Garbage pile up in Flushing

"As I was walking to the bus, I noticed this garbage all over the place by a construction site on union street and 39 avenue.

I actually first noticed this trash last week sometime, but it seems as if the pile is only getting larger.

I actually first noticed this trash last week sometime, but it seems as if the pile is only getting larger.

Better notification of construction disruption

From the Daily News:

Neighborhoods will now get 72 hours’ notice when city construction projects close down their streets, cut off electricity and water or remove parking spaces.

Councilman Jimmy Vacca (D-Bronx) introduced a bill last month to force the change — but after meeting with the Department of Design and Construction commissioner Thursday, the agency agreed to make the change immediately.

Notices will go out by email to residents, businesses and local pols, and be followed by an in-person notice.

More school construction on the horizon

From the Daily News:

The city will create 39,500 new public school seats over the next five years with $4.4 billion in construction money, officials said Tuesday.

The budget includes $490 million to reduce class sizes and $480 million to scrap trailers used as temporary classrooms, Deputy Schools Chancellor Kathleen Grimm told the City Council.

Corona and Elmhurst in Queens will gain 2,376 new seats, Dyker Heights in Brooklyn will get 1,920 and lower Manhattan will get 1,928 seats.

That still leaves demand for 16,685 more seats citywide that aren’t funded in the budget.

Mural upgrade in Jackson Heights

From DNA Info:

A neighborhood mural was redone last month and now features the borough's most famous superhero.

The "Queens Is The Future" mural on a handball court at I.S. 145 at Northern Boulevard and 80th Street was redone as part of a visit from the cast and crew of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," students said.

The mural now shows Spider-Man lifting a subway car, filled with students, as it rides next to the Statue of Liberty. There's also a bright orange and yellow sun, all within the original frame of the mural.

You can see what we thought of the original here.

Plain as the nose on your face

Got flooding? I think I may know why.

This house at 1867 Stockholm Street is for sale. Here is a screenshot of the original listing:

You'll notice that the ad says that it's a 2-family with 3 units, and there are 9 bedrooms, 2 of which are in the basement. The following photos were also attached.



After DOB complaints were put in and the homeowner refused entry, the ad was changed to omit the part about the 2-bedroom basement apartment. The photos remain, however.

Now if the house is for sale, why not just make an appointment with the realtor to visit it undercover? This has been done in the past. The realtor should also be fined for advertising an illegal conversion. And it's not the first time...

Of course, Bill DeBlasio is in charge now, and he thinks these living arrangements are just dandy, so expect a lot more ignoring from the DOB.

Council wants charities to give Walmart's money back

From the NY Post:

Local nonprofits that have received charitable contributions from Walmart are denouncing extraordinary demands from the City Council that they return the funds to protest the retail giant’s policies.

Even charity officials whose ideologies are in line with the far-left council said its position — which stems from concerns about Walmart’s wages and work conditions — is way out of line.

“We will not give the money back nor should we,” declared Joel Berg, executive director of the ­Coalition Against Hunger.

“Our determination of whether we ask for and take money is not how the company earned the money, it’s how they want us to spend it,” he added.

“In this case it’s on progressive values. Never has it been tied to any public-policy agenda.”

“We have had it, our constituents have had it and everyone we know in this city has had it with [Walmart],” said ringleader Daniel Dromm (D-Queens), who took ­political correctness to the extreme by calling on charities to return the company’s contributions.

Danny again, eh?

Parks continuing with stupid reservoir plan

From the Daily News:

Local activists are fuming over a city plan to cut culverts into the historic Ridgewood Reservoir in order to stave off the threat of future flooding.

They say the $6 million plan — currently awaiting state environmental approvals — is unnecessary and wasteful of money.

“It would have to rain 24 hours a day for months to reach capacity,” said Geoffrey Croft of New York City Park Advocates.

Critics also worry the project will disturb the ecosystems in the defunct reservoir.

“Construction will destroy the natural habitats within the basins, not to mention that it is also a colossal waste of taxpayer money,” said local civic activist Christina Wilkinson. “Furthermore, if this weather event actually were to occur, allowing the basins to drain into a small catch basin on Vermont Place would be pointless as the sewer system would already be overflowing.”

But the Parks Department said it will face fines by the state Department of Environmental Conservation if the work is not done, since the reservoir is considered a flooding hazard.

Let me get this straight...a bunch of large bowls meant to hold a bajillion tons of water are a flooding hazard? Isn't that where we would want water to stay, at least temporarily, if there was a huge storm?

And what's with the DEC? I thought the Cuomo administration was pro-environment and against wasteful spending?

Putting an end to the blight?

From Crains:

The New York State Conference of Mayors on Monday joined the growing call to rid the state of so-called "zombie properties," or homes that typically have been abandoned in the middle of a foreclosure process and left to decay.

And New York City is crawling with them.

According to an estimate from housing data firm RealtyTrac, four New York City counties—the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island—are among the top ten in the state for zombie properties, with a total of roughly 2,500 between them.

"Abandoned homes become magnets for crime, drag down property values and drain municipal coffers," state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who conceived of the bill that has been introduced in both the state Senate and Assembly, said in a statement. "Our bill will keep communities safer and lessen the burden of municipalities still struggling to recover from the housing crisis."

The conference, which is made up of mayors from across the Empire State, is adding its support to a bill that would create a registry for zombie properties and require lenders to alert homeowners that they can stay in their homes until the foreclosure process is complete. But if those homeowners abandon the property, the proposed legislation would make the lenders pay for upkeep.

DeBlasio can't get DOB letter for his house

From DNA Info:

In the past five months, Mayor Bill de Blasio has twice applied for a DOB document that would verify that the century-old two-family Park Slope rowhouse that he and his wife own but rent out is being used legally. Both times the DOB rejected the de Blasios’ application because it lacked the proper paperwork.

The de Blasios seek what’s known as a "letter of no objection," which serves as a substitute for a certificate of occupancy for homes built prior to 1938. Before that year, certificates of occupancy weren’t issued.

When a property owner puts in an LNO application, the DOB will review the paperwork and, if it meets all requirements, will confirm that a property is being used the right way.

The Buildings Department wouldn’t specify the reason for the de Blasios’ rejection, other than to say that some documents were missing in both applications.

Tabone says he was too drunk to be corrupt

From the NY Post:

A Queens Republican operative, accused of pocketing $25,000 as part of a failed scheme to help state Sen. Malcolm Smith rig last year’s mayoral race, was so boozed up when he took the cash that he thought he was being paid for legal consulting services, a lawyer claimed Thursday.

Leo Ahern, a lawyer for ex-Queens GOP Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone, accused the government of entrapment. He told a federal jury his client had one too many vodka tonics with a politically connected group at Sparks Steak House in Midtown on Valentine’s Day 2013. It was then, Ahern claimed, that an undercover FBI agent and a wire-wearing, crooked developer-turned-informant walked Tabone outside to a parked Audi and paid him the cash.

The Rockland County developer was Moses Stern, whom the feds say Smith — one of the state’s most powerful Democrats — turned to for money and help in a $200,000 bribery scheme to get the Republican ballot for mayor.

“[Tabone] had six or seven vodka toxics without eating,” Ahern told the jury in White Plains federal court. “He was hoping to be retained [by Stern] as a real estate lawyer or a political consultant.”

Ahern said tapes of the exchange will show his client “could barely talk” when he took the cash. He also said Tabone sought contact information from the undercover agent he knew as “Raj,” so he could send “retainer” papers and make “everything up and up.” Ahern claimed Raj gave Tabone a business card — but later took it back.

Contractor falls down elevator shaft and dies

From NBC:

A contractor working on an elevator in Queens fell five stories to his death Thursday morning when his harness apparently malfunctioned and he plummeted down the shaft, law enforcement sources say.

The harness apparently malfunctioned as the man was working on the elevator from the fifth floor of what will become a new school on 42nd Street in Sunnyside. A man working from the fourth floor was hit by debris as his colleague fell, but his harness held, law enforcement sources say.

DeBlasio thankfully doesn't want Olympics

From the Observer:

Mayor Bill de Blasio gave lengthier explanation of why his administration decided not to pursue a bid for the 2024 Olympic games today, slapping down what had been a dream of the prior administration.

While delivering a speech at NYU’s International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, he expanded on anti-Olympics arguments made last week at another press conference.

“New York City is already at such an extraordinary point, because thanks to some of you in this room our tourism industry couldn’t be stronger, our international reputation couldn’t be better, our brand couldn’t be more well respected all over the world,” Mr. de Blasio said at the university, his alma mater. “So we thought, in a classic New York phrase, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

Mr. de Blasio came prepared with a notebook full of statistics. He said that last year the city had welcomed 54 million visitors, received 39 billion dollars in direct spending and that the tourism industry had been responsible for 350,000 jobs. This year, hotel room night occupation is up 6.9 percent in comparison to last year and Broadway theaters reported their highest grosses for a Memorial Day weekend in recorded history, according to the mayor.

All of this means, in the eyes of Mr. de Blasio, that the revenue the Olympics could potentially bring to New York City isn’t necessary.

Will there be singing this time?

"Thank you so much for all you have done to support my political efforts. I'm loving being Borough President and am excited about the opportunities ahead for Queens and New York City.

I'd like to invite you to a fun event benefiting a great leader and a close friend: Congressman Joe Crowley. Joe's doing a summer party at the Bohemian Beer Garden in Astoria on Monday June 16th at 6pm. Tickets start at just $35 per person can can be purchased online. The event coincides with the USA/Ghana World Cup match which will be on the big screen!

Come join us!"

Sincerely,
Melinda

Court forces homeowner to rent for free

From the NY Post:

The city Housing Authority forced a Brooklyn homeowner to keep renting an apartment to a homeless woman who had lost her subsidies, even after the agency stopped paying her rent, a new lawsuit charges.

Adding insult to injury, homeowner Patrice James says in her Brooklyn Supreme Court lawsuit, the woman trashed the apartment, leaving it a rodent-infested wreck.

James, 40, rented the upstairs apartment of her East Flatbush multifamily house to a homeless woman named Amy Chambliss in 2003, signing a two-year Section 8 lease for $1,134 per month, the suit states.

Section 8 is a rent-assistance program for low-income people funded by the federal government and administered in New York City by NYCHA.

When Chambliss lost her Section 8 status a year later and James tried to kick her out, NYCHA persuaded a Brooklyn judge to stay the eviction, the lawsuit claims.

Neither NYCHA nor Chambliss paid James anything for the last year of the lease or the additional six months it took James to evict Chambliss, the suit states.

James fought to recoup her lost income, but ­NYCHA sent her a letter in February 2014 slapping down her request.

A sunken forest for Arverne?

From Capital New York:

The architects behind a "double dune" system envisioned for parts of the Rockaways are pushing an even more ambitious proposal for the barrier peninsula: a sunken Forest.

"It's more for animals than for people, but the part for the people is primarily resiliency against flooding and sea surges," said Walter Meyer, who runs Local Office Landscape Architecture with his wife, Jennifer Bolstad.

Last Wednesday, Meyer, Bolstad and the developers they are working with presented their Sunken Forest-like proposal to the public at a charter school in Far Rockaway, part of a larger bid to win community and government backing for a mixed-use development called Arverne East.

Arverne East, in turn, is the latest in a multi-phase plan to build a new neighborhood on more than 300 city-controlled acres between Beach 32nd and Beach 84th streets in the Rockaways. That partially complete neighborhood is already home to than 1,000 families, but the Arverne East portion has been hampered by, among other things, the real estate crash.

Now, after Hurricane Sandy, the developers are re-imagining the project with the 50-acre nature park as one of its most beguiling features.

Leroy takes a pay cut

From Crains:

When Leroy Comrie announced his state Senate bid against incumbent Malcolm Smith in late April, the Daily News reported that Mr. Comrie pledged to quit his post as Queens Borough President Melinda Katz’s deputy to focus on his campaign. He did so, but is still pulling in a six-figure salary while he runs for the office, payroll records show.

Effective April 24 — days before he declared his bid — Mr. Comrie’s salary was cut to $100,000 from $135,000 as he took a lower-level position in the office in order to fundraise legally.

The tactic has been employed in the past by politically ambitious deputy borough presidents. Karen Koslowitz, who was the No. 2 to then-Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, took a salary cut as she ran successfully for City Council in 2009; Ms. Marshall tapped former Assemblyman Barry Grodenchik to succeed Ms. Koslowitz in 2010. Mr. Grodenchik quit temporarily in an ill-fated bid to succeed Ms. Marshall, but later dropped out and returned to his post.

Another inmate escapes from Creedmoor

From the Daily News:

Cops are searching for a mental patient who escaped from a Queens psychiatric facility on Tuesday.

Clifford Brown, 27, made his mad dash for freedom when he vaulted over chain-link fence on the south side of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Facility on Winchester Blvd. in Queens Village, cops said.

Brown - who is mentally challenged and also suffers from schizophrenia - was arrested by cops on gun charges in 2003, police said.

He’s described as five-foot-eight, 120 pounds with brown eyes, black hair, thin build, and has a scar on the right wrist. He was last seen wearing a white shirt, tan slacks, and a gray hat.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Strip club for sale

Looks like nothing is safe from the forces of gentrification! Vixen on Metropolitan Avenue just west of Eliot Ave appears to be for sale as a development site.
It's been there for decades, predating the zoning code change that required all new strip joints to be located in manufacturing districts.

What comes next? Stay tuned.

Show a little pride!

Our wanderings reveal more trashification. Last week it was the unsightly, dirty property at 67-70 Yellowstone Blvd. This week it's the corner of Austin St. & Ascan Ave., apparently the permanent home of New Town Grocery's gigantic filthy rag oops we mean awning.

You thought this was Dean & DeLuca, right? Easy mistake to make. We wonder why this has been allowed to remain for so long. There are even apartments right over the awning. Compliments on the view, not to mention the sanitation aspect.

Haven't any nearby businesses complained? What could be better than kicking back with an overpriced glass of wine at Jack & Nellie's on Ascan and a view of the shredded, bird-pooped New Town awning? This might be one of the few instances when yet another Starbucks, eyewear place or hair salon would be an asset as long as we didn't have to look at that ratty thing. The interior of the store further reflects its dignity level.

Hey, we're all for Mom-and-Pop stores, as long as Mom and Pop have some self-esteem.

- Forest Hills Wanderer

Ex-DA Hynes in major hot water

From the Daily News:

Former Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes may have committed larceny by using funds seized from crooks to pay for his failed bid for reelection, a stunning investigation revealed Monday.

A scathing report by the city’s Department of Investigations said Hynes paid a consultant more than $200,000 — money that may have been seized from drug dealers and other felons — for political counsel.

He also allowed senior staffers to help in his reelection effort during their work hours, the report found.

The DOI probe revealed that Justice Barry Kamins — then Brooklyn’s administrative judge and now the state’s chief of policy and planning — gave Hynes improper advice about the campaign and pending criminal matters.

Kamins has been relieved of his duties, and the findings have been referred to several agencies, including the attorney general, officials said.

Since Hynes’s humiliating defeat in the election in the fall, his legacy was further tarnished with the release of multiple inmates who were wrongfully convicted of murder during his tenure and with revelations of alleged unlawful tactics employed by his office.
But the damning DOI report may be the most critical indictment to date.

Municipal Art Society bestows preservation award on Bruce Ratner

From Capital New York:

A venerable preservationist group will on June 11 honor a developer deplored by preservationists, and the resulting intra-preservationist controversy has boiled over into a proper, public scrum.

On Monday afternoon, the Historic Districts Council sent out an email to the press declaring itself “appalled” by the actions of its colleagues over at the Municipal Art Society for their decision to bestow the coveted Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal on Bruce Ratner and Maryanne Gilmartin, the executive chairman and president and C.E.O, respectively, of Forest City Ratner Companies, the real estate concern that gave us MetroTech, Atlantic Yards, Atlantic Center Mall and New York by Gehry at 8 Spruce Street.

“Conflating the company’s record of bulldozing neighborhoods with Mrs. Onassis’s pivotal role in preserving New York City’s Landmarks Law is something H.D.C. feels should not go unnoticed,” reads the email.

“It’s not like they’re building great spaces,” said Simeon Bankoff, the group’s executive director, in a follow-up interview.

To register its displeasure this time around, the Historic Districts Council will host a screening of a film chronicling Ratner’s Atlantic Yards exploits, Battle for Brooklyn, the same night as the gala. Afterward, the group will host a panel discussion featuring Atlantic Yards critics.

One critic that will not be participating? The Municipal Art Society.

During the height of the Atlantic Yards controversy, the society's leadership criticized Ratner for project delays it said could blight the neighborhood.

Ron Shiffman, a Pratt Institute professor, Atlantic Yards critic and a recipient of the Jane Jacobs Medal, which is administered by M.A.S., argued that the nonprofit's pursuit of money was clouding its judgment.

“It says that they needed money,” said Shiffman. “But there’s a point at which principle has to trump need when it comes to these kinds of things.”

Hevesi caught looking the other way

From the Daily News:

A state assemblyman was secretly recorded saying that his leadership has refused to sign off on a potential probe into an agency designed to protect the developmentally disabled.

Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D—Queens), who chairs the chamber’s investigations committee, said Assembly Democratic leadership believes the Justice Center for the Protection of People With Special Needs touted by Gov. Cuomo is a fraud but isn’t prepared to investigate at this time.

“I didn’t like their response,” Hevesi is heard telling activist Michael Carey, who made the secret recording on May 7. “But the feedback I got was, ‘We want to do this--we don’t want to do this right now.’”

Carey, whose autistic son was suffocated as a state employee tried to restrain him, has claimed that the Justice Center is not referring most cases of abuse in state facilities to the proper authorities.

Hevesi on the recording tells Carey his leadership wants him to start a preliminary review by meeting with Justice Center officials.

“I’m not thrilled, but I don’t have a choice,” Hevesi said.

But when Carey asks why he won’t just supbonea documents, Hevesi said, “I’m not allowed to do that.”

When Carey asked if Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver blocked him, Hevesi responded: “He didn’t say that to me, but I know the leadership is not willing to do that.”

Gropez is back in business

The location: 143 St. Nicholas Avenue at Stockholm Street, close to the Ridgewood border, but just about a block into Bushwick. This used to be a coffee shop. (It moved across the street.)

Now this is the clubhouse for the Bushwick United Democrats, founded by Vito Lopez.

They even have a photo of Dear Leader Gropez on the wall. I suppose this is an upgrade from its former location.

Dromm opposed to ROTC

From the NY Post:

The head of the City Council’s Education Committee wants to shoot down the school system’s Junior ROTC programs — charging they’re training high-school students for a “war machine.”

Councilman Daniel Dromm, a Queens Democrat, said he has a “philosophical problem” with the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs conducted in 14 schools.

“I always wondered why these programs are mainly in schools with students of color,” he said last week during a City Hall hearing. “I have concerns about the way they go about recruitment. It contributes to a war machine, and I have some problems with that.”

Schools officials were taken aback.

“I would appreciate the opportunity to take you out to see one or two of these schools,” Department of Education Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm said.

But Dromm said he had already visited the programs and opposed their very existence.

“I really have a problem with . . . them being there. It sends a message to kids about armed forces and their policies, what happens when they move forward with college,” he said.

Dromm, who represents Jackson Heights, also called on the city to end its support of the federally subsidized program. The city pays the instructors who teach the courses.

Large cell tower proposed for Laurelton

From the Daily News:

Residents are speaking up against the 60-foot cell tower that Big Red plans to put up on a commercial strip in Laurelton.

The free-standing tower, proposed at 229-19 Merrick Blvd., would double the network capacity in the congested area, Verizon spokesman David Samberg said.

But concerned homeowners and community leaders say the structure would be sandwiched between homes and would be “unsightly” and “obtrusive,” and could also pose health risks.

“We have nothing in the community of Laurelton that is that tall,” said Bess DeBetham, who sits on Community Board 13.

“It would be obtrusive. The aesthetics, the health hazards — we don’t want or need that.”

Samberg said that the commercially-zoned proposed location was the least residential option.

Some sidewalk sheds pose a hazard

From New York World:

Sidewalk sheds have become a fixture of New York City’s landscape, with the number of permits more than doubling since 1998 to nearly 10,000.

The sheds are mandated by the city whenever construction, remodeling or demolition is taking place and several private contractors specialize in building the structures.

But the city’s effort to ensure that the structures are safe and effective has faltered, a New York World investigation found.

Among the findings:

● A special Scaffold Safety Team, created in late 2007 by the Bloomberg administration to monitor construction scaffolds and sidewalks sheds, has seen its staff reduced from 14 field inspectors in 2008 to 9 in 2013.
● The number of violations issued for faulty sheds has plummeted, from 855 in 2009 to 337 in 2013.
● At least 39 pedestrians and construction workers have been injured since January 2011 in accidents involving sidewalk sheds

While no deaths have been recorded over the last four years, victims have suffered serious injuries, including concussions and electric shock.

In most cases reviewed by the World, the shed collapse occurred during the construction or removal of the shed, as the result of falling construction debris, or from high winds.

There are also instances when sidewalk sheds fail but no one happened to be walking under the shed at the time.

The World found a dozen cases between 2012 and 2013 when portions of a sidewalk shed collapsed without injury to pedestrians or workers.

For instance, on February 1, 2013, a sidewalk shed partially collapsed outside of the Hanson Place Central Methodist Church in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn.

The DOB issued a violation against the church for failing to maintain the shed, and the inspector noted that additional sections of the shed were in danger of collapsing.

Hotel on Brooklyn border is pretty crappy

The DOB may get around to inspecting the premises one of these days. A complaint about the missing smoke alarms was entered back in 9/2013.

Return to Fabianville

I'm sure you've noticed the new title photo above. It was taken from the Metro Mall's lower parking lot. The sun was setting behind Fabianville when the photo was snapped. And then when one proceeds into the shopping center, the crapfest becomes complete.

But perhaps I just visited on a bad day...

Fake IDs pretty easy to come by

From the Daily News:

It took me just an hour and a half to get a fake ID in New York City’s ground zero for the fraudulent document business — Roosevelt Ave. in Queens.

The Jackson Heights neighborhood is the epicenter of fake paper mills — rackets that fuel teenage drinking and identity theft and also create fake green cards and passports that can pose a serious security threat.

At first I was laughed at for looking like a cop. But when I swapped my leather jacket for a red hoodie, a guy carrying boxes was quick to call a friend who could help me out.

“You need a fake ID?” the man asked. While several cops roamed the gritty avenue, he led me into an electronics store to get my picture taken for $10.

I wrote down my information on a piece of paper, and then he told me the phony card would be ready in an hour. He took $100 from me and slipped away.

After 90 minutes, I was led into a narrow staircase in a seedy storefront where we made the exchange — my new fake ID in return for another $50.

I didn’t get a new high-tech driver’s license — those are much harder to reproduce — but the market for current licenses, which are still valid if they are issued before September 2013, is skyrocketing.

Law enforcement officials are worried that legislation in the City Council to create municipal ID cards for the undocumented would allow for more shady transactions to take place.

Dormant site on major corner

Last July, there was word that the Gulf gas station at Metropolitan Ave and Woodhaven Blvd was for sale. There was a permit issued to remove the underground tanks. So far, that's all the work that has been done on the property. The construction fence looked like this on Saturday night. One can only imagine what's been going on inside...

According to ACRIS, the lot has not yet been sold. But here are the plans:

90-04 Metropolitan Avenue Queens Exclusive Flyer Web 0

Midtown east rezone is back on the table

From Crains:

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new timeline for the rezoning of a large swath of east midtown in Manhattan Friday, one that could stretch into 2016 but will allow for one major skyscraper project to get started in the meantime.

Under a special permit to be issued by the city and subject to public review, SL Green will build a 1.6 million-square-foot office building adjacent to Grand Central Terminal on Vanderbilt Avenue between East 42nd and East 43rd streets. The 65-story tower will be 150 feet taller than the Chrysler Building on the other side of the train station.

The project, called 1 Vanderbilt, will include indoor and outdoor public space, as well as underground connections to the subway to help relieve above-ground congestion. The public review process for the surrounding five blocks along Vanderbilt Avenue will begin this fall.

SL Green will invest more than $100 million to improve the flow of commuter traffic through Grand Central Terminal, said Marc Holliday, CEO of the development firm. But City Planning Commission Chairman Carl Weisbrod said the developer's investment in transit infrastructure will be "a lot more than $100 million," and other private firms looking to reap benefits from the rezoning will need to pony up as well.

Mr. Weisbrod confirmed two other development sites as part of the initial Vanderbilt corridor rezoning: a property on Madison Avenue owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and the Roosevelt Hotel on East 45th Street.

The rest of the midtown east rezoning, which was shelved last year when the Bloomberg administration officials could not get midtown Councilman Daniel Garodnick to sign on, won’t kick off until at least the spring of 2015, and will likely extend into the following year. Mr. de Blasio tapped Mr. Garodnick and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer to oversee a lengthy community review process before the mayor unveils a plan for the 70-block rezoning.

Hamilton Beach street is a holy mess

From the Queens Courier:

On 104th Street, a main artery for cars, buses and pedestrian traffic coming in and out of the neighborhood, a new problem developed over just a few days.

Residents trace the problem to 10 years ago when new homes were built in one section and the street was gouged in several places for sewer piping. Aside from the newly formed hole in the road, Hamilton Beach’s main road is pocked with numerous holes that span over 200 feet.

The daily task of driving along 104th Street is fraught with indentations of all kinds that often force drivers to drive on the wrong side of the road to save their axles the abuse. The road also has a bus stop for the Q11 but there is no sidewalk for people to wait on, making them another obstacle that drivers have to look out for.

Residents ultimately want the Department of Transportation (DOT) to put in a completely new roadbed that would elevate the road, preventing pools of water from collecting in the holes during rainstorms. They also want a waiting area for people using the bus.

DOT Spokesman Nicholas Mosquera said that the department doesn’t have the resources to make these long-term changes.

People should stop being slobs

From the Queens Chronicle:

All Rego Park resident Linda Pakula wants is for those in her community to show some respect.

Throughout Rego Park, some bioswales that normally house appealing greenery and filter rainwater instead feature garbage, oily water or broken, dead trees.

Near the intersection of 63rd Road and 97th Street, a block from Queens Boulevard, two unsightly plots feature all that and more.

Two orange cones wrapped in old caution tape, ripped paper signs and garbage surround a dead tree in a pit on the west side of the intersection.

Just steps away, on the east side of the intersection, a tarp, sandbags and a cone cover the spot where a tree would normally sit, while numerous bags of trash float in a pool of dirty water.

Instead of blaming the Parks Department for allowing the bioswales to decay, Pakula blames her fellow Rego Park residents.

“It’s the people in the community throwing their garbage in there,” Pakula said. “I would never say it’s a city issue, it’s a people issue.”

Vision Zero bills passed

From Metro:

The New York City Council passed a slate of 11 laws and six resolutions on Thursday in an effort to reduce and eliminate all traffic fatalities.

At least four of those bills are targeted towards the city’s 13,437 yellow and 6,000 outer borough taxis — including one named after Cooper Stock, a 9-year-old boy who was killed by a cab as he and his father crossed the intersection of West 97th Street and West End Avenue on January 10.

There have been at least 88 traffic-related deaths in New York City in 2014, 44 of which were pedestrians. Last year, at least 286 people in New York City were killed as a result of traffic incidents.

The Council overwhelmingly passed the entire package, sending it to Mayor Bill de Blasio for signatures within the next month.

I have to say, this map is genius.

However, there will never be zero fatalities, mainly because you can't fix stupid.

Gim vs. Kim

From the Times Ledger:

Flushing Republican Phil Gim has announced he will take a second crack at state Assemblyman Ron Kim’s (D-Flushing) seat.

The small business owner, who ran against Kim in the 2012 general election, made his announcement on Memorial Day weekend.

“I’m stepping forward to run for the Assembly to fight to make New York a better place,” Gim said. “Together we can build a better New York, one community at a time.”

Gim said tackling Queens’ rising cost of living and other economic problems will be priorities for him.

Katz gives blessing to Ridgewood rezone

From the Queens Chronicle:

Borough President Melinda Katz has joined forces with the 28 members of Community Board 5 who voted in favor of rezoning a portion of Ridgewood from manufacturing to residential at last month’s meeting.

The plan includes rezoning sections of Woodward and Onderdonk avenues and Troutman and Starr streets as R5B and R6B zones instead of the M1-1 zone they are now to allow for apartment buildings to be constructed at 176 Woodward Ave. and 1901 Starr St.

The motion passed CB 5 on April 9 by a 28-11 vote after multiple residents and board members voiced their opinions for and against the issue and Katz lent her voice to the majority on Friday.

However, she didn’t recommend the project without conditions.

Katz advised mandating a number of apartments be made available at a rate comparable to those in nearby residential buildings, as she expressed a concern over some units being too expensive.

Akerman LLP, the firm representing the owner of the lots, said the monthly rents would range between $1,000 and $1,800 depending on the size of the unit.

“The applicant has proposed rent stabilized housing as part of the project,” Katz said. “However, even at rent stabilized rates, some of this housing will still be out of reach for current local residents of that part of Ridgewood.”

Donald got a real sweetheart deal

From the Daily News:

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg apparently wasn’t satisfied with simply handing Donald Trump control over one of the most expensive public golf courses ever built in this country – the new $236 million, 18-hole Parks Department course scheduled to open next spring at Ferry Point Park in the Bronx.

Bloomberg’s aides quietly added a slew of financial giveaways in the 2012 deal with The Donald that no other city golf course concessionaire enjoys, a Daily News review of Parks Department golf contracts has found.

Those giveaways include: no concession fees for four years; then decades of extraordinarily low revenue-sharing with the city; tens of millions of gallons of free water annually; even a five-year delay for Trump to build a $10 million clubhouse, his only major capital investment in the project.

Start with the greens fees, the basic charge for a round of golf; virtually all of the city’s existing 13 public golf courses charge $48 per person during weekend peak hours, higher for non-city residents.

But the new Trump National Golf Course at Ferry Point plans to charge nearly three times as much — $125 per person.

Trump’s split of revenues with the city, however, will be far less than all other courses.