Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Plundering of Steinway Mansion property continues
Willets Point businesses protest being screwed
Sunrise Cooperative, consisting of tenant businesses being evicted from Willets Point, Queens, calls upon Council Member Julissa Ferreras to not abandon Sunrise's effort to relocate to the Bronx, Mayor Bill de Blasio to intercede, and alleges a lack of diligence by the Urban Justice Center concerning the Bronx relocation site, at this press conference held on June 1, 2015 in Willets Point. In English and Spanish.
Recording © 2015 LoScalzo Media Design LLC. Reproduction prohibited.
Noteworthy portions include at 11:55, the plea that Council Member Julissa Ferreras "cannot abandon us" (In Spanish) and at 20:47, the Q&A leading to Sunrise's allegation that Urban Justice Center "did a wrong job" (in English). The Bronx relocation site cannot be renovated due to a lack of permits, but a contract between NYCEDC and Urban Justice Center provided $150,000 to Urban Justice Center for tasks that were supposed to include relocation "due diligence" and "permitting." Despite the lack of permits necessary to renovate the Bronx relocation site, Urban Justice Center oversaw Sunrise agreeing to vacate Willets Point Phase One by June 1, 2015.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
DeBlasio doesn't care much for unions when it comes to affordable housing
Alicia Glen, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s deputy mayor for housing and economic development, told the City Council today that obligating developers who receive the controversial 421a tax break to pay construction workers prevailing wages could result in 17,000 badly-needed below-market apartments not getting built—and argued that the demand for low-cost housing trumps the call for union jobs.
Ms. Glen told the Council’s Committee on Housing that several independent studies, including those done by Columbia University and the Citizens Budget Commission, showed that mandating real estate interests receiving the tax deduction to pay union rates would result in 30 percent fewer affordable units getting built. This figure, she said, meant “jeopardizing” some 17,000 potential apartments because of higher costs—unacceptable given what she called the city’s “housing emergency.”
That A/C was too heavy to lift
From PIX11:
The mammoth 23,000-pound air conditioner that broke free from a crane and smashed into a midtown high-rise did more than just leave a gaping hole in the its facade.
The NYPD special operations team released photos that reveal the massive damage it did inside the building. The cooling unit was too heavy for the building’s floor to support, which caused it to bounce from the 29th to 11th floor.
Ten people were injured in the accident, including two traffic agents and a firefighter.
Department of Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler said the crane was in working condition at the time of the accident.
The crane was being operated by Greenpoint-based Skylift Contractor Corp but is owned by Queens-based Bay Crane, which have previously been rocked by scandal.
The buildings department cited a Skylift crane operator after he failed to secure a crane owned by bay crane, causing it to collapse at a financial district construction site in the middle of the night.
From NBC:
A day after a crane dropped a 23,000-pound air conditioner 30 stories onto a midtown sidewalk, one city official is charging that more could have been done to prevent the accident.
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said nearly eight years after the city Department of Buildings spent more than $5 million on a study to make construction sites safer, the department has failed to implement many of the safety reforms recommended in the report.
In an interview with the I-Team, Stringer said the Department of Buildings has had years to implement simple reforms like installing so-called “black boxes” in cranes and hanging better protective netting around construction sites. But those recommendations still have not been implemented.
“Since we've issued our audit, nothing has changed nothing has happened," Stringer said of his 2014 audit. “I'm urging the Department of Buildings to dust off their own report and look at our audit and figure out are we doing enough to ensure safety of our citizens."
NYPD raids FMCP
From DNA Info:
Late-night revelers partying at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park after dark were slapped with summonses during an early-morning raid over the weekend, police said.
Officers from the 110th Precinct entered the park at 1 a.m. and handed out 39 summonses on Sunday, May 31 after multiple complaints about loud music and partying, according to Deputy Inspector Christopher Manson.
The identities of those given summonses and the exact violations were not immediately available, but the typical type of summonses given out are for violating city rules against being in the park after dark, police said.
It's the latest enforcement at the borough's largest park after complaints from neighbors in surrounding communities about speeding drivers and partiers who take advantage of the park's thoroughfares, which are open 24 hours a day despite rules against entering the park after dark to allow access to nearby highways.
Manson has said at public meetings he'd like the road that connects the Van Wyck Expressway and Grand Central Parkway through the park to be closed at night to prevent access once it closes.
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