The latest swine flu update

From ABC 7:

Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden and Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today announced that the City Health Department has recommended closing six more schools - four in East Harlem, and two in Brooklyn - after documenting unusually high levels of influenza-like illness over a number of days. The six schools will be closed as of Friday, May 29, and will reopen on Wednesday, June 3.

And from the Daily News:

Parents rallied at a Queens elementary school Thursday to demand the city close and sanitize the building after scores of students - and the school nurse - called in sick.

"These are four and five-year-olds coming down with 102-degree fevers and infecting their siblings," said Monica Hendricks, 46, one of 15 parents protesting outside Public School 96 in South Ozone Park.

"There is no logical explanation why our school is not closed."

Parents said more than 80 of the school's approximately 300 students were out sick - along with several teachers and the school nurse.

City health officials said the threat of swine flu could be overblown.

Breaking News: Bloomie does it again!

From the NY Times:

To the growing list of questions that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg does not want to be asked, you can add one more.

At a press conference in Queens on Thursday, Mr. Bloomberg was asked if an economic turnaround would undermine his initial reasoning for rewriting the city’s term limits law and seeking a third term, which was that a city in financial turmoil needed his steady hand and business background.

Mr. Bloomberg interrupted the question, from the New York Observer reporter Azi Paybarah, having deemed it unworthy of his time...

With that, the mayor concluded his press conference, looked directly at Mr. Paybarah and said, “You are a disgrace.”

The Daily News' Liz Benjamin has a great zinger...

Ironically, Bloomberg once used that very word to describe...the City Council's effort to change term limits.

Actually, he said that was an "absolute disgrace." But why quibble?

In this version, he uses "disgraceful." But again, why quibble?

Bloomberg pisses off reporter

From The Politicker:

Here's video of an incident at a May 26 campaign event, which was noted by the New York Times, in which a television reporter learns that when Michael Bloomberg is not scheduled to take questions, he won’t take questions. Note the deft boxing-out by the mayor's security detail and City Hall spokesman Stu Loeser.

Bloomberg often holds public events without taking questions, leaving the task of dealing with reporters to his press aides. Given the state of things, it's probably safe to assume that he'll continue to communicate with the media at his leisure. Whatever we may think of it.

That's because you keep giving him a pass...

Bloomberg begins Willets Point land grab

From the Iron Triangle Tracker:

The city will formally kick-off plans to seize control of the remaining privately-owned land at Willets Point this June, officials at the Economic Development Corp. said Wednesday.

The EDC said a public hearing on eminent domain will be held at Flushing Town Hall on June 22, a procedural first step in the legal process through which the city plans to take the remaining 22 acres of land at Willets Point.

Dozens of property owners are yet to reach deals with EDC negotiators however, and the city’s move towards eminent domain indicates that the time to do so outside of a courtroom is drawing to a close.

The vast majority of the City Council said it was opposed to the use of eminent domain, and the EDC said it would not use the controversial practice unless all other options had been exhausted.

Jerry Antonacci, co-owner of Crown Container Co. and President of Willets Point United Against Eminent Domain said...“They’re pretty quick to pull the trigger on eminent domain. But I guess they’re gonna do what they’re gonna do and we’re gonna do what we have to do to stop them.”

So Mayor Bloomberg, Seth Pinsky, Robert Lieber, David Lombino, Chuck Apelian, Claire Shulman, Helen Marshall, Toby Stavisky, Eric Gioia, Hiram Monserrate, Melinda Katz, John Liu, Peter Vallone, Jr., and all the other tweeders lied about what was going to happen at Willets Point. Which comes as a shock to absolutely no one.

The EDC only made 2 property acquisition deals since the November 13, 2008 vote and has been telling Iron Triangle businesses that lie outside of the phase 1 area - which is most of them - to not expect negotiations to start for more than a year. But then they send them an eminent domain notice?

As one astute observer remarked to me, "If there was a gun on the negotiating table before, now it's pointed at the owners' heads."

Thank you all for steamrolling the working people of Queens for your rich developer friends!

Where for art thou, Janette?

From the Staten Island Advance:

Staten Islanders have taken to spelling the word "pothole" with the letter D: Disgraceful, disgusting, deplorable and, lately, downright dangerous.

Ten-year-old Gina Blazewicz of Great Kills was hospitalized for two days with a concussion last month after she tripped in a pothole on Linton Place while playing basketball. She fell backward and hit her head, said her father, Rich, and was spitting up blood after the fall.

And this is just one of the pothole complaints flowing steadily into the Advance since the newspaper started the campaign for smoother roads.

Stacey Hotinski's son also took a tumble after tripping on loose asphalt on Levit Avenue in Graniteville, where new pedestrian ramps were installed over a year ago, but the pavement was left to crumble.

Sal Conti of Eltingville said he's never seen roads so bad in all his 37 years on Staten Island. Neither has his mother-in-law, a former Islander who came for a visit recently from her home in New Jersey, and asked if bombs had been dropped on Staten Island after seeing the poor condition of the streets here.

Look, fixing potholes is hard work and not sexy. How would you folks like a bike lane instead?

Willets Point Headscratcher series, part 7

From the Daily News:

New York City, which repairs about 250,000 potholes a year, inked a deal with Cofire last year and began using Green Patch in October, officials confirmed.

Shapiro noted Cofire won the city contract as low bidder.

Cofire, which has been in business for some 50 years, hopes to build a new plant on its city-owned property in the College Point Corporate Park.

"We are in a great place and we want to stay here," Shapiro said.

The Cofire property is being enlarged as part of a pending rezoning of the corporate park, and Shapiro said the company has been working with the city on the possibility of the company sharing its space with a business relocated from Willets Point.

Why would Cofire have to share land with relocated Willets Point businesses when it isn't even close to any of them, according to the City's own map (pictured, courtesy of Iron Triangle Tracker)?

The City also just purchased the Grace Asphalt plant in Willets Point for continued DOT use. Combined with the highways the triangle is surrounded by, that should make for some great air quality for residents moving into the "new" Willets Point.

How many violations are allowable?

From the Daily News:

Since January 2008, the Buildings Department has issued stop-work orders 12 times at 111 Lawrence St., hitting contractors with 38 claims for unsafe conditions, falling objects and fire hazards.

Eleven violations remain open and contractors on the job face $78,200 in fines, records show.

On Wednesday, the city slapped the latest stop-work order on the planned 51-story building after hardhat Ronald McGovern fell three stories while trying to stabilize a crane's load. He landed in a dumpster and survived with minor injuries.

The city cited crane operator Pinnacle Industries for unsafe use of a crane. The contractor running the job, Bovis Lend Lease, was cited for unsafe conditions.

Perils at the Brooklyn Tower included frightening crane incidents that continued even after subcontractors were cited.

Halliburton eying Flushing Airport site

Dear Concerned Residents of North East Queens -

Here is my recent scientific analysis of what “may” be arriving in a neighborhood
 near you. My sources are confidential and will be kept that way.
 


My concerns are that behind the scenes in NYC, the highly probable investigation into
 the extraction of Natural Gas in Marsh/Wetland Locations is being analyzed. The value of the Flushing/CP Airport can be used for the extraction of fossil fuel 
natural gas using “Hydraulic Pressure” extraction next to the token 8 acres that were recently proposed to be given
to us by EDC. If you think strip mall development is bad, imagine a natural gas 
company setting up shop at this sensitive location!

Halliburton has its eye on 
all areas of New York City for the "potential future extraction locales". What 
should be happening is the push for the REDUCTION of chemical toxic pollution
 and use of petroleum based products used for asphalt as seen in the NY Daily
 News
.


Many people are advertising natural gas as a transition fuel, even saying trucks
 may be run on liquid natural gas. Natural gas is anything but “green” (as 
described by Sarah Palin) and it’s anything but the answer to our energy needs and concerns 
for the future. The drilling or extraction for natural gas itself releases poisons and toxins 
into the atmosphere that can build up and cause health concerns. A by-product of
 drilling is the release of methane, and chemicals used in the drilling methodology, which includes 
benzene and other toxic chemicals. The natural gas companies will not reveal
 exactly what toxins it uses during the drilling process and procedure because it considers them “trade 
secrets”. The extraction of natural gas affects the safety of water and in
some areas of the U.S. is reportedly responsible for cancer, mostly leukemia
 (from benzene). Feel free to contact me for scientific references associated with my claims.

Someone needs to tell T. Boone Pickens and every other person
 who feels that natural gas is “clean and natural” that natural gas is not the
 answer to our global warming induced climate crisis.

 
Here is a story that forced me to send out this e-mail.

The above story has been taken from a SCIENTIFIC journal that illustrates why carbon capture
and sequestration (CCS) might not work in many cases. Storage of a gas means it
 will eventually leak, as the methane in this article did. This article taken from
 Scientific American (November 2008) also enumerates the many problems of
 pollution from drilling for natural gas. Pollution is not the only problem. Natural gas explosions that level buildings 
and homes are not uncommon in the northern U.S. where people obtain their heat 
from natural gas.

All of my comments are based on peer-reviewed scientific literature and not based on any of my personal opinions or a “half-baked hypothesis”.

Dr James M. Cervino
Pace University &
Visiting Scientist
Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.
Department of Marine Chemistry
Woods Hole, MA

Photo from Washington Post

Queens homeowners drowning!

From the NY Post:

Roughly 40,000 homes purchased in the last five years in New York City are now underwater -- worth less than what is owed on their mortgages -- up sharply over the past year, according to a real estate market information company.

In fact, in Queens, the second-hardest hit of the five boroughs, nearly one in four of the 71,911 one-family, co-op and condo sales made in 2004-2009 is now underwater, according to Zillow.com.

The 23.3 percent of recently purchased Queens homes being underwater in the first quarter compares to 15.9 percent one year earlier. It shows that New York's foreclosure pain may be far from over.

Illegal nightclub in Long Beach

From Newsday:

A couple accused of running a nightclub out of the basement of their Long Beach home, peddling drinks and dancing, told authorities they were merely raising funds to send their teen beauty queen daughter to a Central American pageant.

The authorities say Naraine and his wife, Julissa, broke the zoning code, caused a fire hazard and served alcohol without a permit.

City inspectors investigating a noise complaint in a residential neighborhood this month found 30 people in the Naraine home on Riverside Boulevard and 20 people outside, documents show.

"He was charging admission to get in," said Theofan, who accused the couple of running a nightclub. "There was music. There was dancing. There was a DJ."

The city charged the Naraines with zoning and building violations, for which they could be fined.

Hey guy, move the parties to Queens. Not only will the DOB not give a crap, but when neighbors call 311 to report it, the police will just mark the call as "answered" and state that they didn't see anything.

We've only just begun...

From the Daily News:

The biggest misconception about this year's citywide elections is that Mayor Bloomberg has a third term all sewn up.

Don't believe the hype.

Bloomberg has already spent $18.6 million on flacks, hacks, pollsters and preachers. The sum includes more than $15 million spent in the last two months alone on TV, radio and direct mail advertising.

But don't start the coronation just yet. Several key indicators suggest that the race remains close and could get much closer before November.

Start with the surprising fact that Bloomberg's three-month advertising onslaught hasn't moved key poll numbers.

That has set off a buzz among political insiders. A $15 million ad buy is supposed to move the poll numbers, particularly for an eight-year incumbent.

Everybody heard Bloomberg's campaign message - you couldn't avoid those TV ads and glossy color booklets - but the polls suggest New Yorkers aren't buying it.

It's not over. In fact, the race for City Hall has only just begun.

Bloomberg's math hurting middle class

From the Daily News:

Jim Feasel is a retired NYPD detective, an expert in figuring out who did it and why.

But now there’s a problem in his personal life that he can’t solve and he feels handcuffed.

“How did the city’s appraised value of my home go up $75,000 last year... when property values went down 10% or more?” bellowed Feasel, who owns a two-family home in Woodside, Queens.

Along with thousands of other middle-class New Yorkers, Feasel is feeling the big squeeze — what happens when taxes and fees go up while income stays flat and investments and property values fall.

Property taxes are just part of the pinch. Water and sewer charges were hiked 14.5% last July 1 and will go up another 12.9% this July 1. Fares, tolls, utilities and property assessments are all higher.

Tower people upset about idling trains

From Mr. Angry re: a petition by the tower people against idling trains at the Long Island City LIRR station:

This petition is a sure sign of the pussification of NYC. Here we have a bunch of people who MOVED IN NEXT TO AN ACTIVE RAILROAD YARD, whining about the noise and pollution that come from it. Uhm, did you morons NOT see it RIGHT THERE when you closed on your little habit trail apartments? Did you not expect a lot of noise living in the middle of a city, in a glass fishbowl of an apartment building with little if any soundproofing? Did you not do any research on the area you were investing in? It’s pretty hard not to notice a fucking railroad yard that has been at that location for WELL OVER 100 YEARS.

Bloomberg will obliterate Admirals Row

From the Brooklyn Paper:

The city and National Guard reached an agreement to save two decrepit, yet historic, buildings in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and destroy eight others, ending an impasse and allowing the Navy Yard to proceed with its controversial plan to build a supermarket.

The deal, announced by a spokesman for the city-run Navy Yard, does not guarantee the preservation of the low-slung Timber Shed and one of the former officers’ homes, known as Building B, which faces Flushing Avenue. But it allows for the transfer of the federally owned “Admirals Row” area to the city, which owns the rest of the Navy Yard.

As part of the deal, the city would then solicit bids from developers to build a supermarket and an industrial building as well as to “test the market” to rehabilitate and maintain the two crumbling 19th-century structures.

It’s unclear how the historic buildings would be reused. The other eight buildings along the row could be demolished by the city, under this agreement.

Congress threatens mayor's transfer station

From the NY Post:

Congress is moving against Mayor Bloomberg's plan to build a trash transfer station in Queens that critics say would draw a dangerous number of birds to La Guardia Airport.

The transfer station planned for College Point would go up about 2,000 feet from La Guardia Runway 13-31. Federal Aviation Administration guidelines usually require trash transfer stations to be at least 10,000 feet from airport runways.

Despite the guidelines, the FAA last year OK'd the station, saying it poses no hazard to planes.

House members voted Thursday night to apply the FAA's usual guidelines to the station. The measure, tacked onto another FAA-related bill, now heads to the Senate.

Sully's co-pilot doesn't like the idea, either.

Delay in plan to link Penn and Grand Central

'GRAND' LIRR LINK STALLS
By TOM NAMAKO, NY Post

The mammoth $7.2 billion project to extend the LIRR from Penn Station to Grand Central Terminal is not on track to make its February 2015 deadline, according to a new MTA consultant report.

Chronic delays with four contracts put the completion date "under pressure," said the firm McKissack and Delcan.

And delays cost money, transit advocates warned yesterday, saying the federal government won't provide any more than the $6.2 billion already approved for the project.

Baby Oystercatchers at Riis Park

From Citybirder:

The beach was nearly empty of people, but there were lots of nesting American Oystercatchers spread out along the sand. I counted at least 9 nests in areas that were roped off and marked with signs to keep out humans. One adult was sitting with two chicks about 5 yards from the boardwalk. American Oystercatcher chicks are precocial, meaning that they are fairly independent as soon as they hatch and fun to observe.

Interesting demographic propositions in comptroller's race

From The Politicker Re: the formation of "Women for Liu":

Yet another test of the interesting demographic propositions in this primary between four Democratic council members: Katz versus three men, Liu versus three white candidates, David Yassky (of Brooklyn) versus three Queens members and David Weprin versus, um, three people who are not members of his family?

Cute.

Urban planning at its finest - schools

From NY Magazine:

In 2007, the Department of Buildings issued permits for 31,918 units, a 35-year high-water mark. By the most conservative estimate, that year’s activity alone brought hundreds of millions of dollars into the city coffers in closing taxes, much of it from buyers lured by strong public schools. But a disconnect yawned between development and the children it engendered. The crux of it, says Beveridge, is revealed in PlaNYC 2030, the mayor’s blueprint for a livable city of 9 million people—who, it should be noted, will be making lots more kindergartners. The document called for parkland within ten minutes of each New Yorker and a local war on global warming, but spent less than a sentence on the DOE’s capacity needs. “School construction is not part of the plan—full stop,” Beveridge says. “They plan all the other infrastructure, but they don’t worry about the schools.”

Bloomberg had fashioned a city of cranes and baby strollers, but only the cranes fell into his field of sight. “The city booked the revenue,” says Eric Greenleaf, the chair of P.S. 234’s PTA overcrowding committee, “but it didn’t book the cost.”

It was hard to fathom how Klein’s brain trust could have been so Van Winkled to the emergence of family-style Manhattan. The Buildings Department sits around the corner from the DOE’s home at the Tweed Courthouse. Both report directly to Bloomberg, who is nothing if not nimble and decisive. And yet the left hand had no truck with the right—here was mayoral control without the control.

In some of the poorer districts in the outer boroughs, families are left with the worst of all worlds: underperforming zoned schools that have no room. The DOE perennially “caps” the enrollments of dozens of schools in the Bronx and Queens and Brooklyn, busing hundreds of kindergartners out of places like Elmhurst or Norwood.

Wa$te at the MTA

From the NY Post:

The MTA burned through $3.5 million in the past year to increase staffing and hand out raises in its headquarters at the same time it cried poverty and begged for a $2.3 billion state bailout.

Between March 2008 and March 2009, 140 directors, managers and other employees who work in the MTA's main Madison Avenue offices received raises, according to a Post analysis of agency records. Of these bump-ups, 79 came without title changes.

In the same period, the Midtown HQ's headcount surged by 43 staffers to 695, records show.

The new hires included a $75,000-a-year photographer, a $117,000-per-year director of police support and a $134,204-a-year director of workforce development. Also, for $172,000 a year, it brought on a "chief diversity officer" who is supposed to help give contracts to minority-owned businesses. All were newly created positions.

Overall, payroll at headquarters rose 6.7 percent to $55.5 million.

The raises ranged from $1,000 to nearly $40,000 and were doled out to secretaries, project managers, auditors and an in-house counsel. The fattest went to Vinay Dayal, whose income soared a staggering $39,606 to $140,000.