Rats abound at Jamaica site

From the Queens Chronicle:

What once was a private park and playground at the corner of 109th Avenue and 171st Street in Jamaica has long been an overgrown eyesore for nearby residents.

Now it has been designated as a rat-infested danger by the city, which has laid poison in traps around the property and down holes on the lot itself.

“People in the apartment building across the street tell me they don’t want to go outside at night. That’s when they come out,” said Pam Hazel, a neighborhood activist, in one of two telephone interviews with the Chronicle in the last week.

The first treatment was put down on July 7, according to both Hazel and signs posted on the chain link fence around the property by the Department of Mental Heath and Hygiene.

During a visit by the Chronicle in 2013 the property, while already fenced off, had remnants of playground equipment and dilapidated but still recognizable park benches.

A visit last Friday showed the trees to have been cleared out, but that grass, brush and smaller trees have taken over all but the concrete-and-paving stone paths inside.

A handful of residents last Saturday staged a rally outside the property in an effort to draw the attention of the owners and elected officials from the area.

Why did a developer get control of this instead of the Parks Department?

March 2021 is new end date for Van Wyck project

From CBS 2:

“I am a Queens boy,” the governor said right before cutting the ribbon for the newly repaired Queens Midtown Tunnel, damaged during Superstorm Sandy.

But if you want bragging rights for having Queens roots, you have to take the pain with the acclaim, Kramer reported. Right now, there are some borough residents who have a bone to pick with “Andy from Queens.”

“Construction is horrible around here. You can’t go nowhere,” one driver said.

“Very annoying,” said another.

“It’s not easy to travel everywhere,” another said.

“I’m always late,” a man added. “I have to leave an hour earlier to get on the Van Wyck.”

The work began in 2010, but that was just phase one, which, according to the state’s records, was a year and a half late and millions of dollars over budget.

They’re now working on phase two, phase three and the yet-to-be started phase four to replace six decaying overpasses, rehab four more and widen the highway from six lanes to eight – a complex and intricate project that first required widening everything else to accommodate more lanes.

As the phases have multiplied, so has the cost.

Charter changes up for discussion

This is to let you know that the city's Charter Review Commission is having a series of meetings in the boroughs next week, Queens' turn is Thursday evening, July 26 at Queens Borough Hall. The Charter is basically New York City's "constitution" that lays out the broad parameters for administration and operation of the city. Please see the attached flyer for additional information. - Jessica Douglas, Queens Borough Director of the Mayor's Community Affairs office

Community Boards:
1) Whether to place term limits for Community Board members as a method to encourage diversity.
2) How to Standardize and enhance the existing appointment process
3) Provide additional support in resources; particularly as it relates to urban planning
4) Things to adopt methods to ensure Community Boards are representative of the community they serve.

Campaign Finance:
1) The Reduction of spending limits (no amounts provided).
2) Increasing the public match ( no ratio provided).
3) Look into the timeline for implementation given that candidates are raising money under the current system.

Elections
1) Language accessibility ( providing interpreters, translation of ballots and materials, and community advisory groups)
2) Instant Runoff Voting - Look to implement within local primary elections and for citywide elections (where runoffs is provided) or to extend to all offices (Borough Presidents and City Council offices)

A Citywide Civic Engagement Program
1) how such an entity or office could support, supplement, or coordinate the City’s existing efforts in this area, including the recently announced DemocracyNYC initiative.
2) how such an entity or office could facilitate the expansion of participatory budgeting while working within legal and operational constraints
3) where such an entity or office should be situated;.
4) whether such an entity or office should be independent and non-partisan.

Redistricting for City Council Seats
1) In light of the lack of DOJ oversight, solicit testimony from experts and affected communities about the effects of districting process on racial and ethnic minorities and their voting power.
2) Look at altering the Districting Commission to promote independence, including the appointment process.
3) Studying whether there are ways to counteract effects of an undercount in the next census.

Flagship Diner forced to close to make way for apartment building

From PIX11:

Sunday was a bittersweet day for longtime customers of the Flagship Diner, which closed after decades serving up meals in Queens.

For 53 years, this 24-hour diner with a parking lot out front on Queens Boulevard was the center of so many peoples lives.

Customers would bring their children and grandchildren to the diner. They also made sure to come out to say goodbye.

For a year and a half, the diner’s owners have been battling with the landlord over a lease that was supposed to end next year so the property could be converted into a 7-story apartment building.

This day brought one of the owners to tears.

“We’re very sad, but it is relief that it is over,” Vincent Pupplo, co-owner of Flagship diner told PIX11. “There was a lot of pressure in the last year and a half so this is bittersweet.”

Posting a property on AirBnB will have consequences

From Crains:

Airbnb seemed to be sucking wind after its political foes delivered it a gut punch Wednesday.

The City Council voted 45-0 in favor of a bill backed by the hotel industry and its union allies, a measure that will require the company to disclose to law enforcement the names and addresses attached to every one of its listings in the five boroughs. The legislation, expected to by signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, will help the city to crack down on anyone violating state law by using the site to rent an apartment for fewer than 30 days.

The sole consolation for Airbnb was that the final draft of the bill lowered the fines the city can levy against the firm for every case of noncompliance to just $1,500, down from the original bill's range of $5,000 to $25,000.

The vote followed months of bitter public recriminations between the tech giant on one side and the city's traditional lodging interests and Hotel Trades Council on the other. On the morning of the vote, Airbnb labeled its loss "bellhop politics," and announced it would fund a lawsuit against the city brought by a host who claimed authorities targeted him after he testified at a council hearing.