Murder at Jackson Heights train station in broad daylight in front of commuters

NY Daily News

A man was shot to death Sunday on a crowded Queens subway platform, in a chaotic confrontation that’s captured on a shocking cell phone video posted on social media.

Police believe the victim and other men were fighting on a Manhattan-bound No. 7 train when it pulled up to the platform at 90^th St. and Elmhurst Ave. in Jackson Heights around 12:45 p.m.

The melee spilled out onto the platform when the doors opened, and that’s when one commuter starts recording with his cell phone camera.

“I thought they were fighting for no reason, as drunken people. I just kept taking video, and all of a sudden one person pulled out a gun and started shooting,” that commuter, Bidur Bista, told the Daily News.

 The victim, believed to be in his 20s, was shot in the head and died on the scene, cops said.

Investigators believe the shooter may have wrested the gun, a .22-caliber pistol, from the victim during the struggle, then killed him with it, police sources said.

 NYPD Transit Chief Edward Delatorre said cops are still trying to sort out why the men were fighting and whether they knew each other before the melee.

 "The New York City subway system remains incredibly safe for the millions of riders who use it every day, with an average of approximately one crime for every million riders per day,” Delatorre said Sunday.

Why the necessity to bring up that statistic? This guy emptied his clip and blew his head off on the busiest transit line in Queens in front of witnesses and a guy filming it on his phone.


The Bad Days are back.

Flushing's little red light district

NY Post


A tiny Queens block has become a booming hotbed of hookers operating out of at least eight Chinese massage parlors, The Post found.

The slim strip of 40th Road in Flushing’s Chinatown, just a short walk from Citi Field, has become a 24/7 destination for sex-seeking horndogs from all over the metro area, as “masseuses” brazenly compete for johns on the narrow sidewalks.

One former NYC crimefighter said he hasn’t seen such a dense concentration of flesh factories in years.

Non-Asian men are specifically targeted by the Chinese pimps, working girls and spotters who steer customers into storefront spaces or second-floor “spas” for hour-long encounters.
 
It’s the same block where a prostitute committed suicide in 2017 by leaping from a building as she was about to be arrested during a NYPD sting.

 The Flushing Business Improvement District says it’s identified eight brothels on that block, between Prince and Main, just around the corner from the Flushing Main Street MTA/LIRR station.

A beach grows in Manhattan

 NY Post


The same firm that designed the High Line will soon plan out the borough’s first public beach just a block away — on the 5-acre spit of land jutting off Gansevoort Street in the West Village, The Post has learned.

When the $60 million Gansevoort Peninsula portion of the Hudson River Park Trust’s $900 million park renovation project is completed, after two years of construction, in 2022, it will be the largest single greenspace in the 4-mile-long Hudson River Park, planners said Wednesday.

 The beach and its rocky Hudson River shoreline will be built on Gansevoort Peninsula, which until two years ago was the site of a Department of Sanitation salt storage building. An FDNY fireboat house and dock remain at the site, at least for now.

 The future design will provide direct waterfront access to the public while serving as a protective barrier against flooding and storm surge, trust CEO Madelyn Wils said in a statement.

 The construction money will come from a combination of state, city and private funding, she said, along with $152 million secured by the trust through three air rights sales, she said.

The waterfront will be “unlikely to include swimming access,” said Wils.

Climate change? What climate change?

 

Seven story aparment building development will squeeze onto Astoria block.

YIMBY

Permits have been filed for a 70-foot tall residential building at 25-22 30th Drive in Astoria, Queens. Located between Crescent Street and 29th Street, the interior lot is two city blocks west of the 30 Avenue subway station, serviced by the N and W trains. Salvatore Lucchese is listed as the owner behind the applications.

The proposed seven-story project will yield 27,452 square feet, with 21,927 square feet designated for residential space. It will have 31 residences, most likely rentals based on the average unit scope of 707 square feet. The concrete-based structure will also have a cellar, 10 on-site parking spaces, and six off-site parking spaces.

Gerald Caliendo of Caliendo Architects is responsible for the design.

Yeah you know those guys, QC readers. And it's the little house on the right.

 I have an analogy for this: One of my favorite scenes from the Simpsons is where Stan Lee shows up to Comic Book Guy's shop and bothers a kid who was about to purchase a batmobile for his batman doll. Stan yanks the car away and takes a doll of The Thing and forces it into the car, telling the kid it will fit perfectly. Stan did manage to squeeze it in but the toy car is ruined.

When the kid whined that he broke it, Stan replies "broke, or made it better"

That is the mindset of these developers and the city departments responsible for approving these parasitic buildings.

Futuristic cartoon high rise luxury tower development gets approval from D.O.B. and City Planning.

YIMBY

Rafael Viñoly has become one of the more prominent designers of Manhattan’s residential real estate in recent years, and today, YIMBY has the first rendering for the architect’s latest skyscraper, at 249 East 62nd Street on the Upper East Side. While the tower will technically comprise only 32 floors, it will stand 510 feet to its rooftop, taking advantage of a Jetsons-esque podium to boost its upper levels high into the neighborhood skyline.

The Schedule A for the project reveals the exact configuration, and shows that retail and a townhouse will occupy the base of the building. Those will be topped by apartments rising through to the 12th floor.

Above that, the 13th through 16th floors will all be mechanical, with the 15th floor holding the residential amenity spaces, including a bar/wine tasting area with private dining room and pantry, a media lounge, and a study.

Residential space will then continue, with three units per floor from floors 17 through 29, and then another three mechanical floors up on the very top. The 17th floor will start about 350 feet above street level.

 The configuration of 249 East 62nd Street begs the question of whether Viñoly’s design for the site could start a trend to rival the cantilever. The extended mid-section of the tower results in the displacement of a substantial amount of residential space to an elevation far above what one would normally expect for a 32-story building, and is likely to result in pricing that is far higher than what would otherwise be possible.

 As engineering continues to improve, it seems that the premiums people are willing to pay to live in neighborhoods like the Upper East Side could be a driver behind additional developments that mimic 249 East 62nd Street.

I think it looks more like an e-cigarette cartridge than someplace the Jetsons would live in but they definitely wouldn't be able to afford to.  Mr. Spacely or Cogswell would more likely be residents.

Rockaway activists protest the installation of another natural gas pipeline by the towns and beaches

 The Wave


Activists took to City Hall on Thursday, Jan. 24 to try to stop the building of a 23-mile long pipeline that will carry fracked gas under New York Harbor. The planned pipeline, which is being called the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) Pipeline and would be constructed by Williams of Oklahoma, would run along the Staten Island coast and extend out to four miles off Rockaway.

Williams’ already existing Transco pipeline covers approximately 10,200 miles, extending from South Texas to New York City, according to their website.
A coalition of groups made up of The New York Public Interest Research Group Fund (NYPIRG,) Food & Water Watch – New York, New York Communities for Change, 350 NYC and more formed to prevent the NESE pipeline from happening. Patrick Houston, Sara Gronim, Eric Weltman and Lee Ziesche are some of the people at the helm of this campaign to prevent the NESE construction.

 “To lay this pipeline, Williams must excavate a giant trench across New York harbor,” reads an excerpt from an online document published by the coalition. “The harbor seabed is contaminated by toxins like PCBs, dioxin, lead, and arsenic. These toxins will be churned up into the water and washed ashore by the tides, contaminating marine life and the shoreline.”

 Williams’ perspective on the pipeline is rooted in a belief that it will provide cleaner energy and economic opportunities. “Natural gas is a critical part of New York’s energy mix and the demand for it continues to increase. The additional natural gas capacity created by the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project will support new economic projects, environmental initiatives, and continue to allow homes and buildings to convert from dirty heating oils to a cleaner source,” reads an online statement by the company. 

  I’m originally from Pennsylvania, so I’ve seen the dangers of fracking and the harm that it’s causing there,” said Ziesche. “People can’t drink their water, they can’t breathe their air. And in New York, we said that fracking wasn’t safe. So why would we ban fracking here, but use more fracked gas?”

New Woodside luxury apartment building's mandated affordable housing units start at $1,890

Jackson Heights Post


More than 20 apartments are up for grabs in a new affordable housing lottery for a soon-to-be completed development along Queens Boulevard in Woodside.

J&J Tower, a nine-story project at 46-02 70th St., is offering 23 apartments ranging from studios and two bedrooms, starting at a monthly rent of $1,890 a month and going up to $2,530.

The units are available to households earning 130 percent of the Area Median Income.
Five studios are available to households of up to two people, with two available at $1,890 and three going for $1,920. The latter three studios require a household income between $65,829 and $95,030 for a single-person household to quality, and goes up to $108,550 for a family of two.

 

That's right, there are studios that are accepting applications for two people. And the max is at 100,000?  It's clear what this affordable housing is being offered to in this area and how unobtainable it is to, let's say, 80% of this city's citizenry.

Cleaning up Jamaica DIO without the Democ(rats)

Some residents of Jamaica Queens have come to a nightmare reality. They now believe that their local leaders will NEVER cleanup Jamaica. Yes my comrade, Joe was right. This leaves ONLY one option. We the victims have to Do It Ourselves, (DIO).

According to a recent survey, residents said the following: for years they have been complaining about the same issues; with no resolution in sight.

The abandoned park at Merrick Boulevard and 109th Avenue take the rotten cake. It has been an eyesore for roughly 30 years. Some elderly residents said they vividly remember playing in the park as young people.

On 7/13/16 Hon. Howard G. Lane issued an order to thoroughly clean the park.

Nevertheless, our local leaders are so well connected that they allowed the court order to be ignored. Amid constant protests the owner was forced to remove garbage and other infectants.

 James Fob's house has been abandoned about 15 years. Cleanup Jamaica forced the Department of Sanitation to implement a NEVER before policy. They clean the private property on a regular basis and bill the owner; yet, there is no solution. Location, 107-58 164th. Street Jamaica.

 All along 108th Avenue and several areas contain widespread smashed-up vehicles and garbage. This is not a slight concern for the politicians. Even the four churches have remained completely silent. Yet, the church leaders invite politicians to make speeches on the pulpit; during campaign seasons.

 Under the trestle at Guy R. Brewer and Archer Avenue  is a disgrace. For decades the area was dark and garbage-filled. About three years ago, it was painted and lights were installed. Now it is back to square one.

The bathroom at the Archer Avenue E train station is never mentioned in MTA's budget. It is filthy and remains "closed for repairs " more than it is available for usage. On January 22, it was closed with a repair sign to be opened on the 23.  A janitor spotted me taking photos and a few hours later it was reopened. In addition, it was repaired more than 20 times last year, and the year before and the year before. 

The heater is rusty, the hand dryer is not working and one soap dispenser is broken. 

 

 Election after election, all the politicians make deceptive promises. It is beyond comprehension why some residents still feel a sense of obligation to vote for democrats.

Current Borough President, Melinda Katz declared that she will cleanup Jamaica during her campaign in 2013. This promise-breaker was also a councilwoman. Now she is vying for District Attorney.

Residents still have to deal with: Senator Leroy Comrie; former councilman. Other political gangsters: Daneek Miller, Adrienne Adams, Gregory Meeks. Currently in prison Malcolm Smith and Ruben Wills. These have been caught, others will follow suit.

 After the history of promises and no action; there is no logic or reasoning to suggest,  these elected officials will resolve the problems. It makes absolutely NO sense to continue asking them.

Thus, in the first phase of,  DO IT OURSELVES, I am planning a fund raiser. More information is forthcoming.

PS

Thanks for all who having been reaching out to me. I will not send e-mails as regularly due to time constraints, but I will diligently engage in cleaning up Jamaica.

Pamela Hazel: Social Media Journalist for Justice.

Ridgewood junkyard proposed as site of Queens ACC

A bulletin from the DEC revealed that 151 Woodward Ave, near Flushing Ave in Ridgewood, is proposed as the site for a full service animal shelter for the borough of Queens. All other boroughs either have a full service shelter or are in the process of building one. Queens was the last one to be addressed. There is a plan to site an intake center at the corner of 69th Street and Metropolitan Ave in Middle Village in the meantime, to replace the Rego Park drop off center.

Details about the cleanup are here.

There are several ways to comment on BCP applications. Comments can be submitted to the site Project Manager Sarah Quandt at NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-7016; via email at sarah.quandt@dec.ny.gov or by calling 518-402-9768. All comments must be submitted by March 1, 2019.

Artist shuts down his Queens museum installation because it's marred by luxury tower development

 

NY Times

First, they came for the graffiti artists. Now it’s a famed installation maker.

MoMA PS1 has temporarily closed an installation by the artist James Turrell after construction nearby crept high enough to be visible when experiencing the work, which is meant to offer an uninterrupted view of the sky.

“James Turrell’s ‘Meeting’ is currently closed at the artist’s request, and it will remain closed until the temporary construction scaffolding is no longer visible from the work,” the museum’s director of marketing and communications, Molly Kurzius, said in an email. The installation has been closed since Friday.

The construction in question is for a pair of luxury apartment buildings that are going up at 22-44 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City.

The real estate developer behind those buildings, Jerry Wolkoff, pointed out that the construction has been going on for a while. “Whatever I have there to my knowledge has been there for the last two years,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday.

 The condos were already the subject of consternation from artists: They’re being built on top of what was previously the building known as 5Pointz, a warehouse once prized as a haven for legal graffiti. Last year, 5Pointz was the subject of a lawsuit when Mr. Wolkoff, who owned the building, was fined $6.7 million for painting over the works of 21 graffiti artists in 2013. The building was demolished in 2014 to make way for the apartment buildings.



 

 

Mayor de Blasio's E.D.C.,Queens Borough President Katz and Councilman Moya push for soccer stadium and "affordable" housing at Willets Point

Queens Chronicle

 
Ever since Mayor de Blasio last February announced that six acres of Willets Point would be getting developed with 1,100 affordable housing units and a 450-seat elementary school, observers wondered what would become of the other 17 acres of Iron Triangle land owned or controlled by the city.

Four months ago, a task force came up with recommended scenarios about what should be built on the 17 acres that, according to the city Economic Development Corp., “will serve as a basis for further discussion with the community and guide principles for development of” the land.


And last week, the EDC released an illustrative proposal for each of the two scenarios.
One of them features an up-to-25,000-seat soccer stadium directly adjacent to Citi Field, which it would share parking spaces with.

 Borough President Melinda Katz and City Councilman Francisco Moya (D-Corona), the task force’s two co-chairpersons, have spoken in favor of building a soccer stadium at Willets Point.

 A possible mixed-use district in the 17 acres is outlined in the other design. It would mainly be made up of housing units with a range of affordability and some on-site parking, though it also features space for a health center, retail and a high school.

 Any concrete plan for the land in question would be formed after negotiations between the EDC and the project’s contractor, the Queens Development Group, which is a joint venture of the Related Companies and the Mets-controlled Sterling Equities.

Neir's Tavern's building gets bought by a mysterious LLC based in a College Point house.

Queens Chronicle

 
The building that has been home to historic Neir’s Tavern for 190 years has been sold.
Negotiations for a new lease are underway with a management company that represents the new owners, according to a spokesman for the landmark bar.

“No one knows what’s going to happen,” said Ed Wendell, head of the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society.

The historic building at 78th Street and 88th Avenue in Woodhaven was sold in mid-December to a limited liability corporation based in College Point, according to city records The sale price was listed at $1.35 million.

The sale came as a surprise to the bar’s owner, Rendell said.
News of the sale was first disclosed last weekend when Neir’s owner, Loycent Gordon, a New York City firefigher who bought the bar 10 years ago and began restoring it, appeared at the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association’s monthly meeting.

The new managers of the building — which also includes a recording studio, a karate studio and two private apartments — “had no idea until I told them” that it housed a piece of New York history, Gordon told the meeeting.


Originally, the managers intended to put “a grocery store or a liquor store” in the spot where Neir’s is, they told Gordon, who said he was “speechless” when he learned last month he had a new landlord.

The identity of the new owners is — as is often the case with commercial real estate transactions — difficult to track down.

A corporation named 353 Rockaway Realty LLC is listed as the new owner. Records show its address as a single-family, private home in College Point. The owner of the home, Xuiming Shi, does not have a listed phone, nor can any other phones associated with the address be found.

 

Kew Gardens Town Hall meeting focusing on incoming mixed-use tower jail.

Forest Hills Post


A local coalition made up of several community groups is hosting a “call to action” town hall in Kew Gardens next week over the city’s controversial plans to build what some locals refer to as a “mega jail” in the neighborhood.

The town hall, organized by the Community Preservation Coalition, will take place on Jan. 31, and centers on the city’s borough-based jail proposal released last summer that aims to close the jails on Rikers Island and develop four new jails across the boroughs.

The plan would see the redevelopment and expansion of the Queens Detention Complex on 126-02 82nd Ave., which connects to Queens County Criminal Court, and the parking lot next to it into a 1.9 million square-foot detention facility with about 1,510 beds—a development approximately three times larger than the existing building.

The proposal, while garnering praise by many for its goal toward justice reform, has also been met with much criticism over the amount of community engagement in developing the plan, and even the scope and objective of the project.


Maddy Farooqui, a business owner, lifelong Kew Gardens resident, and a member of both the CPC and the Kew Gardens Civic Association, said locals have lots of questions about a plan that has been “railroaded” in, and are not fully aware of its extent.

“We want to inform and educate our neighbors about this very vague and rushed proposal,” she said, later adding, “A lot of people don’t understand the far-reaching impacts of this.”

Governor Andrew Amazon signs another tax break for movie and television industry

NY Post


The smile on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s face stretched from ear to ear as he and Ben Stiller traded compliments at a Manhattan bill-signing Thursday, where the movie star thanked the governor for the state’s film tax breaks.

“The governor stood by the film and television industry over the last eight years, supporting tax breaks and creating a lot of jobs — hundreds of thousands of jobs — for people in the film industry,” Stiller said, while seated next to Cuomo.

 The comedian-turned-director recently filmed a cable miniseries about the infamous 2015 jailbreak at the Dannemora prison, which features Michael Imperioli playing Cuomo, a turn of events that Cuomo has frequently joked about in recent weeks.


The Showtime drama was filmed on location upstate, which means the tax credit program Stiller lauded will reimburse the producers for 40 percent of the production’s costs. Shoots inside New York 
City have 30 percent of their costs covered.

The Empire State Development agency and governor’s office were not immediately able to provide details on how much money Stiller’s production might get back.

New York spends $420 million a year on subsidizing film and television productions in the state, a program that critics blast as a waste since New York television staples like “Saturday Night Live” benefit from the program, too.

 I would consider voting for the person who would rescind the tax break for SNL in the hopes that the irrelevant unfunny show would move or end because of it.

City Council keeps pushing bill to legalize motor scooters despite the risks to their users

NY Post

 Despite growing safety data on e-scooters — powered two-wheelers that are zipping along city streets nationwide — the industry’s two biggest scooter-rental players, Lime Bike and Bird, spent $230,000 last year trying to talk city pols into making them street-legal in New York.

 Three New Yorkers died riding privately-owned e-scooters in 2018, all in the Bronx, the Department of Transportation reported. And fatalities and injuries are on the rise in cities where e-scooters — which have top speeds of 20 mph — have been legalized and dockless, app-connected rental systems are in place.
 
The battery-operated devices, which unlock with an app and cost a few dollars to ride, are touted as a green alternative to autos and a savior for troubled transit systems. Bird issued a report in December offering its scooters as a solution to an L train shutdown.
Uber is also looking to break into the e-scooter business, and used a slice of its $4.9 million lobbying budget on the issue.
At a hearing Wednesday, some City Council members brushed off safety concerns.
“The only way we’re going to advance our transportation options and alternatives is by legalizing the e-bikes and e-scooters,” said Rafael Espinal (D-Brooklyn).

 Admin. note: Councilman Espinal is an idiot.

What about expanding city bus services now that there are more strict standing laws in the bus lanes?

Endangered turtle species is putting a hold on discount superstore and strip mall development near a wetland

SI Live

 After more than a year of community opposition to a commercial development planned for a site next to a wetland area in Mariners Harbor, the biggest obstacle the developers now face may be in the form of a reptile.

It’s believed that the eastern mud turtle, which is on the New York State list of endangered species, may reside in the area behind United Cerebral Palsy at 2324 Forest Ave. -- where there are plans to build 226,000 square feet of commercial space, which would house a BJ’s Wholesale Club, a gas station, a supermarket and other retail, and would include 838 parking spaces.

After a database revealed historical evidence of the prior presence of the eastern mud turtle at the site, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has requested that the developer, Manhattan-based Josifa LLC, conduct a survey for the species.

“DEC requested the survey because the Natural Heritage Program database showed historical evidence of the prior presence of an endangered species, the eastern mud turtle, at the site, which still contains suitable habitat for the possible existence of the eastern mud turtle,” said Erica Ringewald, a spokeswoman for the DEC.

If the eastern mud turtle is found on-site, the project, which was originally on track to be completed in fall 2019, may experience additional delays.

While the City Council approved the plan in October 2017, conservationists have expressed various concerns, saying the project will result in the destruction of 18 acres of woodlands that play a pivotal role in maintaining the wetland ecosystem.

“During Hurricane Sandy, the community to the east of the wetland was not flooded," said Staten Island Coalition of Wetlands and Forests (SICWF) leader Gabriella Velardi-Ward. "But the mobile home park to the west of the wetland was flooded. Wetlands act like a sponge and absorb more water than most people can imagine. We were not flooded because of this wetland. If we lose it, we will be vulnerable to the high tide flooding, storm surge flooding and torrential rain flooding of climate change.”

Hotel that was converted into a homeless shelter is sold for 36.5 million dollars.

Commercial Observer

 A hotel-turned-homeless shelter in the tiny Blissville section of Long Island City, Queens, sold to a Brooklyn-based developer for $36.5 million, property records show.

Shulem Herman bought the Fairfield Inn at 52-34 Van Dam Street between Starr Avenue and 34th Street from the family-run Lam Group in a deal that closed on Nov. 16, according to property records made public in November.

Lam and Herman did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the sale and it wasn’t clear who brokered the deal. Herman financed the deal with a $23.2 million mortgage from Sterling National Bank.

It was also unclear in property records when exactly the Lam Group bought 52-34 Van Dam Street, but the company and Sing May Realty first took out a $12 million mortgage on the property in 2006. Sing May Realty picked up the property for $2.3 million a year before. Sing May transferred the property to the Lam Group in 2012, property records show.

The 12-story hotel began housing up to 154 homeless families in March as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Turning the Tide plan to fight back against the city’s rising homeless rates, The LIC Post reported.
The property is also a block away from 52-02 Van Dam Street where developer Sam Chang plans to build a 14-story hotel with 282 rooms, The Real Deal reported.

 This story is a few months old, but this bares repeating. Developers are capitalizing on the homeless crisis and the fauxgressive Mayor is allowing it to happen. This is the real affordable housing plan.

Retired judge who headed paper and commission to shut down Rikers Island suddenly has reservations about it

Brooklyn Eagle

The plan to close Rikers Island has always relied on two contingencies: shrinking the current population of inmates in the city and spreading those inmates across the boroughs in five new and smaller jails.

In Brooklyn, that means the House of Detention located on Atlantic Avenue, which currently holds about 800 inmates, needs to be renovated and expanded. The plan proposed by the city calls for the current facility to be replaced by a 1.4 million square-foot building that would be 430 feet high and could fit approximately 1,500 inmates.

The former chief judge of New York state, Hon. Jonathan Lippman, who led the commission that initially called for the city to shut down Rikers Island, said that plan is too much and that the city needs to do a better job of listening to local communities.

“One of our criticisms of the city is that the jails are out of scale,” Lippman said while speaking at New York Law School on Friday during the CityLaw Breakfast Series. “They need to be smaller and can’t be out of character.”


“One of the reasons they are so big is that the city is designing them with all different things into the building,” Lippman said. “They want to serve the community, but I think it’s overkill. If you look at the square footage at the jails proposed by the city, compared to other cities that have done it right, they’re way, way, way greater. The scale has to be down.”

Lippman added that part of the problem is that the city has not gotten much input from the communities themselves and said that he’s complained about the issue to the powers that be.

“We have been in the city’s face about not engaging with the community,” Lippman said. “You need to go to those hearings. Communication is key to making this happen the way it should.”

So far, the few public hearings that have taken place have often been overtaken by advocates who do not want Rikers Island replaced with five community jails. Lippman said that he is worried that such advocates could derail the project entirely, adding that standing opposed to community jails is akin to being for Rikers Island.

The proper analytical response to Mr. Lippman's current epiphanies about and the ramifications of his initial plan is "duh"

Mayor's wife is using city hall non-profit fund as quid pro quo to benefit big money donors and her own career

NY Post


First lady Chirlane McCray has raised between $13 million and $28 million in donations for a City Hall-aligned nonprofit from people and entities with business before her hubby Mayor de Blasio, The Post found.

The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City raised the cash during McCray’s four-year tenure as chairwoman from big Wall Street banks, developers, lobbyists, nonprofits and others. The Post analyzed donations made between April 2014 and September 2017 found in disclosures filed with the city Conflicts of Interest Board, along with data from the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services.

In January 2014 de Blasio got approval from COIB to appoint his wife chair of the Mayor’s Fund. As chairwoman, McCray is the “lead fund-raiser” for the fund, which was created in 1994 under former Mayor Giuliani to promote City Hall’s agenda.

Conflict of interest rules bar civil servants from fundraising on the city’s behalf from people with business before their agencies unless “firewalls” exist between those officials and decisions that could impact the donors.

But because McCray is an unpaid volunteer and not a city employee, the rule doesn’t apply to her — even though the mayor often calls her his “closest confidante” and “No. 1 adviser.”
In fact, in her “unofficial” City Hall role, McCray has a full-time staff of five, oversees the administration’s $850 million mental health program, interviews job candidates, sits in on staff meetings, takes solo trips outside the city billed to taxpayers and advises de Blasio on everything from policy to media strategy. She’s also being positioned as a potential candidate for public office.
As boss of the mayor’s fund, McCray has the freedom to not only fundraise from anyone with business before the city, but discuss the donors or issues and policies impacting them with her husband.

“It’s a perfect example for why we believe the Mayor’s Fund shouldn’t exist, period,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York. “It is subject to at worst abuse and at minimum an appearance of impropriety.”

It also shows that she is an actual, real time "agent of the city".

92 year old retired high school teacher defeats bad Bloomberg and Parks Dept. plan

 

NY Curbed

In the frigid February of 2009, Mickey Cohen was on the road to the 50-acre Ridgewood Reservoir on the border of Brooklyn and Queens before most New Yorkers had their morning coffee. He’d park his car near one of the reservoir’s three basins, gingerly rappel down a 30-foot drop into the chasm, and hike into the otherworldly wetlands.

During these trips, the certified wetland delineator unpacked his gear and drilled into the soft earth, lugging the two-foot cores out of the ground and examining them, in part, for traces of plant species that no longer grow there—a sign of wetlands that once existed. After hours of tests, he’d warm up in the sun and pull out a mystery meal packed by his wife, Barbara. There, in his sunny spot eating lunch, he might gaze out at the gray-blue pond—still as glass—and admire the landscape, home to dozens of species tucked among the reservoir’s golden meadows, thickets, and canopies of tree branches.

It was a practice he repeated for several days as a coalition of groups called the Highland Park Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance prepared an application urging the state grant protected status to the wetlands within the reservoir.

Cohen was 82 years old at the time. Today he is 92. “Even then, I was too old for that kind of work,” the naturalist and retired high school biology teacher muses. “But it had to happen.”

Cohen’s volunteer work of mapping the wetlands inside the Ridgewood Reservoir that month was a key component to the 2010 application—a major step in the lengthy struggle to obtain protected status for the natural oasis.

Now, after more than a decade of advocates fending off development and fighting for protections, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has classified 29.5 acres of the reservoir’s wetlands as Class 1 under the Freshwater Wetlands Act, state documents show. The ruling virtually assures the reservoir’s survival for generations. 

 Today, it is a haven for wildlife with lush swaths of native birch, sweetgum, and honey locust trees. The landscape boasts a handful of habitats—forests, fields, wetlands—and makes an ideal spot for wildlife watching, with more than 150 bird species, including the endangered short-eared owl. 
 

But a plan by the Parks Department threatened the accidental wilderness. The agency, which acquired the reservoir from the Department of Environmental Protection in 2004, considered a $50 million plan to raze part of the reservoir for ball fields. Community activists, naturalists, and preservationists railed against the project, urging the city to abandon its plans.

“There was this, ‘Wait a second, why aren’t you taking care of the things you already have here?’” says parks watchdog Geoffrey Croft, the president of New York City Park Advocates. “‘Who asked you to destroy this really unique space?’ And the answer is nobody did.”

 Admin note: this news item and headline was sent by proxy by the Mighty Crapper. 

Despite whatever it says on the signs on Mayor de Blasio's dais or podiums, crime has gone up in Queens.

QNS



“Look, I want to put this in perspective; we had in 2017 a record setting year,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio at a press conference about citywide crime on Jan. 3. “We had crime down in ways that no one believed possible previously. And in 2018 the NYPD beat the record again. ”

But according to NYPD data, rapes, murders, felony assaults and incidents of grand larceny have increased in Queens.

In 2017, there were 50 murders, 307 rapes, 2,823 robberies, 3,820 felony assaults, 2,914 burglaries, 7,842 incidents of grand larceny and 1,568 incidents of grand larceny auto in the borough.

According to NYPD end-of-year crime statistics, there were 63 murders, 389 rapes, 2,523 robberies, 3,848 felony assaults, 2,496 burglaries, 8,070 incidents of grand larceny and 1,555 incidents of grand larceny auto in 2018.


It was the bad old days, it is the new bad days.

UPDATE:

NY Post

New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill on Wednesday announced a new initiative to reduce crime in six targeted neighborhoods that have “violent crime rates more than twice as high as the rest of the city.”

 
The NYPD’s “new vision” will comprise Manhattan’s 25th Precinct, Brooklyn’s 73rd and 75th precincts and the Bronx’s 40th, 41st and 42nd precincts — all of which have violent crime rates more than twice as high as the rest of the city.


 He added: “We won’t rest until every block in every neighborhood enjoys the same level of safety and well-being as the rest of the city. Your zip code must never be the primary determiner of your safety. And it’s our pledge to ensure that your neighborhood is safe, regardless of where in New York City you call home.”

 
"Brownsville can and should be as safe as Brooklyn Heights. Crime can and should be as low in the South Bronx as it is in Tribeca.”

Despite the confirmed alarming stats above, Queens is just going to have to wait. 

High school freshmen assemble at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge to protest it's closing during Trump's shutdown of the government

QNS


About 120 ninth-grade students from Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School in Forest Hills, rallied at the shuttered Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center on Thursday in an effort to raise awareness on how the ongoing federal government shutdown is impacting their education, school and communities as a whole.   

Students presented their solutions to environmental issues on Jan. 17 and advocated for the opening of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center — located at 175-10 Cross Bay Blvd. — where they’re unable to complete their fieldwork investigations, due to the government shutdown.

The students acknowledged the hardworking rangers at the refuge — and other national parks — who aren’t being paid, saying, “They’ve done so much for the bay such as cleaning it up, and making sure people have a good time.” 

Together they chanted, “Don’t shut down my education…whose parks…our parks!” as they concluded with their final message: “Speak your mind, reach out, make your voice heard, after all power comes with unity.”


Each year, ninth-grade students in Living Environment class work with the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, which is part of the National Parks System, to study ecological systems and human impact in a real-world setting. At the conclusion of every semester, students present their findings at the Visitors Center as part of their final presentation of learning.

Conflicting asbestos controversy at upcoming homeless shelter in Glendale.

QNS


The city Department of Buildings (DOB) has confirmed that work on a defunct Glendale factory was not outside the bounds of the existing permit on the site, but Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) confirmation is still pending that no asbestos was disturbed during work on the building to convert it into an office building after a Tuesday morning inspection.

Multiple city agencies were investigating allegations that workers illegally removed asbestos material from 78-16 Cooper Ave., which was long rumored to be a potential homeless shelter.

That plan may be a step closer toward becoming a reality. In August, the owners of the building submitted an amendment to their application to include a “transient lodging house” which has not yet been approved, according to a DOB spokesman.

The DOB said they have not received specific floor plans for review on the amendment yet, but that the owners hoped to build a facility to accommodate about 100 beds.

Holden’s office, however, has said the DOB informed him of an issue with their records and this amendment goes back to August instead of January which the DOB confirmed.

Video surfaced on the Glendale Civic Association Facebook page on Monday night that depicted two individuals who claimed to be “from the community” confronting a worker who had been supposedly removing floor tile from the site.

 Last night, Glendale residents noticed workers at the property and expressed their concerns by contacting my staff and I, and submitting 311 complaints,” Holden said on Jan. 15. “One of my staff members went to the scene last night, and I stopped by the site this morning when NYC Environmental Protection was responding to the situation. After placing several calls to the commissioner’s office, the DEP has informed me that a stop-work order was issued until test results confirm whether or not asbestos was disturbed by the workers.”

"World's Borough" Queens has lots of houses for sale.

QNS
 The number homes that were on the market in Queens took a sharp increase at the end of the year, according to a recent report.
StreetEasy recently released their Q4 2018 Market Report, which tracks the real estate trends throughout the city. According to their findings, the number of homes for sale in New York City as a whole grew at double-digit rates, particularly in Queens, which saw a 30.8 percent annual increase in 2018.

In the wake of the Amazon HQ2 announcement, Long Island City saw a 45.2 percent increase annually in sales inventory, which was the most out of all the Queens neighborhoods.
The report found that the number of homes that were offered a price cut rose to 19.3 percent, marking a 5.6 precent increase year-over-year in Queens. However, the median price cut amount remained unchanged at 4.5 percent.
The fourth quarter report also found that the StreetEasy Queens Rent Index increased 2.6 percent annually, reaching $2,164. However, the share of rentals advertising concessions fell to 9.6 percent in Queens, marking a 5.6 percent decrease annually.

Burglaries are up in northeastern Queens

 

QNS


Northeastern Queens residents beware: burglaries are on the rise in the 111th Precinct according to area police.

The Bayside-based precinct reported on their Twitter account that house break-ins were becoming especially prevalent in areas west of the Clearview Expressway.

According to precinct Captain John Hall, nine burglaries occurred from Jan. 10 to Jan. 18. The map shared on their Twitter page showed that five out of the nine burglaries happened within the Auburndale neighborhood.

 In the precinct’s yearly crime recap, Hall reported that the precinct experienced their “lowest burglary number ever” in 2018, with 163 reported incidents in 2018 versus 167 burglaries in 2017.

Wow, down by four! Keep your eyes peeled anyway.

Councilman Ulrich, one of 24 candidates running for Public Advocate, targets the Dope From Park Slope on his platform.

 

 Queens Chronicle

The field of candidates running for public advocate next month is starting to resemble the start of the New York City marathon. So Eric Ulrich, the three-term Council member from Ozone Park, has found a simple message to stand out.

“If people love Mayor de Blasio, if they think he’s doing a great job and think the city is headed in the right direction, then they have 20 other candidates to pick from,” he said in an interview this week with the Queens Chronicle.

“If someone is looking for someone to be a public advocate [who] is not afraid to be independent of the mayor, then I’m their candidate. That’s why I’m running.


Ulrich, who turns 34 two weeks before the special election February 26, is a popular figure in his South Queens Council district after his surprise victory in a 2009 special election and then winning re-election three times in an area that is overwhelmingly Democratic.

He is barred by term limits from running for City Council again when his current term expires in 2021.

I personally think this position is redundant, after all the majority of these candidates are already in city council, so they are already advocates for the public.

Amazon sends glossy junk mail to Queens residents.

Queens Chronicle

“Happy New Year from your future neighbors at Amazon.”

That’s the message in one of two fliers being sent to residents in Queens as the company tries to win over residents in its controversial move to the borough.

“The announcement of our new headquarters in Long Island City was the beginning of what we hope will be a long and mutually beneficial partnership between New Yorkers and Amazon,” the mailer says.

The positive aspects of the move are touted in both fliers, including the creation of 25,000 new jobs over 10 years and career training for residents.

The first flier says Amazon will be a “partner” with the community.


The flier also encourages people to call state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) or other state lawmakers to tell them to support the project.

Gianaris has been a critic of Amazon’s move to Queens.

"It's ironic that Amazon wants billions of our taxpayer dollars and is spending so much to convince the people of western Queens that it is entitled to those dollars," Gianaris said in a statement. "People will not be fooled by slick advertising — they will continue to be against the Amazon deal and so will I."

Critics of the company’s move to Long Island City have pointed to the $3 billion in tax breaks as well as concerns about the impact on housing prices and if there is enough transportation to handle all the new commuters.