Just when you thought you'd seen everything Flushing has to offer

Not sure who did this (Frank Lloyd Crap?) or why they thought it was a good idea but it's freaking hideous! Here's the view as you enter Flushing from the Northern Blvd Bridge:

Bowne Park ain't what it used to be

Ah, a lovely stroll through one of Queens' premier parks on Sunday afternoon. But there's literally trouble in the air and water.

So the pond is contaminated and you should avoid exposure to it, yet the mist from the fountain was hitting yours truly in the face for a good 1/4 of the looped path around the body of water.

Dead turtles were seen floating on the surface.

This guy was still alive and kicking but with the shape that water's in, it might not be for long.

This cool stand of trees caught my eye but the grass is in serious need of cutting. The lawn is unkempt.

The pond walls have issues as well.

Hopefully these little guys sprout wing feathers soon and get the hell out of this mess!

Katz looking to run for Brown's seat

From the Queens Chronicle:

Multiple sources have told the Chronicle that Borough President Melinda Katz would be interested in running for District Attorney should DA Richard Brown opt not to seek re-election in 2019; or in an appointment to the post should he choose to retire.

Katz would not dignify the question when asked Wednesday by the Chronicle. “Judge Brown is a great DA, and there’s no indication he intends to retire,” she said.

A source with knowledge of Queens politics partially confirmed both other sources’ accounts and that of the borough president, saying Katz, an attorney, would be interested in the top prosecutor’s office under either scenario.

“But there’s no vacancy; and Brown’s not going anywhere,” the source said.

Brown himself was first appointed to the post in 1991 by then-Gov. Mario Cuomo — district attorney is a state position — and has been repeatedly re-elected with few serious challengers. But he does have health issues.

Katz, who is term-limited out of the Borough President’s Office after 2021, has said in the past that she wants to have a leadership role on matters of importance to the city when her term ends.

Time to drop the dead weight

From the NY Times:

Despite a high-profile effort by Mayor Bill de Blasio to reduce the number of city teachers without permanent jobs who draw full pay and benefits, the city spent $136 million this school year to keep them on the payroll, according to a study released Thursday.

The unassigned employees are part of a pool known as the Absent Teacher Reserve, and there were 1,202 teachers and other staff in it at the start of the school year, according to the report by the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission. Despite buyouts, mandatory placements in schools and a rule that all unassigned teachers must look for permanent posts, there were still 756 teachers in the pool in April.

Like teachers with full-time classroom assignments, those in the pool are entitled to regular pay raises, step increases and longevity increases, providing “no incentive for unmotivated or unsuitable teachers to secure new permanent placements,” the report notes.

Teachers in the pool have an average of 18 years on the job, and an average salary of $98,126. With a 3 percent raise for all city teachers going into effect on Saturday, combined with a 2 percent raise teachers received in May, senior teachers in the pool could now earn up to $119,472, the report found.

Teachers land in the reserve pool because their schools have been closed, or their budgets cut, or because they were the subject of unsatisfactory performance evaluations or disciplinary actions. They can stay in the pool indefinitely.

The United Federation of Teachers contract with the city expires in November, and the budget commission urged the city to use the contract negotiations to cap the time teachers can spend in the pool at six months.

BDB caught off guard by raid

From the NY Times:

Two days after Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a sweeping civil settlement with the federal government over New York City’s public housing system, federal and local investigators seized documents and other items Wednesday from a Queens office of the city’s housing authority.

The investigators questioned housing officials, cloned computer hard drives and took the city-issued cellphone of a senior manager overseeing lead abatement, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Then they returned on Thursday.

The surprise visit rattled officials and pierced the veneer of common purpose presented by Mayor de Blasio on Monday when he announced that the city would commit at least $1.2 billion in extra funding for needed repairs in New York City Housing Authority buildings. With the agreement with the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey S. Berman, the city avoided a civil trial that would have examined longstanding problems at the authority, including failure to test for hazardous lead paint over several years.

“We agreed to create a common game plan,” Mr. de Blasio said.

The searches were conducted by the city’s Department of Investigation, the inspector general for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency, and they appeared to catch top officials at the housing authority off-guard. The investigators arrived at the building on 49th Avenue in Long Island City without a search warrant, relying instead on the city agency’s power to directly access city records without a warrant, according to one of the people briefed on the raid.

Riveting story from Jackson Heights

From CBS 2:

Across from his window that morning, and for days leading up to this, workers were making repairs to the transit infrastructure, Carlin reported. The first few workers he questioned denied the projectile came from their site. Then, he said another worker confessed to the accident and gave him an explanation.

“They use a high-powered device to shoot the rivets out. Now, there’s supposed to be another worker on the other end of the rivet to catch the rivet. He said they’re called a muffler. I guess like a baseball catcher would catch a fastball. Except in this case, there was no catcher at the other side,” said Siegel.

CBS2 asked the MTA about safety protocols and why, in this case, they apparently failed. The agency said it’s looking into it.

Ridgewood getting a hotel

From Queens Beans:

The hotel boom that seems to have taken over Queens is not stopping any time soon, since a new hotel is in the works. This new construction will have four stories and will be addressed at 1616 Summerfield Street, in Ridgewood. Behind the applications is the Loketch Group, and J Frankl and C. Mallea Architects. When it comes to location, the Halsey Street subway station in Bushwick is just four blocks away, a station which is serviced by the L train.

Once completed, the hotel will be 54-foot tall and the structure will yield over 62k sf. Besides creating 132 guest rooms, developers will include a commercial area spanning 38,600 square feet. There will be twenty-something rooms per floor, starting at the cellar and guests will be able to access bike storage room and a lobby.

What a great location for a hotel!

State made unnecessary Medicaid payouts

From Crain's:

Thanks to a lack of oversight, the state Health Department doled out $1.3 billion in six years in Medicaid premiums for people who were already enrolled in other comprehensive health plans, according to a new report from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

The report found that the state Health Department is not quick enough to disenroll people when they sign up for coverage with another insurer. The overwhelming majority of those funds—about $1.2 billion—are not recoverable.

"Glitches in the state Department of Health's payment system and other problems led to over a billion dollars in unnecessary spending," DiNapoli said. "The department needs to improve its procedures and stop this waste of taxpayer money."

City will build senior apartments amidst housing projects

From the Wall Street Journal:

New York City has committed $500 million to build up to a thousand of affordable apartments for low-income senior citizens on vacant public-housing land, a move advocates say would help reduce the wait list for apartments.

The plan, first pushed in the proposed new budget by New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, will construct new apartment buildings on lawns, parking lots and unused land at New York City Housing Authority developments and other public locations. The units will be set aside for low-income senior citizens, many of whom already live in public housing.

“If you can get seniors living now in two-, three-bedroom apartments in NYCHA to move into new apartments, you make room for folks who are on the waiting list,” said the Rev. David Brawley, pastor at St. Paul Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn’s East New York section and member of the Metro Industrial Areas Foundation.

There are 207,000 families on the wait list for public housing, and addressing that number could help reduce homelessness, Mr. Brawley said. There are currently more than 58,700 people living in shelters across the city, according to the latest data.

Ozone Park comes out in force against shelter

From PIX11:

On Tuesday night, an incoming homeless shelter, reportedly designed to house more than 100 men, possibly classified as mentally ill, sat high on the meeting’s agenda.

“We are asking this board to put out a strongly worded letter, putting the city on notice, that we the community, we the residents, we the parents, we the constituents, we the homeowners, and we the business owners, do not want this type of shelter where they’re planning on putting it,” Esposito said.

The Administration has already given its “notice” to this neighborhood of plans to bring the shelter.

But Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks did not show up to face his detractors – as he has in the past.

So these residents were basically left to shout into the wind, venting if you will, perhaps, on some level, reluctantly accepting the inevitable.

State protecting shady real estate brokers

From The Real Deal:

Like many New Yorkers who have had bad experiences with real estate agents, Tanya Mejia took to Yelp in September 2014 to give brokerage Chrome Residential a one-star review. “Not only are these guys unprofessional, but they are crooks,” she wrote. “Do yourself a favor and stay clear of this company.”

To retrieve a $2,000 security deposit from her broker, she then went to Small Claims Court and obtained a judgment against Chrome, which the broker refused to pay unless she removed her Yelp review, according to a New York Department of State investigation. Mejia then filed a consumer complaint with the DOS, and finally, more than two years after the initial incident, an administrative law judge revoked the real estate broker’s license in September 2016.

But as far as the state’s public database of licensing decisions is concerned, this never happened. A search for the agent’s name (“Jacob Benchlouch”) only turns up two duplicate files for an earlier dismissed complaint, omitting any record that he was sanctioned for “engaging in deceptive acts and practices.” (Benchlouch could not be reached for comment and Chrome Residential is no longer in operation.)

To protect the interests of New York’s consumers, the DOS’ Division of Licensing Services regulates a number of professions, including real estate brokers and salespersons, by handing down fines, suspensions and revoking licenses as it deems necessary. But because the agency uses rudimentary public disclosure tools that are difficult to navigate and often incomplete, it is difficult for consumers to identify sanctioned brokers, leaving open the possibility that they will harm another consumer.

City to pony up in federal NYCHA settlement

From Crains:

New York City will likely pay $2 billion to settle claims that the nation's largest public housing agency has too often left tenants to contend with lead paint, malfunctioning elevators and rats.

The city agreed in a consent decree in Manhattan federal court to pay $1 billion over four years and $200 million annually until problems are overcome. The deal also calls for the appointment of a monitor to oversee the city-run public housing authority during the 10-year span of the agreement.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the settlement a "dramatic step" and a "turning point for our public housing system."

NYCHA Consent Decree by Anonymous 80as6U on Scribd

421-a rule change causes dip in regulated apartments

From AM-NY:

This spring, the city announced it had given hundreds of property owners one last chance to recoup the 421-a tax benefit by complying with provisions of a perk that aims to encourage the creation of affordable homes.

Now that the May 1 compliance deadline has passed, 730 of the 1,788 targeted properties lost the benefit, according to data provided by the city Department of Finance last month. Collectively, the properties lost about $22.38 million, according to the Department of Finance.

The property tax benefit was launched in the 1970s to spur residential construction. Over the years, it has been extended to co-ops, condos, two- to three-family homes and rental developments.

Although the city yanked 421-a from properties for a variety of concerns, advocates have focused their attentions on rental properties, since they must abide by rent stabilization rules while receiving 421-a.

Earlier this year, at least 367 developments with rental units had 421-a suspended for undisclosed reasons. The new city data shows 175 of these lots have had the benefit reinstated by fulfilling all of the 421-a requirements by May 1.

How Chirlaine gets away with stuff

From the 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.”

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.

Familiar excuses from DSNY

From CBS 2:

A Brooklyn block has been turned into a junkyard where public parking spaces are filled with wrecked and damaged cars.

Calls to 311 went unanswered. So CBS2 demanded answers and got action.

A frustrated Sheepshead Bay resident took CBS2’s Political Reporter Marcia Kramer on a tour of his block. He said he and his neighbors have been unable to park in public spaces for years because they’re filled with junked cars, like one with no motor and no doors. He said more than 40 to 50 calls to the city for help have fallen on deaf ears.

“They say they’re going to send somebody out… but no one shows up,” he said.

The block was filled with damaged cars and apparent attempts to beat the system by leaving cars on the streets with no license plates or registrations scraped off.

Kramer demanded answers from the owners of the nearby auto body shops and called both the Department of Sanitation and the NYPD. There were a lot of excuses, she reported.

This happens in EVERY neighborhood where there is an auto body shop. It would seem that Sanitation would make a gold mine off this issue but they'd rather send out bogus tickets to homeowners for gum wrappers that blow onto residential property. What a shame.

CB2 tells megadeveloper to shove it

From Sunnyside Post:

Community Board 2 voted Thursday to reject a developer’s bid to be granted a zoning variance in order to build a two-tower, 561-unit development along Queens Boulevard in Woodside.

The rejection represents another blow for the developer, Madison Realty Capital, in its quest to get a zoning change that would permit two buildings—one 17 stories and the other 14 stories–to rise at 69-02 Queens Boulevard.

The board vote, while advisory, follows Council Member Robert Holden’s announcement last month that he is opposed to the rezoning. The property is in Holden’s council district and his opinion will have enormous influence when the proposal is up for a vote in the city council.

Madison, under the existing zoning, is able to build a 12 story building that would consist of 289 units, 58 of which could be affordable.

The company, however, is looking to build much higher and obtain the right to build 561 units. In exchange, 30 percent of the units—or 168 apartments- would be affordable, meeting the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) zoning rules. Those rules require developers to construct between 25 and 30 percent of their units as “affordable” when a rezoning takes place.

Madison argues that there is a shortage of affordable housing in Queens and that the city should take advantage of its plan to bring workforce housing to the borough.

"workforce housing" LOL

Bike lane stupidity claims 73-year old business

From Forest Hills Post:

Ben’s Best, the Kosher deli that has been located in Rego Park for nearly 75 years, is closing.

The owner of the 96-40 Queens Blvd. establishment made the announcement on the restaurant’s website yesterday.

“Regretfully, after seventy-three wonderful years, Ben’s Best will be closing its doors on Saturday June 30,” the deli announced. “We are very grateful to everyone who has supported us and we hope to see you one last time.”

The deli is owned by Jay Parker, whose father Benjamin opened the famed deli in 1945. The deli is known for its old-fashioned pastrami, matzo ball soup and fresh rye bread.

The deli has struggled in recent times, with Parker attributing much of the decline to the Department of Transportation’s installation of protected bicycle lanes on Queens Boulevard, which required the reduction of parking spaces.

Would this work for the homeless?

From the Commercial Observer:

In 2002, I had an idea to take vacant city-owned land and have developers and various trades donate their services to build a multifamily building, housing only destitute tenants in rent-free units. It was a utopian vision but the building did indeed get built with the collective genius of Helen Ng, Lance Brown, Mark Ginsberg, Tara Siegel, Rex Curry, Rick Bell, Karen Kubey, the late Margaret Helf and and countless other volunteers. Shaun Donovan of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development shared our vision and found us a site in the Bronx for us to build on. The architects on our team changed the vision and decided that a “green space, sustainability and replicable, affordable design” competition would be a more achievable theme. After being on the initial steering committee, I opted to fade into the background after the goals changed, but I was pleased that so many professionals took the call to action. Rose Associates ended up winning the competition, Via Verde was built in 2006 and thrives today. The process was known as the New Housing New York Legacy Project. However, the recession of 2008 derailed replicating it in scale.

Fast-forward to 2016. Bill de Blasio unveiled the Turning the Tide program to revamp the shelter system to help the homeless. The administration was saying the right things, vowing to build 90 new shelters. Muzzy Rosenblatt of the Bowery Residents’ Committee gets high marks for taking the initiative and building Landing Road as a model project, combining a 200-bed shelter subsidized by 100 low-income apartments. However, since it is privately owned, the numbers don’t work for the city to replicate it in bulk without simultaneously overburdening taxpayers.

Here’s a refined idea:

Have the city identify existing owned multifamily buildings that are abandoned or foreclosed or commercial buildings that can easily be converted to multifamily buildings. Since they aren’t yielding tax revenues anyway, a 10-year moratorium on property taxes won’t impact the budget.

Have developers take on the project pro bono with regard to fees. This might seem Pollyanna, but I have faith that the Real Estate Board of New York could get our members to step forward and take this on. The PR effect, goodwill and intangibles would be invaluable to said developer.

Ask contractors with excess capacity to reduce their rates to aid on the project. This is clearly a big ask. The city could barter other services to partially offset the reduction while getting neighboring restaurants and retailers to further donate to these trades.

The only tenants eligible for the building have to demonstrate extreme need. Start with those that are chronically homeless. Get referrals from the local soup kitchens and shelters. Convince retailers to furnish the apartments. Get clergy, social workers, job counselors and medical workers to help the tenants after they move in.

Hope for Lefferts Ave Bridge?

From the Queens Chronicle:

The battle to save the Lefferts Boulevard bridge — and the handful of small businesses atop it — has been raging for more than a year now.

But at no point in that fight has Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal (D-Flushing) been more optimistic that Kew Gardens residents and leaders alike will win in the end.

“Their attitude has changed to, ‘How can we save the bridge?’” Rosenthal said of the MTA. “There are a lot of obstacles ahead, but things are looking up.”

His optimism stems from a May 24 Borough Hall meeting hosted by Borough President Melinda Katz and attended by a laundry list of officials, including new Long Island Rail Road President Phillip Eng, state Sens. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) and Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), Rosenthal, aides to Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills), Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) and Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing), MTA State Legislative Affairs Director Tim Ellis, Community Board 9 Chairman J. Richard Smith and a handful of Kew Gardens civic activists.

At the gathering, Eng expressed a willingness — even a desire — to save the bridge that no one else at the MTA or LIRR had done with similar vigor, according to multiple attendees who spoke with the Chronicle this week.

“We’re all on the same page. We all want to save the bridge,” Addabbo said. “We’re starting from common ground.”

According to Kew Gardens Improvement Association President Sylvia Hack, Eng told the crowd that he will take about four weeks to look over internal engineering reports before coming back to the community with a more informed opinion about how, or if, the bridge can be salvaged.

MS-13 set Flushing fire

From CBS 2:

A suspected MS-13 gang member faces charges after he allegedly set a fire in Queens that left two other members in critical condition, police sources tell CBS2.

Crews were called to the two-alarm house fire around 2 a.m. Monday on 41st Avenue in Flushing.

Investigators later determined a flammable liquid was used to fuel the flames.

Two men, ages 29 and 48, were hospitalized in critical condition.

Sources say they were both MS-13 members squatting inside the vacant residence.

The suspect, 20-year-old Melvin Gongora, had also been staying there, sources say. He was caught on camera fleeing the fire.

Sources say he told arresting officers something to the effect of “I have to get them before they get me.”

Gongora was charged with arson, attempted murder and assault, among others.