104th Pct had most graffiti arrests in city

From the Daily News:

Tag, Ridgewood and Glendale, you're it: the top neighborhoods for graffiti complaints in the city.

Although spray paint complaints were down overall in the five boroughs last year, police in the 104th Precinct, which also covers Middle Village, received 800 graffiti gripes - up 305% from the 262 of 2009.

Citywide, there were 9,850 graffiti complaints last year - an overall decline of 3% from the 10,162 of 2009.

But the drop couldn't erase the aerosol explosions in Queens North (up 21%) and Manhattan South (up 42%).

In Ridgewood Wednesday, store owner Barry Azizian recounted how his business was recently tagged with an "RIP" message by local kids.

"I complained, and they got the kids," he said, describing one of his tormentors as "a lowlife."

"He shouldn't be doing this," said Azizian, 49, owner of Myrtle Discount Auto Parts. "He lives in the neighborhood. We pay taxes. We want to have a nice life here."

A crackdown in the 104th Precinct produced 102 graffiti-related arrests in the first four weeks of this year. There were 174 busts all of last year.

Better accident data coming soon

From the NY1:

When there's a murder in New York City, or a robbery or an assault, New York City Police Department reports it to the public. But the department's statistics on car accidents, bike crashes, and collisions involving pedestrians aren't nearly as easy to pin down. At least not right now.

The City Council unanimously approved a slate of legislation Wednesday that requires the police to disclose more data about traffic and bicycle accidents. Council members and advocates say it will help New Yorkers.

The NYPD will be required to publish a searchable database, updated monthly, about traffic accidents, injuries and fatalities. It will be so detailed that New Yorkers will be able to put look up the accident history at a specific intersection. The department will also have to say how many moving violation tickets are handed out.

The city's Department of Transportation will also get involved. It will be required to publish a report every five years that looks at all traffic crashes resulting in a serious injury or death. The department will name and rank the 20 most dangerous intersections in New York.

The legislation comes at a time of intense debate over the proliferation of bike riders – and bike lanes – in NYC. And the release of this new accident data seems poised to play a key role in that fight.

Sexless living in LIC

From the Village Voice:

Location: Long Island City, Queens
Rent: $3,000 a month/$600 per person
Size: 3,500 square feet (industrial loft)
Occupants: Tanya Horo (musician), Tim Maybury (bartender/guitarist), David Benge (band manager/tour coordinator), Lani Terry (graphic designer)

The first thing people ask about the Sherlock's Daughter loft is: How do you handle carnal affairs? A fair question, given that none of the bedroom walls reach the ceiling. The answer is: You don't.

Actually, the first question that came to my mind was: Is it legal for people to have created a commune inside a factory? The second question that came to mind was why didn't the Voice ask my first question?

Corrupt pols seek to honor another

From the Daily News:

Renaming the Queensboro Bridge after former Mayor Ed Koch moved a step closer to reality Friday after a City Council hearing that nearly doubled as a pep rally.

The testimony - much of it delivered by Koch's former colleagues in city government - was punctuated by laughter and fond memories of the ex-mayor.

"Mayor Koch is bold, tough, effective, charming and he stands firm, each and every day," former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman said with a chuckle. "The same can be said for our bridge."

"He helped saved all the city's bridges, including this one," said Robert Tierney, chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

A vote on the proposal to christen the span as the Edward Koch-Queensboro Bridge will be held within weeks.

Claire Shulman admits her malfeasance

What was that, Claire? You admit that you were set up as a not-for-profit and funded by the city for the express purpose of illegally lobbying the city to get the Willets Point project passed? Subsequently, you were fined a record amount for not being registered and had a fundraiser at Citifield to pay off the fines.

How about this 1991 study, completed while you were borough president, that said the infrastructure should be installed and the area would thrive on its own? Who's that next to you and what is his role in all this?

Didn't you also assure everyone that eminent domain would only be used as a last resort? So why aren't you standing up and condemning the condemners?

Our borough's proud achievement

From the Times Ledger:

Of the 13 legislators who left office due to scandal or ethical misconduct from 2005-10, nearly a quarter of them were from Queens, according to a report released Monday by good government group Citizens Union on turnover in the state Legislature.

The number of state legislators leaving office due to criminal charges or misconduct has tripled in the last six years compared to the six-year period from 1999-2004, the report found.

Former Flushing state Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin was sent to prison on corruption charges and ex-Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio resigned in June 2009 after being indicted for corruption.

Erstwhile state Sen. Hiram Monserrate was kicked out of the Senate for cutting his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo, with a broken glass.

While the report did not document the departures of statewide officials, former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi of Forest Hills resigned in 2006 over a scandal involving him having the State Police chauffeur his ailing wife.

From 2005-10, 13 lawmakers were booted from office due to criminal charges or misconduct while only four legislators left for the same reasons from 1999-2004, the report found.

Hot sheets hotel permit yanked

From the Times Ledger:

A developer’s plan to build a controversial motel near Springfield Gardens High School was blocked by the city Friday just weeks after the community was alerted that the construction was continuing.

The city Department of Buildings revoked the permits for the construction of the lodge at 219-05 N. Conduit Ave.

Residents have been protesting the building of the motel and its developer, Saliesh Ghandi, because several of his other establishments in Brooklyn have offered rooms at hourly rates and community members fear it might attract illicit activities to the area.

In October, the department had initially given Ghandi the green light to restart his construction, which started two years ago, but reversed its decision when the agency discovered he did not adhere to new zoning rules.

Gianaris to the rescue?

From Curbed:

The Miami-sounding Casa Vizcaya in Long Island City was born during the boom and racked up some pretty impressive sales, including a $2 million penthouse. It might also be falling apart! How did we learn this? Exactly how you think: through a photo caption on the Facebook page of a state senator.

What will replace a piece of Woodside history?

From Lost City:

...according to this reader, it was recently sold by the old lady who owns it, and the new owners plan to tear it down.

My correspondent is very upset about this, and wishes she could save the structure. Why, you ask? I can understand you asking. But look beyond the awful layers of be-uglifying siding which have coated the house over the years, and recognize the innately handsome frame of the building, which is actually 110 years old. (Surprise!) And then consider how ugly Woodside is in general and how little it can afford to lose yet more of its older edifices.

...I'm just pointing out the kind of hidden-in-plain-sight thing that is being lost every single day in this short-sighted town. Is there any chance—ANY chance—that the home that replaces this one will be a patch of what will be lost?

Gonna go out on a limb here and say NO.

Illegal conversion kills immigrant

From the NY Post:

A fire in an illegally subdivided Brooklyn apartment killed an NYPD traffic agent yesterday, authorities said.

Firefighters found the body of Mohammed Miha, 40, on the hallway stairs in the two-story house on Drew Street near Pitkin Avenue in East New York.

The cause of death was likely smoke inhalation or burns, FDNY Battalion Chief John Johnson said.

Miha, a Bangladeshi immigrant who joined the force last year after working as a cabby, had no family in the United States but was engaged to a woman in Canada, according to his friend Kazal Mahmood.

STATEMENT FROM BUILDINGS COMMISSIONER ROBERT LIMANDRI ON TODAY’S FATAL FIRE IN BROOKLYN INVOLVING AN ILLEGALLY CONVERTED CELLAR APARTMENT

“Today’s fatal fire at 568 Drew St. in Brooklyn serves as a tragic reminder to all New Yorkers that illegal conversions can have horrific consequences. Our inspectors have determined the cellar of this two-story building was illegally converted into an apartment, and it appears the lack of a second means of egress prevented the resident from escaping during the fire. This tragedy could have been prevented, which is why we continue to educate New Yorkers about the signs and dangers of living in these illegal dwellings. On behalf of the Department of Buildings, I would like to extend our deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends.”

Don't touch those trees!

From SI Live:

How much are trees worth?

More than $135,000 in the case of the developer whom the city fined for removing at least six trees without permission around 2008 to construct five Shore Acres homes.

The spacious one-family houses at 35, 43, 49, 55 and 61 Shore Acres Road are situated within the Special Natural Area District, so designated to preserve unique natural characteristics, including trees, rock outcrops, steep slopes and a variety of botanic and aquatic environments.

Perched on a narrow, quiet street in the shadow of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the homes range in value from $665,000 to $947,000, according to online city Finance Department records.

A Staten Island justice recently upheld the fine against the builder, Block 3066 Inc., ruling the statute of limitations had elapsed before the company challenged the compensatory payment.

They're in foreclosure, but we'll be paying

From the NY Times:

New York court officials outlined procedures Tuesday aimed at assuring that all homeowners facing foreclosure were represented by a lawyer, a shift that could give tens of thousands of families a better chance at saving their homes.

Criminal defendants are guaranteed a lawyer, but New York will be the first state to try to extend that pledge to foreclosures, which are civil matters. There are about 80,000 active foreclosure cases in New York courts. In more than half of them, only the banks have lawyers.

Under the procedures, which will be put in place in Queens and Orange Counties in the next few weeks and across the state by the end of the year, any homeowner in foreclosure who does not have a lawyer will be supplied one by legal aid groups or other pro bono groups.

Legal aid groups are expected to have foreclosure offices in the courts to handle the influx.

Legal aid groups will find the task of representing all foreclosure defendants easier if the State Legislature agrees to Judge Lippman's request for a $100 million increase in legal services programs spread over the next four years. Current financing for legal services in New York is about $200 million a year drawn from a variety of public and private sources.

Bloomberg lied about eminent domain at Willets Point

"You cannot have a situation where one building owner sits there and sticks it to the whole city."

One building owner? There are about 250 businesses still in existence at Willets Point, and the City itself says there are have not been deals made with 9 property owners in the phase 1 footprint, mainly because they have not approached them to discuss the situation.

So where does he get one holdout sticking it to the whole city?

It's more like one mayor sticking it to the whole city.

Vito wants Pfizer condemned for affordable housing

From the NY Post:

With Brooklyn’s residential real estate market still slumping, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has sold more than half of its former South Williamsburg complex to a company planning to bring new light-manufacturing and commercial jobs to the long-shuttered site.

Pfizer today announced it sold eight of 13 acres at the Flushing Avenue complex – the Fortune 500 firm’s 162-year-old birthplace – to Acumen Capital Partners of Long Island City.

The move comes two years after Pfizer, citing a tough economic climate, dropped plans to redevelop the site with a mixed-use plan anticipated to bring more than 1,000 apartments.

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Carl Hum called the deal "great news," adding the new jobs would replace some of the 600 lost when Pfizer shut its massive plant in 2008.

But the news was a bitter pill for Assemblyman Vito Lopez.

The Brooklyn Democratic Party boss said he plans to introduce legislation to seize Pfizer’s remaining five acres north of the plant through eminent domain so that roughly 1,800 units of affordable housing can still be built.

Photo from Brownstoner

Water bills on the rise

From NBC:

DEP Commissioner Cas Holloway says some residents are seeing inflated water bills, not because of the new electronic meters, but because of costs associated with last summer’s record high temperatures.

“This is one of the hottest summers ever, so we know that people used more water,” Holloway said. “People use more water when it’s hot. It took more water to water people’s lawns.”

Indeed, the DEP provided detailed water records showing Martin’s water usage last summer spiked significantly in the early morning hours when his sprinkler system was on.

The City also cited water consumption data showing, aside from last summer, New Yorkers haven’t been using more water since the wireless meter installation began.

“Bills are not going up because wireless meters are being installed,” Holloway said.

Still, there is a stubborn perception the radio transmitters might somehow be more prone to errors. After a wireless transmitter was installed in Kay MacDermott’s basement, the retired assistant district attorney noticed the City began billing her for sewer use – even though her home is connected to a private septic tank.

Over the last four years, city water rates have jumped by more than 50 percent and the DEP is forecasting another significant increase in water prices this year. Officials suggested residents who are complaining about the new meters might be erroneously blaming the new technology, when the real culprit behind inflated bills is higher water rates.

Busted at the Baisley Houses

From Eyewitness News:

Dozens of people were arrested in a major narcotics bust at a city housing project in Queens Thursday morning.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly announced the indictment of 14 people and the arrest of 48 others as part of a large-scale undercover narcotics investigation at the Baisley Park Housing Development and Rochdale Village in Jamaica.

The suspects, who range in age from 16 to 62, are charged with selling powdered and crack cocaine, heroin, marijuana, oxycodone, ecstasy and BZP to undercover police officers on hundreds of separate occasions over a 6-month period in and around the housing complexes.

Ten of the defendants are also charged with selling drugs within a drug-free school zone.

Return to Wilpon's Wonderland

"Almost a year to the day after you featured the Wilpons' lack of neighborliness, it appears that they continue to exhibit the same disregard for pedestrians passing by the property they manage." - anonymous

So people have to walk in the street. It's not like Roosevelt Avenue is dangerous or anything. Piling up snow in front of a major subway entrance in a park & ride - also not a big deal when you have a driver in a heated SUV waiting outside for you.

So long as the sidewalk in front of the entrance to their offices is clear, it's not a problem for Fred or Jeff. Hey, they already got what they wanted out of us schmucks, so why should they go out of their way to clean snow and ice? Or is this something the city is supposed to clean? Since neither party probably knows or cares, it's our headache instead. Enjoy.

Where were you all for the past 10 years?

From the NY Observer:

That the city's political press corps is now answering a mayor who has thrown verbal brickbats their way (he called an Observer reporter a "disgrace"; embarrassed a disabled reporter who was unable to reach a tape recorder which had gone off during a press conference) for close to 10 years with some brickbats of their own is something of a new development. For two terms the Bloomberg administration enjoyed, even seasoned reporters acknowledge, a relatively easy go of it in the press, and an even easier time among the editorial boards.

No longer.

"There has been a demarcation," said one reporter. "There is a certain sense that Mike Bloomberg's string has run out."

The clearest evidence of this, political observers say, is the suddenly negative coverage the mayor has received from two columnists perceived as newsroom weather vanes: Clyde Haberman of The New York Times and Bob McManus of the New York Post. Over the past several years, Mr. Haberman has written various upbeat stories, including "Bloomberg Travels to the Old World In Search of New Ideas" and "Scenes from the Blue Room: A More Flexible Tone is Heard," but last month, the columnist openly wondered whether or not the whiz kids at City Hall were capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time. Mr. McManus meanwhile wrote recently that the mayor was guilty "of a spectacular failure of field leadership."And the editorial pages of both papers, which cheered the mayor when he overturned term limits two years ago, have likewise begun to sing a new tune.

"Nobody likes Mike these days," wrote the Post, and The Times called the mayor's recent initiative to ban smoking in parks "a civic disaster."

The sharpened tone has been seen in the news pages as well. A few years ago, if the mayor was out of town during a snowstorm, the press would have pestered him about it, and then, after some stonewalling, moved on.

"Editors sent the signal that they would not back you in a fight with City Hall," said one local political hack. "It became less about getting them and more about getting handouts, and Bloomberg was really effective at getting the press corps to play who likes me best. I think now reporters feel betrayed by their papers."

"Every reporter was freaked out by the term-limit thing, and they got much more critical after that," said one political reporter.

Well that's funny because we were freaked out by it, too. If you had covered it the way you should have instead of acting like he was entitled to it, we all would have avoided the extended suffering. You failed at your jobs and every single one of you who participated are a disgrace to journalism.

Sunnyside arch glows once again

From Sunnyside Post.

Candidates no longer responsible for fines

From City Hall:

Get those checkbooks ready: big bonuses for campaign consultants, post-election shopping sprees or even as many victory and thank-you parties as can be scheduled can now be paid for out of taxpayer-provided matching funds with impunity, thanks to a court ruling last week.

Through the last election cycle, any candidate whose campaign was determined to have wasted matching funds was forced by the Campaign Finance Board to repay the funds personally. But a broad ruling issued by the state supreme court's appellate division on Feb. 8 significantly diminished the CFB’s power to enforce this liability. In 2013 and beyond, experts on both sides of the case agree, candidates will now have much less to worry about when it comes to forcing them to repay excess, unspent taxpayer-funded campaign dollars to the city, or risk being personally liable for post-election misspending.

A three-judge appellate division panel found that under city law, candidates can only be forced to make CFB-ordered payments out of their campaign accounts. A candidate cannot be compelled to pay for these expenses out of his or her own pocket, the court found.

In other words, if a candidate has $0 left in their account because he has paid all his consultants bonuses after election night, the CFB can no longer personally dock the candidate for the money.

The ruling may create a perverse incentive for candidates to spend every last dollar in their campaign accounts, since they would face no repercussions for not returning the money, CFB officials say. The ruling also may let campaigns off the hook for the underreporting campaign receipts, which the CFB has also in the past docked candidates for personally.