knew about the partitions.

“An individual or entity cannot be convicted of a crime without evidence of actual knowledge,” Justice Clancy said.

A spokesman for the Bronx district attorney’s office said prosecutors were deciding whether to appeal the decision.

Salvatore J. Cassano, the fire commissioner, said in a statement: “Today’s decision hopefully does not send the wrong message to those who seek to profit by creating illegal occupancies. The fact is, people continue to die in fires because of illegally constructed partitions that block egress.”

NYS DMV workers willing to sell IDs to terrorists

2 NY DMV workers charged in ID theft ring: feds
BRUCE GOLDING, NY Post

Two New York State DMV workers earned more than $1 million issuing driver's licenses with stolen identities to convicted felons -- including a sex offender, federal authorities announced today.

The US Attorney's office in Manhattan announced the arrest of the two employees and four others involved in the scam.

"The integrity of any security system, no matter how elaborate or expensive, is only as good as the integrity of the people who carry it out," Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara.

"Human integrity is every bit as important as cutting edge technology. And in these times, more than ever before, we cannot afford to have any weak links in our security chain."

An undercover officer investigating the ring got an ID after claiming to be on the feds' no-fly list who wanted to travel to Pakistan.

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly added, "Identity fraud puts the public seriously at risk where it can easily be used to help everyone from con artists to terrorists. As recent events attest, New York remains on the top of the terrorist target list."

People are also apparently selling their dead kids' IDs to potential terrorists.

Park vs. parking lot in Douglaston

From the Times Ledger:

The Doug-Bay Manor Civic Association met last Thursday evening to discuss a problem it thought had been set to rest years ago.

At issue is a plot of land adjacent to St. Sarkis Church that most members of the civic want turned into a public park or at the very least a nice home in character with the close-knit Douglaston neighborhood it is a part of.

Avella, who also attended the meeting, opposes the parking lot and made suggestions about what the group should do in order to prevent one from being built.

“Once the [Bloomberg] administration certifies it, they’re going to try to ram it through. You’ve got to kill it before it gets to that point,” he cautioned.

For several years, the civic and elected officials were successful in preventing the city from selling the land to the church, which wants to make it into a parking lot.

Several members of the civic were concerned that if the church acquires the land, it will build a day-care facility or other building there, which they are even more opposed to than the construction of a parking lot.

Halloran’s compromise plan would make allowances to prevent that from happening. He proposed that the church install a parking lot with some green space, that there be a binding covenant that would bar the land from being changed into a building and that there should be financial penalties, payable to the civic or Community Board 11, so the community can sue the church if it decides to construct a building on the land.

Neither the city, church nor the civic has agreed to that compromise and the civic’s chairwoman, Ann Jawin, repeatedly insisted the land should be used for a park since the community has no parkland other than a playground that is closed on weekends.

Why the opposition to creating a park on land that is already city owned? It shouldn't be that big of a deal. So much for the "green mayor" who wants to build parks everywhere. And Halloran - please grow a pair.

Because what LIC really needs is 900 more units...

From Curbed:

The residential project planned for the site of the East River Tennis Center at 44-02 Vernon Boulevard in New York City has been pretty firmly filed under "arrested development" for a while now. But The Real Deal reports that the freeze may be thawing. Loan-holder Durst Fetner Residential is on the verge of selling the project's note to the property's owner, who plans to get construction going. On the menu are 910 units distributed among two 28-story buildings and four eight-story ones. And on a scale of now to never, how should we rate the likelihood of construction actually happening? Turns out the developer has enough financing to start construction on 561 units (one big tower, one small) this year. Is the LIC waterfront—which has no shortage of housing under development (hello, Queens West)—hot enough to handle yet another project?

Paterson just a big, lazy loser

From the NY Times:

On the eve of his election kickoff, however, interviews with dozens of current and former aides, legislators and friends reveal significant criticism about Mr. Paterson’s management of the state and of his election effort.

Those interviewed describe the governor as remote from the most seasoned people around him, and increasingly reliant on people whom he feels comfortable with but who lack deep experience in government, including his former driver, David W. Johnson, and his former Albany roommate, Clemmie J. Harris Jr., who retired from the State Police on disability a decade ago and has been appointed special adviser to the governor.

Some lawmakers say that despite the state’s crippling crisis, Mr. Paterson has seldom engaged with them, beyond denouncing them. And several former state commissioners say he has virtually no involvement with those he has running major agencies, only rarely participating in policy meetings.

In extended interviews with The New York Times last week, the governor emphasized that he believed that he was the best person to lead the state, saying he was working hard and making tough decisions in a brutal economic and political climate.

“I want this job because right now I feel I’m the one who is standing up to the special interests, standing up to the Legislature and standing up for the people of New York,” he said. “I really believe that I’m the person who’s doing that.”

But he also sought to portray himself as the victim of racist caricature — portraits driven, he suggested, by his rivals.

“This latest kind of bashing of me is a depiction of me in what is, in my opinion, a racialized, hypersexualized and more or less dissolute context,” he said, adding, “I resent this sort of, in my opinion, and I’ll be frank with you, kind of profiled way that it appears that all I’m doing is drinking, chasing women, doing drugs.”

Welcome to the real world of politics. The criticism is more because you suck than because you are a black guy. Even other black people think you suck. Time to face it.

Iconic tower nixed from WTC plan

From the Daily News:

An iconic 79-story skyscraper long planned for Ground Zero that would have been taller than the Empire State Building appears to be dead.

Developer Larry Silverstein has proposed a new financing scheme for the troubled site that discards the 1,270-foot Tower 2, sources familiar with the project say. In the past two weeks, he has come under intense pressure from Gov. Paterson to resolve his bitter war with the Port Authority.

Acting after Silverstein was slapped down last month in his bid to snag $3.5 billion in penalties from the PA because of building delays, Paterson urged him to throw more cash into the project and scale back his demands.

Silverstein agreed and is offering to put as much as $250 million into his two remaining Church St. buildings - $175 million more than his last offer - and add $560 million from insurance and Liberty Bonds as well. To further reduce costs, he said he would push ahead with the 71story, 1,137-foot Tower 3 - but dump Tower 2, a projected 2.3 million-square-foot building designed by star architect Lord Norman Foster.

Joe Bruno's pals still got city contracts

From the Daily News:

In the months after Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno was indicted on federal corruption charges, the city awarded $8 million in contracts to a consulting firm the disgraced GOP kingpin headed.

The firm, CMA Consulting Services, received five contracts from the city Human Resources Administration and one from the Department of Consumer Affairs between February and November of 2009, city records show.

The HRA contracts were awarded despite a warning by the city Department of Investigation to the agency that Bruno was facing criminal charges.

Jamaica bodega owners fear robbery crew

From the Daily News:

Cops are looking for a group of armed bandits responsible for eight robberies in Jamaica recently - all pulled off in the evening before the 10 o'clock news.

The robbers struck in groups of two to five over about three weeks, police said.

They hit seven bodegas - one store twice - and left with cash and cigarettes. They also brutally pummeled a customer in one of the stores.

"They're probably just a bunch of neighborhood kids who strike at the right time," said John Malone, a Queens robbery detective. "They're very haphazard."

Police have made one arrest after five men stole $1,200 from the cash register and $3,600 from an employee at Deli Express, 109-18 Sutphin Blvd., on Jan. 18, according to the criminal complaint.

Act fast or someone else may take her!

As seen at Bell and Northern Blvds... here's your chance to lease Rosa Chung. I hear she has a few miles on her and comes cheap.

Sears to GOP: Thanks, but no thanks

From the Daily News:

At 5:01 p.m. this afternoon - seven hours before the deadline for making such a decision - former Democratic Councilwoman Helen Sears filed a formal declination of the GOP line in the March 16 special election to fill Hiram Monserrate's vacant Senate seat, a city Board of Elections spokeswoman confirmed.

A Senate Republican source confirmed the ex-councilwoman called earlier today to inform the minority of her intention to decline the unanimous nod she had received from the Queens GOP last Friday.

Her decision was attributed by the Republicans in no small part to the fact that she had failed to land another line, namely that of the Independence Party.

Trying to win as a turncoat Democrat in a district that is roughly seven-to-one Democratic is hard enough. Doing so with just the GOP line is nearly impossible, even if Hiram Monserrate manages to get onto the ballot as an independent candidate.

The Senate Republicans are disappointed, but resigned. They knew Sears' candidacy was a long shot - at best.