Caveat emptor in LIC

From DNA Info:

Noise from trains idling in the Hunters Point train yard is destroying the quality of life in the increasingly residential area, which is dotted with $1 million apartments, neighbors say.

Despite the Long Island Rail Road’s promises to alleviate the problem, the disruptive noise continues to be an issue, especially for people living in condominiums along Borden Avenue, say elected officials and residents.

The condos, directly across the street from the Long Island City train station began to pop up starting in 2007. Some units cost more than $1 million. 



Branko Kolbek, who has lived in one of the buildings since 2009, acknowledged that he had been aware of noise coming from the yard before he bought his home and moved in.



“But not until you spend enough time in the neighborhood, do you really get a full sense of what’s going on here,” said Kolbek, 29. “During the week, you have to keep the windows closed.”

The issue has been raised by various elected officials, most recently by Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who represents the area. 

“We have asked the LIRR to move these trains, to turn the engines off, to stop the idling and come up with ways to decrease the sound of these engines,” Van Bramer said. 



The LIRR has taken measures to address the issue and to reduce locomotive idling, according to spokesman Salvatore Arena. Equipment schedules in the yard have been revised, some locomotives have been shut down and idling trains have been moved as far away from Borden Avenue as possible, he said.

"It's an active rail yard in operation for more than 100 years, a station that services 10,000 customers every day and a transit center that plays a crucial role in the service we provide to our 80,000 daily customers," Arena said.

DOB shuts down Brooklyn clinic

From the Daily News:

A Coney Island medical building has been abruptly shuttered because of safety violations - leaving doctors and patients out in the cold.

The five doctors whose offices are at 2965 Ocean Parkway have not been able to treat sick patients city officials closed the building last Tuesday after inspectors discovered there was no emergency exit.

“It’s a terrible situation. My patients rely on my care and I have no access to them,” said Dr. Alexander Shekhter, an internist, who was worried about his mostly elderly Russian patients.

“These are patients in wheelchairs and patients on Medication,” said Shekhter. “They shut us down without any warning. If I violated something I understand, but the Dept. of Buildings has nothing to do with medical care.”

Buildings Dept. officials aren’t letting anyone into the four-story 3,300 square-foot building, which has only has one staircase and no emergency exit, according to documents posted on the agency’s website.

Crapper in the cellar

57-55 Mazeau Street before: one-family

57-55 Mazeau Street after: 2-family

For some reason, they plan to put a 3-piece bathroom in the cellar. Can't imagine why...

Pols request outer borough transportation options

From AM-NY:

With more New Yorkers taking jobs outside of Manhattan, the City Council is urging the MTA and Department of Transportation to add quicker ways for them to get to work.

"More workers are commuting from Brooklyn to Queens, from the Bronx to Westchester, from Staten Island to New Jersey or Brooklyn than ever before and yet our city's transit infrastructure has not kept pace," transportation committee chair James Vacca told officials from both agencies Tuesday. Vacca added that many people feel compelled to drive to work because of a lack of mass transit options, saying, "If it means that a person is going to take three buses, that person is likely to get into a car."

The MTA and DOT said they were tinkering with ways to ease congestion, and were eyeing extra bus service in the outer boroughs, including adding Select Bus Service along Webster Avenue in the Bronx, Utica Avenue and Brooklyn and making changes to buses that go to LaGuardia Airport, such as creating bus lanes or collecting fares off-board.

The MTA is still mulling a plan to bring Metro-North service to Penn Station, but only after its East Side Access megaproject to bring Long Island Rail Road trains to Grand Central is completed in 2019.

Mazeau Street "Garage House" demolished

The site of Maspeth's "Garage House" at 57-40 Mazeau Street - a garage that was illegally converted into a house and limo business, is no more.

Before

After

Bank of America, which now owns it, demolished it.

Tale of the tape on the parking sign

"This is on Cherry Avenue and Robinson Street in Flushing. Either someone got a little creative with painter's tape, or they are trying to make themselves a parking space." - anonymous

More garbage crap from Jamaica

Dear Councilman Leroy Comrie, Councilman James Gennaro, Councilman Ruben Wills, Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall, Senator Malcolm Smith, Assemblymember Rory Lancman, Assemblymember Vivian Cook, Iggy Terranova, Community Board #12 Members and Other Concerned Individuals:

What will it take to clean-up the empty lot (169-23 90th Avenue, Block 9803, Lot 1 & 2) located at the NW corner of 170th St & 90th Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, as well as the front of the empty lot two doors west of the aforementioned lot, on 90th Avenue (16-11 90th Avenue, Block 9803, Lot 6 & 7) and the empty lot at the corner of Merrick Blvd & Foch Blvd. These are all major problem garbage/dumping areas.

I have been complaining about the lot next to me (Avalon Terrace Apartments at 89-00 170th St) since March of 2011 to little avail. Garbage still sits in the empty lot and more trash gets thrown into it all the time. The garbage/litter includes several garbage bags (that have been sitting there since June of 2011), a huge Casio keyboard, various bottles, cans, not too mention the extremely high weeds in the lot which cover some of the other garbage. Also a big on-going problem is the outside sidewalk that surrounds this lot and the sidewalk in front of the other lot. The sidewalks have various types of garbage on the sidewalk plus the weeds are getting extremely high there as well (pictures are attached). With summer here, not only does all this garbage attract rodents and insects, but the high weeds pose health risks not too mention they cover up a lot of the garbage that is being thrown there by people who park there cars as well as individuals walking by. The Department of Sanitation (DOS) coming once in awhile to remove the larger garbage on the sidewalks is just a band-aid on the situation and does not solve this issue. With a property owner who is pretty much absent and does not come out to take care of this property, this issue will continue again and again. The owner came out one time back in June of 2011 and did a half-ass job to begin with, leaving the garbage bags inside the lot and pushing the other litter underneath all of the weeds. My question, why is this property owner getting away with this and it not being held accountable and why has this been going on for over year? Can someone give me a straight answer. The owner of the property tore down a very nice house with a manicured lawn several years ago and this is the result of this behavior which by the way has become too prevalent in Jamaica.

According to records the property belongs to (I am sure the company is a fake):

Jotirmoy Inc
4004 73rd St

Woodside, NY 11377-3051

The person attached to this address is:

Sunil Agarwal [phone number redacted]

So who is going to grow some major balls and get off their ass and do something about this. Because so far no one is really doing too much about this. As far as the politicians, the only ones who have contacted me several times are the office of Councilman Gennaro and Assemblymember Lancman and this particular lot is not even in their district. Councilman Comrie did at least send me an email that he was going to follow up as well well as the office of Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. Senator Malcom A. Smith, who held a town hall meeting about two months ago that I attended on the problems of Jamaica, has not responded at all, so much Malcom for getting involved in the problems of Jamaica, I guess the Town Hall Meeting was just typical political lips service and that is all. Heard nothing from Assemblymember Vivian Cook (who has southwestern Jamaica, a big mess and has a major garbage/dumping problem. Heard nothing from Ruben Wills, who well, has his own issues with some kind of scandal, corruption thing, good work Ruben, you are as upstanding as some of the individuals who live in Jamaica. I guess your person issues are getting in the way of addressing Jamaica's problems.

I have heard many times from so many various people at DOS and have heard every kind of lip service from it takes time, we need to give it to another division, we cannot go on the lot, our budget has been cut, etc, etc, etc, but the problem with this lot and the garbage issue in Jamaica still continues and does not get resolved.

If Jamaica had a large white population, first off this garbage situation would more than likely not happen and second, if it did, I would be sure that the politicians and city officials would do something fast, for they would not last long in their positions. But because the majority of people in Jamaica are of color, immigrants and in the lower socioeconomic level, this type of situations seems to be acceptable with our officials and nothing really gets done.

Now, I am very aware that some or a good bit of the people in this community are the issue. They have no respect or pride for their neighborhood and treat it like a garbage dump as well as some who do not make a complaint when they see such things going on, do not want to get involved or have the attitude of "what are you going to do". So until Jamaica attracts quality people as opposed to the very low bottom of the barrel brand, this behavior will continue again and again and again. But this problem is two fold and another major problem are the politicians, the community leaders and the city, who are not really stepping up to the plate on this issue to address it, find solutions and resolve it. If you were all on Donald Trump's show "The Apprentice" and your assignment was to clean-up Jamaica, you would all hear the phrase, "You're Fired".

Sincerely,

Joe Moretti

Another unique church building in danger

From the NY Post:

Preservationists hope a Manhattan developer set to buy one of Harlem’s most beautiful churches will save it.

St. Thomas the Apostle Church on West 118th Street (pictured) has sat empty for nine years since the New York Archdiocese shuttered it in 2003.

Efforts to landmark the hulking neo-Gothic structure built in 1907 failed, and the building, which was recently covered in scaffolding, has been in limbo ever since.
The archdiocese is in contract to sell the property and two others to Artimus Construction in a $6 million deal, according to papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The documents give no hint of Artimus’ plans. The archdiocese declined to comment.

Do they really deserve this?

From CBS New York:

Imagine earning more than $100,000 a year for a part time job.

Legislators in Albany have that in mind, sources tell CBS 2. If they get their way, they would be the highest paid state legislators in the country.

State lawmakers currently make about $79,500, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. That puts them at third, in terms of pay, on the national scene. In Pennsylvania, state lawmakers make $82,026 a year. In California, they make $95,291.

New York state legislators base salaries also don’t include various “lulus,” or cash bonuses they get for fulfilling certain additional roles. For example, they earn $171 every day they work in Albany. The minority whip of the senate gets paid an additional $14,500 for that role. The chairman of the senate finance committee gets a $34,000 “lulu,” according to a report in the Times Union.

For comparison, consider the salaries of lawmakers in Texas: $7,200. In Florida, state lawmakers make $29,687.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the median household income in New York was $55,603.

The last time state lawmakers gave themselves a pay hike was in 1999. Any boost in pay they vote on this year won’t take effect until next year.

Ridgewood trashed

Dear neighbor,

Please clean up your property at 1814 Bleecker Street, Ridgewood.

Thank you.

- anonymous

Looks like this house has other problems.

They either want to vote for him or beat him up

From the Queens Chronicle:

The Harley Davidson rider, guitar player, area school story-time reader and hard-on-crime Astoria councilman unapologetically spoke his mind about several issues concerning his district at the Queens Chronicle office on Friday. In fact, Councilman Peter Vallone Jr.’s no-filter approach, he said, has prompted him for about two years to not ride the trains — fearing physical confrontations with people opposing him, some of whom have assaulted him in the past. However, although some disagree, many back the councilman as shown by his 10 years in office and over $1 million raised for future campaigns.

So what’s next for this councilman with some controversial views?

“I would love to stay in the position I’m in, but I’m term-limited out and there’s only one spot available. I’m taking a serious look at it,” he said.

Helen Marshall’s Queens borough president position will be available in 2013.

Does anyone believe this guy ever rode the subway to begin with?

Less crap in the cove

From the Times Ledger:

The city hopes to stop the overflow of sewage into Powell’s Cove with improvements to sewer infrastructure and the Tallman Island Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The city Department of Environmental Protection updated the College Point Civic Association last month on the progress of the project.

Crews will soon begin work on the Tallman Island Wastewater Treatment Plant before moving on to building the Whitestone Interceptor which when completed will be a new pipe to help a mixture of rainwater and sewage reach the plant without getting backlogged. Some of that water, called combined sewer overflow, currently spills out of a pipe at the edge of Powell’s Cove Park.

“Right now it’s spilling into the cove,” said Colin Johnson, of the DEP, referring to instances when heavy rainfall overwhelms the system and triggers the overflow.

The DEP is about to make improvements to the plant to accommodate the new flow patterns. Those improvements, along with the construction of the extra pipeline beneath the park, are expected to be completed in August, 2014.

Wastewater from Whitestone currently flows westward toward College Point through a pipe beneath 11th Avenue.

At the same time, wastewater from Flushing flows north toward College Point through another pipe called the Flushing interceptor.

At the intersection of the two, a problem arises.

Junkies at the docks

From the NY Post:

Scores of crane operators and other workers handling tons of heavy and sometimes hazardous cargo at Port Authority docks are high as kites, and at least two enforcement agencies are probing the drug use.

Heroin addict Lawrence Schmidt Jr. was driving a truck pulling giant containers at Port Newark when a foreman noticed him swerving and slowing down, legal papers obtained by The Post show.

Schmidt later admitted he was a heroin user and had been asleep at the wheel that day. His longshoreman registration with the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor was revoked last year.

The commission, a federal agency set up to combat corruption at New York and New Jersey ports, revealed to The Post that it launched 84 drug probes in the last two years, netting 33 workers who tested positive for drugs. Some were fired, and others suspended or sent to rehab.

“The fact is, they are very well paid and don’t have a lot of work to do. They are kids who are somebody’s nephew earning 130K to 140K a year,” another source said.

The 33 druggies are likely the tip of the iceberg among 5,300 dock workers. The commission investigates only when it learns of an arrest or gets a tip. Companies that run the ports can do their own testing and don’t have to report the results.

The commission has been stymied in its recent efforts to do drug testing.

Concern over natural gas pipeline

From the Daily News:

A plan to extend an underwater natural gas pipeline beneath a national park in the Rockaways is getting a chilly reception from environmentalists.

Local environmentalists said they are concerned the pipeline could disrupt a nearby artificial reef filled with marine life.

“We’re worried about the environmental footprint that this project will have out in the Atlantic Ocean,” said Dan Mundy Jr., vice president of the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers, a group formed to protect the bay.

The Williams Companies, an Oklahoma-based energy corporation, has proposed building a 3-mile pipeline that would connect the Rockaways to the existing natural gas Transco line in the ocean that runs parallel to the Rockaways.

It is to go under a golf course in Jacob Riis Park in the Gateway National Recreation Area.

The company also proposed turning an unused hangar on Floyd Bennett Field, in Brooklyn, into a meter station.

“The City of New York is moving off of fuel oils,” said Williams spokesman Chris Stockton. “The demand for natural gas in New York City is going up.”

Energy company National Grid would build an additional 1.5-mile pipe connecting the Rockaways to the station, said company spokeswoman Karen Young. National Grid also plans to connect the meter station to a gas main in Marine Park, Brooklyn, that delivers fuel to customers.

Hey Estelle, where did the dough go?

From the NY Post:

At least $90,000 raised by the nonprofit conservancy that supports Flushing Meadows Corona Park has been misspent, officials confirmed to The Post.

The situation is now the subject of three separate investigations, and has already forced the longtime administrator of the massive city park — who also ran the conservancy Unisphere Inc. — to resign both her positions.

Officials pointed fingers at Estelle Cooper, the 82-year-old Republican leader and one-time candidate for Queens borough president who spent 17 years running Flushing Meadows. She earned $101,500 from the city.

Cooper first came under scrutiny from Unisphere’s board last summer, when questions were raised about a rental arrangement she had worked out between the Parks Department and a camp operated at the park by Cooper’s daughter.

Then, when the conservancy tried to reconcile the year-end books, board members learned that thousands of dollars had been taken out of the group’s coffers without approval, they told The Post.

“Debits were being made multiple times, and being made on the same day, many of them in Atlantic City,” said Mark Scheinberg, who recently quit the board.

“I was very shocked to see what happened,” said Queens Republican boss Phil Ragusa, who does Unisphere’s accounting.

Ragusa insisted he had no clue that money was being withdrawn without approval until last fall, when he alerted board members.

Avella vs. property tax cheats

From the Times Ledger:

Citing apparent attempts to beat the system, state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) criticized the city Department of Finance, accusing it of allowing delinquent property owners who failed to pay their property taxes to remove their properties from the annual tax lien sale by submitting fraudulent checks.

According to Avella, property owners have exploited the system by knowingly submitting checks that later bounced, removing them from the annual tax lien sale. He said Finance had no means of detecting such an act and only enacted a $20 penalty for the bounced checks.

Additionally, Avella said he took issue with the payment plans Finance would organize with the apparently negligent property owners without requiring a down payment. The forsaken land, Avella said, eventually becomes an eyesore in the surrounding communities when property owners fail to pay the taxes due.

A Finance representative said the department was looking into the issue and considering ways to alleviate the supposed fraudulent activities.

“The fact that the Department of Finance is letting these negligent property owners game the system is unacceptable,” Avella said. “Every year the city is being cheated out of much needed property tax revenue.”

In response, Avella introduced legislation in the Senate to force the city to require payment of delinquent charges by certified check or money order, eliminating the bouncing check schemes. The bill would also require a 20 percent down payment for any proposed installment plan, Avella said.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

From Sunnyside Post:

Jennifer Hiser’s college architecture project was a far cry from designing skyscrapers.

The Sunnyside Gardens resident, intrigued by the concept of urban farming, decided she would design and build a chicken coup instead. Shortly after completing her project, she decided to test it out.

Hiser has three hens, which she reared from the time they were just a day old. She named them Nugget (as in McNugget); Schmaltz (as in the type of chicken fat used by Ashkenazi Jews); and Poulet.

Hiser and her boyfriend, Peter Montalbano, also have a vegetable garden that is cordoned off from the chickens where tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, lettuce, beans and lavender are grown. There is also a compost heap as well.

Dirty goods, sold dirt cheap

I've been reading your blog for some time and I wanted to reach out to you about some 'Queens Crap' in my neighborhood.

The Attic Hour Children Thrift shop at 35-53 Crescent Street (between 35&36 ave) is just plain VILE. Constant filth and trash on the sidewalk, clear fire hazard inside the shop, chronic double parking by patrons and their work truck, then to top it off, nasty attitudes when you'd like them to move their vehicles. Sometimes, they even place their trash on the street to 'reserve' parking, cones/chairs etc. People drop their trash off after hours, then the homeless dig through it spewing the left overs all over the sidewalk. I've lived on this street for years, and love it until this nasty place came in. The turning point for me to complain to the city was the FILTHY mattress that looked like it was laced with bedbugs. After I called 311 to complain it seemed to get better. So I let it go. Now they hired a crew to come and CRUSH left over furniture, console TV's and garbage between 3-5am!!!!! EVERY weeknight.

To try and keep this email brief, I have started a blog detailing the shop's misbehavings. (35block.com) You clearly have a very well defined and read blog and I was wondering if you could cover this place.

Also, any pointers on where to turn for help with this I would appreciate.

Cheers

- Sandra Soroka

Mr. Clean gets results

Parking eyesore in Hunters Point

From DNA Info:

Banged up cars awaiting body work and other repairs are littering a stretch of streets of Hunters Point — and fed up residents of the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood are looking to put the brakes on the longtime practice.

Auto body shops on 44th Avenue, between 11th and 21st streets, in Hunters Point have long parked unregistered cars in need of work illegally, blocking coveted parking spots and blighting the street, according to locals.

The area has been undergoing change recently, including an influx of new hotels such as the Wyndham Garden that opened two blocks away in April, and Z NYC, which opened in July 2011. Many companies and art studios have recently moved into the neighborhood’s old warehouses as well.

Dominick, a resident who lives on 11th Street and who didn’t want to give his last name, said the problem has persisted for years and that auto body shop owners “completely took over the street.”

A police source confirmed that “there is illegal parking going on.” It is illegal to park a car without a plate and registration on the street.

But the practice puts cops in a bind because they cannot issue a summons if there is no plate, cops said.