Should city pay for damage caused by potholes?

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – If your car was damaged from the thousands of potholes across New York City, the city council says you shouldn’t have to pay for repairs.

With the harsh winter we’ve had, banging in and out of potholes is a regular occurrence. If your car is damaged from one of the potholes in the city, should the city pay for damages? One councilmember says yes.

“If your car is damaged due to a pothole I want you to report that to the city and I want you to put a claim into the comptroller’s office because if that pothole was previously reported you may have a successful claim,” said City Councilmember Jim Vacca.

If there is proof the pothole wasn’t filled during a specified time period, the city should be liable for the damages to your car, said Vacca.

5 Pointz may be history

From the Daily News:

The iconic graffiti-caked Long Island City factory known as 5Pointz has been tagged for development, likely ending its run as a street-art mecca.

The building's owner, developer Jerry Wolkoff, said he met recently with city planning officials to discuss replacing it with two high-rise residential towers and up to 1,300 rental units.

Wolkoff wants to dramatically remake the entire block along Jackson Ave. that surrounds 5Pointz, where the No. 7 train rumbles past.

He plans to formally submit a proposal to the city within the next two weeks. The size and scope of the project are still being worked out.

Artists fear that Wolkoff's vision for the factory's future would snuff out one of the city's unique creative communities.

He told The News in an exclusive interview that his plans include a mix of shops and restaurants, a supermarket, an open-air concourse between the towers and a park. There would also be studio space for artists.

The city rezoned the block in a 2001 plan to spur redevelopment around Queens Plaza.

The change allows large-scale redevelopment. But Wolkoff's plans call for the taller of the two towers to rise some 40 stories, which will require a special permit and likely a zoning change.

That means the plans must be approved through the city's zoning and land-use review process.

Wolkoff said his $300 million project would revitalize the area and provide for thousands of construction jobs.

Developer rezonings reach insanity level

From the Times Ledger:

Community Board 13 voted against an application to build a one-story commercial building in Cambria Heights during its monthly meeting Monday night.

The public hearing at St. Clare’s School, at 137-25 Brookville Blvd. in Rosedale, was an extension of one held Feb. 15 at the Alpha Phi Alpha Senior Center in Cambria Heights, where residents expressed concerns over traffic, congestion and parking, according to Richard Hellenbrecht, chairman of CB 13’s Land Use Committee.

Jamaica Associates Inc., the applicant, wants to change the zoning from an R3-2 residential district to a C1-3 commercial zone so it can build a one-story commercial building at 226-01 Linden Blvd. in Cambria Heights.

Hellenbrecht said the property used to be occupied by a farmhouse but is now vacant and adjacent to the Cambria Heights Community Garden, which is maintained by the Cambria Heights Civic Association’s Beautification Committee.

Jerry Caliendo, architect for the project, said the developer reached out to City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), the community garden and the Cambria Heights Civic Association and agreed to provide water, light and winter cleanup for the garden if the developer gets approval to build the structure.

Well I can certainly see how a cheap strip of stores would enhance the aesthetics of the neighborhood...

The fact that this was certified by City Planning shows that so long as there is a chance a developer might turn a profit off it, the City will approve just about anything, no matter how detrimental it might be.

Teachers may get the heave-ho

From the Times Ledger:

The city Department of Education released a list of possible teacher layoffs late Sunday night in response to Albany budget cuts and schools all over the borough could be affected.

According to the list based on seniority, about 80 percent of Queens schools would be affected. District 24 would be hit hardest with 8 percent of its teachers getting pink slips. Districts 26, 29 and 30 have the least proposed layoffs with 4 percent, while District 25 faces a 5 percent cut.

Special education teachers, bilingual, English as a Second Language and speech therapy teachers would be excluded from the cuts.

PS 58 in Maspeth could lose the most teachers at 17. Six teachers at PS 290 and four teachers at Rockaway Park High School for Environmental Sustainability could each be cut by 50 percent, the highest percentage in the borough.

Elected officials, the teachers union and parents all blasted the layoffs, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended as a necessity to balance the budget.

There's money for computer contractors, however.

Coverage of MTA depot press conference

Newtown Pentacle has a comprehensive recap.

Sight of Bloomberg offends Rockaway Irish

From the NY Post:

Boos followed Mayor Bloomberg yesterday as he walked in the annual St. Patrick’s Parade in Rockaway, Queens — his first Irish outing since he made a quip about their drinking last month.

Many in the working-class neighborhood also got their Irish up over Bloomberg’s cost-cutting initiatives, including his efforts to overhaul the city pension system, fire more than 4,000 teachers, and change the “last in, first out” rule for teacher layoffs.

“Go back to Manhattan!” yelled several parade-goers as Bloomberg and other elected officials strolled the 30-block route along Newport Avenue and Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Belle Harbor.

“Take the A train home!” shouted someone amid the sea of bagpipes, green face paint and Irish flags.

Chants of “Union-buster!” and “Respect the teachers!” trailed after Bloomberg, who was making his 10th consecutive appearance at the parade.

Bayside Hills under attack!

Crapsters,

Attached is a .pdf being distributed as a handbill In Bayside Hills Queens about a proposed project at 50-20 216th Street.

This variance is an extraordinarily audacious request. Our community will have to go through hell to fight it, even though it is without merit. I'm told that 85-95% of this stuff gets approved. A major factor seems to be who is hired to make the variance application. I've been told by a local politician, that if you try to hire a lawyer to represent the community, they are all afraid to do it.

I would appreciate your posting this to your blog.

Thanks,

D. Goldenbar

House in the Garden-V4

An urban planner familiar with the situation put it this way:

"The property is 500 square feet shy of a legal lot size (3,800 sf) and 700 square feet smaller than a typical 40' x 100' lot (4,000 sf). And yet, the owner is proposing a house with 2,320 square feet. The R2A zoning has a .5 FAR, and property owners are able to gain an additional 300 square feet from having a garage on the property. THERE IS NO GARAGE PROPOSED. So, to sum it up: the developer is not only asking for setback violations and additional square footage way above their undersized property would allow even if it were legal, but they are asking for a 300 square foot bonus for a garage that isn't being built!"

Oh and folks, here's what you have to look forward to when you're dealing with Rockchapel Realty (see this post from 2006 - the very beginnings of this blog): Developer Greed 101

A Call For Preservation

Editorial from the Queens Tribune:

The road to recovery for our borough’s artifacts must not stop at the RKO Keith’s in Flushing. The process to bring some portion of the aging relic back to life has stopped and started a handful of times before. The theater has been the victim of an unscrupulous developer, vandals, squatters and thieves.

While the rest of Flushing has been transformed in a Renaissance of growth and development, the RKO has sat and deteriorated. The palace at the end of the 7 train line will see a slight rebirth – not to the grandeur it once held, and to some, not to the esteem it deserves.

Private development has repurposed this iconic structure that is such a large part of the public domain, but the list of private and public sites in need of aid grows daily. Where is the fix for the crumbling New York State Pavilion in Flushing Meadows? Why is the Civic Virtue statue, bedeviled in this edition as misogynistic, in such disrepair? Why does St. Saviour’s Church sit in boxes in a warehouse?

We need a commitment to preserve our history, our artifacts, our borough icons. Yes, public funding needs to aid our children – our future, but it also needs to help preserve our past, encourage our arts and spur our aesthetic growth.

We call upon our elected officials to find a solution.

Police searching for Flushing rape suspect

From NY1:

Police are asking for the public's help finding a man they say has sexually assaulted three Asian women in Queens.

Investigators say the attacks took place in Flushing between September 22 and February 27, in the evening and early morning hours.

The last incident happened on Bowne Street and 37th Avenue. The others took place along 34th Avenue and Sanford Avenue and 147th Street.

In one case, police say the man stole the victim's cell phone and wallet.

The women range in age from 25 to 37.

The suspect is described as being a Hispanic man in his 20s, about 5' 5" tall, and weighing 130 pounds.

In the last attack he was wearing a black leather jacket, blue jeans, and dark sneakers.

Really big hole in the fence at JFK

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A Port Authority source concerned about security gave Eyewitness News the photographs showing the perimeter fence at JFK Airport in complete disrepair.

But it was only after getting an aerial view from NewsCopter 7 that the extent of damage became clear.

At least a quarter mile of the perimeter fence is down, leaving a gaping hole in security along a main JFK runway.

A memo from a Port Authority Police Officer warns "higher-ups" that "There is nothing to prevent a vessel or person" from entering the runway, and added that it is a ''severe security risk".

More community board defections

From the Times Ledger:

Glen Oaks Village is contemplating leaving Community Board 13 and joining CB 11, claiming the co-op has more in common with CB 11 than CB 13, according to Glen Oaks Village President Bob Friedrich.

“We’re considering whether to do that this year or not because we have a lot more in common with CB 11,” Friedrich said, referring to the co-ops that are a part of the northeast Queens community board.

Bryan Block, chairman of CB 13, declined to comment.

Friedrich said Glen Oaks Village has not yet decided to pursue the action, but said if it did it would ask for the community board boundary to be changed to along Union Turnpike instead of the Grand Central Parkway.

CB 13 covers one of the largest territories in Queens, starting from Glen Oaks in the north down along the Queens-Nassau border to Rosedale in southeast Queens.

CB 11 Chairman Jerry Iannece said he had no formal discussions with Friedrich about the move.

Iannece noted that North Shore Towers in Floral Park may also decide to switch from CB 13 to CB 11 and that Bay Terrace has already renounced its membership with CB 7.

Times Ledger wants bridge name to stay

From the Times Ledger:

With respect to former Mayor Ed Koch, the proposal to rename the Queensboro Bridge is stupid. Known also as the “59th Street Bridge,” it connects Queens with Manhattan. Changing the name to the “Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge” is unacceptable. At best it is dumb; at worst it is an insult to Queensites.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg let it be known that he wanted to change the name of the bridge at an early 86th birthday party for Koch in December. That he came up with the suggestion is evidence of the mayor’s disconnect with the people living in the outer boroughs.

We agree with City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., who said in a statement: “Mayor Ed Koch is truly a great man and deserving of an honor like this, but renaming a landmark so closely linked to our borough’s culture and history is not appropriate.”

The mayor would not think of renaming the Brooklyn Bridge. The people of Brooklyn would never let that happen.

Vallone suggested the city consider renaming Gracie Mansion, the residence of the mayor, the “Gracie-Koch Mansion.” This is dumb, but harmless.

Why are we naming anything after anyone? Place names are safe. People names are not.

Johnny audits EDC

From the NY Times:

In a scathing critique of the Bloomberg administration’s oversight practices, New York City’s top fiscal watchdog has accused the city’s main agency for economic development of allowing a contract with a construction company to balloon by tenfold in three years to nearly $74 million, and authorizing over $3 million in dubious payments.

The [EDC] audit is the latest in an increasingly hostile battle between the agency, which has become a vital vehicle for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s aggressive development agenda, and Mr. Liu, whose office must approve the corporation’s contract with the city every year.

According to the audit, the agency approved 21 changes between July 2008 and January 2010 to a contract with Turner Construction Company, which was asked to provide facility management and construction management services at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, Essex Street Market building and other sites. As a result, the contract’s value jumped to $73.5 million, from $7.5 million.

The audit says the agency authorized $3.3 million in “inappropriate and questionable payments” to Turner. They include improper reimbursements for unsubstantiated expenses and unnecessary costs for loading, storing and transporting contaminated soil from the Brooklyn Army Terminal site.

Referring to an alarming “lack of involvement,” the audit says the agency demonstrated a “total reliance” on the construction company and “relinquished far too much control and supervision in reviewing and overseeing the work carried out by Turner.”

Mr. Liu said, “Given the ongoing economic and budget uncertainties, we can neither tolerate nor afford business as usual at the E.D.C.”

Electeds call for repair of Navy Yard structure

From HDC Blog:

February 28, 2011

The Honorable John McHugh
Secretary of the Army
1400 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1400

Dear Secretary McHugh:

We are concerned about the historic structures of national significance on the Admirals Row site at the Army’s former Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York. Admirals Row is a six-acre section of the property which was vacated in the mid-1970’s but has remained in federal control. We ask that you ensure quick action to allow emergency stabilization of the Timber Shed and Building B in advance of the planned property transfer, while also completing the transfer expeditiously. These historic structures are severely deteriorated and in need of emergency repairs and stabilization if they are to be saved.

The National Guard Bureau (NGB) has identified these two buildings on the site to save. However, due to agency constraints is unable to perform the needed work on the Timber shed. The potential and likely purchaser, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC), which controls the remainder of the Yard, has communicated their willingness to undertake that work, but has been unable to obtain the necessary agreement from the Army Corps of Engineers and the NGB. The BNYDC has successfully executed other building preservation efforts at the yard, and is the designated agent of the City of New York to which the property is slated for transfer, by an act of Congress.

It is disappointing to see these historic structures further deteriorate while their preservation is held up by administrative processes. The 1853 Timber Shed is the last remaining of its type in the country and Building B would be the only one of the row buildings preserved. Understanding that the Department of the Army takes its responsibilities for historic preservation seriously, the current delays are surely the result of well-intentioned actors. However, the urgency of the situation needs to be addressed. We understand that two million dollars of federal funding has been identified for preservation of this property. We applaud that level of commitment by the Department of the Army, and ask that while the transfer paperwork is being completed, all efforts be made to hasten the site access by BNYDC to perform the urgent stabilization work on these two historic structures.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer, United States Senator
Kirsten E. Gillibrand, United States Senator
Edolphus “Ed” Towns, United States Representative
Nydia Velázquez, United States Representative

What's $25M to a billionaire?

From the NY Times:

...Mr. Bloomberg cast aside the warnings of consultants and executives who told him that the magazine was a financial millstone that would cost the company, at best, $25 million a year. “Do I look like a guy worried about losing $25 million?” Mr. Bloomberg asked the naysayers, according to three of these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks were confidential.

We're one toxic town!

From AM-NY:

Don’t drink to this: New York City is one of the country’s most toxic towns, according to a Forbes.com survey.

The website ranked the 80 largest metro areas, with New York coming in fourth. Philadelphia, which is considered to have the worst water quality, was at the top of the toxic heap, followed by California cities Bakersfield and Fresno.

Forbes said Gotham has the third-worst water quality nationwide based on the health index it used. The Environmental Working Group, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, has identified chemicals in the city’s drinking water that are linked to chronic health problems.

Forbes also looked at air quality, toxic release measures and the number of area Superfund sites, homes to hazardous waste.

Specifically:

New York, N.Y.
MSA: New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y./N.J./Pa.
Number of unhealthy air quality days (2009): 5
Pounds of on-site toxic releases reported (2009): 4.1 million
EWG top water concerns: Total haloacetic acids; dieldrin; total trihalomethanes

Leak in the street

From the Times Newsweekly:

The Times Newsweekly was contacted by a resident of Stephen Street between Forest and Seneca avenues who claimed that water has been seeping out of a large crack in the middle of the street that stretches from one side of the curb to the other.

In an interview with the Times Newsweekly, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) noted that a crew inspected the street on Tuesday, Feb. 22, and will dispatch a repair crew to the block “in the next few days.”

The problems causing the leak were not specified by the spokesperson, who maintained that work has been scheduled to take place to correct the matter.

Elected officials flunk first amendment test

From the NY Times:

New York, never at a loss for self-congratulatory words, regards itself as the most tolerant of cities, a place where one may express any thought freely. It is true. In New York, one may articulate any idea whatsoever — as long as that idea parallels popular opinion.

Stray too far from generally accepted wisdom, though, and you are asking for trouble.

The latest to discover this reality is a Texas group called Life Always, which bought billboard space in SoHo to deliver an anti-abortion message rooted in recent statistics from the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. They showed that in 2009, 41 percent of all pregnancies here ended in abortion. The abortion rate for black women was even higher, almost 60 percent.

Up went the billboard on a building at the corner of Avenue of the Americas and Watts Street. It showed a black girl with these words above her head: “The most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb.”

Was this anti-abortion statement subtle? Hardly. Accurate? Depends on your politics. Offensive? For some people, yes. Out of step with mainstream thought in New York? For sure. And so, a few days ago in this most tolerant of cities, a raft of elected officials wasted no time calling for the billboard’s removal.

Lickety-split, the sign came down...

Some who objected to the sign complained that it was provocative. Of course it was. Since when is the American concept of free speech confined to opinions that are nice and safe and unlikely to cause a ripple?

Some also saw the message as racist. Clearly, it was racial. But racial and racist are not one and the same...

This plain act of censorship was not isolated. Rather, it fit into an established New York pattern of squelching unpopular opinions.

Bill de Blasio, the public advocate and one of the influential figures who demanded removal of the anti-abortion billboard, saw no assault on free speech. There should never be a law prohibiting this sort of sign, Mr. de Blasio said, “but to have a serious debate, to have people express their outrage, and then to have a private owner of the advertising space decide that it was ultimately not appropriate, that to me is a functioning democracy.”

Not quite, said Norman Siegel, a leading civil liberties lawyer. To him, freedom of expression took a hit.

“The principle of free speech is easy when the speech is something that’s popular and noncontroversial,” Mr. Siegel said. “The real test is when you disagree with the content of the speech and you still defend the right of someone to articulate the message.”

The city, he said, just flunked that test.

Looks like Democrats voted for the wrong public advocate candidate. It's wrong when conservatives do it, too. At least the Supreme Court got it right this time.

S.I. house abandoned by city as well as owner

From SI Live:

A critter-infested home that's taken on the look of a neighborhood eyesore has had little done to improve its appearance and condition, say those familiar with the vacant structure in Tottenville.

All that's happened since November, when the Advance first reported on the house at 398 Loretto St. is a power wash, said neighbor John Bonacci, who's lived on the block for 10 years. He's dealt with the ramshackle property next door since the building went up in flames in 2006.

In October, the New York Daily News photographed a raccoon sticking its head out of the building's chimney.

Boarded-up windows can be viewed through a wire strung along a short wooden fence that wraps around the two-story building. A thick, locked chain keeps trespassers away.

Bonacci believes little clean-up can happen because city agencies are unable to get onto the property.

Bullshit. If they want to clean it, they'll clip the lock and enter the property. They have the legal right to do it once notices have gone unanswered. Either DSNY or DOH are responsible.

Photo of the day

Roberto Macinelli (r.), an architect for developer Patrick Thompson, speaks at Borough President Helen Marshall's land use hearing about Thompson's plans to upgrade the RKO Keith's Theatre while Michael Nussbaum (l.), a consultant for Thompson, looks on. Photo by Connor Adams Sheets (Times Ledger)

Michael Nussbaum? Of Queens Tribune infamy (as well as indictment infamy)? What's up with that?

He's not the only one connected to the Trib that has extracurricular development activities these days. Schenk has been shilling for this project along with some other familiar Queensfolk...

From the Village Tattler:

HHA is working in conjunction with D&F Development Group, a development company that specializes in the construction of government subsidized low-income housing. D&F’s principals, Leonard D’Amico and Peter Florey, were recently named “Kings of Queens” for the work their company has done in that borough. Is the primary motive behind the development to make use of grant money before it expires and increase HHA revenue flow or is it to “maximize community resources for our residents”? Current Huntington Station property owners will almost certainly see their home values fall as more high-density, low-income apartment buildings are added to the Station. The additional development will not contribute any new revenue to the strapped school district, even while HHA will see its revenues increase and D&F Development will profit from the project.

Long Island is gonna look like Queens soon because the usual suspects are bringing their particular brand of special out east. Welcome to our world!

An empty feeling

From New York Magazine:

An empty storefront is a bummer, especially when it sits for months, depleting the block of its vibrancy. “It doesn’t continue to provide the kind of animated street life that most people like about cities,” says urban planner Ethel Sheffer. Vacancies in older buildings have that effect, but when they’re found in new developments, the feeling is perhaps even more pronounced...

In Manhattan alone, at least 46 condo buildings built or converted in the past five years have 69 empty retail spaces, according to PropertyShark.com, and that’s not counting new rental towers. Brooklyn’s condo-fied neighborhoods have them, too.

The reasons for the lingering vacancies are manifold. Hobbled by the recession, the ground-floor retail market is still righting itself. The banks and Duane Reades of the world that once reliably colonized such spaces are today less acquisitive, say brokers, and discount-apparel retailers like Filene’s Basement and Daffy’s, which have stepped in to fill the vacuum, want pedestrian-heavy addresses—which wasn’t a prerequisite for the condo parts of these towers. Meanwhile, some merchants have taken the opportunity to trade up to previously unaffordable addresses, further hampering developments in less-proven locations.

Then there are the developers with suitors for their storefronts who choose to demur, lest retail tenants interfere with sales momentum. (In this market, condo buyers balk for reasons big and small.) For those going uncourted, slashing rents is a fix with risks. Condos are expensive to build, and that was especially so during the boom years, when all these buildings went up; since retail leases typically last a decade or more, it can make sense to wait for prices to turn...

That’s the business end; on a psychic level, these empty spaces follow a whole different math. Whereas an old boarded-up building, abandoned after its better days, speaks of a slow-motion subtraction, these luxury-wrapped shells are a reminder of an era of exponential promise suddenly cut short. The longer they sit unused the further away the fizzy times feel.

Say goodbye to Sunnyside

From The Real Deal:

A proposal to rezone a 130-block swath of Queens' Sunnyside and Woodside neighborhoods -- what would be the first rezoning of the area since 1974 -- has entered its public review period, City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden announced today. The proposed zoning changes would target Queens Boulevard's main corridor for "moderate new development" by setting height limits on other, mostly-residential blocks and would provide incentives for affordable housing through the city's Inclusionary Housing Program. In Sunnyside, the rezoning would allow for small sidewalk cafes on Queens Boulevard in order to liven up the neighborhood.

Oh boy.

Yes, the aroma of Queens Blvd bus exhaust mixed with the rumbling of the 7 train create the perfect ambiance for outdoor dining. That Amanda Burden is one innovative thinker. Meanwhile the NY Observer took a slant that downzoning is bad. What a surprise.

Photo from the Daily News

Double-dipping legislators

MYFOXNY.COM - When most people retire, they leave their job, but not some New York lawmakers. A number of them are double dipping: collecting a salary and a pension.

Fox 5's Arnold Diaz got some details on Albany's dirty little secret. His investigation determined that 16 lawmakers are currently collecting a state pension as a retired legislator when it fact they're still on the job getting their full salary.

State legislators can legally double dip as long as they joined the state retirement system before 1995, have at least five years of service, and are at least 65 years old.

Other lawmakers say that loophole should be closed.

Sanity prevails for once at DOT

From the NY Times:

In an abrupt concession to community complaints, the Bloomberg administration said Wednesday that it would scrap a plan for a pedestrian plaza on 34th Street in Manhattan that would have banned automobile traffic on the block between Herald Square and the Empire State Building.

The plaza had been the centerpiece of an ambitious reimagining of the Midtown thoroughfare, a plan that included dedicated bus lanes separated by a concrete barrier from other traffic. Cars on either side of the plaza would have traveled in a single direction, outbound toward the edges of the island.

But the project, proposed in 2008, received sharp criticism from some of the area’s residents and business owners, who complained that the bus lanes would block access to their buildings and that cars seeking a route across town could clog up surrounding side streets. Some residents said they had considered the project a fait accompli.

Not so, said Janette Sadik-Khan, the city’s transportation commissioner. “The design has evolved as we continue to work with the community,” she said Wednesday. “We want the public process to play itself out.”

The decision to abandon the plaza plan is a stark contrast to the fate of previous unorthodox ideas put forward by Ms. Sadik-Khan, who has banned cars from parts of Times, Herald and Union Squares. The 34th Street plan came under sustained attack this week in The New York Post, where one columnist deemed the project a “budding Titanic.”

A revised plan will be unveiled at a public forum on March 14. Ms. Sadik-Khan declined to say whether other elements of the project, like the separated bus lanes, had also been changed. But she said the new plan would expand curbside access for parking, deliveries and drop-offs.

Some supporters of the plan said they appreciated how the city’s Transportation Department responded to the concerns of the public.

The Daily News reports today that the problem Janette was aiming to fix has already been resolved.

Electeds move to block Maspeth depot

Maspeth Doesn't Need Another Depot!

***MEDIA ALERT***
CITY & MTA IN A RUSH TO DUMP DEPOT IN MASPETH

Council Members Van Bramer, Crowley, Assemblywoman Markey and Local Elected Officials unite with Concerned Residents to Speak out against the Proposed Location

On Friday, March 4th Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, Council Member Elizabeth Crowley and Assemblywoman Marge Markey will stand with local elected officials and concerned residents to speak out against the city and MTA’s proposed Bus Depot site in Maspeth. The proposed site on 49th Street and Galasso Place would be the third MTA depot in an area that is already saturated with commercial traffic. The rush job in selecting Maspeth as a potential site has raised concerns about the secretive process that gave no notice to the community or to local elected officials. Council Members Van Bramer and Crowley and Assemblywoman Markey are going to unite with local elected officials and residents to protest against the proposed location.

WHO: City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer; City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley;
Assemblywoman Marge Markey; Local Elected Officials; and concerned residents.

WHAT: Protest City & MTA’s rush job to dump another bus depot in Maspeth
WHEN: Friday, March 4th 2:30PM
WHERE: Corner of 49th Street and Galasso Place

Hard hats required on movie set

From Eyewitness News:

A near-death experience for a driver when a steal beam came crashing into his truck.

It landed just a foot behind where he sat.

They are shooting the latest Robert De Niro movie on this block, but it almost turned into a real life horror for one of the men working on the project. He says he is lucky to be alive after construction material from a building came flying down onto his car.

Bike lane debacle on Bell

From Bayside Patch:

The City Council this week mandated that NYPD keep track of bicycle deaths, as Northeast Queens residents have expressed misgivings about bike lanes coming to Bell Blvd.

“After looking at the map of proposed routes, it appears that whoever created these paths has not travelled the routes themselves,” said Roz Sackoff, a resident of Bay Terrace.

If the Department of Transportation moves ahead with their plans, there will be marked bike lanes on parts of Bell Blvd., 212th St., 39th Ave., 32nd Ave. 26th Ave., 35th Ave, and the Clearview Expwy. service road.

A study done by the agency between 1996 and 2005 implicated large vehicles in 32 percent of bike fatalities, though they make up 5-17 percent of vehicles on the road.

Sackoff says she is concerned for the safety of bikers mingling with busses on 212th St., and 32nd Ave., which are bus routes.

“This is a curvy two way street with limited sight in some places,” said Sackoff of 212th St., also pointing out that there are many driveway exits from home garages that would cross paths with cyclists.

The proposed 26th Ave. bike path, which is near the Bay Terrace Shopping Center, would be harsh travelling on two wheels, she believes.

“I can definitely understand that a bus route would be a bad route for a bike lane, because the busses would have to keep coming in and out of the lane,” said Joani Emerson, whose husband, Jerry Emerson, owns Peak Bicycle Pro Shop in Douglaston, where the two met.

For Emerson, Bell Blvd., of all the new routes, would make for the most dangerous biking.

Council Member Dan Halloran, R-Bayside, had separate concerns about bike lanes on Bell.

“The last thing we need is to put up bike lanes — which nobody is going to use— to stifle business and take up parking spots,” said Halloran.

There is a bike path alongside Little Neck Bay which is separate from traffic and a lot more scenic. But I guess the city needed an excuse to use up a pile of money. (Wait 'til I show you where they plan to put bike lanes in Maspeth.)

They're not interested in having English-speaking customers

From the NY Post:

"The World Guide to Shopping" would translate 29 expressions, like "Do you have a larger size?" and "Would you like to use our layaway plan?" It will be released by the end of the year, and paid for by private grants, said Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing), who formed a sign task force.

The state's general-business law states that signs must display their name legibly "in the English language," or face a misdemeanor. But the legislation does not specify who should enforce it, and no agency has, said Meng.

Last year, neighboring school PS 20 got a $2,000 city grant to have school kids translate indoor signs into multiple languages. But of the 100 stores they approached, only 23 agreed to participate. Some stores that did have since taken down the signs.

"The limited English is a problem. It's a fear [of using English] more than anything else," said Lois Chin Lee, a former Flushing resident who organized the PS 20 project.

Kanguk Lee, of J.E. Deli and Grocery in Flushing, said only Asian customers care about the products advertised in his Korean signs.

"No Americans eat this!" said Lee, pointing to a Korean sign for kimchi (pickled vegetables).

That's funny because there are plenty of Americans of Korean descent that may not necessarily know how to read the language but love kim chee. And, in fact, I was at a very American buffet recently that served it, too.

FDNY saves Queens Blvd hawk

Take your signs and shove 'em!

From Sunnyside Post:

Carole Vance, a local Sunnyside resident, spent most of her Saturday afternoon tearing down illegal signs that had been attached to neighborhood lampposts.

Vance and her husband, Larry, took down 11 signs that directed people to call Acapulco Rentals, a Jackson Heights agency that offers apartments for rent. At least, 30 signs were erected by Acapulco Rentals late last week.

Vance notified Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer’s office about the problem.

On Tuesday, Van Bramer’s office told Vance that he had called the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) to have enforcement officers come and remove the illegal signs. Furthermore, Van Bramer, in an e-mail to this publication, said that he had directed the DSNY to issue summons to the responsible party.

As a result, 13 signs were taken down and 13 summonses were issued to Acapulco Rentals. Each summons carried a fine of $75, which resulted in a total penalty of $975, according to Van Bramer’s office. His office asked the public to call 718-383-9566 if any other signs.

Crap in the yard requires variance

From Bayside Patch:

A plan to build a two-bedroom house on a “side yard” in Bayside Hills could be shaping up as a battle royal between Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council – and there hasn’t been an official meeting about it yet.

The budding brouhaha centers around 50-20 216th Street, at the corner of 51st Ave. A house sits on the wide end of what is basically a triangular lot and the owner has split the property into two tax lots, with the idea of building another house on the land.

But there’s a catch. The planned construction falls short of zoning requirements, so a “variance” is needed from the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA), with an advisory vote from CB11.

Bonfilio [the owner] said that he feels that BSA will issue the variance anyway, based on “case law.”

So does City Councilmember Dan Halloran, and he has a problem with it. After meeting with residents who were at the meeting, he explained.

The problem as Halloran sees it is that the Mayor appoints the BSA and because of a loophole created by an earlier Charter revision, its decisions can only be challenged in court.

To close the loophole would require either another Charter Revision, or a state law, Halloran said. “The Mayor can knock out the former and exercise considerable influence on the latter,” he conceded.

Wilpon with hat in hand

From the NY Post:

JPMorgan Chase -- which led the banks that loaned the team about $430 million last year -- is trying to recruit other institutions to join a syndicate to put together a new loan that would tide the Mets over until they sell a minority stake in the ballclub.

The Mets' financial health has been imperiled by investments by its owner, Fred Wilpon, in Bernard Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme.

A well-placed source said both the Mets and Major League Baseball are exerting strong pressure on JPMorgan to make that loan happen.

The bank already has a tight relationship with MLB because it finances MLB operations.

Revelations about the proposed new loan comes days after it was revealed that, in late 2010, the Wilpon family borrowed $25 million from Major League Baseball -- which had previously loaned the Mets $50 million.

HHC head is in the money

From the Daily News:

The head of city hospitals got a 20% raise last year just a few months before Mayor Bloomberg signed off on a nearly $1.3 billion bailout for the cash-strapped system.

Alan Aviles, president of the Health and Hospitals Corp., earns $351,062 annually under a three-year contract the system's board approved in January 2010.

That makes him Bloomberg's highest-paid appointee, dwarfing the $250,000 salary of Schools Chancellor Cathie Black and the pay for top cop Raymond Kelly, whose salary was bumped to $205,180 last year.

The HHC, which controls 11 hospitals, four nursing homes and dozens of community clinics, argues it is a public corporation that can't be compared with city agencies.

It also says private-sector hospital presidents earn far more than Aviles, pointing out that the head of New York-Presbyterian Hospital makes more than $9 million a year.

Alexander Hamilton was a “Holdout”

Alexander Hamilton was a “Holdout”
By Michael Rikon

According to an article published February 20, 2011, in Crain’s internet magazine, NewYorkbusiness.com, “Holdouts dig in at Willets Point”, the local business owners are fighting City efforts to turn the 62 acre area into a mixed-use development.

Crain’s isn’t the first to use the pejorative term “holdouts”. In an internet article dated February 13, 2011, WNYC News issued an article titled “City warns Holdouts in Queens of Eminent Domain proceedings.”

This is truly remarkable. What makes it truly remarkable is the concept that a property owner or business owner would be considered a “holdout” for refusing to sell to the City of New York.

Can the reporters who write these articles be so naïve as to the power of eminent domain inherent in the City? Has anyone taken the time to explore the facts and circumstances of the history of this disgraceful proceeding?

Let us set forth the facts of this abusive use of the power of eminent domain. The Council of the City of New York adopted Resolution No. 1759 on December 18, 2008.

This Resolution with other related Resolutions adopted the Willets Point Urban Renewal Area. The Resolution approved the Urban Renewal Plan, the Resolution states, “the Plan requires the acquisition and subsequent disposition of property within the Willets Point Urban Renewal Area.” This is the predicate authorization to condemn.

Although the City is holding a statutorily required public hearing under Article 2 of the Eminent Domain Procedure Law, make no mistake, the authorization for the proposed condemnation is the City Council’s Resolution adopted in 2008.

When the City Council authorizes acquisition of private property, the City is required to comply with the Eminent Domain Procedure Law. That law requires the appraisal of the properties to be acquired and the written offer of an amount that represents 100% of the highest approved appraisal.

This was not done in Willets Point. What was accomplished was the purchase of the properties of the largest owners on extraordinary terms including land to relocate to. And, the ability to stay put even after the condemnation. The City has not made good faith offers to the small owners.

The Eminent Domain Procedure Law requires equal treatment to all property owners. So why does the largest condemning authority in the country chose to ignore the law? Because it is politically convenient. It is no secret that those owners who obtained favorable deals were also those that supported members of the City Council that wrote an “adamant opposition” letter signed by 29 members to prevent the project’s approval. But the Project was approved after the negotiated agreements were made.

The City’s improper conduct in ignoring the law’s requirement of written offers based on fair market appraisals and equal treatment to all property owners is inexcusable. The law was adopted to prevent corruption and special deals.

Indeed, the very scheduling of the Eminent Domain Hearing when the City knows it cannot proceed because it cannot build without ramps to the Van Wyck Expressway is just another improper move to force deals.

Condemnation is a very significant power. It enables a condemnor to forcibly take title to someone’s land or business.

If this awesome power is to be used by the government, it must be used carefully, legally and only when necessary.

Americans have property rights which are guaranteed by out constitutions.

And, remember what Alexander Hamilton said at the Philadelphia Convention, “the security of property” is one of the “great obj(ects) of Gov(ernment)” 1 Record of the Federal Convention of 1787, P. 302. Perhaps Alexander Hamilton was also a “holdout”.

For further information contact Michael Rikon at 212-422-4000 Ext. 23.

Again?

From the Gotham Gazette:

Instead of packing onto crowded, often delayed and inconvenient subways, commuters along the Brooklyn/Queens waterfront will have an alternative way to travel when a new ferry service begins making stops along the East River later this year.

The service is the latest in a long line of attempts to boost commuting by water in New York in an effort to revitalize the waterfront and ease congestion. It comes in the wake of a few successes and many failures. The ferries, which will serve Greenpoint, Williamsburg, DUMBO, downtown Brooklyn and East 34th Street, will be operated by BillyBey Ferry Co., which contracts with NY Waterway and whose boats bear the NY Waterway logo.

According to the city Economic Development Corp., the East River ferry system will cost passengers $3 to $5.50, depending on distance. Currently, the city is constructing piers for the new service, and hopes to have them operating by the time boats are ready to take passengers -- probably by June, although no date has been announced. According to development corporation spokesperson Julie Wood, if the new service becomes a success, the city will look to expand ferry service in other places.

The new ferry service comes after years of unsuccessful effort to promote ferries. In the mid-1990s, then Gov. George Pataki and then Mayor Rudy Giuliani asked NY Waterway to provide service between Hunters Point and East 34th Street. The ferries ran between every 15 to 20 minutes, but only carried 135 people per day at its peak. The service was not subsidized by the city and ended in 2001.

In 2002, NY Waterway once again tried to bring ferries to the East Side of Manhattan. The ferry served the 90th Street pier on the Upper East Side, Long Island City, 34th Street and Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan. Costing only $5 per trip, the ferries operated every 30 minutes during rush hour and had no off-hour service. The second attempt faltered due to low ridership, having only carried 150 people per day. Upper East Side opposition to shuttle bus service NY Waterway provides to its terminals further complicated matters, and low ridership from Long Island City resulted in the service ending once more in 2004.

The administration also has attempted to bring ferry service to other parts of the city. In May 2008, NY Water Taxi offered service from Breezy Point in The Rockaways, to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. Despite having community support, the ferry only served 160 people per day and cost the city $1.5 million in subsidies. The service ended last year 2010.

...the ferries will link up to a free bus service in Midtown as well as to the M34 bus. The ferries also will accommodate bicycles.

Who is going to board a ferry to then have to board a bus to then also probably have to board a train? Why do they think ferry service will have a different result this time? Why are we subsidizing this guaranteed failure?

Hello?

Alan going to jail

From the Daily News:

State prosecutors will seek maximum prison time for disgraced ex-Controller Alan Hevesi, the Daily News has learned.

Hevesi, 71, is facing up to four years behind bars when he's sentenced next week in Manhattan for his role in a massive pension fund pay-to-play scandal.

New Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office will push for Hevesi to get the same 1-1/3- to four-year sentence imposed last month on his aide, and scandal leader, Hank Morris.

Hevesi's lawyer Bradley Simon had no comment Monday.

City has a lot of cleaning up to do

From NY1:

The Bloomberg administration is proposing new rules to rid the city of dirty heating oil that emits unhealthy black smoke into the air. But it turns out the city itself is one of the worst offenders when it comes to burning the filthy fuel.

The city is proposing to ban the dirtiest type of heating oil by 2015. By 2030, only oil with lowest level of sulfur or natural gas will be allowed.

City officials say there are 455 city-owned buildings that use the two worst kinds of heating oils: number four and number six. In all, there are said to be close to 9,000 buildings citywide that do the same.

"These buildings burning four and six oil create more air pollution than all the cars and trucks combined in the city," said Isabelle Silverman of the Environmental Defense Fund.

A spokesman for the DEP says city buildings would not be exempt from the new regulations.

Voter registration to include race?

From the NY Post:

A Bronx assemblyman wants to force voters to identify their race and ethnicity on voter-registration forms, The Post has learned.

But Democrat Peter Rivera's bill is being panned even before it's been introduced.

Critics fear that the data could be used by campaigns for targeted mailings or to avoid reaching out to certain voters.

Rivera, however, defended the measure, saying it merely aims to make sure that voters are not underrepresented.

The information collected, he insisted, would be kept in a public database and help officials, organizations and historians to analyze populations and race.

EDC, CB7 lying to and ripping off immigrants

From the Neighborhood Retail Alliance:

As EDC proceeds in its extra-legal efforts to condemn the property of Willets Point businesses, one landowner stands out-Carlos Canal, the owner of Flushing Towing. Canal's saga dramatizes just how underhanded EDC can be when it comes to dealing with those businesses threatened by condemnation.

You see, Canal actually wanted to make a deal and move to the College Point Corporate Park-as was reported locally:

"In a meeting with Community Board 7 members Tuesday night, the city Economic Development Corp. announced that it plans to move five Willets Point businesses to the College Point Corporate Park. According to the EDC plans, Feinstein Ironworks, T. Mina Building Supply Co., Sambucci Bros. Auto Salvage, Mets Metals and Flushing Towing would be moved to the Corporate Park and occupy space on two parcels of city-owned land. The EDC said it hopes to begin the public approval process on the proposal Feb. 19."

And that's what did happen. Canal's relocation to College Point went through ULURP and he, along with larger entities like Sambucci and Feinstein Iron Works, were prepared to move-until something very strange happened. According to Canal, the final phase of the approval process came at the Queens Borough Board where CB 7's Chair, Fire Marshal Gene Kelty, pitched a fit about the Flushing Towing move.

As Canal puts it, Kelty screamed at him telling the Hispanic immigrant that College Point wasn't the place for him-and perhaps he should consider a more appropriate Corona or Jamaica location. The insinuation, made right in front of EDC, was a clear one-we don't want your kind here. The Flushing Times has the sanitized version: "The original plan for moving the businesses, introduced in February 2009, would also have relocated Flushing Towing and Mets Metals, which were slated to move to the north end of the corporate park. The businesses were dropped from the proposal after they hit snags with CB 7 and the EDC. CB 7 Chairman Eugene Kelty said in May that those two companies’ futures would be hashed out at a later date."

Honest Abe, Kelty is not-and his comments about a later date obfuscate the fact that Kelty was not going to allow Canal to come into his neighborhood-and incredibly EDC and BP Marshall acquiesced to the kind of behavior that should have gotten Kelty referred to the Human Rights Commission.

Currently, Canal is in limbo-with the eminent domain hearing on Wednesday focusing directly on his property located in the fictitious Phase I. Canal, told to find his own alternative site, did find a slightly larger and more expensive location. When he asked EDC, however, for the same $400/sq. ft. that the corporation ponied up for Feinstein, he was shot down-further indication of how the current condemnation process is rife with favoritism and inequity.

In essence then, EDC lied to Canal-and took him through a two year sham relocation process. But Canal shouldn't feel too bad. EDC has lied to the city council, lied to the court, and lied to almost every other land owner that wasn't singled out for favored nation status-lying to Canal is part of a systematic pattern of dishonesty that will be challenged in court. It's just too bad that only one elected official can be counted on to stand up to the agency's outrageous conduct.

Not only that, you may recall that the EDC shamelessly wrote an Op-Ed piece in his name and had it published in the Daily News in days leading up to the Council vote in order to build support for the project and show they were working with the owners.

Eminent domain hearing is tomorrow, folks. Remember it was promised to only be used as a "last resort" by everyone from Claire Shulman to the mayor. Yet that is not what's happening. Interesting how the Queens Tribune has an article talking about all the support that the project, and therefore the condemnation, has among the tweeders.

If you support the "Willets Point project" (whatever the hell that is), you support eminent domain abuse. You are anti-American. Period. End of story. There is a "better and greater use" for everyone's property, and they may be coming for you next.

Cracking down on discrimination by taxi drivers

From the NY Times:

The city is seeing a big rise in complaints about scofflaw cabdrivers who refuse rides based on the passenger’s requested destination, officials said on Thursday.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission said it received 2,341 reports of refusals in the last half of 2010, a 38 percent increase from the same period a year prior, when 1,693 complaints were received.

It is illegal for a yellow cab driver to reject a passenger wishing to travel within the city or certain surrounding areas, but refusals remain a perennial problem. Particularly late at night, when taxis are scarce, many cabbies prefer to stay in Manhattan, where they are more likely to pick up another fare.

David S. Yassky, chairman of the taxi commission and a Brooklyn Heights resident, said he was alarmed by the trend. “A core component of taxi service is that the passenger chooses where to go in the five boroughs,” he said in a statement. “Unfortunately, it is getting to be like the bad old days when taxis wouldn’t go to Brooklyn.”

Mr. Yassky and the Bloomberg administration now want to raise the penalties on cabbies who are found to have refused a ride. A proposal floated on Thursday would levy a fine of $500 for first offenders, up from the current $200 penalty. Cabbies could have their licenses revoked if they commit three such infractions in a three-year period.

Since no one in America fell for it...

These videos created to market the Atlantic Yards project to foreign investors - or should I say people who are being bribed with green cards in return for investing in this debacle - are really something else...



From Atlantic Yards Report:

Markowitz claims, incredibly, "Brooklyn is 1000 percent, 1000 percent behind Atlantic Yards."

He knows that's false. But it could help save Forest City Ratner some $191 million under the dubious exploitation of a federal program in which immigrant investors get green cards for themselves and their families in exchange for purportedly job-creating investments.

Markowitz closes by asserting that "there's nothing better than China and Brooklyn together."

There's some irony there, given that the version shown here is subtitled in Korean.

Meanwhile, the City apparently lured Caribbean teachers here with promises of green cards and never delivered on it.

DenDekker's bill calls for bike registration, insurance & license plates

From the NY Post:

A state lawmaker is trying to hit the brakes on rogue cyclists.

Assemblyman Michael DenDekker (D-Queens) has introduced a bill that would mandate registration -- much as for motor vehicles -- for every bicycle in the state, complete with license plates hanging from the rear of the seats.

He also proposed a separate measure that would force every commercial cyclist in the state to carry identification and have insurance.

If the bill passes, the license plates would cost $25 in the first year and $5 each additional year for recreational cyclists.

Commercial cyclists -- such as deliverymen -- would pay $50 for the registration plus the cost of insurance.

He introduced the bills last week in response to the major expansion of bike lanes throughout the city under Mayor Bloomberg and city Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.