Alley Pond getting new nature center

From the Queens Chronicle:

After years of delays and cramped quarters, Alley Pond Environmental Center in Douglaston will be getting a new headquarters, with work expected to begin next year.

Irene Scheid, executive director of APEC, told the Chronicle exclusively, that years of planning and soliciting funds have finally paid off. “We are very excited,” Scheid said. “This will meet our needs for the future and will provide a better laid-out facility.”

Plans call for a $9 million building that will be constructed behind the existing facility at 228-06 Northern Blvd. It now houses one of APEC’s parking lots. Once the new facility is completed, the old building, which started out as an outdoor furniture store, will be razed to create additional parking space.

Parks Department spokesman Zach Feder said the exterior of the new structure will be clad in brick, glass and steel. The landscape work includes grading, paving and planting, as well as constructing the new parking lot along Northern Boulevard.

The parking lot will be designed to capture and retain storm water on site.

A crap above - Manhattan edition

This building is at 802 9th Ave in Manhattan. A picture speaks a thousand words, none of them positive. This is what's known as a vertical and horizontal enlargement. What architect comes up with these plans and thinks, "Damn, this is going to look fantastic!" Or is appearance no longer important? Anyway, I posted this one to show you folks that we are not alone - Manhattan is also full of crap - it's just different, special kind of crap.

Willets Point United stands against Julissa's tweeding

Click photo to enlarge. It's kind of hard to argue that this is a great plan when your colleagues have pointed out major problems with it that can't be corrected. WPU has also issued an Op-Ed.

Some Hindus cleaning up after themselves

From the Times Ledger:

Although Queens residents of all stripes are guilty of littering or dumping in Jamaica Bay, Hindu religious rites get some blame for some of the more visible debris. The Hindu rite of Ganga Pooja involves making an offering into a body of water as a way of cleansing one’s sins.

Unfortunately, not all of these materials used in the offerings are biodegradable. Fabric outfits, plastic idols (murthis), aluminum pans and Styrofoam wash up on the beaches and nature preserves along Rockaway’s coastline. On Aug. 31, a group of conservation-minded Hindus, in conjunction with the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance, decided to pitch in by cleaning up the Dubos Point Wildlife Sanctuary in Rockaway.

Sadhana: A Coalition of Progressive Hindus is an advocacy group based around the city that tries to advocate a socially conscious, progressive agenda, focusing on inserting tolerance, inclusiveness, non-violence (ahimsa) and faith in action (sadhana) into Hindu and interfaith discourse. As such, activities such as beach cleanups promote awareness of the moral imperative to care for the environment and promote greener practices in worship.

In response to the problem of debris at local beaches, Sadhana launched an environmental initiative known as Project Prithvi.

As Sadhana founding member Aminta Kilawan explained, Project Prithvi “aims to protect both tradition and the environment in a way that benefits society at large.”

Kilawan further noted that the Hindu notion of non-violence extends to all living things, including the environment.

Kilawan suggests that the best solution to accommodate religious communities would be to allow temples or organizations such as Sadhana to adopt a beach site, which would enable these groups to keep stewardship over that area.

This sukkah really sucks

"I made a complaint to 311 in the early hours of Thursday, 9/19/13, that an immense structure was blocking pedestrian access to the sidewalk at the corner of 71st Road and Main Street in the Queens neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills. The offending edifice is adjacent to the restaurant called Simon's Pizza/Felafel. This structure is commonly know in the Hebrew community as a sukkah. Depicted above is the response I received from 311 that police action was not necessary and that the sidewalk was passable and that a community affairs officer was to be notified. 36 hours later, on Friday afternoon, 9/20/13, I shot the photos depicted below that show that nothing had changed. The 107th Precinct (Captain Frederick Grover, Commanding Officer) is responsible for this condition to fester. According to the Code of the NYC Department of Sanitation: "It is illegal for anyone to place or leave any box, barrel, bale of merchandise, or other moveable property (regardless of ownership), upon any public street or any public place." (Paragraph 16-122(b). Fine: $100-$150)" - George The Atheist

For more photos, go to George's blog.

No electeds noticing out-of-state plates?

"Hello crappy,
I would like to know if you've heard of any discussions among our elected officials concerning the explosion of out of state plates on cars in the city, it seems that every other vehicle I see is either PA.,SC, ILL. etc... Thanks for any info - Nick"

This is easy enough to fix via legislation. But for some reason, Albany never gave a crap about this.

And they should be for more reasons than just lost revenue.

Eyesores getting a makeover

From the Daily News:

About three dozen vacant and blighted properties in southeast Queens will soon be part of a neighborhood makeover.

Habitat for Humanity New York City plans to gut and rehab 38 of the city’s empty eyesores with the help of local volunteers — and sell them to low-income families who will help rebuild them.

Thirty-four of the properties are in southeast Queens — an area still struggling to recover from the recent foreclosure crisis.

“This is a hand up, not a hand out,” said the group’s CEO Neil Hetherington. “[The families] have gone from a situation of despair to one of hope.”

Thirteen homeowners are expected to be in their new residences — some of which have been vacant for more than a decade — by the end of the year. The rest of the houses are slated to be finished by late next year.

Bringing a junkyard INTO the park

From the DNA Info:

A drive-in movie theater using junked-up cars and salvaged materials is rolling into the borough next month as part of an art installation designed to engage the public in discussions about car culture and "planned obsolescence."

The Empire Drive-In is a large, temporary installation that uses junked cars and salvaged materials to bring their drive-in movie exhibit around the country.

It will set up outside the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park from Oct. 4 to Oct. 20, and visitors can participate in discussions and watch films in old cars.

Okay, so the junkyards across the street are an eyesore and need to be replaced, but the museum brings junk cars into the park and that's an art project?

Queensboro Bridge still has not recovered from August fire

From CBS New York:

Repairs and delays continue on the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge more than a month since a massive truck fire left part of the span seriously charred.

The Queens-bound right lane on the upper level of the bridge has been closed since a 40-foot tractor-trailer carrying wooden, plastic and metal clothes hangers burst into flames last month.

It took about an hour for firefighters to extinguish the blaze.

In a statement to 1010 WINS, the Department of Transportation said the blaze was “hot enough to melt steel” and said it needs to construct a special beam in order to complete the repairs.

“Work continues on repairs to the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge following a truck fire on August 16th,” the statement said. ”DOT Bridges is fabricating two 26-feet-long, 1.5-ton custom steel beams in its shop in Brooklyn.”

The DOT said the lanes are tentatively scheduled to reopen in October.

Busted running the numbers

From the Daily News:

Investigators have busted several members of a Queens family for allegedly operating a $1 million-a-year gambling ring.

Saul Montalvo, 44, his sister Veronica Montalvo, 40, and his son, Daniel Montalvo, 26, were indicted on Thursday following a six-month investigation by the NYPD and the Queens District Attorney's Office.

DA Richard Brown said the clan ran "a family operated gambling ring" that took in over $3000 in bets a day from Queens, Brooklyn and Nassau County.

The trio and three others "ran an old-fashioned numbers racket complete with betting parlors, wire rooms and runners and collectors," Brown said.

Their operation was uncovered by narcotics cops who came upon the family's converted wire room in East New York during a drug investigation.

Rich people donate to something in Queens!

From Crains:

Donald and Shelley Rubin continued their generous support of arts organizations in the outer boroughs by pledging to donate $300,000 to Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, Queens. It is the largest gift the nonprofit has ever received for programming and the second largest in its 27-year history. The announcement was made at the park's gala on Thursday night.

"This gift is going help get us to the next level," said John Hatfield, executive director of the 4.7-acre waterfront park.

The money, which will be distributed over three years, comes several months after the couple donated $500,000 to The Queens Museum and $500,000 to the Bronx Museum of the Arts. Their support of the arts isn't limited to the outer boroughs, however. The couple founded the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan, which opened in 2004 and specializes in art from the Himalayas.

Little Bay crappers should be completed on time

From Bayside Patch:

Construction on the long-awaited comfort station at Little Bay Park is progressing and remains on schedule for completion by the fall of 2014, state Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside, said.

The contractor has obtained the required permits from the city’s Department of Buildings and excavation for the building footing has begun, according to the city’s Department of Parks.

The $5 million project has been in the works for eight years.

The comfort station will include a new public restroom and an expanded 224-car parking lot with bioswales to absorb runoff.

2 cops charged with accepting bribes

From the Queens Courier:

Two Queens police officers have been arrested for allegedly accepting cash payments for copies of official NYPD accident reports, according to District Attorney Richard Brown.

The officers have been identified as Danny Cano, 36, who is assigned to the 115th Precinct in Jackson Heights, and Roberto Espinal, 44, who is from the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst.

They were both arraigned Wednesday night on charges of bribe receiving and official misconduct. Espinal was also charged with receiving reward for official misconduct. If convicted, they each face up to seven years in prison.

The two, working independently of each other, allegedly accepted cash payments ranging from $40 to $1,500 in exchange for the accident reports.

They are accused of selling the reports and the information contained within them to “runners” who would find accident victims and bring them to medical clinics and doctors as part of an insurance scheme, said Brown.

Council members attempting to take bitchiness away from next Speaker

From DNA Info:

During her eight-year reign as City Council Speaker, Christine Quinn has been accused of running the group with an iron fist — doling out cash to supporters while stripping the same from dissenters, and holding back broadly popular bills from coming up for a vote.

But in the wake of Quinn’s significant loss in the Democratic primary last week, four returning City Councilmen are reaching out to the rest of the membership in hopes of coming up with a plan that would significantly check the power of the next speaker and instill a measure of balance in the chamber.

While all four of the councilmen say conversations with other members are just beginning, they have a set of initial ideas for checks and balances in mind.

First among them is a plan to get proposed legislation on the table for discussion with or without the speaker's approval.

“The idea is that if you have legislation, there should be a mechanism that it can actually be written, whereby it gets introduced, and whereby it can get a hearing,” Greenfield said.

“We’re looking at making sure that bills and laws have a larger space to be discussed, no matter who put it in and no matter what it is," said Williams.

Another idea is to bring greater equity to the distribution of funds to members. Quinn's critics have regularly accused her of using the process of doling out member items to reward friends and supporters, while cutting back funds to her enemies, regardless of overall needs in individual members’ districts.

Promised seawall not part of the plans in Rockaway

From DNA Info:

Newly released plans for the rebuilt Rockaway Beach boardwalk do not include a protective seawall and have no timetable for completion, angering residents of the Hurricane Sandy-damaged peninsula who say they're being left vulnerable to future storms.

The plans for the boardwalk reconstruction, which is slated to begin by the end of the year and estimated to cost $200 million, were discussed Tuesday night at a community board meeting in Rockaway Beach. It included a presentation from the designers of the new boardwalk, CH2M Hill.

Though the plans are still being finalized, a seawall wasn't included in the preliminary design, according to Deputy Parks Commissioner Liam Kavanagh.

Unemployment is up in NYC

From Crains:

The city's unemployment rate ticked up slightly in August to 8.6% from 8.4% in July as more New Yorkers entered the labor market looking for work, according to data released Thursday from the state Labor Department.

The unemployment rate is down from 9.3% a year ago thanks to steady private sector job growth—84,700 positions or 2.5% growth.

New York state's unemployment rate also rose slightly in August, to 7.6% from 7.5%. Both city and state trailed the national unemployment rate, which dropped slightly to 7.3% from 7.4%.

While the city's economy is creating jobs, the positions are not improving household income. Median household income in the New York Metropolitan area stayed flat between 2011 and 2012, Census figures released Wednesday showed. Meanwhile, median household income statewide declined slightly from 2000.

LIC's DOH building infested with bedbugs

From the Daily News:

New York City Department of Health employees are biting mad about a bed bug infestation at the department's Long Island City office building.

After frantic reports of sightings over the past several weeks, higher-ups notified employees in an email late Tuesday night that live bug colonies had been found on the tower's 11th floor.

"Although in the past we have found individual bed bugs, we have for the first time in the past week found a group of bed bugs living in one area of the 11th floor of the building," the message read.

It was the first official acknowledgement to staff of the scourge, which has been going on for "several weeks" and includes bug sightings on at least three floors, sources complained.

5 Pointz unveils 9/11 mural, is inundated by sewage

"Ladder 115 of LIC was checking out a call the other day at 5 Pointz. It turned out to be nothing but the curator Meres invited the firefighters to check out the new 12th anniversary 9-11 mural dedicated to their company and Engine 258 and take a few photos in front of it. I got some shots of that and put them together in this video." - George


"The Local Project art venue had to cancel a major event this past weekend. We need to cease operation at 45-10 Davis St.

We had to cancel an event, because we respect all of our guests and artists. Saturday September 14, 2013, the conditions were not what art deserves. The “Dust Art Collective” event has been canceled due to a flood of sewage water at our gallery located at the 5Pointz building in Long Island City, Queens. Dust turned to mud! A fetid mud!

The building is falling apart. The plan for building a pair of luxury towers at the Court Square 5Pointz location has taken the attention of the building owner who is not doing maintenance to the facility. An eviction notice is displacing us from our headquarters, where we have provided free art programming for 5 years. Regardless of this condition that could sound a death knell for our operations, we have found a new space in the same neighborhood where we started our organization 10 years ago.

The issue is, the economic development plans in Long Island City are skyrocketing real estate prices, and rent is becoming even more expensive.
In fact we seen many of our fellow community members move away, with the gentrification of the community that developed the neighborhood spirit. We ask for a moment of remembrance, as the artists in this NYC community need a space to become economically strong and/or claim a necessary place to innovate in world culture with artistic expressions." - Normandeau Newswire

Rego Park mall to expand into housing

From The Real Deal:

Vornado Realty Trust has filed plans with the Department of Buildings for a 314-unit residential building above its Rego Park shopping mall in Queens, according to filings spotted by The Real Deal. The 24-story, 287,113-square-foot building addition, which sources said would be a rental complex, is set to be designed by SLCE Architects, the filings show.

The Rego Park rental units will be added atop an existing shopping center at 61-35 Junction Boulevard just off the Long Island Expressway. The 610,000-square-foot center, known as Rego Park II, is anchored by a 145,000-square-foot Costco, a 135,000-square-foot Century 21 clothing store and a 133,000-square-foot Kohl’s, according to a Vornado regulatory filing.

The proposed development will cost between $100 million and $120 million, Vornado projected in a regulatory filing late last year, when it initially informed investors of the provisional plan for the project. Vornado is building the project on behalf of a subsidiary, the real estate investment trust Alexander’s.

At that time, the company said the plans were still up in the air. “There can be no assurance that the project will commence, or if commenced, be completed on schedule or within budget,” it said in a
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Now, it appears the trust is moving ahead with the project.

Vornado declined to comment on the DOB filing via a spokesperson.

Midway Theater sold

From The Real Deal:

A group of local New York City real estate investors including BLDG Management’s Lloyd Goldman, Eric Roth of Brick Capital and Eastern Consolidated’s Brian Ezratty have purchased the famed Midway Theater retail building in Forest Hills for $20.5 million, Roth told The Real Deal.

The two-story, 48,400-square-foot property, at 108-22 Queens Boulevard and 71st Road, is currently home to the United Artists Regal Cinema multi-screen movie theater. It was built in 1940 as a 1,933-seat single screen theater.

The partnership plans to maintain the building as a theater, since the tenant has a long-term lease, but the building might eventually be seen as a development opportunity.

And speaking of Forest Hills:

Forest Hills residents say groups of rowdy teens are plaguing the area near a McDonald's on Continental Avenue, where two stabbings took place last year.

Cops said that extra patrols have been dispatched to monitor Austin Street and the area around the restaurant ever since.

Last September, there were two stabbings in front of the restaurant, said Capt. Thomas Conforti, the commanding officer of the 112th Precinct.

“We’ve also partnered up with McDonald's to actually remove unwanted patrons from their establishment,” Conforti said.