Queens is burning again: Lithium-ion is more lit than ever

 

AMNY 

Firefighters in Queens battled a two-alarm fire at a pair of commercial buildings early on Sunday morning where more than a dozen drums of highly flammable chemicals had been stored.

FDNY sources said the blaze broke out at about 12:56 a.m. on Aug. 25 inside 133-02 101st Ave. in South Richmond Hill, the location of an auto body shop, a tattoo parlor and a barber shop.

Members of Engine Company 302 and Ladder Company 126 first arrived on the scene to find heavy smoke and fire emanating from the basement. Firefighters worked quickly to break a hole through a floor to enter the basement and fight the flames

 More than 100 firefighters were called to the scene. They deployed four hose lines to knock down the main body of fire. Both buildings were searched for possible victims, but none were found. One firefighter suffered a minor injury and was treated.

 

 QNS

Exploding lithium-ion batteries are suspected to be the cause of a two-alarm fire that tore through a Richmond Hill bike shop Monday, March 13.

The fire broke out at the rear of The Kings Electric Scooter shop at 102-44 Jamaica Ave. just after 2:30 p.m., and firefighters quickly removed one electric scooter that had caught fire.

 The flames spread to a second-story apartment but all occupants had been evacuated, according to the FDNY. The fire went to a second alarm at 2:49 p.m. bringing 108 firefighters and 25 units to the scene.

Between 85 to 100 e-bikes, scooters, and motorcycles were removed from the shop that had signs of fire damage. Firefighters were still trying to remove 20 or more e-bikes and scooters from the cellar.

 A Hazmat unit arrived on the scene and was removing lithium-ion batteries from the vehicles. The fire was brought under control just at 3:29 p.m. and fire marshals will determine the cause of the blaze.

Correction: It was a garage unit around the corner of the shop on 87th avenue that they owned. I left a photo of former FDNY commissioner Laura Kavanagh there since she's responsible for undermining the threat of lithium ion battery cartridges during her 2 year reign of error and DEI influenced malfeasance.

 

 

 

DOT will build new bike lanes for friends of Transportation Alternatives in Ridgewood

 

Streetsblog

Protected bike lanes and built-out sidewalks are coming to Cypress Avenue to provide a safe connection to Highland Park on the Brooklyn-Queens border, where traffic going to and from the Jackie Robinson Parkway currently reigns.

The Department of Transportation plans to set up a two-way cycle path protected from traffic by jersey barriers along with new sidewalks between Cooper Avenue and Cypress Hills Street, according to a design presented to the local community board in June. The upgrades mean people on foot or bike won't need to dodge traffic coming off and on the Jackie Robinson Parkway to get to the park and nearby cemeteries, said one local advocate.

"This is like a win-win," said Bree Mobley, a volunteer organizer with Ridgewood Riders, a cycling group that has pushed for the upgrades for years. "Let’s make it happen, let’s get park access in the neighborhood."

Cypress Avenue is a steep, wide and busy thoroughfare sandwiched between cemeteries and full of heavy traffic from the nearby highway. Those dangerous conditions make it hard for people to get to Highland Park from Ridgewood and Bushwick, even though it's only a mile away, Mobley said.

"It’s not for the faint of heart," the safe streets advocate said. "People are zooming by you, 30-40 miles per hour. They don’t care, they’re just trying to get to the highway and get there as fast as they can."

The intersection of Cypress and Cooper avenues in particular is a well-known danger zone with a history of crashes.

Ridgewood Rides and advocates with Transportation Alternatives have gathered nearly 1,000 online signatures in support of safer access to the park. 

  They are crowing about a non story that they dropped the ball on 2 months ago. And they’re too dumb to notice that the map DOT provided is wrong. Also enjoyed the comment by Transportation Alternatives ally H2O that they think they’re going to get both a bus stop and Citibike station there.

And that map from the proposal is completely incorrect. There is NO protected bike lane along the Jackie. It's a shared sidewalk for cyclists and pedestrians. Internal park paths should not be portrayed as protected bike lanes as there are no vehicles to mix with.

 

 There's also no sidewalk north of the Jackie, the cemeteries are not required to install them. So DOT is installing one, but most people who walk to Highland approach from the other way.Vermont Place sidewalk improvements would be welcome, but there still are like 4 on/off ramps for peds to cross to get to the reservoir entrance where these jerks want to divert the bus.

 

As for the H20 ally who posted this comment that got the traffic light wrong (de facto stewards in the area?), his name is Peter Frishauf, an Upper West Side millionaire donor to transportation alternatives and streetspac who practically ordered the DOT to reimagine a street with planters, paint and rocks that usurped parking spaces and mocked and 84-year-old woman who got arrested for protesting against it.

CONFIRMED: The woman has been arrested. pic.twitter.com/6HsLzsWtCv

— Streetsblog New York (@StreetsblogNYC) October 16, 2023

One more thing

 The department of transportation alternatives own data shows protected bike lanes don't really protect anyone. Especially cyclists. 

 

The 104 and the battle against real traffic violence

 

QNS

 

The NYPD 104th Precinct has towed 463 vehicles this year and expects to surpass that soon, according to Commanding Officer Captain Karam Chowdhury. Last year, they towed 553 vehicles, leaving them just 90 cars shy of last year’s total, making this year even more productive.

The NYPD’s 104th Precinct has towed 463 vehicles so far this year and expects to surpass last year’s total within the next few months, according to Commanding Officer Captain Karam Chowdhury.

Last year, the 104th Precinct, which serves Ridgewood, Maspeth, Glendale and Middle Village, towed 553 vehicles in total, Chowdhury shared exclusively with QNS.

Now just 90 vehicles shy of last year’s total, the precinct is on track to surpass that number, marking an even more productive year.

Notably, between Sunday, July 14, and Wednesday, Aug. 14, the precinct towed exactly 90 vehicles, Chowdhury noted.

Ongoing efforts to address residents’ quality-of-life concerns regarding illegally parked and derelict vehicles are what Chowdhury says keep the existing issues at bay.

“We want to make sure that people can park their vehicles instead of derelict vehicles or unregistered vehicles parking in the street,” Chowdhury said. “We just make sure that we do as much as we can to elevate [resident’s] parking issues. Especially in this neighborhood.”

Residents and elected officials’ attempts to have the 104 thwart the problem with derelict vehicles and illegally parked cars have also led to e-scooter confiscations.

As a whole, the precinct is up 110% in summonses directly co-related to e-scooters, Chowdhury added.

One example, shared early on Wednesday, Aug. 14, shows the precinct taking to social media to share at least six confiscations of more e-scooters in the area. Additional posts throughout the year also show officers with confiscated e-scooters, loading them into a larger truck to be hauled away.

Chowdhury, who took over command of the 104th Precinct towards the end of January this year, continues to grapple with the logistics of tackling 311 parking complaints with a limited amount of resources.

Regardless of the challenges and the thousands of 311 complaints overall, the CO says the issues will continue to be addressed.

“We take complaints, we try to gather information and try to see where our most complaints coming from,” Chowdhury said, “Then we target those locations, making sure that these cars are no longer in the street if it’s derelict, or not registered.”

 

DOT held pop-ups to pass Paseo Park funding

 

 Queens Chronicle

Want to be a part of planning the future of Paseo Park, the 26-block stretch of 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights that has been transformed into a combination of limited-access roadway and car-free pedestrian plaza?

You’ve got your chance, at pop-up events being held by the Alliance for Paseo Park, which advocates for turning the hybrid corridor into a permanent linear park.

The next event is set for tonight, Aug. 15, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the corner of 34th Avenue and 86th Street. Following that is one on Sunday, Aug. 18, from 10 a.m. to noon at the corner with 79th Street, next to the farmer’s market. Then there will be one Tuesday, Aug. 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the corner with 89th Street — that event will be held in Spanish.

More outreach is planned, including workshops that will be held by the city Department of Transportation, which led the first event on June 18. The DOT retains jurisdiction over 34th Avenue, though it coordinates with the Parks Department in places where programming and operations might overlap.

The transformation of the corridor began as an Open Streets project in the spring of 2020. Running 1.3 miles from 69th Street to Junction Boulevard, Paseo Park is the largest and most successful open street in the city, according to the Alliance. The city has allocated $88 million to transforming it.

“We are working on improvements to the existing design that will further enhance the quality of this public open space and the overall Open Street,” the DOT told the Chronicle via email. “We will monitor such upgrades and use them to inform the capital design.”

The Alliance uses more enthusiastic language.

“I grew up in this neighborhood without access to green space,” Luz Maria Mercado, the group’s board chair, said in a statement accompanying the announcement of the public engagement series. “I could only peek through the gates of the private co-op gardens. Green spaces should be for everyone. It’s crucial that we, as a community, lead this, by gathering as much feedback as possible from our neighbors, reaching every corner of our diverse community with a multi-lingual, multi-level approach.”

Jackson Heights has very little park space, and further transforming 34th Avenue would give it up to 7.5 acres, the group says.

The Alliance also recognizes that not everyone is on board with its dreams.

“We are committed to working together and building consensus with our neighbors, including those who may not share our vision,” Executive Director Dawn Siff said in her statement accompanying the announcement. “We believe good design can solve many people’s legitimate concerns and together we can create a space that prioritizes the safety, health and enjoyment of our community.”

Siff says turnout has been great at the Alliance’s events, as people are drawn in by the group’s bright green tent and large, interactive map — as well as coloring pages set out for the children.

“Most importantly, we are having more in-depth conversations with our neighbors and giving space to hear people’s ideas, hopes, questions and concerns,” she said in an email to the Chronicle.

Siff said that overwhelmingly, people are excited, with many wanting the avenue to be a park with green space and shade. Some are concerned that the existing layout is confusing and causes conflict among different users, such as pedestrians, bicyclists and kids on scooters. She noted that the design is temporary. There also are safety concerns because cars, mopeds and motorcycles still speed through even though the space is not supposed to be used as a through street anymore.

Usually at the DOT fake workshops with the public, they would have a half dozen interpreters to translate for them, so will this Spanish one have an English interpreter so locals who can make this one can know what's going on and what's being said? 

They really want this 88 million dollars, which I think a chunk of it is going to Dawn's buddies WXY. 

“The conversations are overwhelmingly positive, reflecting what we see each day, with the constant use of Paseo Park/34th Avenue for recreation, exercise, gathering, safe commuting and more,” Siff said, reiterating her belief that good design can address valid concerns people have. “This is why we’ve engaged WXY, to help surface these concerns and make recommendations about how they can be addressed.”

WXY Architecture + Urban Design is a firm dedicated to community-driven processes for planning public spaces.

 

Judge brings the noise back

 

QNS

A Queens Supreme Court judge officially dismissed one of several lawsuits brought against the operators of Forest Hills Stadium on Wednesday in a win for concertgoers.

At the end of 2023, Concerned Citizens of Forest Hills Inc. et al. vs. The West Side Tennis Club, which leases out the stadium, was filed in the Queens Supreme Court. Less than a year later, the judge found that the plaintiffs “failed to indicate that the harm is isolated to only them” and not the wider community. 

Three named plaintiffs outlined significant and “unbearably loud” noise that travels from the stadium on concert nights into their homes on behalf of hundreds of residents. They say that for the last decade, they have struggled to relax at home due to the noise that exceeds the city’s noise code and continues past the 10 p.m. curfew. 

Some residents supported the lawsuit’s call to cease concerts at the historic stadium in hopes of bringing back quiet to the residential neighborhood. However, in recent weeks, over 25,000 people signed a Change.org petition in support of the stadium and its benefits to the community.

In their request for the community’s support, organizers of the stadium called the lawsuit “frivolous” and defended themselves as good neighbors to local residents. The group responsible for bringing some of the top acts in music to Queens in the warmer months was glad to hear that the judge dismissed the suit.

“The entire Forest Hills Stadium team is delighted and grateful to the court for today’s decision. We are also heartened by the outpouring of love from the Forest Hills community, our neighbors and the more than 25,000 people who have signed a petition to support the Stadium,” read a statement from Akiva Shapiro of Gibson Dunn, a law firm retained by the West Side Tennis Club.

Get him

 

AMNY 

Federal investigators hit Mayor Eric Adams, City Hall and his 2021 campaign with a fresh round of subpoenas in connection with the federal corruption probe into his campaign, according to published reports Thursday evening.

The three subpoenas, which were served in July, requested materials including text messages, other forms of communication and documents, reported New York Times, which broke the story along with the New York Post.

Fabien Levy, deputy mayor for communications, did not confirm the reports, instead referring an amNewYork Metro reporter to Boyd Johnson and Brendan McGuire, Adams’ legal counsel in the investigation.

McGuire, in a statement that a spokesperson provided, indicated that the Adams campaign is cooperating with the federal probe after conducting “our own investigation of the areas we understand the U.S. Attorney’s Office has been reviewing.”

“Our investigation has included an evaluation of campaign documents, an analysis of tens of thousands of electronic communications, and witness interviews,” McGuire said. “To be clear, we have not identified any evidence of illegal conduct by the Mayor. To the contrary, we have identified extensive evidence undermining the reported theories of federal prosecution as to the Mayor, which we have voluntarily shared with the US Attorney. We continue to cooperate with the investigation and are in the process of responding to the recently issued subpoenas.”

Levy, in a statement, reiterated that the mayor is cooperating with federal investigators.

“As a former member of law enforcement, the mayor has been clear over the last nine months that he will cooperate with any investigation underway. Nothing has changed. He expects everyone to cooperate to swiftly bring this investigation to a close.”

The federal probe into Adams’ 2021 campaign first bursted into public view nine months ago when FBI agents raided the home of his former chief fundraiser: Brianna Suggs.

The Fast And The Socialist

 

NY Post

A far-left NYC councilwoman who ran for office on an anti-car-agenda and pushed a crackdown on dangerous driving is a road menace who’s racked up four speeding tickets in a little more than a year, The Post has learned.

Queens Democratic Socialist Tiffany Cabán was slapped with seven traffic tickets totaling $490 in fines and late fees since November 2022 — including four in the past 13 months for being caught on camera speeding in school zones, a review of city records shows.

The remaining summonses on the pol’s black Chevy Cruze include two for blocking fire hydrants, and another for parking in a “No Standing” zone. 

New Yorkers are tired of the self-righteous, sanctimonious, anti-public safety elected officials who push their ‘do as I say, not as I do’ agendas, demanding we abandon our cars while they drive everywhere, and flout the very laws they impose on us,” said Councilman Robert Holden, a moderate Queens Dem.

“The hypocrisy and double standards of the left is truly astounding,” he added. 

While campaigning for Council in 2021, Cabán advocated converting at least 25% of all city roadways “into space for people” as part of her New York-version of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stalled Green New Deal plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions nationwide. 

Cabán, who represents Astoria and nearby neighborhoods, called on the city during the campaign to create “1,000-lane miles” of permanent car-free “Open Streets,” 500 miles of dedicated bus-only lanes and 500 miles of new bike lanes.

“We can improve living conditions for [District 22] residents by improving air quality, reducing noise pollution, encouraging social and physical activity, and increasing accessibility through transit and biking upgrades,” said Cabán in campaign literature pushing the pie-in-the-sky plan.  

 It's really delish seeing Tiff get caught like this (check out those rims on her Cruze!). But what's even better is that only a few months ago she was helping the Department of Transportation Alternatives promote an expensive plan to redesign 31st ave in Astoria to ban vehicle traffic on some streets and make the entire stretch a freeway for ebikes.

Mayor Adams appoints another person with no firefighting experience to be FDNY commissioner

  

NY Post

Security firm CEO Robert Tucker will be named the next commissioner of the FDNY on Monday, sources told The Post Sunday night.

Tucker, who leads security giant T&M as CEO and chairman, is expected to get the nod from Mayor Eric Adams to replace Laura Kavanagh after she stepped down earlier this month amid multiple controversies and tension with the department over her leadership.

Tucker, who was widely seen as a top contender for the job, also sits on the board of the FDNY Foundation and has long circled the FDNY during his career dating back decades, though he has never served as a firefighter. 

He once described himself as a “fire buff” dating back to his childhood. 

“When I was a young boy growing up in Manhattan, I was a fire buff,” Tucker said, according to a FDNY Foundation spotlight. “I used to chase fire engines on my bicycle. I had the opportunity to meet Commissioner [Joseph] Spinnato and I told him about my interest in the Department.”

Spinnato served as commissioner for the department for some of the 1980s.

As a teenager, he worked in the FDNY’s Manhattan Communications Office, which he called the “best job offer I would ever receive.”

A graduate of George Washington University and Pace University School of Law, Tucker worked as a special assistant to the Queens District Attorney’s Office for years before he joined T&M in 1999, according to the member spotlight.

The security firm has been in business since 1981 and focuses on providing integrated security, cyber, intelligence and investigative solutions, according to its website.

 No one will ever be worse than Lithium-ion Laura but appointing a guy who's basically an FDNY groupie doesn't bode well for this town either. Tucker is the second guy who ran a security corporation Mayor Adams hired to lead a department. The other one being Phil Banks, although Adams made up a deputy mayor position and an office of public safety for him that which makes him a defacto police commissioner of the NYPD

Donnie and the City Of Yes gets fed their brunch

Today, I testified before the Queens Borough President to make it clear that I am totally opposed to the City of Yes Housing Opportunity proposal. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/2WMeFNnwb2

— Robert Holden (@BobHoldenNYC) August 8, 2024

Donnie Rich made sure an elected official would not be seen making a case against the most dangerous housing plan ever concocted in New York City. But the woman here made the most of her opportunity to describe what a obligatory ruse this hearing was and what these officials are.

I listened to the ⁦@QnsBPRichards⁩’ public hearing today for the City of Yes. A solid 80%+ speakers are opposed to this plan. I hope ⁦@NYCMayor⁩ ⁦@NYCCouncil⁩ ⁦⁦@NYCPlanning⁩ are taking note and reading the room.#NoToCityOfYes pic.twitter.com/rrwZprVvU4

— Jean (@queens_parents) August 8, 2024

The City Of Yes always existed, it just needed a brand

 

Years before the City of Yes became a thing and an annoying catch phrase, the city already approved rezoning to build higher and denser in Jamaica. Like this block here on Waltham St between 97th and 95th avenues. One block away from the behemoth tower hyperdevelopment on Suthphin Blvd.

  

This is the little bit of housing NYC Planning, Mayor Adams and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards wants in your neighborhoods and think this make rents trickle down all over the city.

Unfortunately for the rent-burdened and homeless, those trickle down rents will have to wait for this one since it's in a state of suspension. 

Everything about the City Of Yes is a lie that's been told before for the last decade.

 

City Of Yes time again

That process is running through Queens this week, as my office will be hosting a public hearing on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity on Thursday at 10am at Borough Hall — all are welcome to come testify.

You can also testify via Zoom by clicking here: https://t.co/UQaGWeFruj https://t.co/ehfQ1BvSF7

— Queens Borough President Donovan Richards (@QnsBPRichards) August 5, 2024

QBP Donnie Richards (and all the yimby moles in his staff) decided to have his City of Yes public hearing at 10 a.m. when most of his constituents who are homeonwers like him will be at work. But you can make it on zoom via this link. Hope it gets lit up like the last one with NYC Planing Dirty Dan Garodnick. Maybe Don will allow clapping at this one.

Goth Barbie Dream House

 

  

This dreary little abode is located in hip Rockaway Beach and it is the most blackest house and pinkest scaffolding I've ever seen. It's also a year behind schedule.

 

 

It seems inspired partly by Spinal Tap's infamous "Smell The Glove" album and partly by The Hart Foundation. It would be cool if Bret had a vacation home here.

 

The cops call it criminal mischief in Ozone Park too

 

 

 QNS

Sam Esposito, the former president of the Ozone Park Residents Block Association, has been arrested for allegedly ripping off out-of-state license plates from multiple cars, according to authorities.

Police from the 102nd Precinct arrested Esposito on Saturday, July 20, following a reported incident earlier in the week on Sunday, July 14, New York Court records show. 

The complainant, Prakash Raghunauth, is one of the owners of the family-owned auto repair shop Ramesh and Son, located at 86-09 101st Ave. in Ozone Park. The repair shop has been criticized for having cars parked on the street outside, taking up parking spaces.

Raghunath said he reported the incident to the police after obtaining video footage from two nearby businesses of Esposito stealing the plates. The video appears to show Esposito ripping off license plates from the front of his shop and in front of a nearby gas station on Rockaway Boulevard this month.

Video footage obtained by QNS from the auto shop owner shows what appears to be Esposito in a silver van pulling up to cars parked near the shop and ripping off their license plates on multiple occasions.

Esposito has a long history of trying to get parked vehicles that are in derelict condition or unregistered off the streets of Ozone Park. He has been outspoken on the issue at both civic group meetings and on social media. 

The OZPK civic leader, who admitted to QNS that he ripped off the plates, said he was only doing his civic duty and will continue to have cars towed from the area, regardless of any setbacks. He took the plates since vehicles without them are more likely to be towed.

Overall, he said he is not worried about the situation. 

“People aren’t going to bully me to stop doing the work that I do,” Esposito said, adding earlier that thousands of illegal, derelict and unregistered cars are in Ozone Park alone.

 

Queens is Burning: Seven homes destroyed from a massive fire in Queens Village

 

NY Post

A massive fire ripped through Queens Saturday afternoon, injuring 14 people — including 11 firefighters — and damaging multiple buildings, leaving dozens of residents displaced, officials said. 

The blaze began just after 4 p.m., at a two-story residence at 88-21 Francis Lewis Boulevard in Queens Village, before quickly soaring to five alarms and spreading to seven buildings, according to FDNY officials.  

Over 200 firefighters, EMTs and paramedics responded to the fire, which was brought under control in about two hours, officials said. 

 This was a very fierce fire, and it spread to seven buildings and into the rear and garage area,” FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer said. 

The majority suffered heat-related injuries and were taken to local area hospitals to be treated. 

Dozens of people were estimated to have been displaced, said Frederic Klein, a spokesman with the Red Cross, which was on the scene aiding victims.

The organization said it had registered seven households — consisting of 22 adults and 10 children — for emergency assistance, including temporary lodging and financial assistance.

 In an alley behind Francis Lewis Boulevard where residents parked their cars, at least three vehicles had been charred to a crisp.

 

Minimal Transparency Agency

 

Queens Chronicle

The group Passengers United has been making itself heard throughout the Queens bus redesign process, and the public hearing on July 24 was no exception.

Several members addressed officials of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority at the Borough Hall meeting, and they were clear about wanting plenty of changes to the amended proposal released last December [see separate story in some editions or at qchron.com].

The group also held a small protest at Borough Hall prior to the hearing, both calling on the MTA to reschedule the event and denouncing the bus plan as drawn up.

Queens Village resident Charlton D’souza, founder and president of the group, said during the hearing that there has been a lack of public input and transparency on the part of the MTA; and that the agency has reneged on promises to emphasize equity with necessary changes tailored to low-income communities and communities of color.

“The way this agency has treated us is disgraceful,” D’souza said. “If all of us right now, tomorrow, next week, we start protesting outside our elected officials’ offices saying we do not want the Queens bus redesign because equity was not even considered ...

“The whole plan, the way it’s been put out, you guys promised us a final plan before you implemented changes. But then you changed the game on us at the last minute and now you’re saying, ‘We’re going to release the plan after this public hearing.’ That is ridiculous. This is absurd.” He promised a civil suit.

As to the group’s preferences, a 21-page presentation of recommendations released on July 24 appeared to be a detailed extension of a letter Passengers United sent to Gov. Hochul dated July 9.

The report, online at passengersunited.org, calls for “serious revisions” to the bus plan.

 

Caption Eric Adams

 

How did E get to alone?...

MTA makes pregnant woman stand to guide commuters

@newyorkrealm MTA makes pregnant transit worker stand all day guiding commuters #NYC #Subway #MTA ♬ original sound - New York Realm

 

Congestion pricing will fix this.

The MTA sucks.

 

 

After the floods

 

QNS 

 The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) and the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) announced Wednesday, July 31, that they have started their planned $51.8 million infrastructure project in Rosedale.

The project, which the DDC is managing, will address reoccurring flooding in the flood-prone neighborhood, among other plans. Project highlights will include improved tap water distribution, reconstructed streets and new transportation improvements in the area. The projected completion date is scheduled for winter 2026.

 

The project will add 92 catch basins and upgrade or install nearly 1.5 miles of local storm sewers and over half a mile of sanitary sewers. The new catch basins will help to drain precipitation from the roadways, while 13 underground storm chambers will further boost water holding capacity. 

About 2 miles of water mains will be upgraded from 6-8-inch cast iron pipes to more durable 8-12-inch ductile iron pipes. Additionally, 14 new fire hydrants will be added and 21 existing fire hydrants will be upgraded to guarantee firefighters’ access to the city’s water supply during emergencies.

Rosedale roadways and sidewalks will also receive a major fix. The project calls for the reconstruction of 36 blocks with new roadways and the replacement of over 4.5 miles of damaged and/or broken curbs. The city also plans to fix 4.5 acres of sidewalks. Additionally, 130 ADA-compliant pedestrian ramps will be constructed in the are

 

City Of No Vouchers

NY Post 

 A Manhattan judge handed the Adams administration a major win on Thursday in its bitter feud with the City Council over controversial changes to a housing voucher program.

Mayor Eric Adams had vetoed the council’s expansion of the city’s rental-assistance program called CityFHEPS that would’ve fast tracked vouchers for tenants facing eviction — but lawmakers overrode the veto, then took him to court in an effort to force him to comply with the expansion.

But Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lyle E. Frank ruled only the state government has the authority to expand the voucher program in a ruling that Adams celebrated.

 “While we are glad that the court agrees with our administration that these laws went beyond the City Council’s legislative authority, we are hopeful that our partners in the Council will join us in remaining committed to working to connect New Yorkers in need with safe, affordable, permanent housing,” Adams said in a written statement.

The City Council members disagree with the ruling and are planning an immediate appeal, a spokesperson said in a statement.

“It’s unfortunate that Mayor Adams’ administration has fought to delay help to New Yorkers that can prevent them from evictions and homelessness amidst a housing crisis,” the spokesperson said.

Lawmakers joined a class action lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society and four other plaintiffs back in February that would have forced Adams to comply with the expanded CityFHEPS.

The new law would have made housing vouchers available for people facing eviction without having to enter the shelter system for at least 90 days, and it would have increased the income-level cutoffs to qualify for aid while barring landlords from deducting the cost of utility bills from a voucher.

El Queens Center Mariachi

1010 WINS 

 Five people were charged on a 625-count indictment in connection to a gun trafficking operation that sold dozens of ghost guns, assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in Queens, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Wednesday.

The suspects charged in the operation allegedly transported 3D-printed ghost guns assembled in Nassau County and serialized firearms purchased in Indiana into Queens, where they were stored and sold, according to the Office of the Attorney General.

An investigation by the OAG’s Organized Crime Task Force in cooperation with Homeland Security Investigations and the NYPD recovered 86 firearms – including 55 ghost guns and 25 assault weapons – along with over 90 high-capacity magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Investigators began tracking Satveer Saini, 20, and his associates, Mateo Castro-Agudelo, 21, Hargeny Fernandez-Gonzalez, 20, Adam Youssef Senhaji-Rivas, 20, and Milanjit Sidhu, 20, in late 2023, according to the OAG.

During the investigation, Saini, Fernandez-Gonzalez, and Senhaji-Rivas allegedly paid over $27,000 to purchase firearms from Indiana, which has less restrictive gun laws than New York.

Early in the investigation, Saini and Castro-Agudelo drove from Indianapolis to Queens with weapons purchased in Indiana when they were stopped for speeding by the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Medina County, Ohio. During the stop, police recovered nine unloaded serialized handguns from inside Saini’s rental car.

From this point on, Fernandez-Gonzalez allegedly began paying Sidhu to drive weapons from Indianapolis to Queens.

Fernandez-Gonzalez also allegedly bought 3D-printed ghost guns in Nassau County and brought them to Queens.  Saini, Castro-Agudelo, and Senhaji-Rivas all allegedly sold trafficked firearms, high-capacity magazines, and ammunition during the course of the investigation.

Car revolution on open street

Summer Of Division

Worst FDNY Commissioner in New York City history resigns

 

NY Post

Embattled FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh is quitting her $243,171-a-year post, she told The Post Saturday.

The stunning development comes amid a slew of controversies that left some members of Mayor Adams’ administration questioning her ability to lead the country’s largest fire department.

Kavanagh, who Adams tapped as the city’s first female fire commissioner in 2022, said in an email to The Post she feels it’s “time for me to pass the torch” and explore other career opportunities. She plans to stay on the job for now and help pick a replacement, Kavanagh wrote.

“My dedication to the FDNY has never and will never waver,” she wrote. “It has been the honor of a lifetime to devote the last 10 years — five as first deputy commissioner and more than two as commissioner — to advocating for the men and women of the FDNY.

 Kavanagh sent the email mere minutes after Adams gave her a huge vote of confidence and tried to squash rumors her resignation was imminent.

“I love her style — I want her in my administration, whichever she decides to do,” he told The Post following an unrelated Brooklyn event. “She sat down with me some time ago and said ‘I’m looking to do some other things in my life at this moment,’ and whenever she decides to do so, she will. As long as she wants to be my fire commissioner, she will be my fire commissioner.”

 Although Adams remains supportive of Kavanagh, she’s felt plenty of heat within the administration over a slew of firestorms under her watch.

They include rising FDNY emergency-response times, surges in lithium-ion battery fires citywide, repeated criticism from underlings and an age-discrimination lawsuit filed by department honchos she demoted.

“She was a political operative – not a firefighter – so her selection [as commissioner] was always an unusual choice, and she’s been unable to do what she was brought in to do: put out political fires,” a City Hall insider said.

Kavanagh, who began her career working campaigns for ex-President Barack Obama, ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio and other Democrats, has dealt with a series of public relations nightmares since Adams named her commissioner, in part to tackle the department’s longtime struggle to diversify. 

This woman's entire career before being anoninted FDNY commissioner was being a publicist, and she even couldn't do that right 

 Lithium Ion Laura couldn't fight a fire by blowing out a match.

 

ImpunityCity

Donald Trump survives assassination attempt at campaign rally

Former President Donald Trump was wounded on a Pennsylvania campaign stage by a sniper’s bullet Saturday night in an apparent assassination attempt that nearly claimed his life, law enforcement sources told The Post.

The Secret Service said Trump is safe. A campaign spokesperson added that he is “fine” and being checked out at a local medical facility.

“He came within inches of having his face shot open,” a senior law enforcement source told The Post. 

The shooter was killed by a Secret Service assault team.

One other person, believed to be a civilian standing behind Trump on the podium was killed by the sniper, sources said. Another person was reportedly wounded.

The gunman was believed to have been positioned on the roof of building hundreds of yards from the former president at the Butler County Fairgrounds — outside the security perimeter, according to law enforcement sources. Trump confirmed his own brush with death in a post Saturday night on Truth Social: “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.

“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”

The bullet may have been deflected by glass before Trump was struck in the face, law enforcement sources said.

Following the attack on Trump at a rally in Butler — about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh — nine shots rang out and Trump ducked for cover before being surrounded by Secret Service agents, video from the event shows.

11 hours of stories of the City of Mess and here's a few of them

City Planner Paul Graziano makes NYC Planning Commissioner and Developer Mascot Dan Garodnick uncomfortable with dire warnings of the desecration of towns from the one size fits all plan to build a little more affordable housing in every neighborhood. Because it really is just a little that won't end the infinite housing crisis the city has made. Jackson Chabot from the public streets usurping 501 c 3 lobby cult Open Plans rambles on about removing parking mandates from buildings and towns and gets laughed at, but not before he trashes Graziano for how he got his house and remained in his neighborhood. But wouldn't you know the best take about the City Of Yes/Mess literally came from the street from the ubiquitous NYC political media gadfly Christopher Leon Johnson who remarked that this will do nothing to help people who make less than 60% of the AMI to qualify for the prospective tall and dense luxury public housing towers to end the housing crisis NYC Planning created and now they want a do-over. CLJ also blows the whistle on lobbyist infiltration of community boards that were placed there by borough presidents.

 Update:

 Well, it looks like Dirty Danny and the City Of Yes people at NYC Planning is censoring the public from isolating clips and embedding the whole video of the public hearing. Paul comes around the 3:45, Jacko around 4:37 and CLJ around 5:08.  

Watch how Danny tells people not to clap for people against City Of Yes because it would "take up valuable time" but he allows extended time for borough presidents Mark Levine and Vanessa Gibson to shill for the overdevelopment apocalypse program. He also spends time interrogating council members who announced they will vote no against it and gave nearly an hour to an architect to describe and justify the plan.

Caption the audience behind Eric Adams

Saturday in the Park

Tenants displaced by apartment building fire gets temporary housing from the landlord they are suing

 

 Queens Post

A breakthrough was reached just days after tenants of a Sunnyside apartment complex filed a lawsuit against their building’s landlord stemming from their displacement following a 5-alarm fire in December.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and A&E Real Estate, the landlord, announced a plan Monday to provide 22 tenants of 43-09 47th Ave. who were forced out of their apartments on Dec. 20 due to fire damage with an additional round of six-month temporary housing agreements.

After the fire, which was determined to have been caused by a contractor using an unregulated blowtorch, A&E offered the tenants the option of signing a temporary relocation license agreement for “up to six months if needed,” allowing them to rent apartments at other A&E properties at the same monthly rate they had paid at their Sunnyside building. Those original agreements were set to expire on Tuesday, July 2.

“Through no fault of their own, our neighbors tragically lost their homes and their possessions in the heart of the holiday season,” Richards said. “I’m thankful to A&E Real Estate for its partnership and for its support of these families by offering additional temporary lease agreements. Going forward my office will work tirelessly with our partners in city government to ensure those displaced by the fire have continuous access to stable and affordable housing.”

A spokesperson for A&E Real Estate said the agreement was with 22 households that are still in A&E temporary housing as of Monday.

“Borough President Richards picked up the phone and asked how we could work together to do more for residents. Working through the weekend, we found a path forward that will enable us to offer temporary housing for residents affected by the fire for up to six months more,” the spokesperson said. “While we know this has been challenging, we have worked hard at every step to go above and beyond to give residents some security and breathing room to plan for the future.”

The additional temporary lease agreements will run through Jan. 15, 2025, giving impacted families another six months to secure more permanent housing.

“Ultimately, it’s the insurance settlement that will compensate all parties for their losses in the fire,” the A&E spokesperson said. “We appreciate Borough President Richards’ partnership in finding an approach that we can sustain for several months more.”

The lawsuit filed on behalf of 200 tenants seeks $10 million in damages for gross negligence in failing to properly supervise their contractors and/or employees. Brett Gallaway, the tenants’ attorney from the law firm of McLaughlin and Stern, emphasized the severity of the situation.

“The reckless actions of A&E have caused irreparable harm to these families,” Gallaway said. “This lawsuit seeks to hold them accountable for the devastation they have caused and their continued failure to provide adequate support and compensation to the displaced tenants.”

 Considering the stupidity of the developer's contractor, A & E should just let those tenants have those apartments they are only temporarily staying in. Wonder what they look like and I wonder if they are building new "affordable housing" in this town.

 

 

Man murders younger half-brother and stabs parents, then gets gunned down by NYPD at "affordable" housing tower

 

 

AMNY 

The 4th of July holiday became a nightmare in Queens on Thursday afternoon after a man stabbed a child to death and police fatally shot the knife-wielding suspect in a domestic dispute, police brass said.

According to NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell, cops from the 103rd Precinct rushed to a luxury apartment building  at around 5:20 p.m. in the Jamaica section of the borough, located at 147-25 94th Ave after several residents called police for help.

“A female came out of this building pleading for help. She ran down to the corner to MTA police to get help and simultaneously the security desk called 911 for assistance,” Chief Chell said. “Members of the 103 Precinct responded in three minutes.”

Upon arrival at the 5th floor apartment, authorities said, cops were confronted with a man, in his 20’s, holding a knife to his 43-year-old father’s neck. Inside that same apartment a 29-year-old woman had been wounded and an 8-year-old boy had been stabbed to death, all in the same apartment as an 8-month-old-baby. Chief Chell told reporters that cops demanded the man drop the weapon, but he refused, resulting in the officers shooting the suspect. The baby was unharmed.

Police say the perpetrator was rushed to a hospital; sources close to the investigation report that he later died.  

 Chief Chell said the 8-year-old and his killer were stepbrothers, however, the ultimate reason for the holiday rampage remains under investigation.

This is not a luxury tower per se, it's one of those "affordable housing" towers from the 421a program to set aside 20%-25% of units under market rate (it's the one with the now leasing sign)

Besides the tragic domestic slaughter, this is bad all around for the "city of yes" and what may be another indictment of the city's continuing lack of mental health services. 

 

 

 

 

Home of the free

NY Post 

 New York City officials are dramatically expanding a controversial program that gives debit cards pre-loaded with cash to migrant families staying in taxpayer-funded hotels across the city.

The Adams administration says another round of debit cards is expected to be distributed to more than 7,300 migrants over the next six months, costing the city about $2.6 million. The move represents a major expansion of a pilot program that began earlier this year that doled out cards to about 3,000 migrants. 

New York City Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom says the program allows newly arriving families the ability to “make choices for themselves and their children” by using debit cards. 

“They can buy from local shops, support small businesses, and manage their own resources,” she said in a statement. “When we empower people, we help them achieve self-sufficiency and access the American Dream.”

Mayor Eric Adams has defended the program as a “cost savings measure” that “temporarily” replaces New York City’s existing system of providing non-perishable food boxes to migrant families staying in hotels and other city-funded shelters.

The program is a partnership between the Adams administration and the company Mobility Capital Finance, which says the plan will help migrants with food, baby supplies and other necessities as they await authorization to work from the federal government. 

Under the program, a four-person family with children under five can receive up to $350 per week, or about $18,200 a year, according to published news reports.

Critics, including New York Council member Joseph Borelli, have argued that the debit cards are “fundamentally unfair” to the city’s working poor, who don’t receive similar benefits from the city. 

Borelli and other Republicans argue that the city’s right to shelter law, which requires it to provide housing, food and other necessities — coupled with the city’s ‘sanctuary’ policy cooperation with immigration crackdowns — are drawing a record number of migrants to the city. 

 Great, now these families can continue selling candy and deliver food for multiple apps. Ain't that America?

Happy 248 USA

 

 

 The Sutter Ave. Of Americas. Have a great holiday and be careful with those fireworks.

 

Happy June 30th

Zip-e-dee-MTA

  

 NY Post

Queens straphangers are worried after spotting zip ties along the tracks at an Ozone Park subway station.

What keeps the trains running in the Big Apple?

Queens straphangers are praying it’s not plastic zip ties.

Dozens of zip ties wrapped around one of the tracks at the Rockaway Boulevard A train station in Ozone Park have been raising eyebrows and making some subway riders queasy.

“Should I be worried?” asked nursing student Kayle Persaud. “If I cut one zip tie, does it start to fall?”

 

The troubling scene, first reported by AM New York, shows a long line of the plastic ties along the middle track at the elevated subway station – which one straphanger noted is “not a good look.”

“The first time I saw it I thought, ‘Hmm… Is it holding the tracks together?'” said subway rider Eliana Rodriguez. “Even the screws look like they’re not all the way in.”

Another subway rider, who only identified himself as Ibrahim M, agreed it was a tad concerning.

“Even if it’s not actually holding the track together, it just looks awful,” he told The Post on Thursday. “They could have cut it off or painted it the same color. I hope it’s not holding the tracks together for all the money we pay to travel on the subway.”

Adding to worries was this week’s MTA announcement that the railroad is halting planned capital projects following Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to hold off on the controversial congestion pricing plan.

MTA Board kills congestion pricing

 

Crain's New York

 The MTA’s board voted Wednesday to indefinitely pause the implementation of congestion pricing tolls, formalizing an eleventh-hour postponement announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this month and officially blowing a $15 billion hole in the authority’s capital budget.

In a 10-to-1 vote, the board at its monthly meeting advanced a resolution that hits the brakes on a long-awaited toll program that would have charged most motorists $15 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street to reduce traffic and raise funds to improve the region’s mass transit. The vote firmly shut the door on the MTA’s board possibly attempting to advance congestion pricing against Hochul’s wishes.

MTA board member David Mack, who voted against the tolling program in March, was the sole vote that sought to block the resolution, instead preferring a permanent halt on the program.

“The fact is the MTA, it’s just a reality, cannot start implementing congestion pricing without the New York State DOT sign off,” said a dour Janno Lieber, the board chair and chief executive of the MTA during the vote. “Others may litigate that very issue, if so, so be it, but we are right now where we are.” 

As a result, MTA officials said Wednesday that without a replacement to anticipated toll revenue the authority must defer $16.5 billion worth of construction projects to modernize the region’s aging transit system, including a high-profile extension of the Second Avenue subway to Harlem, signal upgrades and new train cars, among many others. Stop-work orders have already gone out to some projects, sending the region’s contractors into a panic.

Tim Mulligan, the MTA’s deputy chief development officer, said the authority will have to prioritize essential maintenance and upgrades to keep the system functioning and defer less critical, but long sought, accessibility, expansion and modernization work.

“Our guiding principles for the last 21 days, as we've been going through this process, has been to maintain the safe and functional operation of the system,” said Mulligan as he detailed likely changes to the MTA’s capital program.

“There are things that make the system better for our customers and for operation,” Mulligan added, “but they aren't directly related to maintaining existing service in all cases, and so more deferrals [will happen] to projects that are from those categories."

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

NYC Planning wants a little more upzoning on Sutphin

 

 Queens Chronicle

The Department of City Planning provided residents an online refresher course about zoning ahead of a Zoom town hall about proposed reforms of Downtown Jamaica and parts of Hollis, last Thursday.

During the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan Town Hall, people had questions about what will be developed in the area and if its needs will be met with the plan.

DCP agency reps said they hope to get more feedback from community members regarding the rezoning. The initiative would transform Jamaica Center, the downtown area where straphangers catch the E, J and Z trains, along with nearby regions stretching to the Jamaica and Hollis Long Island Rail Road stops to Hillside Avenue in the north and the Van Wyck Expressway to the west. Last Thursday’s event was designed to lay the groundwork for an environmental review of the plan. The proposal also calls for rezoning sections of Dunkirk and 160th streets and Merrick, Sutphin and Guy R. Brewer boulevards, according to DCP. There will be no zoning changes to single- or two-family areas, said Shavvone Jackson, a DCP representative.

More than 200,000 people who live, work or go to school in and around Downtown Jamaica would be impacted by the rezoning of the area, said DCP Borough Planner Alisa Nurmansyah, using data from the 2020 Census.

“Zoning is a set of rules that control how land in a community can be used,” said Jasmin Tepale, the senior program manager at DCP, who is overseeing the Jamaica rezoning plan. “It tells us what you can build and where you can build it ... this includes the type of uses you see in a neighborhood like residential or commercial zoning ... and what a building looks like and how tall it can be.”

The three main types of zoning districts include residential, commercial and manufacturing, or R, C and M zoning districts. R1 is a low-density residential district, while R10 is a high-density district.

The purpose of the rezoning plan is to build up Downtown Jamaica, which consists of mostly two- to six-story homes and residential, commercial and manufacturing buildings to create eight- to 16-story buildings to address the growing population and low housing production in the area, according to the DCP presentation.

Data from the American Community Survey, released in 2022, said that from 2010 to 2020, Jamaica’s population increased by 13.4 percent, higher than the rest of the city, which grew by 7.7 percent. Housing production in the area increased by 10.1 percent while housing production in the city grew by 7.3 percent, which is closer to the citywide population increase, according to DCP.

Profiles of Queens Community District 12 (Jamaica, Hollis and St. Albans) said the population was approximately 225,900 in 2010 and 248,158 in 2022.

U.S. Census data said that the city’s population was 8,804,190 on April 1, 2020. A World Population Review census said the city’s population decreased to 7,931,147, but is expected to be around 9 million by 2040, according to a Fox News report on March 28.

Blossom Ferguson, one resident who was on the Zoom call, asked if any of the housing will be available to people with low incomes.

A city Housing Preservation & Development spokeswoman said that if an area is mapped for mandatory inclusionary housing, its required that a share of new housing will be permanently affordable. If a developer comes in to erect a building with more than 10 units, a percentage of them must be permanently affordable.

“Do you plan on having condos or co-ops?” Ferguson asked. “Is that already established or still in the works?”

Tepale said that based on previous feedback, many seniors who would like to leave their single-family home have expressed interest in still owning property, and condos and co-ops are something that can be created in residential zones, along with other housing types.

Lisa Edwards, another resident, said that she believes the whole rezoning plan is simply gentrification and that the whole process for the initiative is undemocratic.

“This has not been properly publicized,” Edwards said. “It does not allow for community members to hear each other’s voices and discuss.”

Jackson, who spoke during the zoning refresher, said there are 38 people on the steering committee, 26 meetings were held and that DCP has reached out to more than 2,000 people since May 2023.

“We are going to continue to create opportunities for people to engage in this process,” Jackson said.