Why the voter ID double standard?

Photo from Daily News

As a civic leader in eastern Queens I made it my business to vote in the Participatory Budgeting Process that my Councilman, Mark Weprin was sponsoring. Last week I traveled to the Samuel Field Y in Little Neck where the Councilman's staff were working the tables and providing ballots for those who wished to vote. When I asked for a ballot I was told I must first fill out a short form and provide photo id. I thought this was odd since Councilman Weprin and so many other NYC legislators are so strongly opposed to a photo ID requirement for voting in real elections. If it's not OK to ask for photo ID when voting for President or Governor, why is it OK to do so with Participatory Budgeting?

Nevertheless, I presented my drivers license and filled out the ballot access form which asked for my name, address, telephone number and date of birth. As someone who has been victimized by identity theft in the past, I refused to write down my date of birth. There are three pieces of information I do not readily provide; date of birth, social security number and mothers maiden name. I asked why it was necessary to write down my date of birth since they could easily check it on my drivers license. Refusing to do so, I was denied ballot access. So I asked the Weprin staff member to call the Councilman's office and get permission to give me a ballot so I could vote for funding of specific community projects that would help our local schools and the Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

The Weprin staff member in charge of the Participatory Budget project for the Councilman said that if I refused to write down my date of birth I could not vote! Was I the only disenfranchised voter? Later that day, I learned that 2 other people had also been disenfranchised because they also refused to provide their date of birth. I wonder how many others were disenfranchised. And I wonder still, why the voting process for participatory budgeting was so much more rigorous then the one put in place for voting in real elections for Mayor, Governor or President.

I try not to be cynical but I can't help but think that the Participatory Budget process is being used as a way for Councilmembers to harvest voter data information for their use in upcoming elections. How else to explain being denied the right to vote and the photo ID requirement?

Bob Friedrich
Glen Oaks

Stop blocking the sidewalk!

"Hi Crappie,

On 146-01 23rd Avenue in Whitestone, NY there's a driveway with a garage at the end of the lot.

This family always park their car(s) in that driveway leaving both gates wide open thus completely blocking the sidewalk consequently forcing pedestrians (children going and coming back to and from school, runners like me, people coming from supermarkets and laundromats with their shopping carts, people walking their dogs) to either take the street or to change sidewalks by crossing the middle of the block exposing them to an accident.

As many other New Yorkers they have no concern for the safety and welfare of others." - Whitestone Walker

USTA doesn't actually need to take parkland to expand (it just wants to)

Ladies and gentlemen, in light of the following, it's hard to imagine any elected official (who is not on the take) being in favor of handing over more parkland to the USTA. If they don't actually need it, why should we give it to them? - QC

Testimony of Robert LoScalzo  to Queens Borough President Helen Marshall  concerning the proposed expansion of the  United States Tennis Association National Tennis Center  within Flushing Meadows Corona Park, April 4, 2013
"I am Robert LoScalzo, a resident of Queens. I'm opposed to unnecessarily sacrificing even more parkland to the USTA. I am very concerned that you may not be aware, that USTA is perfectly capable of renovating its facilities while keeping within its present footprint, and NOT expanding onto even more parkland.

USTA's EIS for this project (chapter 17) sets forth two options – the "Alternative Without Additional Park Land" and the "Alternative Without New Park Land Alienation" – either of which would rebuild the USTA stadiums, in place.

So if you're in favor of creating construction and trade jobs, those two reasonable options would absolutely do so, and would also satisfy USTA's desire for new, state-of-the-art facilities – without further encroaching into Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

USTA's self-serving conclusion is that rebuilding within its current footprint is not acceptable to USTA.

USTA wants more parkland, for two main reasons:

Number One:

To increase the width of a walkway inside the tennis center, to provide a more luxurious experience for tennis people during just two weeks of the U.S. Open. If that walkway really isn't wide enough, U.S. Open fans would have testified at the public hearings in support of widening it. They haven't. Solving a non-existent problem two weeks out of the year does not justify sacrificing sacred parkland

Number Two:

USTA wants to increase attendance at the U.S. Open by 10,000 more people every day. But who says that we want 10,000 more people there, or that it's even reasonable to put them there?

The impacts of those people are very significant.

A very large number of them will travel by car, taxi or limousine. Here are two photographs showing the effects on Roosevelt Avenue during the 2012 U.S. Open. Two entire lanes are coned off – one in each direction – to accommodate drop-off and pick-up of tennis people.



This situation is already very bad – but USTA wants to attract another 10,000 people here per day? By the way, these conditions on Roosevelt are right next to the proposed site of the Mets mall in the Citi Field parking lot – which would be the largest mall in New York City. How can you reconcile commandeering Roosevelt Avenue like this, with the simultaneous traffic to be generated by a huge mall, right here?

The prestige of the U.S. Open is already well established. It does not depend on whether 10,000 more people attend it.

This USTA proposal, like the two others that impinge on our park, areefforts to close deals on parkland while the Bloomberg administration is still around to sign the papers. Please do right by the people of Queens: Tell USTA to renovate within its existing space, and reject its self-serving application to expand its size and its impacts.

Thank you."

Robert LoScalzo
Whitestone, New York

(excerpts from the EIS available here.)

On top of all this, the Borough Board, which does not have to weigh in on the USTA expansion under the rules of ULURP, plans to take a vote on the matter and make a recommendation Monday despite not holding a public hearing, which is required.

The information in the USTA's EIS directly contradicts Danny Zausner testimony from February 18 when he stated, “We can't physically replace these two stadium without taking this asphalt strip and turning it into a landscape buffer."

Why did Chuck and Gene show up at CB4 last month?

Sorry I missed this when it happened, but better late than never. From A Walk in the Park:

The evening [at CB4] started off ominously when it was announced that the public would only be allowed one minute each to make public comments. However that provision apparently only applied to some.

CB 7 Chair Eugene Kelty and 1st Vice Chairperson Chuck Apelian showed up. For weeks they have been pressing for a cash-for-public-parkland-swap vote deal. Their Let's Make a Deal mantra did not fly however, and backfired on the two last night. (The night before CB 7 voted in favor)

CB 4 District Manager Christian Cassagnol violated the rules and invited Mr. Kelty up to speak after the public session was over. Mr. Kelty was eventually shouted down by the crowd.

Many people took great offense at him trying to influence the board.

"He had no right speaking during the board deliberations," said Ben Haber. "He never would have any of that at his own board."

Community Board 4 voted 36-0 against expansion.

What the hell were these 2 doing trying to influence a vote at CB4?

Fresh Direct to get $130M to move from LIC to the Bronx

Mitchell-Linden library on the move

"The current Mitchell-Linden branch librarian told me that in about 6 months from now, this library will be relocated to a spot on the same street, Union Street, but 2 blocks south of its present location. This picture is at the purported 32 Avenue and Union Street location, in the ground floor of a 72 luxury condo unit building, around the corner from the Flushing swimming pool/summer day camp site." - Found Out in Flushing

The gang that couldn't stay straight

From the Daily News:

Both Smith and his co-defendant, Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), had colorful online profiles that portray radically different realities from the scheming, crooked lives prosecutors say they were actually leading.

On the Web, Smith and Halloran were legends in their own minds, fighting for the people of Queens, thousands of whom were reeling in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Meanwhile, in hotel rooms and idling cars, prosecutors say, they were hatching plans to bribe men they thought were developers — but were really working for the FBI — to obtain power or just plain old cash.

The two worlds merged Tuesday when both men joined four others in federal court, facing charges that make crystal clear there’s more to the picture than a tweet or two.

From the Daily News:

While the city’s five crime families ran multimillion-dollar rackets in waste management, the Garment District and construction, the elected officials allegedly peddled their influence for far less.

Halloran collected $38,000, Stevenson received less than $20,000 cash and Bronx GOP Chairman Joseph (Jay) Savino sold out for just $15,000, officials charged.

John Gotti spent more on his wardrobe while running the Gambino family.

From the NY Times:

The link between corrupt politicians and steakhouses would appear to be so obvious that corrupt politicians would avoid them altogether, especially since there are apparently as many hidden microphones as shrimp cocktails at a given table. But still they come. Experts on either side of the napkin offered theories.

“They’re men,” said Ben Benson, the owner of the former steakhouse that bore his name. “Men go to steakhouses. The power lunches, the power dinners — it’s what the steakhouse is all about.” Dim lighting, plush booths; there is an unspoken promise of discretion in a steakhouse. As Mr. Benson put it, they are “clubby.” One of his restaurant’s most memorable decorations was itself a reminder of a famous steakhouse crime: a large picture of the mobster Paul Castellano shot dead in front of the steakhouse Sparks in 1985. “Eat at Ben Benson’s,” the poster read. “It Won’t Kill You.”

From the NY Post:

Halloran converted in the 1980s from Catholicism to the pre-Christian Germanic religion, whose believers drink mead or whiskey from horns and dress like characters in a Renaissance fair.

He learned about their tough disciplinary code when he committed an undisclosed act against a female “thrall” — or probationary servant.

He was stripped to his waist, strapped to a tree and flogged with a belt 11 times.

I propose similar punishment for his recent alleged crimes.

Why did Helen Marshall prevent Tony Avella's rep from testifying against the USTA?

From SaveFMCP:

On April 4th, 2013, Borough President Helen Marshall held a land use meeting as part of the ULURP for the USTA expansion. State Senator Tony Avella was the only elected official to send a representative to testify. However, Tony Avella's representative was denied the opportunity to speak. The Senator's written testimony against the USTA expansion as well as his letter to the Borough President protesting the treatment of his staff members is presented below.

State Senator Tony Avella's testimony to Helen Marshall against USTA expansion by Save Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

Arrestee worked for Quinn

From the Daily News:

New York’s latest corruption eruption has rattled the mayoral race.

The Bronx assemblyman busted Thursday in a bribery scandal was a former staffer for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the leading Democratic candidate for mayor.

Eric Stevenson worked for the City Council from March 2007 to December 2010, officials confirmed. He was a clerk, earning $57,000 in his final year.

Quinn’s office was quick to distance itself from the disgraced legislator.

At the time of his arrest, Stevenson’s online Assembly biography indicated he still worked for the Council; that line was then edited at the request of Quinn’s office.

Queens Borough President forum this Wednesday

QCC Candidates Night Flyer by Save Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

At a cemetery. What more appropriate venue to discuss where the borough is headed and the tweeders that want to take it there?

Nussbaum in, Schenkler out at Tribune?

Crapman:

Where is Schenkler? Completely eradicated from the current Tribune masthead. No trace. No "Not 4 Publication". No nothing. Gone. Into the void? Nussie is in charge? Whore ads still being published. What does this portend? What is going on?

Regards,
GtheA

A glutton for punishment

From the NY Post:

Former Rep. Anthony Weiner is laying the groundwork for a political comeback, possibly as a startling addition to this year’s mayoral race, sources said yesterday.

Political insiders were abuzz at news that Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, had granted a lengthy magazine interview for the first time since his resignation in an embarrassing sexting scandal in 2011.

“The magazine piece is step one of a two-step process for him to run citywide this year,” said one Democratic Party source.

“He’s looking at public advocate and comptroller, but he really thinks he can use this to get back in and run for mayor.”

Weiner issued a terse “no comment” when asked about his plans.

Jimmy Meng is halfway home

From the Queens Courier:

Disgraced ex-Assemblymember Jimmy Meng is halfway through his one month sentence, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The 69-year-old father of Congressmember Grace Meng has served two weeks so far in the low-to-minimum security Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He is slated to be released April 18.

Following his prison sentence, Meng will serve four months of house arrest and two years of probation. He was also ordered to pay $30,000 in fines and serve 750 hours of community service.

We'll be paying more for water soon

From Bayside-Douglaston Patch:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration is planning a 5.6 percent increase in the city’s water rate on July 1, one that the administration boasts is relatively small - the lowest rate hike in nearly a decade, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"We're continuing our aggressive efforts to keep the water rate as low as possible," said Chris Gilbride, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection.

However, each year since the mayor has taken office, the water rate has increased, including four consecutive double-digit boosts beginning in fiscal year 2008, compared to the three previous administrations that kept the water rate flat for at least one year during their time in office.

With the latest proposed hike, the average bill for a typical single-family homeowner would increase from $939 a year to $991 a year. The cost for a typical multifamily building with metered billing would increase from to $610 per unit to $644.

3 candidates enter race for Koo's seat

From the Queens Courier:

Three Flushing candidates with histories of failed bids for office are now eying another election.

Democrat John Scandalios and Green Party candidate Evergreen Chou will try their luck at unseating incumbent Councilmember Peter Koo in the 20th District in this year’s City Council election.

Republican Sunny Hahn, a retired city human rights specialist, said she is contemplating a run but has not decided. She is the only one so far to register a campaign committee with the state’s Board of Elections.

Hahn and Scandalios were among several candidates to lose their Assembly bids last year to Assemblymember-elect Ron Kim. Chou has had three unsuccessful runs for higher office, including his recent congressional loss to now-Congressmember Grace Meng.

But the three say they have honed their campaign techniques.

Louis Armstrong Museum seeking variance

From the Daily News:

A Corona museum dedicated to celebrating the life of a jazz pioneer is proposing to build a $20 million educational annex across the street.

Louis Armstrong House Museum officials asked Queens Borough President Helen Marshall to throw her support behind granting the center a building variance at a Thursday land-use hearing at Borough Hall.

The variance would enable the two-story center to be built closer to the property lines than is permitted under the area’s new zoning. The land for the project, as well as the museum, are under the umbrella of Queens College.

Community Board 3 District Manager Giovanna Reid said the variance was overwhelmingly approved at the board’s March 21 meeting. “We support this application,” she said.

The project must ultimately be approved by the city Board of Standards and Appeals.

Quinn attacked for extending term limits

From the Daily News:

The Brooklyn crowd erupted in boos Wednesday night when frontrunner Quinn fielded a question about having helped pave the way for Mayor Bloomberg to seek and win another four years in office.

Quinn spoke calmly over the jeers: “I believed it was the right decision… I respect that many folks disagree with that.”

Democrats often use the term-limits controversy to bash Quinn as uncomfortably close to Bloomberg. It's a perception some observers say has encouraged Quinn to demonstrate her independence before the primary without alienating Hizzoner or his fans in November.

When asked Wednesday, she refused to pledge not to overturn a voter referendum if elected mayor.

The speaker's primary foes -- former Councilman Sal Albanese, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Comptroller John Liu and ex-Comptroller Bill Thompson -- all said they would not scuttle a referendum.

And the mayor thinks Christine is just peachy.

Marshall argues with people testifying against USTA plan

Dear Queens Crapper,

Thought you might like some video from Helen Marshall's public hearing today, in which the USTA expansion issue took center stage.

I apologize for the quality; it was shot on an iPhone in a crowded room while I was holding other items.



This first is, of course, Ben Haber, delivering his righteous wrath to the BP directly. He began by saying that he had come up without any intention of swaying Helen Marshall's opinion, as he felt she had already decided to support the expansion long ago, and that to try to change her mind would be futile. At that point, she interjected, which was when I managed to get the video recording.



The second clip is the last minute of Geoffrey Croft's speech, where Helen Marshall again butts in. Interestingly, after he says "This is about protecting parkland, and there are two other projects coming right down the pipeline," Marshall says, quite clearly, "I hope not." Even Croft seems surprised for a second. "Well we hope you vote against those two projects," Croft said.

When I concluded my own 3 minutes in opposition to the USTA expansion, I wished the Borough President the wisdom and conscience to use the weight of her office for the public good, not merely that of the special interests. She smugly responded, as if to correct me, "you mean 'continue' to use my wisdom and conscience?" To which I responded that I said she should demonstrate it on this particular issue. Perhaps thinking I didn't understand her not-so-subtle effort to turn a conditional compliment into unwarranted praise, she again tried to offer her correction. I responded with deference that I was not currently afforded the time to discuss other matters.

If Ms. Marshall really cares about her legacy, she should take a clear stand against the overdevelopment of Queens in her final few months in office, not make cute remarks or bicker with people during their right to address the public.

-Jon Torodash

Vito registers City Council campaign committee

From Crains:

Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez has formed a campaign committee to raise money for a possible run for City Council, records show.

For months, there has been speculation that Mr. Lopez, who is embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal, might run for the seat being vacated by term-limited Brooklyn Councilman Diana Reyna. Mr. Lopez also has said that he is suffering from serious health problems, which has made him less eager to stay in the Assembly. Mr. Lopez recently said he was battling thyroid cancer and two new growths on his brain.

Several candidates are currently running for the council seat, including Antonio Reynoso, Ms. Reyna's chief of staff, who has lined up widespread labor support. Ms. Reyna is a former chief of staff for Mr. Lopez but the two have been at odds for years.

Can you say "lame"?

From the Daily News:

Fred Cantor, 59, a retired attorney who grew up in Fresh Meadows, said Queens has become the city’s Rodney Dangerfield.

“The borough gets no respect,” he said. “I always felt that it played second fiddle to Brooklyn even though Queens is a cool place, too.”

He’s looking to change that.

This week Cantor began making baseball caps that read “Queens = Qool” with the hopes of altering people’s perception of the borough.

He’s also looking to help his hometown with profits made from the hats.

For every $21.90 cap he sells, $2.00 will be going to the Queens Library Foundation, which raises money to support free programs offered through the Queens Library, said Cantor, who now lives in Connecticut.

Maybe it gets no respect because the people who claim to love it move out of the borough/city/state. And who is going to wear that corny cap, anyway?

Stop and frisk not as successful as thought

From the Daily News:

Stop-and-frisk has removed thousands of guns from the city’s streets — but the NYPD detained millions of innocent New Yorkers to find them.

A Columbia law professor testified Wednesday that just one gun was recovered for every thousand people stopped from 2004 through June 30, 2012.

“The NYPD hit rate is far less than what you would achieve by chance,” Jeffrey Fagan said in Manhattan Federal Court.

Testifying in the federal class-action lawsuit against the city and the NYPD’s controversial tactic, Fagan said his analysis of paperwork from 4.4 million stops found guns were confiscated at a rate of roughly one-tenth of 1 percent, or 5,940 firearms.

Knives and other contraband were nabbed in about 1.5% of stops, taking 66,000 weapons off the street, the professor said.

And 12% of the 4.4 million stops during that time period — roughly 528,000 — led to an actual arrest or a summons, Fagan said.

City Councilwoman Margaret Chin speaks as New York City women call on the NYPD to abandon the discriminatory procedure that a study shows yields few results.

And the rest were “just let go?” asked Federal Judge Shira Scheindlin.

“Yes, your honor,” Fagan replied.

Even more corrupt pols!

From the NY Times:

Two days after a political corruption scandal rocked Albany, a new, unrelated bribery scheme emerged on Thursday, adorned with a can-you-top-this quality: For more than a year, a sitting state legislator wore a wire intended to entrap at least one of his colleagues.

The secret recordings helped lead to the arrest of Eric A. Stevenson, a Democratic state assemblyman representing parts of the South Bronx, who was charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan with accepting more than $22,000 in bribes to help developers open adult day care centers in his district. Mr. Stevenson was also accused of introducing legislation to block competing developers from building new centers for three years.

He seemed keenly aware of the risk of getting caught, as so many of his colleagues in Albany had been before, according to a criminal complaint released on Thursday.

“Be careful of those things man, the recorders and all those things,” he was recorded saying. “A lot of guys,” he continued, were “working to put a lot of people away, man, believe that.”

Mr. Stevenson’s wariness was well founded: his conversations were being recorded by two cooperating witnesses, including Assemblyman Nelson L. Castro, who had agreed to work with investigators as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on state perjury charges. Mr. Castro agreed to resign once his cooperation led to an arrest; he announced his departure on Thursday afternoon.

Facade collapse near Queens Center Mall

From Eyewitness News:

A 22-year-old man was taken to Elmhurst hospital after façade collapse at the GameStop he worked at in Queens.

The incident took place on the 92nd street side of a building across from the Queens Center Mall.

Authorities say the victim worker was transported to the hospital with a serious head injury, but was expected to survive.

Quotes about Dan & Vince

From Facebook:


From City and State:

Amid the chaos surrounding New York City Councilman Dan Halloran’s alleged involvement in a corruption and bribery scheme with state Sen. Malcolm Smith and two city GOP operatives, Halloran has to defend his Council seat from one of a slew of Democratic opponents. Two of them, former Cuomo administration employee Austin Shafran and urban planner Paul Graziano, put out statements about Halloran’s troubles.

“These are serious and disturbing charges from the FBI which need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Shafran said in a statement. “Public service is a privilege, and violations of the public’s trust cannot be tolerated. Anyone involved in this scandal should immediately come clean because the people deserve to know the truth so justice can be done.”

Graziano released a statement noting that he had seen “a lot of things being done by Dan Halloran that I thought were inappropriate,” which led him to enter the race. Asked to elaborate, Graziano detailed his battles with Halloran over rezoning in District 19, where Halloran allegedly pushed for a zoning change to help the business of an associate with ties to the Gambino crime family.

Halloran did not respond to calls for comment about the rezoning dispute. Two other candidates challenging Halloran, attorney Paul Vallone and former Assemblyman John Duane, could not be reached for comment about Halloran’s corruption charges.

Of course, the above fails to mention that Shafran was Smith's spokesperson in Albany for quite a while...

Interesting choice of Facebook profile picture for a Republican...

The Queens Gazette carries a front page "article" on their front page this week, consisting only of a quote from Paul Vallone, who is currently vacationing in Florida, and no one else:

"The corruption charges against Dan Halloran are very troubling. If these allegations prove to be true, this conduct is an egregious violation of the public's trust and those who are found guilty in this scheme should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Vallone. “Now is the time for integrity and trust – principles which the Vallone Family have embodied for over three generations and which I will bring to the 19th City Council seat."

From the NY Times:

William C. Thompson Jr., another Democratic candidate, who said Ms. Quinn had failed to curb “a history of corruption and a broken system” of earmarks in the Council. A third Democratic candidate, Sal F. Albanese, accused Ms. Quinn of “abuse.”

From WNYC:

"Until we ban member items, it's just not been enough," argued De Blasio who said City Council should replace the member item practice with what he calls a merit-based system, or one that gives spending choices to groups of local residents, which some districts have tried on a smaller scale.

Comptroller John Liu, who's been embroiled in a fundraising scandal of his own, released a brief statement Tuesday morning calling the news, "shocking."

"When there is suspicion that taxpayers' money is being abused, investigations should be carried out quickly and thoroughly," Liu said. The trial of members of his campaign staff related to a straw donor scheme is scheduled to resume this month.

Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota says the arrests of local Republican leaders yesterday, including two who had endorsed his bid for mayor, demands more ethics reform in Albany and New York City.

"There needs to be a change here," Lhota said, offering a good government critique that also dings Quinn at the same time. "Transparency on all financial items. Whether it's in government or in the process of campaigning, on what agreements are made between the members of council and the organizations they're giving money to. The taxpayers of New York shouldn't be finding out about the actions of various elected officials through the prism of a US Attorney."

From Capital New York:

"I do not think this is a reason to conclude that member items should not be given," Quinn said today.

"In the case of Dan Halloran, this senior citizen group did nothing wrong," she continued. "Why should they become the victim of an alleged criminal's activities?"

Rather than call for their abolition, Quinn offered a full-throated defense of the member-item system in the Council, which has undergone substantial reform since the slush fund scandal of 2008.

"I think it is the tightest system you'll find in any legislative body in the country," said Quinn.

"When I became speaker, I largely inherited a process around member items that was an honor system," she said. "If a member said, 'Fund X group,' the assumption was...it was a good group. We no longer have that system. We have largely what is a verification system."

Quinn did, however, say the Council was reviewing all of Halloran's prior member items and stripping him of the ability to dole out new ones during the next budget cycle.

She also suggested he consider resigning.

"I think Councilmember Halloran owes the people of his district a great deal of thought about whether he is actually able to continue to serve them, conduct the defense I'm sure he believes he deserves, and do both of those at the same time," she said.

Quinn also said she disagrees with Bloomberg's argument that the allegations against Halloran and Smith present a strong argument in favor of nonpartisan elections, though she didn't explain why.

From the Daily News:

Ragusa said he first heard about the arrests on the radio this morning and "almost jumped out of bed."

He said he knew nothing about the case, including Tabone's alleged involvement, and was neither approached by anyone offering a bribe or interrogated by the feds ("Knock on wood, no. I hope they never show up either," he added.)

And to wrap up, from the NY Post:

Queens gas station perps caught

From the Queens Courier:

A wild chase ended in the capture of two men wanted for several gas station robberies in Queens.

Police spotted the suspects driving the wrong way down the Clearview Expressway early Wednesday morning, April 3, said the NYPD. Refusing to pull over, the alleged robbers eventually ditched their vehicle and ran into nearby Kissena Park.

One suspect was quickly arrested and a gun was recovered in the vehicle.

An extensive manhunt, reportedly involving a police helicopter, was launched for the second man. He was found about an hour later hiding in a parked car on Moline Street off of Braddock Avenue.

The two men arrested allegedly robbed four gas stations and one grocery store in March and early April, according to police.

Another ugly billboard

If I was in charge of Jennifer Leather, I would make sure that eastbound travelers on Queens Blvd saw the same neat-looking sign that westbound travelers do, but that's just me.

Enjoy what's left of the South Street Seaport (while you can)

From AM-NY:

New Yorkers will have one last summer to enjoy the South Street Seaport they’ve visited for years.

Ravaged by Superstorm Sandy, dozens of Seaport businesses are still closed, and those that were able to stay open continue to suffer, thanks to dwindling foot-traffic and a depressed aura that’s stayed since the October disaster.

Further still, the biggest transformation will come this fall, when Pier 17, known for its restaurants, shops and breathtaking waterfront view, will be torn down by the Howard Hughes Corporation, which owns the lease on the property, to make way for a glassy new complex in 2015, complete with larger stores and a green roof. There’s even a talk of a first-class hotel and apartment buildings later on.

Pier 17 businesses were supposed to be out this week, but City Council late last month granted them one last summer up to Sept. 9.

Of 92 tenants in the Hughes' directory for the Seaport, 35 are closed. All Hughes tenants on Fulton and Front streets, including chains like the Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch, are still shuttered.

South Street Seaport Museum, though it reopened in December, is still crippled from water damage, and some galleries in its main location will close this month for roughly two years to repair heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, the museum's general manager Jerry Gallagher said.

Taxis creating havoc in Manhattan

From CBS New York:

The New York Times reported that researchers studied more than 1,400 pedestrians and cyclists treated at Bellevue Hospital Center after collisions between December 2008 and June 2011.

Forty percent of cyclists injured by cars in the study were hit by taxis. Among injured pedestrians, 25 percent were hit by taxis.

City officials said the report shows the need for bike lanes and pedestrian plazas.

One website recently compiled the 10 worst intersections in Manhattan. How do you put a pedestrian plaza in the middle of 125th Street or 8th Avenue?

If cabs make up a large chunk of the vehicles involved in accidents, then shouldn't reckless cabs be what's addressed?

The bigger their mouths, the harder they fall

From the Daily News:

Queens City Councilman Dan Halloran was out of his district but in his element as he laid out the political facts of life for the man sitting across from him at a Manhattan restaurant.

“You can’t do anything without f-----g money,” the blustery Republican said.

“That’s politics, that’s politics, it’s all about how much,” Halloran said. “Not about whether or will, it’s about how much, and that’s our politicians in New York, they’re all like that, all like that.”

What Halloran didn’t know on Sept. 7, 2012 was that the man he was confiding in was working for the feds — and apparently wearing a wire.

Halloran’s ignorance was clear as he dove into a Devil’s bargain with a confidential witness dangling campaign cash for a congressional bid, court papers revealed.

Halloran emerged from the meeting $7,500 richer, the papers state.

“Money is what greases the wheels — good, bad, or indifferent,” Halloran said.

Twenty days later, it was Halloran’s turn to make good on his promises. And this time an undercover FBI agent posing as a rich real estate developer was in on the Sept. 27, 2012 meeting at a Manhattan hotel.

The G-man came bearing $6,500 in checks for Halloran — and the cooperating witness came with a request for $20,000 from the City Council’s discretionary fund.

“Absolutely, that’s easy, that’s not even an issue, not even an issue,” a clueless Halloran said. “In fact ... I might even be able to get you more.”

Halloran said he could “call in some favors” with other members of the council.

From The Politicker:

“These allegations represent a reprehensible abuse of the public’s trust,” Council Speaker Christine Quinn said in a statement earlier this afternooon. “If true, then the full weight of the legal system should be brought to bear on all parties implicated. The matter will be immediately referred to the Council’s Standards and Ethics Committee.”

Jamie McShane, a spokesman for Council Speaker Christine Quinn, confirmed that the City Council rules committee, as well as council members, will vote to strip Mr. Halloran of his numerous committee assignments. Mr. Halloran will also no longer be able to making funding allocation decisions for his district, which will instead be made by Ms. Quinn’s office in consultation with the Queens Delegation Chair, Councilman Leroy Comrie.

DOT & Parks acknowledge problem with Astoria Park bike lanes

From the Queens Gazette:

Community Board 1 officials and members of the Astoria Park Alliance were shocked last fall when they realized newly-installed lanes at the park were too narrow to accommodate bicyclists and people out for a stroll in the park.

The lanes were constructed as part of the $3.4 million Queens East River and North Shore Greenway designed to connect the shoreline from Newtown Creek in Long Island City to the Flushing Bay Promenade, but the shared Bicycle/Pedestrian lanes measure a measly 4-feet wide – far too narrow to accommodate those sharing the paths, CB1 officials said.

Community Board officials reached out to the city Department of Parks for resolution of the condition, saying the crowded lanes are sure to cause collisions between bicyclists and visitors to Astoria Park – and that the lanes have already become a problem for area residents who view the symbols as “an eyesore.”

CB1 Parks Committee chairperson Richard Khuzumii said the city Department of Transportation and the Parks Department responded to the board’s inquiry by submitting a three-point proposal listing changes slated for the lanes.

The proposal calls for removal of “redundant” Greenway signs in tight spaces and a focus on locations where the bike paths diverge from pedestrian areas, attaching metal reflectors on barrier fences where the paths run alongside lanes of traffic and creation of wider shared lanes by removing some markings that separate pedestrian and bicycle lanes.

Khuzumi said anyone experiencing problems or collisions between bicycles, pedestrians, motor vehicles, “or visual pollutants,” should call 311 to report the condition(s).

Actually, if you're in a collision, 911 might be more appropriate...

Should Bob Turner lead the Queens GOP?

From The Politicker:

In the wake of bribery charges being brought against the Queens Republican Party’s executive vice president, Republican Councilman Eric Ulrich is calling for former Congressman Bob Turner to the lead the party.

“I want to see Bob Turner as the next chairman and I want [Queens GOP Chair] Phil Ragusa to resign immediately,” Mr. Ulrich told Politicker. “I believe Ragusa has an obligation to step aside. The only person who can bring peace and bring people together is Bob Turner because of his integrity, character and ability to work with people on different sides. He’s very conciliatory.”

Mr. Turner lost his congressional seat in the decennial redistricting process last year. He has been a rumored candidate to replace Mr. Ragusa, who angered some party insiders when he ran a primary opponent against Mr. Ulrich’s State Senate bid last year–the latest in what has been an ongoing feud between the party’s two factions. For his part, Mr. Ulrich also tried and failed to oust Mr. Ragusa in 2011.

Mr. Ulrich further said he was shocked that his colleague, Republican Councilman Dan Halloran, was charged with participating in an alleged bribery scheme to land Democratic State Sen. Malcolm Smith in the Republican primary, but was not surprised Vince Tabone, the executive vice president of the Queens GOP, was arrested as well.

Yankees parking garage operator defaults on payment

From the Daily News:

Even as the Red Sox thrashed the Yankees on Opening Day, the company that operates the Yankee Stadium garage system struck out big time.

Bronx Parking Development LLC failed to make a $6.9 million payment due April 1 on more than $237 million in tax-exempt bonds arranged by the Bloomberg administration back in 2007.

The group, which is not connected to the Yankees, thus fell into one of the biggest defaults of a New York City-sponsored bond in decades.

That failure ramps up the pressure on City Hall to avoid an embarrassing full-blown bankruptcy by reaching some kind of deal for the company’s bondholders to take a hit on their holdings.

After all, Mayor Bloomberg originally signed off on a new 9,000-space garage system, something the Yankees demanded before agreeing to build a new stadium. The mayor even appointed two city officials to Bronx Parking’s board of directors.

“These garages were part of his legacy, hook, line and sinker,” an official with Bronx Parking said. “It’s better he deal with the problem now, than leave it to the next mayor.”

City economic development aides have privately acknowledged they were ordered by City Hall back then to “make the numbers work” in order to justify tax-exempt bonds.

But the garages were a financial disaster from day one, even though Bronx Parking received more than $100 million in city and state subsidies on top of the bonds.

Since they opened in 2009, they have operated at less than 50% capacity. That’s perfectly understandable given the $35 price tag to park — $48 for valet service.

It’s been obvious for a long time that Bronx Parking would eventually run out of money.

Beware of burglars in Forest Hills

From CBS New York:

A series of burglaries in one part of Queens has left residents feeling under attack.

As CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez reported Monday, police said a bold burglar or burglars has been striking homes on the quiet and well-manicured streets of Forest Hills.

Since late February, thieves have hit nine homes between Metropolitan Avenue and Fleet Street, and between 69th and Continental avenues, police said.

Police said only one home was attacked at night, while the rest of the break-ins happened in broad daylight. Most of the homes were accessed by a back door or window.

The latest burglary happened on Olcott Street at noon on St. Patrick’s Day, police said. The victims told police the burglars kicked in the front door and the alarm system went off, but the thieves still ransacked the house, taking jewelry, but leaving valuable electronics behind.

Police said they believe the homes were burglarized by the same person or group, looking for jewelry and electronics, but leaving behind big-ticket items.

Dan Halloran, Malcolm Smith, Vince Tabone arrested

UPDATE: Here's the complaint if you have some extra reading time.

From Eyewitness News:

Authorities say New York State Senator Malcolm Smith and New York City Councilman Dan Halloran were arrested Tuesday morning as part of an ongoing corruption case.

They will be arraigned later today in federal court in White Plains.

Also arrested were Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin and Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret.

Two others, identified as Vicent Tabone and Joseph Savine, are also facing charges in the corruption probe.

From the NY Post:

State Sen. Malcolm Smith and city Councilman Dan Halloran were arrested this morning on charges they plotted to rig this year’s mayoral election through fraud and bribes.

The pols allegedly formed an alliance built on cash payments and fraud to get Smith — one of the state’s top Democrats — placed on the GOP mayoral ballot, sources said.

FBI agents arrested them both at their Queens homes shortly after 6 a.m.

“I have no idea,” Republican Halloran, in handcuffs, told a Post reporter when asked if he knew why he was being arrested.

“I’m sure the truth will come out once I have an opportunity to find out what’s going on.”

The FBI declined to comment.

Smith was trying to buy off Republican leaders because he needed the party’s support in at least three boroughs in order to run as a GOP candidate without even changing his own party affiliation, the sources said.

“It’s incredible,” a source said of the alleged plot.

To get on the GOP ballot, Smith allegedly enlisted Halloran, a Republican, to set up meetings with party leaders and negotiate thousands of dollars in bribes. The money was masked as payments for legal and accounting services, sources said.

Halloran allegedly collected thousands in bribes for himself along the way, the sources said.

He is separately charged with taking bribes from a consultant in return for up to $80,000 in City Council discretionary funding.

The feds were already investigating Halloran when they got wind of the alleged ballot-manipulating plan in November, the sources said. Smith met with his alleged co-conspirators as recently as February.

Helen takes a lot of time off

From the Daily News:

As she wraps up her third term, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall seems to be preparing for retirement early — taking more than 40 days off last year.

Marshall took at least 41 personal or vacation days in 2012, according to a review of her public schedules obtained by the Daily News under the Freedom of Information Law.

The Queens pol, who gets a $160,000-a-year salary from taxpayers, was off duty for much of the summer, taking off most of August as well as nine days in June and July.

That’s on top of a five-day weekend for Memorial Day, and a number of Mondays and Fridays throughout the year.

The count does not include weekends or holidays — including an assortment of minor holidays like Presidents’ Day and Columbus Day — or days when she was listed as working but had no events scheduled.

A spokesman for the borough president said the huge gaps in her schedule were due to a combination of regular vacation time and time spent caring for her ailing husband, who had serious back surgery last summer.

16 people evacuated from 2-family house fire

From Eyewitness News:

Eleven people were injured, four of them seriously, when a smoky fire trapped a family in their second-floor home in Queens early Monday.

Firefighters were forced to rescue them through the windows.

The fire started in a kitchen of the apartment on 65th Avenue in Fresh Meadows just before 2 a.m., and officials say the situation could have been much worse if not for working smoke detectors.

Authorities say the family members - two parents and two children - were trapped in their bedrooms by the heavy smoke and began to lose consciousness.

Firefighters extended ladders to the second-floor windows and pulled out at least eight residents.

The 16 residents of the house were left homeless.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The reporter in the above video called the house a "multifamily home" but according to DNA Info the address is 169-03 65th Avenue, which is listed in DOB records as a 2-family house, which is exactly what it looks like.

16 people living in a 2-family home? Those must be some big families.

Well, at least it has the Pepsi sign...

From the Wall Street Journal:

F. Scott Fitzgerald was looking toward Manhattan when he wrote, in "The Great Gatsby," that "the city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world."

He certainly wasn't looking from the bridge toward Queens. In the 1920s, the view would have been a landscape of factories and warehouses.

Today, amid a development boom in Long Island City, the view is different but no more pleasing. The waterfront towers that have sprouted seem to have taken their aesthetic cues from Newport, N.J., rather than from that other borough across the East River.

Further inland, there's been a flurry of new residential projects by developers eager to cash in on New York's healthy market for both rental apartments and condominiums. Since 2008, at least a dozen new residential buildings with about 5,000 units have been completed or are under way in the 37 blocks in central Long Island City that the city up-zoned in 2001.

Land rushes like this in many other New York neighborhoods have been enough to create a sense of place. But in Long Island City, that's proving trickier to pull off. The area boasts some architectural diamonds-in-the-rough, but they're far more isolated than those found in neighborhoods such as Dumbo, which retained a historic character despite plenty of infill watering.

Rather, the area consists mostly of nondescript, low-slung buildings and enough parking lots to house seemingly the whole of the New York yellow cab fleet. It's a promised land for developers; but the area needs quality as well as quantity of both residential and commercial development to become a real neighborhood.

In the end, the aesthetic hope for Long Island City is perhaps best seen in the best-known symbol of the area: Artkraft Strauss's Pepsi-Cola sign, which once topped a bottling plant along the waterfront and now sits in Gantry Plaza park. The Strauss firm designed some of New York's most interesting signage from the 1930s to 1950s; let's hope that a sign from 1937 won't remain the most innovative thing about the neighborhood.

No one ever said building a neighborhood mainly from scratch was easy, and some welcome and discerning decisions have clearly been made in charting its development. The fine balance that remains to be achieved is to create a coherent neighborhood whose greatest asset is something more than the five-minute ride to Manhattan.

Steel wall for the A train

From WNYC:

It's official: New York is Holland now. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is building a wall to keep out the sea along a two-mile stretch of the A line on its way to the Rockaways. The wall is made of thick steel and is rising seven feet above the tracks on the island of Broad Channel, in the middle of Jamaica Bay. The $38 million project is the MTA's first big step since Sandy to prevent flooding from future storm surges.

NYC taxpayers are suckers

From the NY Post:

For out-of-towners seeking “four-star" accommodations here, there’s The Waldorf, The Pierre, The Plaza — and the city’s homeless shelters.

“People pay $3,000 for an apartment here, and I get to live here for free!” said Michal Jablonowski, 25, who moved back to the city from his native Poland three years ago and is now staying in a Bowery shelter.

“I have food. I have health care. It’s great," Jablonowski said. “Here, the city supports you. The city helps you with everything.’’

City shelters boasting generous resources have increasingly become havens for out-of-towners, statistics show.

Nearly one in four of the city’s single homeless people who entered the system in December 2012 listed their last address as outside the city.

“We get breakfast, lunch and dinner. We have a microwave and TV. They do the laundry for free,” noted Jablonowski, who lived in New York for years before going back to his homeland, only to return here to a freebie life.

Jablonowski said he even gets a prepaid cellphone — allowing 1,000 texts and 300 minutes a month — through Medicaid and boasted, “I’m going to get my teeth fixed.”

“I love New York because you cannot starve in New York, you can always find food and clothes,” he said.

“The shelters are really nice. You have clean sheets. You get to watch TV and stay in the warm. Homeless people have it so good, they don’t want to look for a job."

“Some people in here have it better than people working 9 to 5, because they’re not paying rent. I’ve stayed in hostels worse. I call this four stars,” said William Sullivan, who came to the city from LA for a job that fell through.

“Everyone in this place has a silver spoon in their mouth. You get fed three to four meals a day, and the food here is great.”

A Michigan woman who arrived in December said she was drawn to New York for the “adventure.”

“New York is New York! That’s why people come here,” said Amy Kaufman, 41, who is staying in a city-funded Chelsea shelter.

“I go to the library, and I go sightseeing a lot in Times Square and Chelsea. I like it here.

“I’m staying here for a while because the housing options are better. Michigan is in a recession right now.”

Even reverse snowbirds from Florida would rather suffer through a brutal New York winter than be homeless in their own state. Florida is the second-most popular last address for out-of-town homeless.

“Survival in Florida was a lot harder than here. There are a lot more resources here for homeless, especially in terms of housing and finding transitional housing,” said Steve Rios, 49, who came up from the Sunshine State.

Vallone confused over who determines budget

From SaveFMCP.org
"We just vote as council members for a generalized budget. The mayor spends it the way he spends it. We can't tell people where to spend it."

Really?

From the NYC Council website:

The budget is the centerpiece of policymaking in government. Through the budget, the Council establishes priorities, allocates resources and sets the policy agenda for the year. It is the single most important municipal document that affects the lives of New Yorkers. While the mayor proposes the city's spending priorities for the upcoming year, the Council has final budget approval powers. During the budget process, the Council may change budget priorities and add special "terms and conditions" requiring city agencies to report to the Council on how specific monies are being spent throughout the year.

Sounds like someone doesn't understand the "checks and balances" concept of government. And he is the progeny of someone who actually had a pair of cojones when it came to dealing with the mayor and the budget.

Parks funding is 1/3 of 1% of the City budget. Why have Vallone, Quinn and the rest of their City Council buddies allowed this to happen?

Shafran campaign headscratchers

When you take a look at Austin Shafran's website, the top of the page under the banner contains tabs highlighting the candidate's endorsements. Here's the one for the Teamsters.  (His mom works for their president, you see.)



But when you get to the tab for Governor Cuomo, it's not an endorsement, just a screenshot of an old announcement from when Austin was appointed as a spokesperson for the Empire State Development Corporation, one of those useless money pits of a state agency (think Atlantic Yards and Columbia University eminent domain projects and Moynihan Station).  Also of interest is the following press release that contains some grammatical/spelling issues. And this guy was once a state spokesman...



Team Shafran likes to post photos of themselves hard at work.  At this strategy meeting was Manhattan Young Democrat Sarah Dinhofer, who was apparently the target of this Facebook page and, as evidenced by the comment on the bottom right corner of the page, thinks it's hilarious.  She's also apparently a fan of very politically incorrect language, and either likes or dislikes it "when Tanvir scoops her chesticles." This is going to be one interesting campaign!



Now here comes the one part of this post that I made up for April Fool's Day:

Austin Shafran:  District 19's man of mystery.

Just when you thought Robert Scarano couldn't outdo himself...

He does!



Yes, Robert Scarano has indeed left his mark on Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood. Here's what the site looked like under construction, and here's what it looked like soon after Karl Ehmer closed.


Now the new building is as tall as - if not taller than - the old Oasis movie theater next door. God only knows what will end up moving into that now that CVS moved down the street.

Stumped in Brooklyn

I saw this last week when I was waiting for a bus in Brooklyn. The front of the truck says "disaster relief" and the Caterpillar on the back hails from Louisiana Machinery.  I guess what struck me the most about this scene is that there apparently are tree stumps being removed somewhere in the city, but I don't know where.  Certainly not from city streets.

Dumb spots chosen for bike kiosks

From the NY Post:

SoHo neighbors put the kibosh on a 43-bike rack in tiny memorial park Petrosino Square because it took up too much space — only to have the city Department of Transportation replant it in front of an advocate’s home.

Now they’re fighting the rack’s new spot in a no-parking area of the street on Cleveland Place near Kenmare Street, saying the busy intersection is too dangerous for a rental kiosk.

“It’s as though DOT is on lockdown,” said Georgette Fleischer, founder of Friends of Petrosino Square, who will soon get the cycle rack in front of her tenement. “They’re not responding to us.”

“The very agency you’d think would be most concerned about public safety on our streets seems to be absolutely unmoved,” she added.

Firefighters at nearby Ladder 20 and Engine 55 say they’re also trying to persuade officials to move the bikes for safety reasons, but to no avail. Fire trucks often take a sharp right onto Cleveland Place from Kenmare Street.