Washington Square Park stupidity

I like this graphic from Curbed. Totally captures the latest lunacy happening at Washington Square Park. In a nutshell, we're spending a shitload of money to align the fountain with the arch and cutting down a bunch of old trees to do this.

And one from Brooklyn...

This is so totally in context you almost don't even notice it! Blends into the streetscape so well...


Huge Ismael Leyva Brooklyn 'Park Ave.' Development Revealed

Recalling a Woodhaven long gone

Now that's cool!

FBI investigating DEP

In tough economic times, one city agency has some explaining to do. A city worker made more than a hundred grand in overtime, hundreds of employees are taking home city cars, and now Fox 5 has learned the FBI is looking into things. Fox 5's John Deutzman continues his exclusive investigation into the city's department of environmental protection.

Proving their worth

With opening day for the city’s two newest baseball stadiums only four months away, the price tag for taxpayers continues to rise.

The Bloomberg administration has issued fresh estimates for utility work, lighting and the cost of replacing the parks and ball fields that once stood where the new stadium for the Yankees is being erected.

The city also plans to issue $341.2 million in additional tax-exempt bonds on behalf of the Yankees and Mets to complete the stadiums, whose combined cost is about $2.2 billion.

The teams are responsible for paying off the bonds, but they pay tens of millions of dollars less in interest because payments to bondholders are exempt from city, state and federal taxes.

The city and the state are also investing more than $660 million in parks, garages and transportation improvements around the stadiums and are providing the teams with an estimated $500 million in tax breaks related to construction materials and other items. The city had planned to issue a public notice of the latest bond offering and a required public hearing on Monday but decided to wait at least a week until it completed a cost-benefit analysis. With public costs mounting, critics of the deals say the city will be hard pressed to demonstrate that the economic benefits of the stadium projects outweigh the cost to taxpayers.

As Stadiums’ Costs Rise, City Agrees to New Bond Offerings

Tough luck on Tulfan Terrace

After months of clanging hammers, coughing cement trucks and shouting construction workers, Tulfan Terrace, a leafy dead-end lane in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, has been quiet since 2006. But it has not been a welcome quiet.

The noise emanated from a condo tower that swallows up the southern half of the cul-de-sac. But after the developers fell into financial trouble that year, work on the project stopped. What remains looks like the cast-off toy of a distracted giant: a 12-story skeleton with no exterior walls and a squat blue plywood fence encircling the rim.

And now, the remaining residents of Tulfan Terrace are trying to adjust to the sights, sounds and hassles of a real estate boom gone bust. For James Weeks, 56, that means picking up construction debris that blows into his lawn from the empty building. For Naomi Gans, 70, it means shooing away the raccoons that have moved into the lot across the street. And for Edward Bell, 63, it means gazing from his bay window at a ghostly hulk.

“They really ruined the neighborhood,” Mr. Bell said, rocking in his tartan-print easy chair.

An Abandoned Tower Sows Dismay in Riverdale

And this is just the beginning of the story. There was an indictment on federal charges of fraud, embezzlement and structuring financial deals to evade financial reporting requirements for the financier connected to this...

It's deja vu all over again

Resolution 6 - 2002

Resolution condemning former Mayor Giuliani for his surreptitious negotiation with the City’s baseball teams, granting them huge financial concessions and the promise of 1.6 billion dollars in new ball parks, and, in so doing, leaving our City’s taxpayers with crushing obligations to wealthy enterprises at a time when the City is in fiscal crisis.

By Council Members Jennings, Foster, Monserrate, Barron, DeBlasio and Sanders Jr.; also Council Member Boyland

An excerpt:

Whereas, The City, already taken aback by this news, endured yet another surprise upon discovering that the former Mayor also provided the Yankees and the Mets with 60-day escape clauses from their lease if the teams believe that the City is not intending to build the new stadiums as “tentatively” promised by the former Mayor; and

Whereas, The City also discovered at this time that the Mayor had released the Mets from a $83,000 debt to the City, leaving it with all that much less revenue; and

Whereas, The former Mayor provided these fiscally burdensome deals to these very wealthy and profitable teams at a time when the City is in recovery from a massive and heartbreaking disaster that has placed its budget in a 4 billion dollar deficit; and

Whereas, These deals were negotiated while the City’s 4 billion dollar deficit has threatened the scope of vital services, such as the Head-Start programs, fire and police protection, health care to the poor, and library service; and

Whereas, By attempting to saddle the City with this hastily crafted sweetheart deal for building new stadiums, the former Mayor has engaged in a reverse Robin Hood syndrome by robbing from the poor and giving to the rich; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Council of the City of New York condemns former Mayor Giuliani for his surreptitious negotiation with the City’s baseball teams, granting them huge financial concessions and the promise of 1.6 billion dollars in new ball parks, and, in so doing, leaving our City’s taxpayers with crushing obligations to wealthy enterprises at a time when the City is in fiscal crisis.

City Council Stated Meeting - April 5, 2006: The New York City Council approved a plan to build a new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx by a vote of 45 to 2. Barron and Foster were the only two members who voted no. The Mets proposal passed 48-1 with only Barron opposing.

"Little kids will no longer have to play in parks that are dilapidated," said Councilmember Joel Rivera. That's right, now they'll have to play in the street...

They can swap the name Giuliani for Bloomberg and reintroduce the same resolution today (which didn't pass the first time around). But no one will have the balls to do it (except maybe Barron).

Photo from Daily News

Obama's HUD choice a real winner

From the Village Voice: Five Reasons Why Bronx Beep Adolfo Carrion Will Be a Great HUD Secretary

Here's the first two:

1. A team player: Specifically, for the Yankees. When a bunch of spoilsport members of the local community board objected a couple years ago to giving the richest team in baseball a public park and a few hundred million bucks to build a brand new stadium in his borough, Carrion quickly purged them from the board.

2. Gets along famously with housing developers and contractors: Of the $2.3 million warchest Carrion raised for a race for citywide office next year, roughly two-thirds came from the real estate industry. Build baby build!

Unjustifiable idling?

From Mr. Angry:

Saturday night. 10PM. I leave my house and snow is falling. The weatherman predicted a small snow shower that wouldn’t be anything to worry about, so I’m not surprised. This snow turns to a light rain and ends quickly.

Nope, you’re not seeing things. That is a fully loaded snowplow/road salter. It is 4AM and this guy has been sitting in the cab of his truck reading a paper with the engine idling all night. And it’s not just him - there are dozens of these guys parked all over the city. So far as I could figure, some idiot called these guys into work for snow removal and they all got to do an 8 hour shift of reading and wasting fuel clocking double overtime and half out of our pockets.

Where is the logic, Bloomberg? Shutting down fire houses at night and replacing them with snow removal for a storm that never existed?

What are the chances this will ever happen?

Apparengtly Miss Heather has a friend named Ms. Bitch Cakes who lives in Queens and blogs about transit. I was sent this gem recently:


Are they serious?! An enclosed transfer from the E-G-V to the 7?! How on earth did this happen?! Elevators AND Escalators? What is this, the 21st century or something?! Surely, they must be joking! Really, this all seems to good to be true.

Call me a pessimist (I prefer the term "realist", thank you); but I'm saying there is no way they will make their February 2010 projected date because the MTA will tell us all of the following 1) things are taking longer than they expected 2) this project costs more than they expected 3) the MTA is broke and need more money (Guess who they turn to first? Yep, their ridership! More fare hikes!)

Announcement regarding the Court Square subway transfer

NY1 visits Schleicher Mansion

More than half a dozen families in College Point want to to return to the historic apartment building they call home, six months after being evicted for safety reasons.

Evicted College Point Residents Want To Return To Building

Can I get a bottle of Diet Coke with that?

Dear Crappy,

I was handed this double-sided card on 46th street in Sunnyside, right at Greenpoint Ave - a block south of QB where the 7 line is. Two guys hang out under the scaffolding and hand out cards to certain people passing by. My girlfriend passes it everyday and was wondering what the cards were for - we speculated a strip club - until I was handed one a couple of weeks ago. Mystery solved. Overall it's not a bad area, but I guess you could consider that area the crappy section of what is a nice neighborhood overall.

- Solicited in Sunnyside

Times Ledger moving some staff to Ratnerville

The MetroTech building that is currently home to JP Morgan/Chase, the National Grid and NY Life Insurance, will soon be home to the Community Newspaper Group, reportedly New York City’s largest group of neighborhood newspapers with 30 publications.

Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC) announced Monday that the company, better known by its initials, CNG, has signed a lease for 18,000 square feet on the 10th floor at One MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn.

Previously scattered in offices in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, CNG will move all of its 125 employees to the new headquarters.

The CNG — which includes the Bronx Times Reporter; TimesLedger Newspapers in Queens, publisher of 14 weeklies; and Courier-Life Publications, the city’s largest chain of weeklies — is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s company, News Corp., which also owns the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal.

CNG also produces a news-based web site, www.yournabe.com, that covers 152 neighborhoods in the three boroughs.

Community Newspaper Group Moves to MetroTech

According to inside sources, the editorial staff is not moving, just the classified section.

Nanny wants Senate seat

Actress Fran Drescher has expressed interest in being appointed to the U.S. Senate seat that New York's Hillary Clinton is giving up to become secretary of state, a spokesman for the actress said.

No, seriously.

"Fran Drescher, actress, women's health advocate and public diplomacy envoy for the U.S. State Department, announced that she is throwing her hat into the ring of contenders for the senate seat being vacated by Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton," Drescher spokesman Jordan Brown told CNN in a written statement late Monday.

Drescher, 51, is best known for her starring role in the 1990s television comedy "The Nanny" and an adenoidal voice that could strip the rust off an engine block — a talent that might come in handy during a Senate filibuster.

Don't laugh! Actress and Queens native Fran Drescher wants Hillary Clinton's senate seat

Saviors search for Baby Christina

Three Elmhurst teenagers who saved the life of a newborn baby girl, who was abandoned in a dumpster last December, say they want to find her and give her presents for her birthday.

Elmhurst Teens Search For Newborn They Saved

Green sees red over term limits; may run again

Mark Green, the president of Air America Radio and a onetime Democratic mayoral nominee, said he was considering a race next year for public advocate of New York City — a job he held for eight years.

In an interview on Saturday, Mr. Green, who was public advocate from 1994 to 2001 and who ran unsuccessfully for state attorney general in 2006, said he had been repeatedly approached in the past few months by supporters asking him to run.

“I am seriously thinking again of running for public advocate,” Mr. Green said, adding that he had been urged by friends and some Democratic leaders to run for the office, the city’s second-highest elective position. He said that since leaving office, “I realized how much I missed public service.”

Put Off by Term-Limits Fight, Green Ponders Another Run for Public Advocate

When asked on Saturday what caused him to change his mind, Mr. Green said, “Events have altered the landscape, like the term-limits battle, like the economy.” He added that “the stakes seem higher and perhaps, as a result, supporters are now more numerous and encouraging.”

Raising hell over Cross Bay Bridge toll

Rockaway and Broad Channel motorists are planning two large-scale protests this week to dissuade the MTA from abolishing toll rebates for the Cross Bay Bridge.

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and other local leaders plan to demonstrate Monday near the toll plaza, and six busloads of residents are slated to pack Wednesday's MTA meeting in Manhattan.

The MTA is facing a budget crisis and hopes to save $3.6 million a year by rescinding the rebate.

Rockaway peninsula and Broad Channel drivers with E-ZPasses are charged $1.03 every time they cross the bridge, and the fee is remitted back to them in a rebate.

The program was instituted in 1998 after decades of protests.

Broad Channel shares a post office, police precinct and firehouse with the peninsula. Many Broad Channel residents also send their kids to school in the Rockaways. For Rockaway commuters, the bridge is the only connection to mainland Queens.

Drivers, pols gear up to fight for bridge toll break

NY Times visits St. Albans

...in the last 10 years, with real estate prices rising, investors and developers sought out one-family houses, the predominant housing stock, and converted them into two-family houses or built row houses where detached houses had once stood.

Suddenly, parking became more scarce. Quiet streets became busier. More renters moved in, some longtime residents say, without any commitment to the neighborhood.

A result, said Robert Gibbs, a 32-year veteran of local real estate, was "a real decline in the area" — though not steep enough to put him off. He lives here, in a four-bedroom colonial that he bought for $36,500 in 1978. He estimated the house would now sell for about $400,000.

Greg Mays, a local community organizer, said: “Overdevelopment in southeast Queens was the biggest threat that we faced before the credit meltdown. The silver lining of the meltdown is that all of the development came to a roaring halt.”

Even before the downturn, though, community organizers had been fighting to preserve the area’s history and protect its suburban feel. Last fall, with the support of Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Mays, among others, the City Council rezoned much of the neighborhood to make it much more difficult to build multifamily homes or convert single-families.

Bluesy Home Market With a Jazzy Past

Today is QC's 2nd anniversary

Queens Crap has been in daily production for exactly 2 years today. We haven't missed one day of posting over the past 731 days because there's been a constant stream of ridiculous crap going on in our borough and city during that time. We hope you find the site informative and the commentary insightful or at least entertaining. And now, back to crapping.

Man Spends $7,500 to Fight $115 Parking Ticket

NEW YORK (AP) -- A retired New York City man says he's spent $7,500 fighting a $115 parking ticket because he's got "nothing else to do."

Former electrical hardware firm vice president Simon Belsky says he was erroneously ticketed two years ago.

The 63-year-old says the ticket cites his van for blocking a Brooklyn fire hydrant even though the only hydrant on the street was down the block.

The November 2006 fine has ballooned from $115 to about $200 with penalties.

Belsky was in court last week and is due back Feb. 2. He says if he wins he'll file a civil suit against the city to recover the $7,500 he's spent on legal work.

He says if any compensation is awarded he'll donate it to educational programs.

Just what we need: more welfare

New York State has not raised its basic payment for people on welfare since 1989, forcing many recipients to skip meals, wear hand-me-downs and spend many days confined to their homes because they lack the $4 needed for a subway trip, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday.

Lawyers representing a group of welfare recipients filed the class-action lawsuit, accusing the state of violating a Depression-era constitutional provision that requires it to provide adequate financial assistance for its neediest residents.

Known as the basic welfare grant, the payment is a benefit of last resort for poor people who do not receive other assistance, like unemployment or disability insurance or workers’ compensation. In New York, it is available to families and single adults, and it is meant to cover the cost of essential expenses like clothing, toiletries and transportation.

Although the state has one of the most generous welfare policies in the country, allowing certain recipients to opt out of work requirements and providing benefits indefinitely, many people are still struggling, the lawsuit says. They cannot afford a telephone or a trip to the library to use a computer, according to the suit, so they have a hard time getting work because employers cannot easily contact them. And because they are ashamed of their predicament, they isolate themselves from relatives and friends, the lawsuit says.

Lawsuit Aims to Increase State’s Basic Welfare Grant

I will never understand why we pay people not to work. Oh, that's right...tweeding.

Willets Point Headscratcher series, part 2

(Click for larger version)

This is the city's answer to Willets Point pedestrian access to/from Flushing. Looks realistic, no? I'm sure folks will be lining up to cross under the highway and then over two bridges to land in or come from industrial Flushing. What's with the outline of the block and lot on the other side of the Creek? Is Bloomberg planning to steal that, too?

Alameda crap

Douglaston Parkway south of Northern Blvd has become a real teardown zone. Here is the original one-family house at 45-38 Douglaston Parkway.
Here is the replacement house, now at 241-17 Alameda Avenue. While there have been issues, at least they kept the tree. Oh, this is why. Some neighborhoods, like those zoned R1-2, are more on top of these things than others.

Vallone funds fake turf field

Peter Vallone, Jr. is just giddy that he was able to fund, with $4M taxpayer dollars, a fake turf field in Astoria. Maybe he can also fund an ambulance to take kids to the hospital in July when they're passing out from heat stroke...

New Athletic Field Opens In Astoria

Trucks get stuck but DOT doesn't give a f*ck

So here's what happens when a tractor trailer decides to travel eastbound on Grand Avenue and the driver is actually cautious...



Next we see what happens when he is directed by contractors working on the triangle in making his tight turn:


Imagine if there were no workers around to guide the driver. The lamppost at the other corner is next to go if this continues. What's so hard about detouring trucks away from this intersection?

Janette? Maura?

Different leader, same crap

State Senate Democratic leader Malcolm Smith, desperate for his party to secure majority control, has cut what could be one of the slimier deals ever to ooze out of the Legislature.

In a quid pro quo meant to pacify three Democrats who threatened to switch parties, Smith reportedly has agreed to give the rabble-rousers high-ranking leadership posts - along with a promise to block action on a major piece of legislation.

So much for Democrats changing Albany's corrupt culture.

Senate’s slimy shuffle: Albany's dealmaking Dems are up to the same old sleaze

In the meantime, Smith is denying the deal.

Let's go food shopping

Fresh Direct Ham and Brie Wrap

As advertised:


In reality:

Parks Dept, Mayor hogged Mets tix

The city's luxury box at Shea Stadium was used almost entirely over the last four years by employees of the Parks Department - which oversees the ballpark - while other city agencies were largely shut out.

Documents obtained by The Post under the Freedom of Information Law show Parks workers were allocated 78 percent of the 324 Mets' home games from 2005 to 2008 in the 15-seat box.

The Mayor's Office and its subsidiaries grabbed 12 percent.

The rest of city government struck out with a meager 10 percent.

PARKS DEPT.'S HIDDEN-TIX TRICK ON LUXE METS BOX

Willets Point Headscratcher series, part 1

Since the EDC has committed to their 2-phase remediation and redevelopment plan instead of doing it wholesale as originally intended, the question is why they haven't offered the same 15-year delay to all the businesses in the phase 2 area as they did to Tully Construction, House of Spices and Fodera Foods?

Map showing phase 1 construction from EDC. Click for larger version to see where Bono Sawdust, a business told to move now, is located. Note the private asphalt plant by the river which is apparently not polluting enough to be asked to leave while a business that grinds up wood is. Who wouldn't want to live and raise kids here?

Briarwood Crapitecture

Hi,

Longtime reader of your blog.. over the last 5 or so years, my neighborhood of Briarwood, Queens (situated between Jamaica and Kew Gardens) has become another victim of gross over development. I have watched as just on my street alone, house after single-family house is knocked down to make room for visually displeasing 6, 8, even 10 story apartment complexes. If you were to drive from Queens Boulevard straight down 84th Drive all the way to the G.C.P. service road, you would count no less than 8 projects of this kind that have either been completed recently, are going on at the moment, or project sites that have been absolutely abandoned. A couple of these sites have been abandoned for 2 years and are huge eyesores to this once lovely community.


There was an article in The New Yorker recently and it delved into this topic - The Pits. There are so many pits, as you know. Who is going to come and reclaim these messes? And when? I feel as though I need to leave my own neighborhood and find a new place to live because all the ugliness sickens me.

If and when all these projects are complete, I would really like to know where they expect everyone to park their cars. Because street parking is limited as it is. And let's not even talk about the increase in litter, garbage, and dog poop these new apartment complexes will bring. We already have enough of all three, thank you very much.

Thanks for reading. I have included a few photos of the aforementioned abandoned job sites. One of these sites has had 2 mysterious fires in the past year.

Sincerely,
A Concerned Citizen

“People talk to me about developers and their support, and my answer is, ‘They are the folks who care deeply about the direction this city is going.’" - Councilwoman Melinda Katz

Pain lingers on Main after fire

THE buildings at 136-13 and 136-15 Roosevelt Avenue stood in the heart of the business district in Flushing, Queens, near the stops for the No. 7 train, the Long Island Rail Road and more than 20 bus lines. That is why, when a fire started in one of the buildings a little after 2 a.m. on Oct. 29, there were still people on the street who saw it burning.

For Merchants, Fire Makes Bad Days Bleaker

Nobody was injured in the fire, the cause of which is still under investigation, said Jim Long, a Fire Department spokesman. But the buildings were damaged so extensively that they had to be torn down the next day. Crews were on the site until the end of last month, clearing debris and cleaning up.

The ground floors of the buildings held a Payless ShoeSource and a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut. For their owners and those of smaller businesses on the upper floors, the task now is to relocate and start over in the midst of the holiday season and at a time when the economy is weakening.

Will shaming strip club patrons eradicate billboard?

City Councilman James Sanders... says that if Platinum won't tear down that sign, he'll send photographers to the club to "take pictures of the great clientele and post them on the web and wherever we can advertise them."

From Fox 5 via Gothamist.

Bank policy sucks for small businesses

On Oct. 25, Shing Lee deposited a $30,000 check from her HSBC account to a Maspeth Federal Savings Bank branch next to her store, Party Solver, at Metropolitan Ave. and 70th Drive.

Maspeth Federal insists it was just following protocol by telling Lee that she had to wait 30 days after the check cleared before she could withdraw funds - on Nov. 28, or Black Friday.

"It delayed my progress, and I had to rush for the opening," said Lee, who filed a complaint on Nov. 11 with the federal Office of Thrift Supervision, an agency within the Treasury Department that regulates savings banks.

Janet Frank, a spokeswoman for the agency, declined to address Lee's specific gripes for privacy reasons. But she referred the Daily News to Federal Reserve Board guidelines that suggest Lee's deposit should have been available within a "reasonable period" of no more than nine business days.

Owner of a party supply store denied funds

Maspeth Federal Savings: They treat you like family.

Carpool to Riverhead and taste Queens history

Newtown Pippins were developed on the Queens bank of the Newtown Creek in the 18th century and quickly became known as the “prince of apples.” Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Queen Victoria were all ardent fans. Today they are grown by celebrities like Dave Matthews. They consistently win apple taste competitions to this day. The namesake creek has quietly descended into a state that should shame all New Yorkers. The nation’s largest oil spill leaches into it while combined sewer outflows continually assault it. The creek bed is laden with heavy metal wastes.

On Saturday, Dec. 13, we will carpool or take a train out to Riverhead, Long Island, to buy apples, cider, plum jams, plum pies, and other delicacies at Briermere Farm. While we are there, there will be some exploring, of course!

If you’d like to come, please email naturecalendar@gmail.com so that we can determine how best to coordinate travel.

More here: Dec. 13: Newtown Pippin Apple and Beach Plum Outing!

Great news from the Bloomberg Administration, part 7

The Fire Department will close a firehouse on Governors Island and eliminate night tours at four other firefighting units starting Jan. 17 to achieve an $8.9 million agency budget cut necessitated by New York City’s financial crisis, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta announced Wednesday.

At one firehouse, at 169 Schofield Street in the Bronx, Ladder Company 53 will not be staffed during the evening shift (6 p.m. to 9 a.m.), but Engine Company 70 will remain staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

At three other firehouses, the engine company will not be staffed during the evening shift, but the ladder company will be staffed at all times. Those three firehouses, and their companies, are:

42 South Street, Manhattan: Engine Company 4, Ladder Company 15
278 McClean Avenue, Staten Island: Engine Company 161, Ladder Company 81
392 Himrod Street, Brooklyn: Engine Company 271, Ladder Company 124

Night Shifts to Be Cut at Four Firehouses

271/124 is near the Bushwick-Ridgewood border, so Queens coverage will be affected as well.

Cab sharing idea sounds familiar

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to create a fleet of hybrid taxicabs may have taken a hit by the courts, but there is another way to make cabs more efficient: get more people into one cab.

In that vein, a new company named CabEasy seeks to make cab sharing easier for New Yorkers. On their Web site, users can find other riders going in the same direction they are going, and also find out how much CO2 emissions they will save by sharing a taxi.

Cab Sharing

Riders using a taxi stand on York Ave. in the Upper East Side can take advantage of the only group ride program in the city, which was launched in 1987. If they are traveling to Wall Street, each rider pays $3.50.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission has periodically suggested expanding this program over the years.

We already have these in Queens. They're called dollar vans...

Photo from Inhabitat

City planning moves on North Flushing rezone

The long−awaited North Flushing rezoning plan could be approved as soon as spring 2009 after years of delays, City Councilman Tony Avella (D−Bayside) said Monday.

Avella said the City Planning Commission has met with his office and area civics several times over the course of the last few months and appears to be on the cusp of presenting its final plan to preserve the largely single−family home community by early next year.

“I think we’re looking at certification in early January, but I’m pushing for it to be earlier,” Avella said. “I think if we get everyone working together on this, I’m talking about the community board and the borough president’s office, then we could get this done by March or April.”

The rezoning, designed to protect the single−family home communities in Broadway−Flushing, Linden Hill and a portion of Bayside from overdevelopment, has been delayed for several years as the CPC undertook larger, more complicated plans, such as the rezoning of Jamaica, which passed last year.

Flushing rezone set for next year: Avella

A Crap Sandwich

The house on 159th Street and 72nd Avenue in Fresh Meadows was built in 1935, making it one of the oldest in the neighborhood. At the time, its backyard faced the Pomonok Country Club. Even after most of the club’s land became housing projects, a small part remained as an undeveloped block into the late 1980s. For many years, a John Burns resided in it. By early 2008, a new owner, Brian Tsabari’s Alaska Group, Inc. became its new owner. The home became vacant and neglected, as the neighborhood around it continued to crappify. Today, the home is a “Crap Sandwich,” surrounded by taller neighbors.
To my surprise, last week, a sign was installed, announcing the sale of this house. Potential homeowners need not apply, because the sign targets either condo builders, schools, or temples. When I called the broker, Impact Homes, Inc., I was told it was worth $2.5 million and that it has been vacant for 3 and a half years. I was also told that the sale was not intended for potential homeowners. It is a land sale for investors or developers. But, “If you think you can afford it, stop by my office,” the broker told me, before ending the brief phone conversation.

Need a Condo built?

I also called the owner of Boulevard ALP, the massive senior residence that adjoins the old house. They said they have nothing to do with it.

As a neighbor, my question is - What is going on?

Schleicher Mansion calendared by LPC

City Councilman Tony Avella (D−Bayside) said the Landmarks Preservation Commission has agreed to bring College Point’s Schleicher’s Mansion up for a vote in the coming months, but the residents of the house still remain out in the cold.

Avella said the city agency’s decision to vote on whether or not to landmark the exterior of the building, built in 1851, is a victory for the community and the tenants since it precludes the house’s owner from demolishing the structure or selling it to a developer who would do the same.

Avella said while the LPC calendaring a hearing on the topic does not get the tenants back into their homes, it precludes their landlord from razing the building entirely.

City eyes landmark for Schleicher’s Mansion

Cops report bear sighting at Flushing Airport

Shortly before 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 4, police were searching for a man who fled after shooting out the window of a storefront on 20th Avenue. Police from the 109th Precinct called in air support, concerned that the suspect had run into the dense vegetation that now grows over what was once Flushing Airport, It has been abandoned since 1984.

Using infrared cameras, officers in the NYPD helicopter came across something large that was roaming the grounds of the two−dozen acre site and quickly radioed what it appeared to be: a bear.

“At that time, they picked up the image, and it comes in distorted and the guy radioed over that they thought it might be a bear. Later they said it was probably a dog,” said Detective Kevin O’Donnell of the 109th Precinct. “It’s the kind of thing that you say on first reaction, but then you realize later is a little ridiculous.”

College Pt. bear scare all roar, no fur: Cops

Nonetheless, several residents of College Point told TimesLedger Newspapers over the several weeks since that they had heard that police had shot a bear in the abandoned airfield.

“One of the officers from the 109th told the story at my civic meeting,” said new 109th Community Council President Chrissy Voskerichian.

She added: “I think the entire episode only amounted to being a funny story that took on a life of its own as the story passed from one person to another. It was actually pretty funny. I’m glad it isn’t true. Bears in Flushing would not be a welcome sight.”

I'd rather deal with bears than developers.

Recommended reading

If you want a comprehensive summary of the tweeding that took place at Willets Point and/or would like to read about the future problems the plan faces, visit Noticing New York's 4 part series on the issue. You will learn a lot about this plan that you may not have realized and wonder about all the questions that the City won't and can't answer.

Senator Kennedy from NY?

Sources: Caroline Kennedy Interested in Clinton's Senate Seat
By DEVLIN BARRETT and BETH FOUHY
Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic officials say Caroline Kennedy has spoken to New York Gov. David Paterson about the Senate seat that will come open when Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes secretary of state.

Paterson's office says that the governor had been approached by several candidates for the job but that he would not discuss private conversations.

Kennedy is the daughter of President John F. Kennedy and a niece of Edward and Robert Kennedy. Robert Kennedy held the New York seat from 1965 until his assassination in 1968.

Democrats familiar with the conversation with Kennedy spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge it.

Douglaston supermarket variance clears CB11

Community Board 11 has approved an expansion for a proposed high−end supermarket in Douglaston that would allow the project to begin construction along 61st Avenue early next year and open by 2010.

The board voted unanimously in favor of a variance Monday that would pave the way for Fairway Market to add 10 square feet to its proposed supermarket at 242−02 61st Ave. in the Douglaston Plaza Shopping Center, where a Waldbaum’s chain store currently operates. Waldbaum’s lease expires in 2010, CB 11 District Manager Susan Seinfeld said.

The shopping center had previously applied to replace Waldbaum’s with a Best Buy electronics store, but the community had contended it would be better served by a supermarket. Douglaston residents at the board’s meeting called on its members to approve Fairway’s variance.

CB 11 gives approval for Fairway expansion

Rockaway elementary school closing

At least three middle and elementary schools will be shuttered next year for "unacceptable performance," Education Department officials confirmed yesterday.

Middle School 44 on Manhattan's upper West Side will not enroll a sixth-grade class next year and will be phased out within 2-1/2 years, an Education Department spokeswoman said.

A new middle school will replace it starting next year.

Public School 225 in Rockaway Park, Queens, and PS 90 in Morrisania, the Bronx, also will close, sources said.

About 42% of PS 225 students read and 63% did math at grade level.

1 middle, 2 elementary schools getting the ax

City strong-armed Mets, too

Recently released e-mails show that city officials were after a free luxury suite in the new Mets stadium, in addition to a similar deal at the new Yankee Stadium.

After a long, contentious argument over Citi Field in Flushing, Queens, documents show that the Mets eventually gave in to City Hall’s request.

Neither side would say what the city traded for the box, but suites at Citi Field cost between $250,000 and $500,000.

Investigation Shows City Acquired Luxury Suite From Mets

Rockaway condo crap

Wonder why something this new would be for resale already...

Also wonder why they show a view of the construction site on the ad page...

$870,000 for a condo in Rockaway with a stairway to heaven? Simply insane.

Black Friday black for some, red for others

Queens residents flocked to shopping centers throughout the borough Friday, some waking as early as 3 a.m. to take advantage of steep Black Friday sales despite a tanking national economy that has left many Americans tightening the grip on their wallets.

But while some stores in Queens were experiencing enough human traffic to satisfy managers concerned about the impact of the recession on sales, the Shops at Atlas Park in Glendale and Jamaica Avenue were reminiscent of ghost towns.

Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst was already bustling with shoppers at 4 a.m., and Bay Terrace in Bayside and the Lake Success Shopping Center on the border of Floral Park were teeming with residents anxious to purchase holiday gifts on sale. Store managers at Queens Place, down the street from the mall, said shoppers were champing at the bit to purchase everything from the televisions to Wiis that were significantly less thanks to Black Friday discounts.

Rick Sanichara, manager of the Target at Queens Place, a shopping center at 56th Avenue and Queens Boulevard, said the store had completely sold out of more than 500 Westinghouse LCD televisions, on sale for $299 — $200 less than the regular retail price, three hours after it opened at 6 a.m.

Boro sees mixed turnout on Black Friday

Although Black Friday sales rose about 3 percent nationwide, some shopping spots in Queens failed to draw crowds.

In Glendale, the Shops at Atlas Park, which has a number of high−end stores, was practically deserted at 9:30 a.m. Friday despite numerous shops boasting signs advertising special sales starting as early as 6 a.m.

Forest Hills 72 was at Atlas, too, and noticed the same thing.

Well that didn't take long...

64th Street and Grand Avenue, a day after new pedestrian signal was installed. Thank you Queens DOT Commissioner Maura McCarthy and City DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. There are no finer representatives of the Bloomberg Administration.

Now in all seriousness, please do something about this before someone gets killed.