State pols not too keen on term limits

From the Times Ledger:

After campaigning his way to Albany on pledges to push for longer legislative terms and limiting lawmakers’ time in office, state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) said he made headway on his first state bill, which would extend legislators’ terms to four years, by joining the Independent Democratic Conference.

Avella joined the IDC, a breakaway group of Democrats that controls the Senate through a coalition with Republicans, Feb. 26.

On March 11, the Rules Committee moved a measure extending state lawmakers’ terms from two to four years, which Avella said he introduced shortly after getting elected to the Senate four years ago.

“The fact that it passed the Rules Committee is very significant because it could come up for a vote at any moment,” Avella said, noting that he attributed the measure’s progress to him signing onto the IDC. “It would not have come up otherwise.”

But a companion bill Avella introduced calling for the implementation of 16-year term limits for legislators stalled. A revised version cutting term limits to 12 years or three consecutive terms — whichever is longer — has not fared well either, sputtering in the Judiciary Committee since being drafted in 2013.

“There is a little more discussion this session than there has been in the past,” Avella said. “Term limits is a harder lift because the members have to, in fact, agree to term limits.”

Since most enjoy being senators for life, why would they agree to that?

Ridgewood-Bushwick charity suddenly okay again

From Capital New York:

After Bill de Blasio's mayoral campaign attacked an opponent for funding a troubled nonprofit connected to a tainted former assemblyman, de Blasio's administration is now giving millions of dollars in city business to that same organization.

Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, which was founded by embattled ex-assemblyman Vito Lopez, received a $3.6 million, three-year contract beginning July 1 for providing an "innovative senior center," according to a notice published last week in the City Record and additional information provided to Capital by a city official.

As public advocate and a contender for mayor last year, de Blasio admonished City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for allowing taxpayer-backed money controlled by the council to fund Ridgewood Bushwick. He lobbed his criticisms in light of ethical charges Lopez was facing for sexually harassing several of his female staffers, as well as previous investigations by law-enforcement agencies for allegations of corruption and fraud at the nonprofit.

"It's ridiculous after all we've learned about Vito Lopez and the way he manipulated the system. I have no doubt in the world that Chris Quinn could have stopped it if she wanted to," de Blasio told the Daily News last year, after it was revealed that Ridgewood Bushwick received $421,964 in so-called member items.

At the time, Quinn, who lost her mayoral bid to de Blasio in September, had said she did not support the allocation but deferred to two local Brooklyn councilmen who requested the funding.

"People should be outraged," de Blasio said last year.

He even said New Yorkers "should demand this money not go to this organization."

Ridgewood Bushwick, a sprawling social-services empire that Lopez started in 1973, responded to a solicitation issued on Oct. 16, 2013, before de Blasio became mayor, to provide expanded services for senior citizens. City Hall sent notification to providers who won the awards on Jan. 14, two weeks after de Blasio took office.

An administration official noted that Ridgewood Bushwick, which won its current contract through a competitive bid, entered into a "corrective action plan" on Jan. 17, 2012 to address "business integrity issues" so it could continue offering services to the city.

Crowley removes opponent's supporters from community board

Word has come in that Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, who was given a tough time by Republican candidate Craig Caruana in last year's general election, has removed 2 of his supporters from Queens Community Board 5. Manuel Caruana, a long-time board member, Maspeth activist and uncle to Craig Caruana, and Vernon McDermott, a Caruana campaign supporter who owns a Ridgewood business and donates heavily to Ridgewood charities, were unceremoniously dumped by the sore winner. And of course, Queens Machine darling Melinda Katz went along with the bloodletting.

This is why you should never admire anyone seen receiving accolades from the borough president for having served on a community board for 20 or 30 years. If you've survived that long, you've more than likely been dead weight or a faithful defender of the Democratic Machine.

UPDATE: Also found out that Crowley dumped her own relative, Rose Johnson, off the board for no specific reason. Johnson has been the community board member most outspoken against the Knockdown Center.

Northeastern Queens realtor markets teardowns

"This realtor is destroying Northeastern Queens, one crap sale after another. I spotted this for sale yesterday. Just the land around this gorgeous house in Whitestone." - Anonymous

Queens Museum director appointed commissioner of Cultural Affairs

From the NY Times:

Tom Finkelpearl, the president and executive director of the Queens Museum, is scheduled to be named the cultural affairs commissioner by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday, the mayor’s office confirmed, putting Mr. Finkelpearl in charge of a $156 million budget and making him the point person on the arts for a city widely considered the cultural capital of the world.

The appointment is in keeping with the new administration’s emphasis on the disenfranchised; in his 12 years at the Queens Museum, Mr. Finkelpearl, 58, has hired community organizers to professionalize outreach efforts and emphasized the diversity of the local immigrant population. (He frequently cites the 138 languages spoken in the borough.)

And his institution’s recently completed $68 million renovation was largely aimed at making the museum more inviting and connected to the neighborhood.

“Tom believes that art is for everybody, and has developed an exceptional record of fortifying the city’s cultural institutions across all five boroughs,” Mr. de Blasio said. “That’s exactly the kind of energy, leadership and creativity that we want.”

The appointment, to be formally announced on Monday at the Queens Museum, begins to shed some light on Mr. de Blasio’s plan for the arts. He succeeds a mayor who was heavily involved in cultural affairs, Michael R. Bloomberg, and who used his own wealth to advance the mission of many arts organizations. Mr. de Blasio’s profile on culture has been something of a mystery.

Machine appointees save Galante

From the Daily News:

The nine Queens Library trustees who voted against placing President Tom Galante on leave put loyalty to the man over their duty to the institution.

They should be booted from office along with him.

Nine trustees came to their senses and voted to shelve Galante pending FBI and Department of Investigation probes. One trustee missed the vote. And the Galante 9 prevented the resolution from passing.

They severely damaged the library, run as it is by a nonprofit organization that is funded with city money and must have the trust of elected officials. That trust is now irreparably broken.

The mayor and Queens borough president appoint board members. Mayor de Blasio and BP Melinda Katz, who called for Galante’s ouster, must eliminate the nine as their terms come due.

First up for canning are George Stamatiades and William Jefferson, whose tenures expire at the end of the year. Katz should announce their replacements now.

The rest to be let go in time are Grace Lawrence, Leonard D’Amico, Joseph Ficalora, Stephen Van Anden, Patricia Flynn, Mary Ann Mattone and Terri Mangino. Of note, Mangino, who has been on the board since 1972, was hauled in from Florida to cast the vote that saved Galante.

DeBlasio, DOT blind to Maspeth street safety

"de Blasio has got to be kidding ?

His Vision Zero Action Plan to make streets safer must not include Queens, or at least the town of Maspeth. E-mails about a major on going safety problem, to his office, Queens DOT commissioner Dalila Hall's and NYC DOT commissioner Polly Trottenberg's offices go ignored and unanswered.

Almost 3 years ago, a group of residents along 70 St between 54 and 51 Aves asked the city to convert 70 St to a one way northbound. Our major concern after seeing parked vehicles being sideswiped and their mirrors torn off, as well as a number of fender benders, is for the safety of the children at IS 73. You see, many children, teachers and staff share the street with speeding school buses, racing TLC cars, parents dropping their kids off and the local citizens trying to get out and go to work. This is a narrow tertiary street. It runs from Queens B'lvd. to 54 Ave. where it ends at the entrance to IS 73. Someday, someone missing the stop sign, is going to drive through this "T" intersection and straight into the front entrance of this school !!! The city, in all its wisdom, moved the left turn lane on Queens B'lvd from 69 ST ( a secondary roadway ) to 70 St because of the volume of accidents. Drivers have discovered that they can avoid 6 or 7 traffic lights on 69 St by racing down our block.

On November 2, 2012, Community Board 5 received a letter from Maura McCarthy, former Queens DOT commissioner, responding to an October 18, 2011 request by the board for a one way conversion. Ms McCarthy responds by stating that traffic counts, street measurements, traffic circulation, area parking and the school congestion studies conducted by the DOT show that this area, and its pedestrians would be better served and safer as a one way street. The DOT recommends to the board that this conversion take place.

THREE YEARS LATER.......

We are still a two-way street. Someone was hit by a car on 70 St one block before the school. 5 students were hit by a car that jumped the curb at 71 St and Grand Ave. One child later died. 70 Street ends at 54 Ave and the traffic funnels down 71 St to Grand Avenue.

Our local council member Crowley - useless in getting the DOT to get moving.
DOT stated in the past it was a budgetary issue....we are talking 6 blocks here people !!! NOT all of Maspeth.
CB 5 notifies residents by mail that the conversion will take place week of 4/14/2014...DOT now denies this.

Where is the action, Mr. Mayor?

You know the area well having filled potholes a few blocks away.
You demonstrated that our local streets make great speedways.
Are you waiting to visit an injured or dead child and their parents before acting?
Has your "vision" gone blurry ? or don't you care about Queens?
You can take action here with much better results - in a much shorter time span.

The DOT states that it will not convert this street while school is in session. Makes NO sense. Spring the change on drivers all at once on a Monday morning after spring vacation, or on bus drivers, parents, and taxis who will NOT travel through here all summer!!! DOT workers can NOT work outside if the temperature is below 45....poor guys. Take a look at the faded, missing, and falling street signs in the area. Watch the next pothole patrol...how hard they work....and my point will be well made." - SKI

Where'd the PTA dough go?

From the Queens Courier:

Nearly 170 graduating students of P.S. 117 in Briarwood may not receive their caps and gowns and may miss out on senior events at the end of their elementary school experience because $30,000 is missing from the accounts of the school’s PTA, The Courier has learned.

The Department of Education (DOE) has launched a probe into the missing money, and the current PTA is barred from fundraising and any other financial dealings, officials said.

Parents learned earlier this year there may not be a senior dance, a school yearbook or graduation regalia because those items were all funded by the now-penniless parent teacher organization.

The school’s principal, Paula Cunningham, refused to comment on the situation and directed calls to the DOE. The DOE confirmed the audit, but wouldn’t answer further questions.

“This matter is currently under review internally, we are unable to provide additional information at this time due to the pendency of the ongoing investigation,” a DOE spokesman wrote in an email.

During a recent meeting at the school led by the new PTA leadership, Cunningham told parents that her hands are tied in the situation, even as parents suggested increasing senior dues to cover the nearly $6,000 needed to make the graduation special.

The dance is estimated to cost about $2,000, the yearbook could be about $1,650 and caps and gowns would be $13.50 per student, or more than $2,200 total, according to parents’ estimates.

“We as a building, as a school, are allowed to have one fundraiser for the entire year. That fundraiser was supposed to be for the entire school,” Cunningham said. “We don’t have funds that we can spend on caps and gowns. We don’t have funds that we can spend on a prom. We sent out letters explaining that the PTA paid for things that cost a lot of money.”

Jamaica Station literally stinks

"Commissioner Bratton, are you really concerned about a relationship with the black community? Then stop listening to outsiders, stop listening to the disconnects, stop listening to foreigners of Queens.

Listen to the residents who are suffering daily. Focus on resolutions that improve our lives. Last month you said that you were going to take a first hand look into bums on the trains. What have you done? It is certainly NOT a resolution.

Listen to what Queens residents need. We need bums off our trains. Jamaica Center is the first boarding station where trains depart. Fair and effective policies will dictate that the trains are clean and ready for take-off. Sadly, the reality is, the trains are mostly bum-filled with an unhealthy scent.

On a bright and sunny April 3rd. morning, straphangers packed the platform. Straphangers appear clean and fresh from home. The E train pulled into the station about 9:11 A.M. Everyone stand by the door anticipating a seat.

Then bamm, the marathon competition began. Straphangers ran into cars # 9709, 9710, 9711 & 9712 and ran out with the same speed. The train was occupied by bums. The fastest runners got seats, others had to stand, while bums appeared comfie.

So, commissioner, come to Jamaica Queens and have a chat with the experts/residents/subway riders.

We have a solution for you to put in place." - Pamela Hazel

Brewer introducing landmarking lifeline

From Crains:

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer plans to introduce legislation that would require the city Landmarks Preservation Commission to consider any building older than 50 years for review, whenever a developer files permits to demolish it, she announced Friday.

The proposed legislation would require the commission to take 30 days for public review before deciding whether or not to consider a building for landmark status. Separately, it would also codify a provision that prohibits owners of buildings under consideration for such protected status from gaining demolition permits.

Ms. Brewer announced the legislation at a news conference along West 57 Street, where developers are currently building some of the city’s tallest towers, including Extell Development’s One57 and JDS Development’s super-thin tower nearby.

On a related note, I found this flyer in Midtown this past week:

Using AirBnB is really not a good idea

You could be renting to a nut, or to people who aren't exactly honest about their intentions.

Boost for Council budget

From Capital New York:

The City Council will increase its budget by $5.1 million, as Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito plans to hire more staff to oversee investigations and draft legislation, a source briefed on the changes told Capital.

The increase comes as part of the $56.6 city budget for FY2015, which the Council will vote to adopt on Thursday, according to the source.

Members, who typically receive between $292,000 and $332,000 each year for both staff and office expenses, will also get a boost to their individual accounts, the source said.

Budgets will be equalized so that every member receives the same amount.

Former Speaker Christine Quinn often trimmed or kept flat the council's operating budget, as she prepared a run for mayor in 2013.

Overall, Quinn increased the operating budget from $49 million in Fiscal Year 2006, when the full-time headcount totaled 316, to $51.5 million in Fiscal Year 2014. (The most recent available headcount is 281 for Fiscal Year 2013, when the budget was $51.6 million, records show.)

A spokesman for Mark-Viverito declined comment.

Some of the additional staff hired with the extra funds will be designated to help draft legislation, a process that would get an overhaul under the proposed "rules reform" Mark-Viverito has endorsed.

4 drown inside submerged car in Luyster Creek

From the NY Post:

A woman’s 19th birthday ended in tragedy Friday night when the car carrying her and four friends plunged into Steinway Creek in Queens — killing her and three of her pals, police sources said.

The 20-year-old driver escaped the Honda Accord and called 911, but his four passengers — two men aged 20 and 21 plus the birthday girl and another woman — all died after rescue divers pulled them from the submerged car.

“The guy couldn’t stop and the car flipped into the creek,” a law enforcement source said.

The car crashed through a chain-link fence and fell about 15 feet into the water from an industrial area near 19th Avenue and 37th Street in Astoria at about 10:40 p.m. on a foggy night and was completely submerged as cops and firefighters rushed to the scene.

The scuba divers had to break open the windows of the car — which the driver borrowed from his grandmother — to rescue the people inside, the source said.

The driver and passengers were at Buffalo Wild Wings in Queens celebrating a birthday party before they went into the water, not far from a city wastewater treatment plant and the Rikers Island bridge, police sources said.

Neighbors noted the street doesn’t have a “Dead End” sign that would have warned the driver.

Ok there's some things here that don't make sense. Buffalo Wild Wings is in Forest Hills on Continental Avenue near Austin Street. How and why did the car end up on 19th Ave in Astoria?

Also, why did all the media outlets refer to this location as "Steinway Creek"? It's name is Luyster Creek.

And then it gets even worse...

From the Daily News:

An SUV overturned into the East River early Saturday morning in Astoria just blocks from where four friends lost their lives when their car plunged into the Steinway Creek hours before, authorities said.

The SUV was apparently driving north on 20 Ave around 4 a.m. when it ran through a brick wall and a chain link fence and overturned into a waist deep inlet of the East River where the street abruptly stops at Shore Blvd., witnesses and authorities said.

Neighbor Yvett Kasanakis, 48, a bridge painter, helped the four passengers out of the murky waist-deep water. All four suffered minor injuries, one was treated at Mt. Sinai and one was brought to New York Queens Hospital, fire sources said.

FDNY divers did not find any other passengers in vehicle.

The shivering twenty-somethings told Kasanakis they were leaving a nearby club and heading to Neptune Diner when the crash occurred. They also told the Good Samaritan that the driver, who they claimed to have just met, had fled after the accident.

Loving those lobbyists

From the Daily News:

Special interests spent $210.5 million lobbying New York State and local governments in 2013, the state ethics commission revealed in its annual report Thursday.

Cigarette giant Altria Client Services and its affiliates spent the most on lobbying in 2013 — $3 million — to fight a tobacco display ban in New York City. The city and state teachers unions were next, spending $2.6 million and $2.2 million, respectively.

Among the firms with the biggest growth in business was Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, which helped Melissa Mark-Viverito in her race for City Council speaker and then began lobbying her on behalf of clients.

The firm’s business jumped 30.4% in 2013 over 2012.

How many more people can we absorb?

From the Queens Chronicle:

Queens County is growing, and the population of the borough is nearing an all-time high of 2.3 million, Census figures estimated last week.

Nearly halfway through the decade, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the borough’s population as 2,296,175, an increase of 2.9 percent from 2010, or about 65,000 people. That makes the borough larger than every city in the country except New York, Los Angeles and Chicago and more populous than 15 states.

Queens is still not as large as Brooklyn, which topped 2.5 million and was the fastest-growing borough so far this decade. Both boroughs grew by just under 1 percent in 2013 alone, and were the second and third fastest-growing counties in the state.

Queens is still the 10th most-populated county in the nation, though it may soon be surpassed by the faster-growing and geographically much larger Riverside County, Calif.

The results of the 2010 Census, which claimed the borough had only grown by a mere 1,343 people since 2000, baffled many who pointed to the spur in development and demand for real estate, especially in Western Queens and Flushing, over the previous decade as a sign the population of Queens had to have grown by a larger number. Most notable was that Astoria lost a significant number of residents according to the 2010 Census, a claim officials found questionable at the time as the neighborhood has attracted new immigrants and residents from elsewhere in the country during the past decade.

Periodic updates since the 2010 Census have shown the population of the borough growing far more rapidly. Queens grew by about 40,000 people between 2010 and 2012 and another 25,000 since.

Perps posing as police

From the Queens Courier:

A pair of phony police officers are wanted in three armed robberies throughout Queens after they were caught on video at a Woodhaven salon, cops said.

The suspects flash guns and shields to convince their victims they are police officers, then tie them up and steal cash and electronics before fleeing, officials said.

The two men first hit a Cherry Avenue business in Flushing on March 8, according to police. They then robbed the Body Works Salon on Jamaica Avenue in Woodhaven four days later, followed by the Charming Spa Salon on Steinway Street in Astoria on Tuesday.

DeBlasio hires Markowitz for tourism gig

From Crains:

Marty Markowitz may be synonymous with Brooklyn as the borough's former president for 12 years, but now he will be paid to crow about Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx as well.

Mr. Markowitz was snatched up by the city's tourism bureau, NYC & Company, as its vice president for borough promotion and engagement. It is a new position.

"He will be an outstanding asset as NYC & Company looks to further build on its efforts to expand five-borough tourism and encourage more travel to every corner of our city," said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement.

Ridgewood is nowhere near what it's hyped to be

Hey folks, the latest neighborhood profile of Ridgewood comes courtesy of the Daily News, and it's a doozy. Have fun picking out all the mistakes. You can start with this paragraph:

Retail strips are less charming than the townhouse blocks. But Myrtle, Fresh Pond and Seneca Aves., the neighborhood’s main commercial thoroughfares, offer popular destinations including Ridgewood Eats and Mafera Park. Residents seeking more leisure options or a quick work commute can get to Midtown in a half hour on the M train or take the L train to Union Square. And the new breed of scruffy, tattooed residents displaced from Bushwick can quickly dive back into that scene with a short walk.

This could be more entertaining than the Easter egg hunt going on right now!

Mass arborcide at Ozone Park crap box

"Someone at the crap box at the southwest corner of 107 Street & 95 Avenue doesn't like trees. All four recently planted trees around the property have been cut down. I guess that they wanted to cut them down before they blossomed for the Spring."

fiscus1 / Karl Baker

More time for alternate side parkers

From the Daily News:

A city councilman is launching a new push for a revolutionary change to the dreaded alternate-side-of-the-street parking regulations.

If successful, it would give millions of car owners something special: the gift of time.

The regulations ban parking for a period of time — usually 90 minutes — to allow street sweepers to pass through.

Under the proposal by Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Manhattan), drivers could legally take parking spots once the street sweeper passed by — ending the need for drivers to wait inside their cars until the no-parking time period lapses.

Rodriguez, a former cab driver, also wants to make sure drivers sitting in their cars with the engine running do not get ticketed for idling.

"It's common sense," said Rodriguez. "This bill would help middle-class and working-class people of this city."

Pols upset over advertised blackface drag performance

From the Queens Chronicle:

Offended may be too soft a word to describe the reaction Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) had when a staffer showed him a poster he saw on Roosevelt Avenue promoting a comedy show last weekend featuring performers in black face and dressed in drag.

“It’s disgusting and offensive,” he said at a press conference outside the Boulevard restaurant “It’s racist, homophobic, transphobic and doesn’t belong in this community.”

The posters were placed all over Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Elmhurst and Corona promoting “Recarguesa de Risa,” a comedy show led by Colombian comedian El Mono Sanchez this past Sunday at Boulevard at 82-22 Northern Blvd. in Jackson Heights.

At the press conference last Friday outside Boulevard, where he was joined by Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst), the NAACP, Queens Pride Committee and other area officials, Dromm tore up one of the posters.

Ferreras rejected assertions that the show was not offensive, but common for Sanchez, a popular comedian in Latin America. She noted that while Sanchez’ humor is commonly known in the Latino community, it is not a good representative of that culture to the outside world.

“This is not a Latino thing, because when people walk through here from any culture or any community, they would be appalled to see this,” Ferreras said. “For someone who does not read Spanish, has no idea what this is, you see these faces. What does this say to us and what does this say to the community? It’s disgusting.”

So this offense was committed by one of the vibrant and diverse among us and not by an Archie Bunker? Wow.

Port Authority as real estate speculators

From the NY Times:

The developer and philanthropist Larry A. Silverstein has cut a striking figure in New York City. He owns the H.M.S. Bounty-size yacht favored by his peers and has dominated the rebuilding of ground zero for a decade.

Along the way, he has internalized a developer’s rule of thumb in New York: Only a rube puts much of his own money at risk.

Billions of dollars in Liberty bonds, insurance money, developer fees: Year after year, Mr. Silverstein has shaken the public tree and benefits have fallen to the ground.

Construction of 4 World Trade Center is completed and it stands about half empty, with commitments from just two tenants: New York City and State. Now Mr. Silverstein wants to complete his 70-something-story 3 World Trade Center. He has found just one prospective tenant for it.

City and state officials, ever helpful, agreed to give that company, GroupM, a $15 million cash subsidy and tax breaks worth about $75 million.

Now Mr. Silverstein wants to shake the tree again. In March, as Charles V. Bagli reported in The New York Times, he asked the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to guarantee up to $1.2 billion of his construction loans. The authority’s board could vote on the proposal this month.

As chutzpah, this was impressive. As public policy, it was less salutary.

Kenneth Lipper is a board member of the Port Authority, a former deputy mayor under Edward I. Koch, an investment banker and a novelist with a keen eye for currents of power, municipal and financial.

In an interview on Monday, he described how the board had signed off this winter on a capital plan, carefully assigning priority to rebuilt bridges, a new terminal at La Guardia Airport and — Mr. Lipper’s personal favorite — the rebuilding of that corroding pile of metal and concrete that is the Port Authority bus station in Midtown.

Then Mr. Lipper saw the request from Mr. Silverstein.

“Am I in ‘Alice in Wonderland’?” he recalled thinking. “I wanted to get a modern bus terminal built and we’re talking about putting $1.2 billion into a private developer, in which he gets the gain and we take the hit?

“Is it the role of an agency representing taxpayers and toll payers to speculate in real estate?”

You'll never have to leave...

From Brownstoner Queens:

Check out the new design planned for 29-26 Northern Boulevard, off of Queens Plaza North in Long Island City. New York IMBY picked up the images from the Stephens B. Jacobs Group website, which also reveal that the 45-story building will be called “The QE7.” It’ll hold studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom rental apartments. Here are details on the amenities, straight from the website:

Imagined as an urban vertical cruise ship, the building offers many amenities, including a two-story fitness center on the 2nd and 4th floors with lounge, gym, spa, climbing wall, pool, and outdoor 5v5 soccer pitch. A covered outdoor half-court basketball court is located on the 38th floor setback, and a rooftop bar and lounge is on the 43rd floor, with access to outdoor terrace space and unobstructed panoramic views.

New pond forms at Bowne Park

"Hi Crappy –

As you can see in the images below, Bowne Park has a new pond! It’s a good thing as the old one is a neglected, decayed disaster area. The stone facing on the interior walls has continued to break into the pond, probably crushing hundreds of turtles. There are numerous pieces of junk in the pond, including several garbage pails (metal and plastic) and a chair from the bocce court, which should never have been allowed in the park to begin with! Bowne Park should not be a drop-off site for the goombahs’ shitty, broke-down, plastic outdoor furniture. The DOS should cart it off immediately!

Most of the birds have migrated to the new pond – the water’s probably cleaner. The old pond needs to be emptied and repaired – without killing the wildlife within it. But that’s probably way beyond the capabilities of the Dept. of Parks (DOPes).

The entire park has a forlorn, neglected feel – much like the rest of Queens!"

Flooshing Rezident

Another church tragedy

From Brownstoner:

The St. Ignatius Church and its community hall are in the process of being demolished at 267 Rogers Avenue in Crown Heights, where Curbed found this rendering on the fence. Building applications were filed last November to construct a five story, 165-unit apartment building, but they weren’t approved until last week.

Heights Advisors are the developers behind the 112,155-square-foot project, which will have 35 underground parking spaces and 48 open ones, a fitness room, laundry, rec room and roof terrace.

You don't have to be religious to understand that this is a travesty. Beautiful green space that was used by the community to be covered with a building lived in by those of means who probably haven't even moved here yet.

Useless hotel law proposed by council member

From The Real Deal:

The phrase “as-of-right” may soon lose its meaning in New York hotel development. The New York City Council is considering giving local community boards a say in the construction of new hotels and hotel apartments, even if a developer has as-of-right permission to build a project.

The legislation was introduced March 12 by Councilman Jumaane Williams, who represents Brooklyn’s District 45 and chairs the Council’s Committee on Housing and Buldings, with the support of colleagues Margaret Chin, Corey Johnson, Peter Koo, Ritchie Torres and Helen Rosenthal.

The bill would require that developers add a statement to their applications for construction of new hotel projects that certifies that the project’s local community board “has completed their review of the plan.”

Individuals may submit testimony on the bill to the Council at a hearing Wednesday. A vote on the legislation will follow.

Notice it says the community board "completed their review" and not that they approved it. In other words, it will go before the community board, and since they're only advisory anyway, it will proceed as planned.

Why not change the zoning law to prohibit hotels in manufacturing zones?

Parkers strike out at Citifield

From CBS New York:

Ronnie from Danbury, Conn., says it took him three hours to drive to Queens for the New York Mets’ season opener on Monday.

But that was only the beginning. Ronnie told WFAN’s “Boomer & Carton” show on Tuesday that the parking situation at Citi Field was so bad that he never even made it to the gates.

“Yesterday was a freakin’ ridiculous fiasco,” he said. “When we got there, the entire road around Citi Field was a parking lot. Nobody could get into the stadium, and that’s why there was nobody there (for first pitch).”

“By the time we could have maybe parked at the tennis center and bused in, it was already the fourth inning,” he added.

With Cirque du Soleil occupying part of their parking lot, the Mets were urging fans to take mass transit to Monday’s game against the Washington Nationals. Citi Field didn’t appear to be holding anywhere near the announced crowd of 42,442 by the time the game started at 1:10 p.m.

Linda from Flushing said she left her house at noon for the short trip to the ballpark. It took her about 15 minutes and then she snaked around the stadium “for an hour and a half, only to wind up parking by Home Depot.”

See the attached Mets press release (web content), which indicates that there would be NO Cirque du Soleil performance on Monday "to accommodate as many fans as possible". When there's a mall there instead of the circus, will the mall be shut down just as the circus was, "to accommodate as many fans as possible"? These angry Mets fans have to understand that circumstances will be much worse after a mall is operating there.

More service on 2 Queens bus lines

From the NY Post:

Manhattan and Queens bus riders will get more weekend service, starting this weekend.

In Queens, the Q31 will also start running on Saturdays and Sundays. It runs between Bayside and Jamaica.

The Q77 will launch Sunday service between 6:55 a.m. and 10:09 p.m. The line runs between Laurelton and Jamaica.

The increase in buses will be funded through money announced last year to increase bus and subway services.

The new services announced last year included more G trains during rush hour, as well as bringing the M to the Lower East Side on weekends.

Worker dies in fall from scaffold

From the Daily News:

A worker fell to his death from scaffolding outside the Dream New York hotel in Midtown on Wednesday afternoon, plummeting eight stories, cops said.

The man landed on top of a sidewalk shed covering the front entrance of the luxury hotel on W. 55th St., police and witnesses said.

“He was working on the scaffolding and he fell,” Jennifer Harvey, 36, said. “ It was absolutely horrible. It’s something I can’t unsee.”

The worker, believed to be in his 40s, was working alone on the hotel’s façade about 2:10 p.m., cops on the scene said. He was not immediately identified.

Irish traveler issues refund to scammed victim

"The articles in the Post and News scared him so he called her and got a messenger to bring a certified check to her house. We checked it out and it's real. He purchased the check in a TD Bank branch in Elmhurst.

It's obviously very lucrative over here for him so he doesn't want to be hassled. Capt. Manson (104th Pct) tracking him down too...

The Post did a good job, again the reporter saw it on QC... good job Crappie!" - Robert Holden

Why, thank you. :)

Did they use Common Core math?

From Crains:

In a contentious hearing, City Council members pressed the developers of the Domino Sugar factory project on the Williamsburg waterfront to explain how many market-rate and affordable-rental units it was planning to build.

Two Trees Management developer Jed Walentas acknowledged that the numbers were not yet final, but that the project is likely to include up to 2,300 market-rate apartments, with as many as 700 affordable units. He said that 537,000 square feet of the 2.2 million square feet of residential space would be devoted to below market-rate apartments.

But Brooklyn Councilman Steve Levin said that based on an analysis the developer's other housing projects, the total number could be as high as 3,000 total units of housing, which he argued would bring added stress on the neighborhood's over-taxed infrastructure, as well as call into question whether a sufficient portion of the project was affordable.

During Tuesday's hearing of the Council's zoning subcommittee, Mr. Walentas was asked to justify his estimates of the total number of rental units that he plans to build. Mr. Levin argued that after examining similar projects built by Two Trees, and based on the total amount of space allotted for residential development, a larger number of apartments could ultimately be built.

"By my calculations, Two Trees could build in their market-rate component somewhere between 2,100 and 2,300 market rate units," he said. "You add to that the 660 or 700 affordable units, and it's closer to 3,000 units that could be developed in the project. And that's a major source of concern for me."

He continued, "Because you're unwilling to commit to a unit-size breakdown of your market rate, and you're unwilling to cap it at 2,300 units, I'm concerned that the opportunity is there, and the math bears it out, for a development that is much closer to 3,000 units than 2,000 units, and that's a major source of concern for me."

It's ok, Steve! Under DeBlasio, developers can build as big as they want if they even mention "affordable housing". Go with the "progressive" flow!

Residents worried about building collapse in Rego Park

From the Daily News:

A Rego Park building damaged in February following sloppy excavation work at a property next door has grown to the point of near collapse, city officials warn.

Cracks that appeared along the north wall of the six-story apartment building at 94-01 64th Rd. have continued to grow even as the city hit the contractor with fines for failing to safeguard the area and protect nearby properties.

Booth Holdings LLC plans to build luxury housing on the neighboring property. A principal couldn’t be reached for comment.

The Buildings Department issued a stop work order for the site in February and ordered contractors to install exterior support structures. In total, seven violations remain open against the construction companies.

Katz wants Galante to step down

From the Daily News:

Embattled Queens Library boss Thomas Galante should take a leave and stay out of circulation while the latest chapter of his spending and payment scandal plays out, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz said Monday.

Katz sent sharply worded letters to both Galante and the library’s board of trustees, calling for the board to formally suspend him at their meeting set for Thursday.

She said faith in library leadership has been dangerously undermined by recent revelations involving Galante, and the “thousands of children, adults and seniors” who rely on the $120 million-a-year Queens Library system are at risk.

“In order for the library to operate effectively and more importantly, to continue to receive taxpayer money, I believe it is best for the institution that you take a leave of absence effective immediately, and continuing until the various investigations and audits into the Library’s operations are resolved,” Katz wrote Galante in a letter obtained exclusively by The News.

“Given the current state of uncertainty and turmoil, I don’t believe you will be able to successfully lead the institution through this budget cycle, and the library will suffer, which is an outcome nobody wants,” she said.

The city Department of Investigation, the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office are reviewing library records and conducting interviews as part of a possible criminal probe, The News previously reported.

Art gallery building unstable

From NBC:

A landmark building on the Lower East Side was evacuated Monday evening after firefighters responding to a smoke alarm noticed floors were shaking and beams were cracked inside, setting off concerns over possible instability, officials say.

Crews were called to The Angel Orensanz Center at 172 Norfolk St. at about 7:30 p.m. for a smoke alarm going off, according to FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Hodgens on the scene. Firefighters determined the alarm was set off by smoke from cooking.

While they were investigating, firefighters were notified that the floors above were shaking, Hodgens said. Firefighters discovered several beams were cracked, signaling a possibly unstable structure, and immediately began evacuating the building.

About 500 people had to leave the building.

The building is a former synagogue that was restored as an art gallery and performance space in the 1980s, according to the venue's website.

Knockdown Center's permits being revoked

The Knockdown Center's work permits are in the process of being revoked...

and their Place of Assembly has been disapproved...

but all the Times Ledger wants to do is give them free publicity for their May rap concerts which might not end up happening.

You gotta love certain Queens newspapers for always reporting half the story.

Landmarking sought for Elmhurst's African Methodist cemetery

St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church
95-18 Northern Blvd, Jackson Heights, New York 11372
E-Mail: stmarkchurch2@verizon.org
Rev. Kimberly L. Detherage, Esq., Pastor

Parties Meet Over 15 Graves

CHURCH REQUESTS HELP FROM LOCAL POLITICIANS
After several postponements, Wednesday, April 2nd Saint Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church and the current owners will meet with the New York City Departments of Landmark Preservation, Buildings and Health to decide the fate of the bodies of former parishioner, including the 15 bodies exhumed a few months ago, in the old cemetery that was formerly a part of the church. Developers of the land planned an above and underground parking structure beside the recently completed structure of condominiums and retail spaces located at what was 90-15 Corona Avenue (Block 1586, Lot 10).

Construction was halted for a brief time on the completed structure and postponed on the parking in 2012 when the mummified remains of a former female parishioner buried in an iron coffin (the Iron Coffin Lady), who was so well preserved that the construction crew mistook her for a recent murder victim and called the authorities. Last December, 15 additional bodies whose grave marking were previously destroyed, were disinterred on the property.

“St. Mark is of course concerned about the fate of the bodies of our past members. We want to find a way to preserve the final resting place of those left of the approximately 300 souls who were buried in the church’s former cemetery,” said St. Mark’s Pastor Kimberly L. Detherage, Esq. The church has contacted its local councilpersons, assemblymen, district leader, state senator, Congressman, Senators and the Mayor in hopes of realizing the three goals it has identified:
• To leave the recently uncovered graves where they are and not to move or cremate the remains
• To have this African American burial site declared a protected landmark
• To hold the current owners/construction company responsible for the storage, memorial and re-burial costs of the Iron Coffin Lady as well as a memorial for the recently uncovered bodies as was initially agreed.

“After reviewing the agenda, we are afraid that now that this meeting is happening, its results will be a foregone conclusion – a rubber stamp on the destruction of for this African American burial ground,” said Rev. Detherage. “We are really hoping that some of our representatives will stand up for the recognition and peaceful rest of these former citizens.”

CONDOS/STORE FRONTS BUILT OVER CHURCH CEMETERY
On December 24, 2013 upon information and belief, 15 graves were unearthed during recent construction on the plot of land that is now 90-05 to 90-19 Corona Avenue but was formerly 90-15 Union Avenue, the address of the Union Avenue African Methodist Episcopal Church and its cemetery, the previous name of the Saint Mark AME Church of 96-18 Northern Boulevard. These graves are directly behind a row of new condominiums and store fronts that were erected despite St. Mark’s concerns and inquiries about this property since the October 2011 disinterment of the mummified remains of an African American woman in an iron casket who was found on this same property during the construction of the condominiums.

Location: The property in question is approximately 1.4 acres previously listed as 90-15 Corona Ave, (Block 1586, Lot 10) in Queens, New York. It is on Corona Avenue between 90th and 91st Streets in front of the right-of-way for the Port Washington branch of the Long Island Railroad and across the street from Newtown High School. The condos are entered at 47-19 and 47-21 91st Street, next door to a residence at 47-07 91st Street, and the block of store fronts extends from 90-05 to 90-19 Corona Avenue and are next door to the Sabor Colombia 2 restaurant at 90-31 Corona Avenue.

Property Owners: Several names have been connected with the ownership, development and construction of this property. While we understand that it is a consortium and suspect that they are all connected, here are the names we know upon information and belief:

Original Owner: AMF Machine Corp. Corona Properties (located at 68-33 Shore Rd, Brooklyn, NY 11220)

Original Construction Company: Denali Construction
Original Construction Company’s Lawyers: Peter G. Geis, Cozen O'Connor,
Owner’s Former Archeologist: Jo-Ann McLean Inc. Archaeological Consultants
Current Owners: Bo Jing Zhu Corp.
Current Construction Company: Dahill Construction (Rahman Perul 718-912-8874).
Current Lawyer: Yi Han of Experta Group, Inc.
Current Archeologist: Michael Audin of Archeology and Historical Research Service
Management Company: Wing Fung Realty (718-699-9000)

Time Line:
• 1828: the United African Society purchased the property in question from local landowner William Hunter and his wife Jane for $75.00 and erected a carpenter shop where they worshipped until they could build a church edifice.
• 1888: the cemetery reportedly contained 310 graves.
• 1902: when a church trustee, Mr. Purcell Harris inquired into the denomination using the property; after a thorough investigation, the property was returned to the church, which applied to the African Methodist Episcopal Church and in 1906 and we renamed ourselves the Union Avenue AME Church.
• 1906: and we renamed ourselves the Union Avenue AME Church.
• 1928: the City of New York, in its effort to widen Union Avenue (now named Corona Ave.) disinterred and transferred 20 bodies from the church cemetery to Mount Olivet Cemetery in Maspeth, Queens.—Thomas Johnson, Samuel Dualing, Jacob Lip, Jesus Huff, Nicholas Coles, Henry Stephens, Emma Stevens, Emma Lawrence, Elsie Harris, John Johnson, James Peterson, James Peterson, Jr., Sarah Hodges, Rachel Warren, Carolina Johnson, David Watson, Thomas Peterson, George Harris, Sarah Stephens and Katie Johnson (Graves Number 2 and 3 in Section C, Lot 3498; Burial Permit numbers 308-327).
• 1929: the church moves to 95th Street and 32nd Avenue and is renamed Saint Mark AME Church.
• 2005: (revised 2006) A Phase 1a Archeological Investigation study was conducted and a document prepared BY: Jo-Ann McLean Inc. Archaeological Consultants at the request of Peter G. Geis, Cozen O'Connor, attorneys representing Denali Construction and property owners AMF Machines Corp. Corona Properties
• 2011: the mummified remains of a 19th century African American woman, the Iron Coffin Lady, buried in an iron casket are unearthed during the construction of the current condos and store fronts.
• December 24, 2013: 15 graves were unearthed during recent construction on the plot of land that is now 90-05 to 90-19 Corona Avenue but was formerly 90-15 Union Avenue. Wing Fung Realty is the management company whose sign declares they are conducting the sale and Dahill Construction is listed as the current property owners on the NY Department of Transportation notices for sidewalk and bus shelter (Q 19) openings in the lobby and storefront windows

St. Mark’s Goals:
While we feel it is our ecclesiastical duty to return to peaceful rest the remains of our former congregants, we recognize that records show the disinterment of only 21 bodies from our predecessor, the Union Avenue AME Church’s Cemetery, including an African American woman who was so carefully and expensively for the time period, laid to rest in consecrated ground that historical reports claim held at least 310 bodies in 1888. Therefore, we feel that the remaining land, which is separated from the recent construction by a concrete parking lot, be set aside as a memorial:
- that the recently uncovered graves be closed and allowed to remain where they are,
- that the remaining land be designated landmark status and
- that the property owner/construction company pay the cost of re-interment, storage and memorial, as previously agreed, for the Iron Coffin Lady as well as a memorial for the 15 recently uncovered graves.

Long Island town cracks down on illegal conversions

Feds letting criminals loose

From the NY Post:

The Obama administration in 2013 released nearly 68,000 undocumented immigrants who had criminal records – many of them in New York and New Jersey, according to a new review of immigration data.

The shocking numbers came from a report released Monday by the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative think tank that studies immigration patterns.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement data showed that New York’s ICE office released 5,391 – about 71 percent of the 7,571 criminal undocumented immigrants it encountered, a rate second only to San Antonio, which released 79 percent.

The Newark office came in fourth, releasing 2,149 about 60 percent of 3,581, right behind third-place Washington DC, which released 64 percent.

Catsimatidis willing to pay to restore NYS Pavilion

From the Daily News:

Billionaire World’s Fair buff John Catsimatidis said he is willing to crack open his checkbook and help the crumbling New York State Pavilion for the right “visionary” project.

“I’ve certainly been there ready and able to write a check,” Catsimatidis, a former Republican mayoral candidate and supermarket magnate, told The News on Friday. “I can make it happen. But you need people who have dreams.”

Catsimatidis, who wore a tie featuring the iconic image of the Unisphere, made his comments at the Queens Museum after a press conference Friday to announce a line-up of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1964 World’s Fair and 75th anniversary of the 1939 World’s Fair.