Beautiful house now an illegal hostel

From Brownstoner:

It's been a rough few years for 70 Lefferts Place, or, more precisely, the developer who's owned it for the last four and a half years. To refresh, the house traded for $2,400,000 in May 2006 and soon thereafter plans were announced to tear down the Civil War-era gem. A last-minute effort to landmark the house ended up being successful, with the designation being finalized in December 2006. Within a month, the property was back on the market. It never sold, though, and in April 2009 a Lis Pendens (the first step in the foreclosure process) was filed, revealing that the owner was on the hook for a $2,010,000 loan. We hadn't heard much about the property since then until a few days ago when a neighbor brought this online listing for a hostel to our attention. According to the website, for $25 a night, you can have a spot in one of the many bunkbeds. The only problem is that this place doesn't have a C of O for a hotel or even a rooming house, as far as we can tell. We also bet that the lenders would be curious to know how much the owner is renting out the place to the hostel operators for.

No room for kids at public schools

From the Daily News:

Kindergarten classes in the city are the biggest they've been in more than a decade - and some parents say their kids are paying the price.

There are 7,616 kindergarten students learning in classrooms with more than 25 children, up from 5,414 last year - a 40% increase - according to preliminary Education Department statistics.

A handful even have an average of 30 or more children in each kindergarten class, such as Public School 298 in Ocean Hill-Brownsville in Brooklyn.

Kindergarten class size began dropping in 1999 and leveled off in 2002 when Mayor Bloomberg took office. This year, the average class size is 22.3, up from 20.9 just two years ago. The size limit for kindergartens set in the teachers' contract is 25 kids.

Additionally, class size in first through third grade overall is the highest it's been in 10 years, statistics show.

In 2007, the city agreed to reduce class size in exchange for state money. Kindergarten through third-grade classes were supposed to be capped at 20 students by next year, but as budgets have been slashed and state aid reduced, class size has risen.

Hey there's always birth control, as the new chancellor says. (Except if you're an illegal.)

Party's over for Pedro

From the NY Post:

Federal prosecutors announced today that they plan to bring new tax evasion charges against former New York state Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr., who already is awaiting trial after being accused of corruption.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Kavanaugh said the government plans to seek a new, expanded indictment from a grand jury to charge the Bronx Democrat with the tax crimes.

The prosecutors announced their decision during a hearing in Brooklyn federal court, where they also detailed the mountain of evidence they have collected against the former senator.

The evidence came from FBI warrant searches at Espada's health care firm, and includes "voluminous materials" - including 90 boxes containing "hundreds of thousands of documents," that prosecutors have already made available to defense attorneys, Kavanaugh said.

The prosecutors also told Judge Frederic Block that the government has additional evidence such as e-mails, computer hard drives, and even more paperwork seized during the raids.

"We anticipate turning over hundreds of thousands of more" documents to defense attorneys, Kavanaugh said.

Prosecutors informed the judge that they plan to offer Espada, 56, and his son, Pedro Gautier Espada, 35, plea deals that would require them to admit wrongdoing in exchange for reduced sentences.

Group sues to stop transfer station

From the Daily News:

An aviation safety group is suing to block a garbage transfer station near LaGuardia Airport, fearing the trash would lure fowl and cause bird strikes.

The Friends of LaGuardia is calling on the state Department of Environmental Conservation to revoke or suspend the permit it issued the city for the North Shore marine transfer station several hundred yards from the runways.

The lawsuit, filed in Queens Supreme Court, blasts the state for its "unlawful, arbitrary, capricious" refusal to take back the permit.

"It's a magnet for birds and it's going to create potential for disasters," said the group's lawyer, former Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro.

Mastro called the potential transfer station a "graver danger than anything we've ever seen in the city before."

If you can afford it here, you can afford anywhere

From Urbanite:

The Brookings analysis of Census data for 2007-09 shows that the New York/Northern New Jersey area lost a net 29,292 of 25-34 year olds in that two-year span.

On the opposite end is the Austin-Round Rock, Texas, area, renowned for its music scene, which had a net gain of 14,318 so-called Millenials, followed by Denver-Aurora, Colo., which had a gain of 11, 207.

The loss of these folks also reveals “a serious problem in finding jobs,” probably as a result of the cratered finance industry, said John Logan, a demographer at Brown University.

In the long term, the trend will hurt Gotham, said the experts, as young, creative people are essential to a city’s future. These are “the generation of people who will be the leaders,” Logan said.

Young single people may not mind sharing a one bedroom with room mates, but when the nesting instinct hits, New York is an economic nonstarter, noted Sean Thompson, a 29-year-old bartender who shares a $2,000 a month studio in Battery Park City with his 30-year-old wife, a public school teacher.

“We both agree completely that New York is not the place to raise a family,” Thompson said.

All is forgiven?

Interesting. I figured the criticism couldn't last long. So how exactly has Bloomberg "made up for" the shitty response in December? Has he brought the dead back to life?

Ah, a post-cleanup photo op at an Astoria diner with Council Member Peter Vallone, Bloomberg's sharpest critic during the aftermath of the December 26th storm. I can't believe after all that ranting and raving that the Public Safety Chair would suddenly embrace the mayor for being able to handle an 8-inch snowfall.

Oh wait... yes I can.

It would be nice if NY1 at least knew what borough they were promoting the mayor from.

Change of plans for RKO Keith's

From Crains:

The landmarked but badly rundown RKO Keith's Theatre in the heart of Flushing, Queens will be reborn as a huge apartment complex with 357 rental units and 360 parking spaces, according to a new filing by the project's developer, Patrick Thompson.

Developer Shaya Boymelgreen, the previous owner of the site, had planned to build a condominium tower there. Last month, Mr. Thompson submitted an application with the city's Board of Standards and Appeals for changes to the development, which he first proposed after taking over the property last year.

His new application calls for a big increase in the number of units and a slight increase in commercial space, to 17,460 square feet from 10,957 square feet. Previously, the development, located on Northern Boulevard, was approved for 200 units and 229 parking spaces. The 314,000-square-foot project is estimated to cost $160 million.

The BSA is expected to vote on the amendments in March after Community Board 7 meets and provides its recommendation for the plan on Jan. 18. CB 7 approval is not needed for BSA approval, but it will be taken into consideration, said Howard Goldman, Mr. Thompson's land use attorney for the project.

From the Daily News:

Thompson and architect Jay Valgora are revising the plans of Huang's successor, developer Shaya Boymelgreen, to place a senior center, retail and apartments there. They envision two floors of stores and 14 levels of residences.

"We want to really overcome the tragic side of this story and create a new landmark for Flushing," Valgora said.

As a tribute to the site's legacy in film and vaudeville, Valgora designed a "curtain of glass" facade that he hopes will display the landmarked lobby to passersby on Northern Blvd. at Main St.

Valgora plans to protect the lobby during construction by threading steel around its distinct features. Crews will demolish the ruined structure around the lobby in a process he described as architectural arthroscopic surgery.

Inside the three-story lobby, Valgora wants to rebuild a long-lost Moorish fountain that once greeted moviegoers. He said he will restore the staircase and a painted sky on the ceiling.

He vowed to base his restoration on renderings by noted theater architect Thomas Lamb, who first imagined the RKO Keith's in the late 1920s.

Thompson is set to present his plans to Community Board 7's land use subcommittee on Jan. 26 and the full board on Feb. 14.

The land use chairman, Chuck Apelian, said Thompson's plans for 357 apartments and 360 parking spaces at the H-shaped building would be too dense for already bustling downtown Flushing.

But Assemblywoman Grace Meng, state Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky and City Councilman Peter Koo have all expressed support for the transformation.

New stormwater filter in Ozone Park

From the Daily News:

The grassy median between North and South Conduit Aves. in Ozone Park has become a test area for one of the city's largest green infrastructure projects.

The 13,000-square-foot site will be transformed into a natural water filter in an effort to keep stormwater and rainwater from overwhelming the sewer system, according to officials from the city Department of Environmental Protection.

"It's an innovative, ecological, green way to treat stormwater," said John McLaughlin, director of the DEP's Office of Ecological Services. Instead of treating stormwater as waste "it should be viewed as a resource."

As part of the $730,000 project, the grass will be enhanced with trees, wildflowers and shrubs. But the major work will take place below the surface where a bio-retention zone will be created with vegetation, sand and soil.

It is designed to divert about 200,000 gallons of stormwater from existing sewer lines. That's about 90% of the water from a moderate storm.

The project is part of a larger citywide push to find more environmentally-friendly and cheaper ways to cleans stormwater, officials said.

That's kind of funny considering that the City is developing wetlands in Brooklyn and Staten Island and wants to pave over the Ridgewood Reservoir.

Is this the final straw for Huang?

From the Daily News:

The widow of a 26-year-old man killed Monday in a wall collapse at an Elmhurst construction site had some choice words Wednesday for her late husband's boss.

"I hope he rots," said Mireya Alvarado, 25, who is six months pregnant with Hedilberto Sanchez's third child.

Sanchez's boss was developer Tommy Huang - no stranger to controversy in Queens and infamous for trashing the landmarked RKO Keith's Theatre in Flushing.

The owner of the company left the scene of the accident when he realized the extent of the carnage caused by the collapse, according to Alvarado and Sanchez's three brothers, who were also working at the construction site Monday.

It was not immediately clear whether that man was Tommy Huang. Huang did not return calls yesterday seeking comment.

The city Buildings Department is investigating whether there was any wrongdoing that caused the collapse, sources said.

But Alvarado said she knows who to blame and she wants Huang to pay for what happened to Hedilburto.

"I want justice. He left me alone with my children," she said, clutching her stomach and choking back tears.

Alvarado said Huang forced Sanchez, an undocumented immigrant worker from Mexico, to work 10 hours a day, six days a week, regardless of the weather, for a paltry wage.

Happy birthday, Hunters Point Avenue Bridge!

From the Queens Gazette:

The original Hunters Point Avenue Bridge dates back to 1874 when the bridge was constructed of wood. Then, from 1874 to 1907, an iron bridge was built before it too was replaced in 1910 by a doubleleaf bascule bridge, designed by the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company under the supervision of Edward Byrne of the Department of Bridges. It was modified in the early 1980s as a single-leaf bascule bridge. Bascule bridges are designed with a counterweight that balances the span as it swings upward while a single leaf lifts up from one end and a double leaf lifts up from both sides in the middle of the span.

Now that was a bad decision

From the Daily News:

An ex-con who used his cell phone to snap photos of jurors in a buddy's murder trial was busted by Queens court officers Monday, the Daily News has learned.

Anthony Lalor, 24, was charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental administration in the illegal stunt.

Lalor was nabbed around 1 p.m., shortly after jurors filed out of Justice Gregory Lasak's third-floor courtroom for a lunch break.

He managed to take at least one photo of a juror before he was caught, but his cell phone was confiscated, a source said.

State court officers feared Lalor would use the photo to intimidate jurors trying to decide whether his pal, Christopher Chisholm, is guilty of murder.

"He wasn't using it for his scrapbook," said one court official.

Hiram cries poverty

From the NY Post:

In a move that almost redefines "chutzpah," disgraced ex-pol Hiram Monserrate wants taxpayers to fund his defense against charges he misused $109,000 in "slush fund" cash while he was a city councilman.

The Queens Democrat -- who got booted from the state Senate for assaulting his girlfriend -- filed court papers yesterday saying he's unemployed and has just $100 to his name.

Monserrate says he has racked up $128,000 in debt.

Defense lawyer Joseph Tacopina, who represented Monserrate in the assault case, said in the Manhattan federal-court filing that his firm contacted Monserrate in October after learning from the feds that he'd been indicted on fraud charges.

"In response, Mr. Monserrate assured us that he would have the funds available to retain us," Tacopina wrote.

But Monserrate hasn't coughed up a dime since then, and recently revealed he lacks the means to do so.

River power coming

From the Daily News:

A hydroelectric power project slated for the East River could soon juice the city with a megawatt of electricity if it gets a final thumbs-up from the feds.

After more than 10 years developing a plan to tap into renewable energy by installing turbines off the Queens shoreline, Verdant Power filed for a pilot commercial license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Dec. 29.

If the license is granted, the floor of the East River between Roosevelt Island and Queens could be lined with up to 30 underwater turbines by the end of 2011, said Trey Taylor, president of Verdant.

The company will then make an effort to sell its electricity to Con Edison or the New York Power Authority, and connect to the city's distribution grid.

Real estate fraudster pleads guilty

From The Real Deal:

Real estate attorney Cheddi Goberdhan of Queens has pleaded guilty to a scheme in which he defrauded banks out of more than $23 million in home mortgage loans, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced. In a seven-count indictment in Manhattan federal court yesterday, Goberdhan was charged with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, and six counts of bank fraud, in which he made hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal profits by working with corrupt officers of GuyAmerican Funding, a mortgage brokerage in Jamaica, Queens.

Goberdhan, 57, is the ninth defendant convicted of participating in this fraud scheme. He faces a maximum sentence of 210 years in prison and will also be required to pay restitution to the victims of his offense and to forfeit the proceeds of his crimes. He is scheduled to be sentenced in April.

Robbers run rampant in Sunnyside

From Sunnyside Post:

Two masked men entered the Sunnyside Pharmacy on Skillman Ave. on Nov. 15 and approached the owner with a knife.

The two men then blindfolded the proprietor, sat him down in a corner of the store, and then began riffling through the prescription drug section. They then stole Oxycodone, a crude subsititute for heroin, and took off with cash.

“These people knew me and the store,” the owner of the pharmacy, located at 48-11 Skillman Ave., said. “They knew I wouldn’t have that many customers in the store at 5:40 pm when it happened.” The police—then detectives—arrived shortly after the robbery, he said, but he has not heard from them since.

Today, a police spokesman said no arrests have been made in the case.

Meanwhile, across the street at 48-06 Skillman, Victor Alvarez, the owner of Via Classic Emporium, said his store was burgled in the early hours of Jan. 1. “They took my computer, photo equipment, antique jewelry and other items—totaling more than $10,000.” He added the burglars also trashed his store, up ending china cabinets and smashing lamps.

No arrests have been made in this case either, police said.

Bloomberg's whereabouts confirmed

From City Room:

Mr. Bloomberg and his aides refuse to talk about it. But the residents of Bermuda have taken no such vow of silence.

They say that Mr. Bloomberg’s plane arrived on the island, where he owns a large waterfront vacation home, sometime after midnight on Christmas morning. They spoke on condition of anonymity, for fear of inflaming the mayor and the local authorities, who prize discretion for visiting dignitaries.

Serial sex offender caught with kids

From NY1:

Joseph Denice, 24, was a volunteer religious instructor at the Saint Mel School in Flushing.

He allegedly used Facebook to contact a minor, which is against school policy.

The child's parent contacted school officials on December 31 about the alleged contact, and Denice was let go on Monday.

The Queens district attorney's office says Denice is a registered level-one sex offender who now lives on 15th Avenue in Whitestone.

Officials say he spent six months in prison in June for sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy between July to September 2009. The victim was in the afterschool program where Denice worked.

According to the district attorney, Denice forged letters from judges saying the boy had to have a "body scan" as part of an investigation by the Administration for Children's Services. Denice then performed several "body scans," which involved sexually touching the boy.

The Brooklyn Diocese said every volunteer goes through intensive training and a background check, and a diocese representative said a check was done on Denice in 2005.

However, no background check was made when Denice recently returned from prison.

NY1 also reported: According to the Brooklyn Diocese, Denice also volunteered at St. Kevin School in Flushing and St. Luke's in Whitestone. It was at St. Luke's where was asked to leave because parents became uncomfortable with how familiar he was with the students.

In addition to this, I received an e-mail from a reader who said Denice had also worked at World of Discovery Camp in Bayside and an afterschool program at IS25. But that hasn't been reported. Until now, anyway.

"He was part of the after school for 3 years and counselor at the camp for 7." - anonymous

Is Rikers Island hazardous to health?

From Fox 5:

Is Rikers Island making people sick? Five corrections officers are suing New York City claiming that after decades of work at the jail -which sits on top of a former landfill- they are suffering from cancer.

Good Day New York spoke with Officers Jacqueline Bede and Vanessa Parks and their attorney, Seth Harris of the Burns & Harris Law Firm.

"Too many of us are coming down with cancer. Too many of us are retiring with cancer and too many of us are dying before our 20 year retirement," said Parks, 51, who has colon cancer.

"The smell, makes me nauseous. All day, it's a terrible smell," said Bede, 49, who has uterine cancer.

The City denies that Rikers Island is causing cancer.

"The corrections officer union did a study a few years ago because of so many complaints by constituents. Many are sick from methane gas that is leaking through the soil. Rikers Island is a landfill. It's where we used to get rid of garbage. They tried to put in a methane gas barrier 20 years ago that isn't working because the alarms keep going off. In the 90s, they did a study to appease the workers but they never tested the soil," said Harris.

Sex trafficker busted at Mohegan Sun

From the NY Times:

A Queens woman suspected of involvement in a human-trafficking ring that smuggled young Korean women into the United States and forced them into prostitution in New York and elsewhere on the East Coast was arrested while gambling at a casino in Connecticut, immigration officials said Monday.

The woman, An Soon Kim, 52, had been sought by the authorities since at least August 2006, when she was named in a federal complaint describing an elaborate scheme that brought Korean women into the country using false documents and made them work as prostitutes in brothels that masqueraded as massage parlors, health spas and acupuncture clinics, officials said.

Security workers at the Mohegan Sun, a gambling and entertainment resort in Uncasville, Conn., had been on the lookout for Ms. Kim since early December, when she was featured on the television program “America’s Most Wanted” and was recognized by a casino employee, according to the Web site of The Hartford Courant, which quoted the Connecticut State Police.

On Friday, Ms. Kim returned to the resort and was arrested by immigration agents on the casino’s gambling floor, said a statement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security. She was found with $17,045, officials said.

Federal investigators first revealed details of the trafficking ring on Aug. 16, 2006, when they announced the arrest of 31 defendants. The suspects were accused of running a network of at least 19 Korean-owned brothels stretching from Washington, D.C., to Rhode Island. Among them were unnamed brothels on 59th Street and West 26th Street in Manhattan, and a spa called the “Hong Kong” in Flushing, Queens, officials said.

The businesses catered primarily to an Asian clientele, officials said, and some made tens of thousands of dollars a month.

Creepy crap

Miss Heather has found yet another pile of dung in Brooklyn. This one has some added creep factor.

QUIZ TIME!!!!

Guess which council member sent these words as part of a pissed off e-mail to a preservation group today?

"smug"
"patronizing"
"insulting"
"unfortunate"
"preposterous"
"sniveling"
"How dare you"

Was it:

A) Peter Vallone
B) Jim Gennaro
C) Karen Koslowitz
D) Dan Halloran

City Council to overturn Queens landmark designation

From HDC:

If everything goes as expected, by 1pm on January 11, 2011, the Borough of Queens will be well on the way to having one less designated landmark, thanks to City Council.

On October 26, 2010, at a hearing proudly proclaimed as “Queens Day”, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to designate Grace Episcopal Church Memorial Hall as one of the 68 individual landmarks in the borough. The two-story red-brick and limestone Tudor Revival building was completed in 1912 by the architecture firm of Upjohn and Constable for use as gymnasium, auditorium, meeting rooms and offices. It is the final piece of one of the most historic church complexes in New York City – the other parts of which (Grace Episcopal Church, 1861-62 and enlarged in 1901-02 and the adjacent graveyard, opened 1734) are both individual landmarks – and an important signifier of the role of the church in Jamaica as it expanded from solely providing religious services to include educational and social services for its community. LPC Chairman Robert Tierney stated, “This picturesque structure was built to serve as a powerful link to the church’s historic past, and secure a promising future. This parish hall nurtured and sustained this important congregation for almost 100 years, and its designation helps to assure its role will continue.” Unfortunately, the congregation doesn’t seem to agree.

Despite not bothering to appear at the public hearing about the hall in February (which they admit they were properly notified about), and despite the City Planning Commission’s analysis that the designation would enable them to sell 314,000 square feet of development rights which could go to approximately 20 nearby receiving sites, they’re not having it. So they reached out to their local Council member James Gennaro who stated “I’m going to be opposing it. More attention should be focused on the financial impacts of landmarking on nonprofit institutions.” Council member Leroy Comrie, who also represents part of Jamaica and is the chair of the City Council’s powerful Land Use Committee also stated to HDC that he would oppose the designation and that is frankly that.

Let’s forget about any lengthy discussions of the merit of the designation or the “financial” implications of landmarking. That really has no place at the public hearing. Most council members are going to vote with the recommendation of the local representative; it makes no sense to do otherwise in the communal environment of democratic government where you depend on the votes of other members to approve projects in your local district. 314,000 square feet of air-rights? What does that really mean when you have to fix your slate roof? In point of fact, St. Thomas the Apostle on Fifth Avenue received over $14 million to go towards building maintenance for some of their air rights in 2008 although, in full disclosure, we weren’t pleased with the proposed development that resulted.

Regardless, we aren’t the decision-makers here, nor are other groups who showed up to support this designation at the Landmarks Commission, nor is the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation who supported this in writing nor Queens Borough President Helen Marshall or State Senator Shirley Huntley who did also. The congregation is in control and the congregation doesn’t want designation, therefore it’s not going to happen, Q.E.D.

To be fair, this unfortunate scenario is well within the allowed-for practice of governmental power. It is the Council’s right to ask whether the power to designate a property as a landmark should be exercised, and there is no required assessment or measurement (political calculation notwithstanding). So the moral of today’s story is “When embarking on a community proposal, get your elected officials onboard early and contact them often.” Remember, if they’re not partners in your campaign, they might be partners in somebody else’s.

Woman found hanged at 71st-Continental station

From Forest Hills Patch:

A 20-year-old woman was found dead in the women’s restroom at the 71st-Continental Ave. Subway station on Monday afternoon, according to police.

The woman, who has yet to be identified, was found by a commuter who went into the women’s restroom on the plaza level of the station at around 2:45 p.m. Monday afternoon.

Emergency Medical personnel arrived shortly after and pronounced the young woman dead at the scene.

Police said they have not been able to identify the victim, who was hanging from a water pipe in the bathroom by a rope.

Meet the DOB's investigator

From DNA Info:

Undercover investigations and online stings are tactics typically used by police and prosecutors, not building inspectors. But there's a new sheriff in town at the city's Department of Buildings — and he comes armed with three decades of law enforcement experience.

Eugene Corcoran, a former United States Marshal and 20-year veteran of the New York State Police took office in May as the buildings department's Deputy Commissioner of Enforcement — a first for the department, which has been plagued by corruption and a string of fraud-linked tragedies, including the Deutsche Bank building fire in 2007 and two deadly crane collapses in 2008.

Since his appointment, Corcoran has been taking the lessons he learned tracking down serial killers and reconstructing plane crashes and using them to crack down on absentee building owners and contractors who don't play by the rules.

"If there's an owner or a landlord or a licensed professional who is violating his oath of office… we'll be looking to hold them accountable," Corcoran said in a soft-spoken but steely tone as he sat in his office overlooking the Lower Manhattan skyline on a recent morning.

He did a great job cracking down on Tommy Huang, didn't he?

They all f*cked up

From the NY Post:

When two city commissioners decided not to declare a snow emergency during the Christmas weekend blizzard, no one got around to telling Mayor Bloomberg or his deputy mayor.

That startling revelation was one of several disclosures of botched communications and bad decisions that came to light during a five-hour City Council hearing yesterday on the storm that paralyzed the city.

The grilling homed in on why the city didn't declare a snow emergency when forecasters were predicting the Big Apple would be blanketed by a blizzard. Calling an emergency would have kept private vehicles without snow tires or chains off designated snow routes, and banned parking along those routes.

Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith admitted that he and Bloomberg -- who has defended the non-declaration -- were never told of the decision made by the sanitation and transportation commissioners.

Goldsmith apologized for the disastrous response and said that in the future, the mayor or a deputy mayor would make the call.

When asked if that was a new policy, he replied, "Well, it's clearly one we didn't follow two weeks ago."

But Goldsmith -- the former mayor of Indianapolis -- insisted, "The mayor is always in charge. Any of us can get the mayor anytime, anywhere in the world. He answers the telephone."

So why wasn't he questioned at this hearing?

When unions are unhappy, Johnny listens

From the NY Post:

There's no doubt as to who calls the tune in city Comptroller John Liu's shop: the unions who elected him.

It was reported Wednesday that Liu -- whose office manages the assets of five New York City pension funds -- canceled a scheduled meeting this week between fund trustees and the Blackstone Group, an investment firm with whom the funds have had a harmonious relationship for 25 years.

Why kill the meeting?

It seems that Blackstone chief strategist Byron Wien included in his annual forecast last January the rather reasonable observation that taxpayers "literally can't afford the benefits we have given our retirees in state and local governments and we have to change that."

Now, this is no great secret.

And, over the next year, the pension funds deposited $225 million into a Blackstone private-equity fund.

But the wheels were turning.

Now, trustees from three of the five funds -- representing cops, firefighters and civilian employees -- are refusing to meet with Blackstone to discuss new investment strategies until Wien retracts his statement.

Asked by The Post to confirm this, Liu's office would say only, "There is no meeting scheduled. We have no further comment at this time."

Which basically says it all.

Well isn't that special?

From the NY Post:

Rep. Joe Crowley, a Queens Democrat under investigation for raising campaign cash from Wall Street within a day of last year's vote on financial reform, has been tapped as a finance chairman of his party's Congressional Campaign Committee.

A big part of Crowley's job will be more fund-raising -- even as a House Ethics probe continues into his earlier efforts he calls perfectly legit.

This article from the NY Times explains how Crowley got to Washington in the first place.

Huang project kills worker, injures 3 others

From NY1:

One construction worker was killed and three were seriously injured this morning when a wall collapsed on a construction site in Queens.

Police officials say a one-story brick wall partially collapsed at 8418 Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, trapping the workers.

The victims were transported to nearby Elmhurst Hospital, where one was pronounced dead.

The New York City Police Department says the other victims have been listed in stable condition.

According to the Department of Buildings, a five-story building was being constructed at the site. It was in its preliminary stages and was set to feature a storefront on the bottom and residential above.

Sources say improper work was being done.

Sources also say this is a Tommy Huang project... or perhaps his son...

Green mayor plans to develop mall on nature preserve

From Sheepshead Bites:

A new retail project is being proposed on city-owned property near Kings Plaza, and the city is looking for your input.

Four Sparrows Marsh Retail Mall, named after the 67-acre preserve that it will be built on, is a proposed 15-acre development that will expand the existing Toys “R” Us lot at 2875 Flatbush Avenue.

Details of the plan are still being drawn up, according to NYC Economic Development Corporation’s project description, but a key component of the plan includes a commercial building will go on the left side of the existing Toys “R” Us building and will house Kristal Auto Mall, which is moving from it current Kings Highway location. That building will house the dealership, showroom and the service space.

Aside from that, there are two options being considered for the other side of Toys “R” Us. The first is for two commercial structures that will house multiple commercial tenants. The second option is for one large commercial structure that will house one tenant. They’re also planning on-site parking for approximately 820 vehicles.

A public scope meeting for the Four Sparrows Retail Center Project is scheduled for January 11, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. at the Kings Plaza Community Room (5117 Avenue U) to answer questions and concerns from the public.

R.I.P. Frosty

Earlier tonite around 9pm ish I was on my FB page and noticed a post from Tina - she posted that she drove past a pit bull dead in the street, he was inside a garbage bag, his head and a portion of his body was exposed and more about a fighting ring nearby. I immediately posted back to her, and asked what the address was - she replied 84th Street and 107th Avenue (Ozone Park Queens) near the cemetery - I grabbed my scanner, blanket, gloves, and my friend Annie and drove... my heart was racing.

I drove up and there he was, laying 3 feet from the curb - on a two way street, with a fine layer of snow on him, he was frozen.

I moved back the bag to look him over after, he wasn't a bait dog, all his limbs were in place, no gun shot wounds, no bite marks and no blood anywhere, he lay in a fetal position and his eyes closed - his mouth closed.

I scanned him, no chip, no tags, no collars and he was unaltered. I did see some patches of hair missing on him - maybe mange? alopecia? and he did have some calluses on his elbows. He was a very handsome dog, Tan, big skull, but his hinds were on the skinny side, I could see his ribs a little - maybe 3-5 years old at most.

I broke down.. I don't know how in the world someone can toss their pet on the side of the road in a garbage bag, the bag was not even tied. Did he freeze to death or
die of natural causes? (I cant get into bed if my three are not at my side.. wtf)

Drivers drove past, some stopping and shouting.. "hes been there since yesterday" - MY RESPONSE.. THANKS FOR THE INFO ("asshole")

This situation was an awakening for me to see what exactly one is up against here in NYC in a situation like this.

I began making calls, I called 911 and they told me they couldn't assist, I called 311 and was told there's a 48 hour response time, I called the Emergency Clinic and was told they won't hold dead animals overnight. I even called the Queens ASPCA Cruelty Officer Lai and my call went to voice mail.

Had "Frosty" - that's the name I gave him - as he was covered in frost - had he been mutilated, mauled, missing limbs, crushed head, multiple bite wounds, I would have driven him to the ASPCA for investigation reasons.

So, we picked up frosty, I wrapped him in a blue suede blanket, put him in my back seat and took him to the Sanitation dept, against my best wishes.. ACC is closed.. and where can I keep him?

My only thought was to get him out of the street, allow him some dignity.

People get away with doing things like this because they can, the system fails. What if a child had seen that dog in the street for two days - is that what we are offering the youth of America? This is how we love, respect and appreciate God's creatures? Is this the message we are sending? What about a DOH issue in regards to disease?

They slashed the budget and this is what we as rescuers do.

I am now learning this is the second dog dumped there in less then 2 months, one was dumped on Pitkin and 107th - just a block away.

Here is a pic of Frosty Boy..

RIP FROSTY

- Phyllis

People like living in East Elmhurst

From the NY Times:

New York is a place of constant change, an ever-shifting mosaic of immigrants, ethnic groups, strivers who make their mark and move on.

Except in East Elmhurst, Queens.

This neighborhood of Cape Cods and small stucco homes was among the first where African-Americans could buy homes. So they bought here in the 1970s. And never left.

Residents of an East Elmhurst census tract stay in their homes the longest of residents of any of the more than 2,000 census tracts in New York City, according to an examination of recently released data from Census Bureau surveys from 2005 to 2009. The median move-in date for homeowners there is 1974 — more than 36 years ago.

The neighborhood, an enclave of unfussy two-story houses that lies just below La Guardia Airport, is populated by the same families who planted the seedlings that are today’s lush hedges and towering trees.

He’s Jimmy Van Braver?

Dear Editor (Queens Chronicle):

Thank you, thank you, thank you again, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer! Just when I thought you had done everything humanly possible during 2010 — working with kids in all your district area schools, working to improve libraries, outstanding work to develop and improve the area’s cultural and arts programs, the outstanding hotline and the constant fight against graffiti, the closing of Casa Romano (along with Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, Community Board 2 Chairman Joe Conley and the 108th Precinct), the Skillman Avenue holiday lights, etc. — you topped it all when taking on the monster snowstorm that came along in the last week of the year.

Your Superman “damn the cold” efforts to get plows onto Queens streets was nothing short of fantastic. Your visits to all areas of your district and the ensuing press conferences on TV, particularly on Channel 5, got things started to finally clear Queens streets. It is no coincidence that after your Tuesday evening appearances and statements on TV that plows were not only on primary but secondary streets in your district. And, I might add, the other four neglected boroughs.

“A Miracle on 34th Street,” and all Manhattan streets, yes — but St. Nick gave us a great gift, Super Councilman Van Bramer.

On behalf of the officers and members of the United Forties Civic Association, 76 families of the Ardsley Tenants Association, many friends who attend houses of worship in your area, members of Community Board 2 whom I serve with and most of John and Jane Doe — many of whom are seniors — we sincerely thank you!

Don McCallian
President
United Forties Civic Association
Sunnyside


Aaaand this is why Queens gets dumped on all the time. Stop kissing politicians' asses because they advertised themselves (or in return for ice cream money). As far as I know, the whole borough was paralyzed for days after the storm, including Van Bramer's district.

Bloomberg sketch on SNL

Bloomberg: Let 'em drown, just don't stop development!

From DNA Info:

The state just released a long-anticipated report on how to combat rising sea levels — New York Harbor is expected to rise 2 to 5 inches within the next 20 years — but the city isn't on board.

Adam Freed, deputy director of the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, is worried that the state's recommendations will restrict development in the city, which could hurt the region's economy.

The state Sea Level Rise Task Force wants to add extra regulatory hurdles for development projects in potential flood zones and encourage local governments to move critical infrastructure elsewhere.

Those proposals and others the state is recommending "have the potential to add substantial costs and time to development projects and infrastructure investments," Freed said in a Dec. 14 letter to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which is spearheading the sea level plan.

"Implementing these measures without a thorough understanding of the cost and time implications or the scope of their reach is premature," Freed added.

Two weeks after receiving Freed's comments on the draft report, the state released a final version Dec. 31 that still includes the measures Freed opposed.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Conservation said other members of the Sea Level Rise Task Force thought the new regulations were important, so the state did not want to remove them.

The Sea Level Rise Task Force's report is just a recommendation, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo would have to take action to implement it.

Cuomo's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The report, which is several years in the making, covers New York State as a whole, but it also mentions New York City as one of the most at-risk areas for flooding.

The sea level in New York Harbor has risen over 15 inches in the past 150 years and is expected to rise another 2 to 5 inches within the next 20 years, according to the report.

More than 215,000 New York City residents live in an area that has a 1 percent chance of flooding each year, according to federal standards.

Brown tide in the kitchen

From NY1:

NY1 last brought you Queens resident Cynthia Carter's story when she had feces spewing out of her bathtub and toilet onto her apartment floor. This time around it was coming out of her bathroom and kitchen sink.

Eight times her bathtub and toilet overflowed, forcing Carter to live out of plastic bags. She ended up going to court with the building's management.

"The court told them that they had to fix it and they told the court that they had a handle on it that they had a plumber fixing the pipes," said Carter.

And just when Carter thought everything was okay, feces began coming up out of her sinks. She turned to "NY1 For You" for help.

The first time the Department of Health inspected the apartment, a mild to moderate sewage odor was detected and now DOH will be sending another inspector out to follow-up with the tenant and the property managers to make sure the problems are addressed.

NY1 also reached out to the building owner LeFrak City, who released the following statement: "We have worked on the situation and reassure that this will never happen again."

Developer wants CB11's help

From the Times Ledger:

Community Board 11 voted unanimously to oppose a proposal to clear the way for an empty Bayside lot to be developed after a series of area homeowners testified against the plan at a Monday night meeting.

For Our Children Inc., a holding of Richard Alexander, owner of Lund Fire Products — bordered by 215th Place, 216th Street, 40th Avenue and the Long Island Rail Road — has been trying to develop a vacant lot next to his business for years.

Alexander’s attorney, Simon Rothkrug, presented a proposal to build a 6,790-square-foot, one-story office building on the residential-zoned parcel. In order to move forward with a commercial development on the spot, a variance to allow commercial use would have to be approved.

But CB 11 members and neighbors balked at the idea, saying Lund already contributes to traffic and parking woes in the area and that an office building would be out of character with the existing neighborhood.

The proposed building, which had no committed tenants, would have provided 12 parking spaces, which residents called insufficient.

Alexander was on vacation and unavailable to comment Tuesday.

Rothkrug returned to CB 11 Monday night to present the scaled-back proposal. He said the site could be developed as detached residential but that due to a 2005 downzoning of the area, only four small homes would fit on the property, which would not yield sufficient economic benefit for Alexander.

“The argument that they need a rate of return is simply stating that they made a bad investment and now they want the community board to fix it,” board member Steve Behar said. “The last thing the area needs is more office space .... There’s already too many trucks in this area, and there’s already no parking.”

Buses continued to roll because of MTA incompetence

From Fox 5:

MTA sources say one reason the buses kept rolling was that they only issued a Blue Alert on December 26, 2010, as the storm was beginning.

The MTA's own guidelines say a blue alert can be put in place when accumulations have begun, and forecast for continued precipitation has been issued by the weather reporting services...the buses can roll, but they keep track of where they are.

Sources say the last snowstorm clearly fell under red alert status, which they say was never declared. That can be activated when an extremely severe snowstorm is in progress, and the president or senior vice president orders the alert level to be raised from blue to red.

If that had happened, say the sources, buses would have been kept off the roads until they were ready, or at the least had chains put on their tires in preparation. That forced riders to play a guessing game about whether a bus would be there.

These sources also say older MTA buses can only handle a maximum of about 2 inches of snow on the road and the newer, electric buses cannot function in snow at all because of smaller tires and the fact that they have only 1 gear, and not enough power to pull out when they're stuck.

The MTA said it would not comment until its own investigation was complete.

All aboard the B.S. Express!

Background info: I was contacting politicians in order to get the QM22 service reinstated since the MTA cut the service and although a private company TransportAzumah assumed the service as well as the X90 which Penny Lee rode to work.

Since we are about 50 people and I decided to try to work with Congresswoman Maloney's office in order to get the bus back I thought that since the X90 and the QM22's service area is in the same congressional district and that the X90 riders have 620 riders compared to the QM22's 50 that it would be a good idea to help each other out in getting our buses back. Federal elected officials could do things such as adding a rider to Federal Legislation to mandate the MTA Bus Company to operate the buses without any Federal money spent since the MTA Bus Company is wholly subsidized by the City of New York. As a precedent to doing such Congressman Molinari from Staten Island mandated the MTA to institute one way tolls on the Verrazano Bridge with no Federal money spent on implementing such. Penny Lee started questioning my ideas and my knowledge of the situation.

As proof that the City of New York subsidizes the MTA Bus Company one could view Table 4 of the attached PDF document which shows a mid year forecast of 216.7 million dollars that the City of New York is supposed to pay.

Email exchange with Penny Lee:

Penny Lee: Hi, what do you mean when you say that the MTA bus company is wholly subsidized by the City of New York? Are you saying the city, not the MTA pays the difference between the operating costs and the fare box revenues?

Me: Yes, that is what I meant.

Penny Lee: Thanks. But the city is out of the bus business, so how would it run
just these two busses?

Me: The rider (edit: if a rider would be added, such rider) would mandate the MTA Bus Company to operate the service; (edit: the MTA Bus Company is) the agency that took over the Private Lines. But the City of New York (edit: only) SUBSIDIZES the MTA Bus Company and that is all the City of New York does with the MTA Bus Company.

Penny Lee: The x90 was never an MTA Bus Company bus. It was always a NYCT bus. I
want these busses to run as much as you do, but I also don't want Carolyn out on a limb.

Me: (edit: in the case where I have to collaborate with the X90 riders and work with Federal elected officials) There is no other way to do it because NYCT's money comes from the MTA and they have financial problems. MTA Bus Company has money from the City. If this goes through, the X90 would be an MTA Bus Company route, there is not really another way that I know about where this could go through (edit: without using state or MTA money to get the service reinstated, the X90 riders could have worked with state elected officials to do the same thing, but Astoria and the Upper East Side where the X90 runs is in the same congressional district and not in any state or city district together and the QM22 in Astoria and Jackson Heights folks need any help that they could get).

Penny Lee: Unfortunately I don't see this working at all. Did Carolyn's office tell you they'd do it?

Me: Why do you say that, this seems very simple, look at what Congressman Molinari did in Staten Island with regards to one way tolls on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge; and not to insult anybody, you are the only one that seems dazed and confused about this. Is there anything specific that you want me to address, or since you work for City Planning, is there something wrong with doing such that I do not know about.

Penny Lee: You're pretty rude, and it's not simple from a public policy point of view. I work on these issues for a living, including working with Carolyn's office. That's why I asked you if you had a commitment from her to submit the bill. It's my understanding that you don't.

Me: I am not trying to be rude and I do not have any commitments because I just started this a few days ago,(edit: I cannot go to elected officials office as a one man army, I need to get people together and once I get people together, then I would start pressuring elected officials because there is strength in numbers), then if you do this for a living, I am sure you know that this takes a lot of work and I have only started to take baby steps. From my work in the Azumah lawsuit, even people who work for the City of New York have no understanding of what is to be done and policies. I am not saying that you don't, but there are a lot of things that go on that many, including myself and you do not know. (edit: Question, how was Congressman Molinari able to get one way tolls instituted at the MTA's expense using the same technique that I would like to see the X90 and QM22 get reinstated by?)

Penny Lee: I wish you luck. All I know is that I won't help you on this particular effort to restart the X90.

Note: After this exchange and other nasty exchanges with X90 riders I stopped working with them since I felt that it was a waste of my time.

Here are some more rave reviews about X90 riders, the people that Penny Lee rides with to and from work.

http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=363583&postcount=152

http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=363590&postcount=157

http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=363590&postcount=159

http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=365705&postcount=264

http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=366001&postcount=277

http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=366230&postcount=283

http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=366734&postcount=300

Here is some MTA Bus Company information (more proof of the City wholly subsidizing the MTA Bus Company)

http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=365701&postcount=262 - anonymous

Probing whether crime complaints are downgraded

From the Daily News:

A panel of former federal prosecutors will soon begin combing through NYPD crime stats to figure out if cops are cooking the books.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who has long defended the department's CompStat program, made the announcement Wednesday.

"The integrity of our crime-reporting system is of the utmost importance to the department," Kelly said.

Several officers have accused supervisors of downgrading crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. In the 81st Precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Officer Adrian Schoolcraft claimed bosses refused to take crime reports from some victims.

The Crime Reporting Review Panel, which could start its work as early as next week, includes David Kelley, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District.

Kelley said he has been promised full access with the power to interview cops at precinct stationhouses. And he'll be able to attend the CompStat meetings where police commanders are grilled about how they're dealing with crime.

A second member, Robert Morvillo, said it's "incumbent upon us - if there is a serious problem - to try to come up with a solution to the problem." The other member, Sharon McCarthy, wouldn't comment.

There are questions about how this will work.

Not always a bargain

From the NY Post:

Supermarkets socked with $380,000 in fines five months ago for violating city regulations haven't learned their lesson: A new blitz by Department of Consumer Affairs inspectors found the compliance rate actually went down from 48 to 33 percent after the penalties were issued, officials said yesterday.

More shockingly, Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz said that based on the experience of its inspectors, New Yorkers can expect to get ripped off one of out every three times they pass through the supermarket check-out counter.

In a sweep over the last four months, inspectors visited 408 supermarkets -- 83 of them twice -- and issued almost 750 new violations totaling $310,000 for infractions that included inaccurate checkout scanners, no prices on individual items, taxing merchandise that's not taxable and not having produce scales available to customers.

Inspectors have now issued $690,000 in fines since August.

But, as Mintz put it, "The real story is the overcharging."

He said his inspectors would typically pick 25 or 50 items off supermarket shelves -- about 20 percent on sale -- and run them through the register.

In nearly a third of the cases, Mintz said, inspectors were overbilled for at least one item -- a rate he described as "appalling."

Overall, only 33 percent of city supermarkets are in compliance with all city regulations.

During a previous sweep in August, the compliance rate was 48 percent -- a record low at the time.

In other supermarket news, Douglaston will be getting a Fairway soon.

They're still trying to hype Flushing...

From the NY Post:

One of the big question marks hanging over Queens real estate is what will become of Flushing?

Some New Yorkers know Flushing as the last stop on the 7 train — one stop beyond Citi Field. Or, as the huge Chinatown with its treasure trove of Qingdao and Hunan and Szechuan restaurants.

But it has also been the focus of some serious real estate development activity within the last few years, with a lot more to come. Over the next couple of months, hundreds of new condo units will be hitting the market (that number is slated to balloon into the thousands in the next few years). Along with the first wave of residential buildings are a number of big-box stores. And offices, public space and hotels are all on the drawing board.

But adding dozens of new retail outlets and thousands of new condos in the middle of a recession always carries risk — and Flushing is no exception.

By far the biggest thing coming to the neighborhood is Sky View Parc, a $1 billion, 14-acre development that started construction in 2007 (and went through various freezes and thaws since construction started).

“Flushing, outside of Manhattan, is the most vibrant 24/7 community in all of New York,” says Michael Dana, president of Onex Real Estate Partners, which is developing Sky View Parc. “If you look at entertainment, food, culture, the economy is quite strong in that sub-market, but it’s dramatically under-served from a retail and residential perspective.”

Firehouses saved

From NY1:

More than a dozen New York City Fire Department companies that were once again on the chopping block have been spared from the budget ax.

The City Council again came through with sufficient funds to keep them open.

Back in November, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed closing the 20 companies at night in order to save upwards of $15 million.

Lawmakers fought to keep them open and found other savings.

In 2009, the Council also restored funding to keep 16 fire companies open.

Robberies up in Queens precincts

From the Daily News:

Queens residents might want to add one more thing to their list of New Year's resolutions: Guard your belongings more closely.

There were 119 more robberies in Queens in 2010, as of Dec. 26, a 2.9% jump compared with the same period in 2009, new NYPD statistics show.

"These are for-gain crimes. These are not crimes that have to do with emotions," said Maki Haberfeld, who teaches police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Although Queens grand larceny complaints dropped 9% overall, that may not be cause for celebration, Haberfeld said.

The drop in grand larcenies and the rise in robberies show that the "businesslike" crimes are moving out of the office and into the streets due to high unemployment, she said.

"They have to look for alternatives for this illicit behavior and one of these might be robbery," Haberfeld added.

Incidents in the seven serious crime categories - murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto - fell slightly in Queens according to the latest NYPD CompStat figures, a snapshot of crime activity in 2010.

Felony assault complaints fell 1.9% and rapes decreased 9.1%, but the picture wasn't all rosy in terms of violent crimes.

The number of murders ballooned 21% in Queens: 17 more people were slain compared with 2009.