Judge decides in LPC's favor in UES crap case

A real estate company is being blocked from redeveloping two Upper East Side tenements by a state court's ruling that they are historic landmarks.

The decision caps a two-decade tug-of-war in which the buildings were granted landmark status, lost it, got it back with the City Council's help, and most recently faced the prospect of losing it again. The tenements were built in 1915 as part of a model complex that aimed to improve the quality of "affordable" housing.

Landmarks Ruling Caps Long East Side Tenements Battle

The 15-structure development, occupying a block on York Avenue between 64th and 65th streets, was first designated as a landmark in 1990. In a compromise with owners four months later, the now-disbanded Board of Estimate stripped two of the buildings of their status.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission restored the designation in 2006, and the City Council backed it by a unanimous vote. The owner sued in state Supreme Court but lost in the decision announced yesterday.

The ruling allays fears that the owner, Stahl Real Estate, would tear down the tenements to make way for a pair of glass office towers.

Some of the tenements' architectural details have been altered, including their original paint color and façade material. The owner admitted to making those changes simply so it could argue that the buildings lack value as landmarks, according to the court's written opinion.

The court's decision "will make owners throughout the City think twice before removing certain features from their properties in an effort to stave off landmark designation," the Landmarks Preservation Commission chairman, Robert Tierney, said in a statement.

A representative for Stahl, Brian Maddox, noted that Judge Goodman cited the buildings' history and structure — rather than their architectural detail — in concluding that they are landmarks. The company is considering an appeal, Mr. Maddox said.

Previously featured here: Saving Upper East Side Crap

Upzoning. Upzoning. Upzoning!

To The Editor:

The [Queens] Gazette used 578 words to tell half a story.

All the neighborhoods in our city are screaming for downzoning. The Dutch Kills community was and is screaming for UPZONING. What part of that is not understood by the Gazette?

The Dutch Kills Zoning Proposal was designed to UPZONE the area for residential use "as of right". The rest of the zoning was designed to balance the character of the community. It was not intended to further special interests; rather, the UPZONING was intended for the good and welfare of the entire community.

The Dutch Kills community was condemned to death as a residential community by the zoning change of 1961. That change, in effect, said: NO NEW HOMES or expanded homes in Dutch Kills. Those that remained found it difficult to secure mortgages, fire insurance and, if a home was destroyed, more than 50 percent could not be rebuilt. THAT was real DOWNZONING, better known as How To Kill A Family Neighborhood 101.

Queens Community Board 1 and Borough President Helen Marshall recommended passage of the UPZONING proposal for the Dutch Kills community, which is now before the City Council. Hundreds of property owners will benefit from the zoning change. Property values will rise for owners because there can now be two uses for the property: Commercial and Residential. Commercial owners can continue to provide jobs and expand. Can they build tall manufacturing buildings? Yes, but not in areas of Dutch Kills.

When Dutch Kills Civic Association President Jerry Walsh brought our request for UPZONING for residential uses to the attention of Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg, it was noted that Jerry was the only one of the civic leaders gathered at the Gracie Mansion meeting making such a request. By the end of the day, Department of City Planning Chair Amanda Burden had an appointment with Jerry. Jerry has worked tirelessly with the Department City Planning to revitalize our community. Will everyone be satisfied? No, of course not. However, had Jerry not started this process when he did, our community would have been totally devastated by the hotels that have rushed to build. Nineteen hotel permits have been issued in a five-block area.

There is a balance in the Dutch Kills proposal for low, medium and high-rise zoning for residential and business property owners. With the patience and hard work of Queens Director of City Planning John Young, Joy Chen and Penny Lee, we have reached a milestone for the good of the entire community.

Now with the new UPZONING, we can begin to rebuild our community.

UPZONING. UPZONING. UPZONING.

George L. Stamatiades
Executive Director
Dutch Kills Civic Association of Long Island City, Inc.

Who Bloomie gave his bucks to

The Wonkster on The Mayor's Pot:

Since the Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office he has doled out approximately $19.7 million in discretionary funding, according to a memo released yesterday by the administration.

Here is who got what of the mayor’s money:

Councilmember Simcha Felder: $5.7 million
Former Councilmember Madeline Provenzano: $2.17 million
Councilmember Domenic Recchia: $2.15 million
Former Councilmember Andrew Lanza: $1.68 milion
Councilmember Peter Vallone: $1.6 million
Councilmember Jimmy Oddo $1.37 million
Former Councilmember Dennis Gallagher: $642,499
Councilmember Maria Baez: $410,000
Former Councilmember Yvette Clarke: $375,000
Councilmember Bill de Blasio:$351,000
Councilmember James Sanders: $318,000
Councilmember Helen Sears: $311,000
Councilmember Vincent Ignizio: $250,000
Former Councilmember Martin Golden: $205,000
Councilmember Erik Martin Dilan: $150,000
Councilmember Maria del Carmen Arroyo: $117,500
Councilmember Leroy Comrie: $80,000
Councilmember Letitia James: $75,000
Councilmember Sara Gonzalez: $55,000
Councilmember Bill Perkins: $35,000
Councilmember Jimmy Vacca: $20,000
Councilmember Joe Addabbo: $20,000
Councilmember Kendall Stewart: $20,000
Councilmember Diana Reyna: $20,000
Councilmember Al Vann: $20,000
Councilmember Miguel Martinez: $15,000
Councilmember Annabel Palma: $6,500

The return of Julia Harrison

It was a dozen years ago that Julia Harrison, then a city councilwoman from Queens, created a stir with remarks she made regarding the influx of Asian residents in her district, which was centered in Flushing.

In an interview at the time, the councilwoman, who is white, blamed the growing Asian population in Flushing for increased crime and higher real estate prices. The remarks prompted an outcry in the community culminating in a demonstration at City Hall. Ms. Harrison apologized for her remarks. But they have come to represent something of a signature event in her public profile.

Since then, Mr. Harrison has often sought — unsuccessfully — to return to public office since term limits forced her to leave the Council in 2001. That changed on Tuesday, when the New York City Board of Elections certified her as the razor-thin winner of a race for the position of Democratic district leader in the Assembly district anchored in Flushing.

Ex-Councilwoman Makes a Comeback of Sorts

Adios, amigos!

You gotta love this drivel from a Daily News columnist:

Last year, about 500,000 immigrants entered the country - less than half the 1.8 million the year before, according to the Census Bureau. That, along with the fact that thousands of immigrants are returning to their countries on their own, is shrinking the foreign-born population in the U.S.

"There are no jobs, no chance to become legal; they treat us worse than criminals," said Efrén Ramos, a 22-year-old construction worker who lives in Jackson Heights. "What am I doing here?"

Yes, what are you doing here? You just admitted you're an illegal alien and therefore are a criminal. We're supposed to feel sorry for you?

In other words, the nation's sharp economic downturn and lack of available jobs, coupled with the human rights crisis provoked by the administration's enforcement-only immigration policy (for lack of a better word), have made migrating to the U.S. a less plausible road. The beacon of a generous America where success can be achieved by working hard and believing in the future has dimmed considerably.

So, enforcing our laws is considered bad? Which other laws would you like us to ignore?

The beacon of a generous America continues to shine brightly for those who come here legally.

Furmanville farmhouse headed toward Stucco-land

It's not too often you see this in a building application: PAVERS AND CONCRETE THROUGHOUT SITE. And it was approved by buildings after the City Council approved City Planning's green space initiatives. Fantastic!
There's more good news: NEW STUCCO EXTERIOR SIDING THROUGHOUT. Perfect material in which to clad an historic farmhouse!

Wait, they're not done yet! PROPOSED SUBDIVISION OF EXISTING TAX LOT/ZONING LOT 46, INTO REAPPORTIONED TAX AND ZONING LOT 46, WITH ADJACENT TAX AND ZONING LOT 48, TO CREATE TWO NEW SEPARATE TAX AND ZONING LOTS 46 & 146

Woo hoo! More crap's a-comin'!

CPC votes "yes" on Willets Point plan

So the City Planning Commission voted in favor of the Willets Point plan today. Not surprising, since this is who they are:

The City Planning Commission, established by the 1936 City Charter, began operating in 1938 with seven members appointed by the Mayor. The 1989 Charter expanded the Commission to thirteen members. The Mayor appoints the Chair who is also the Director of City Planning. The Mayor also appoints six other members, each Borough President appoints one member, and the Public Advocate appoints one member. The Chair serves at the Mayor's pleasure while the other 12 commissioners each serve for staggered terms of 5 years.

The mayor's pleasure? Sounds almost pornographic.

Here's Councilman Hiram Monserrate's statement:

"Today's decision by the City Planning Commission is not a vote, but a rubber stamp. With a majority of the Commissioners serving at the request of the Mayor, their decision to pass this plan without addressing the many noted flaws is not surprising. However, there was one notable exception to this rule. I would like to acknowledge Commissioner Karen A. Phillips for her willingness to cast her vote against a project and a process that sets a dangerous precedent for the city as a whole.

The current Willets Point plan sets a precedent for community planning by decree, rather than discussion. The City Planning Commission's vote is further proof that the Administration is more interested in steamrolling this process rather than accepting the community's many pleas for collaboration.

Today's decision begins the countdown towards the final vote in the City Council. With a majority of Council Members already expressing their dire concerns about this project, including the Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, I look forward to finally having an open discussion and solution on the issues that the Administration has so far not resolved – guaranteed affordable housing, fair-market compensation and relocation plans, traffic mitigation plans and a commitment to take eminent domain off the table."

And here's WPIRA's response:

"At a time when the mayor is ordering painful budget cuts and raising property taxes on struggling homeowners, the City Planning Commission rubber stamps the administration's misguided plan for Willets Point without even so much as questioning this $1 billion plus waste of taxpayers’ money.

Unfortunately, that is hardly a surprise. Throughout this rush to judgment, the administration has refused to answer the tough questions and ignored the concerns of the property owners whose land the City seems bent on seizing through eminent domain.

We applaud Public Advocate Gotbaum for once again raising the questions that the City has refused to answer. She knows a bad deal when she sees one, and has the independence to say it to a mayor used to getting his way.

We have confidence the City Council will continue to stand up to the Mayor as he pressures them to approve his flailing plan.

Willets Point needs help but we don't need a multi-billion dollar boondoggle that will never get done. It’s long past time for the Mayor to work with the property owners to develop a meaning and affordable plan to revitalize Willets Point.

We stand ready to work with the Council on a plan that makes sense for the local community, protects and creates jobs, and doesn't require massive taxpayer subsidies for wealthy private developers."

And Mayor Bloomberg said the plan must move forward.

A house that's easy to move

McCarthy, 30, and three partners, Pablo Nava, 22; Kyle Annen, 23; and Mackenzie Bishop, 22, have made a prototype out of a standard shipping container that hauls goods worldwide — a 320-square-foot home with a kitchen, bath with toilet, sleeping areas, windows and a bright blue door. The exterior is painted with a white epoxy coating that has light-reflecting properties to prevent the sun's heat from penetrating.

Each small house includes hookups for air conditioning, ventilation, electrical and water systems — and the units ideally could be set up in small communities to make accessing utilities more efficient.

Young firm wants your new home to be a shipping container

The answer to how we can fit a million more people in the city by 2030. How long before these are in Corona somewhere?

Most dangerous streets in western Queens

Queens Boulevard gets a lot of attention as the "boulevard of death," but some of the borough's other streets are also dangerous spots for pedestrians, according to a report issued by doctors at Elmhurst Hospital Center.

Some streets pose dangers to pedestrians

They looked at 998 patients who ended up in the hospital's emergency room because they were struck by vehicles while trying to cross busy borough streets.

The team mapped the accidents and found many hot spots. Among them are the Queens Blvd. and 63rd Drive intersection and Roosevelt Ave. in the area between 64th and 69th Sts., as well as Northern Blvd. near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

Galer said she was surprised to find out most of the accidents involved people between the ages of 30 and 60.

"We initially though it might be mostly school-aged students and elderly people," she said. She also thought the research would show many of the accidents took place as kids returned home from school. But the heaviest cluster was from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. They urge public awareness.

Ivan starts his unnecessary job

Despite enacting a state hiring freeze, the Paterson administration created a $140,000-a-year job for a recently retired Queens assemblyman.

Ivan Lafayette, 78, was named deputy superintendent for community affairs at the state Insurance Department.

Lafayette, who was elected to the Assembly in 1976, is making much more in his new gig than the combined $104,500 he earned in legislative salary and stipends.

The higher pay will also help him boost his pension, which is based on the combined average of the last three years of a person's salary.

In April, Paterson told agencies they could fill only "absolutely essential" openings. In July, he took it a step further, saying his office had to approve new hires.

Insurance Department spokesman Andy Mais said "Mr. Lafayette's appointment was approved through the budget freeze waiver process as would any fill during the hiring freeze." He did not say why the new position was deemed critical.

Paterson spokesman Errol Cockfield said Lafayette's hiring "was a preexisting commitment."

Lafayette said in July he was not seeking reelection and had been offered a job in the Paterson administration.

What hiring freeze? Big state payday for ex-Queens assemblyman

Lame lane-blockers

We said months ago that private vehicles were not the main cause of congestion in Manhattan, but rather trucks, taxis and other commercial vehicles that block lanes and create backups. Streetsblog has proven this in a great pictorial regarding bus lanes.

Maloney's money comes from development

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, worth at least $19 million, is New York's wealthiest lawmaker, according to a Washington newspaper's analysis of personal finance records released yesterday.

NY'S 'WEALTH' OF POLS

Maloney's big bucks, from her portion of a real-estate development company, placed the Democrat - whose district includes parts of Manhattan and Queens - at No. 16 on Roll Call's "50 Richest Members of Congress" list.

Wind Farm Eyed Off Queens Coast

NEW YORK (1010WINS) -- The Long Island Power Authority is exploring a plan to build a wind farm of up to 100 turbines off the coast of Queens -- a year after killing a similar development over cost concerns.

Newsday reported Tuesday that LIPA chief executive Kevin Law is slated to announce the formation of a working group with Consolidated Edison to study whether a wind farm can be built 10 miles off the Rockaways.

The proposed farm would generate an estimated 300 megawatts and could cost $1.5 billion.

Sharing the cost between the two power utilities could make the project more appealing than the Jones Beach wind farm, the newspaper reported.

LIPA pulled the plug on the plan to build the offshore wind farm near the iconic beach last year after cost estimates swelled to nearly $1 billion.

Crap arrives on East End Avenue

It's finally happening, folks. Crap architecture is closing in on Burden and Bloomberg territory. I'm pleased that they will share in our joy. Why should we hog all the fun?

UES Watch: Chapin School Chafes Neighbors With Expansion

Betsy not buying City's Willets Point B.S.

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum stated the following today:

"Tomorrow, the City Planning Commission will vote on a development plan for Willets Point that is far from complete. We can expect that the Commission will rubber stamp the plan. In less than two months, the City Council will be required, because of the ULURP clock, to vote on this same plan.

What’s wrong with this scenario? Plenty.

First, we just don’t have enough specific information. The Request for Proposals (RFP) sets out the framework for the redevelopment, but we don’t know who is going to be the ‘master developer’ for the site, to hold accountable for what the actual plan will look like at completion.

Second, the needs of local businesses in Willets Point haven’t been adequately addressed. These businesses have been in the area for a long time. Many have dealt with horrible conditions, including no sewer system and a lack of any City improvements or maintenance for years.

Third, given our current economic crisis, we need to know what kinds of public subsidies will be provided for this plan, and where the money will come from.

Unfortunately, the clock is already ticking for the City vote on the Willets Point plan. The administration shouldn’t force the Council to speculate on the details of this plan. It may be difficult in the short time left, but they need to come up with the specifics about the future of this development."

Response from WPIRA:

"Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum is exactly right about Willets Point: There are too many questions and not enough answers for the City Council to move forward with the Mayor's seemingly haphazard plan. This is exactly why 33 members of the Council have voiced opposition to it and it's probable abuse of eminent domain. Mayor Bloomberg should recognize the fatal flaws of this plan and instead work with the property owners on sensible and affordable infrastructure investment that Willets Point has needed for decades. If not, we trust the City Council will show the same independence that Ms. Gotbaum demonstrated today with her courageous stance and reject this misguided proposal."

The glacier at Ground Zero

A fantastic landscape in Lower Manhattan — plummeting holes, steep cliffsides and soft billows of steel-gray bedrock, punctuated by thousands of beach-smooth cobblestones in a muted rainbow of reds and purples and greens — has basked in sunlight this summer for the first time in millennia.

At Ground Zero, Scenes From the Ice Age

This monumental carving was the work of glaciers, which made their last retreat from these parts about 20,000 years ago, leaving profound gouges in the earth and rocks from the Palisades, the Ramapo Mountains and an area of northern New Jersey known as the Newark Basin.

Plumbing these glacial features and souvenirs has been critical in preparing the foundation for Tower 4 of the new World Trade Center, being built by Silverstein Properties. The concrete footings from which its columns rise must rest on firm bedrock. Engineers need a clear understanding of the rock’s contours.

Here come the tax & subway hikes, but rebate is safe

MIKE SEEKS EARLY 7% PROP-TAX HIKE
By DAVID SEIFMAN, City Hall Bureau Chief, NY Post

Mayor Bloomberg will try to hike the city's property tax by 7 percent six months early - and even that might not be enough to fill gaping budget holes that are sure to widen amid Wall Street's meltdown, according to insiders.

The mayor's budget for fiscal 2010 already assumes the City Council will approve the tax increase starting July 1.

But Bloomberg has indicated in recent days that the $1.2-billion-a-year tax cut granted two years ago is a luxury the city has to pull back.

Hiking the tax on Jan. 1 would generate $600 million more that could be used to help offset a $2.3 billion deficit projected for 2010.

"Anybody that is in city government and hopes to run for office a year from November will have had to stand up and be counted on balancing our budget," the mayor said last week in a reference to council members he's going to ask to vote for higher taxes.

With staggering losses that they can continue to carry over, many firms in the financial sector won't be paying any city taxes whatsoever in coming years, according to the mayor.
____________________________

Mayor: Property tax rebate safe despite tough times
By the Associated Press

New York City homeowners don't have to worry that their annual $400 property tax rebates will be eliminated as the city looks to raise revenues amid the shaky economic situation.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he won't eliminate the rebate in place since 2004.

He says the rebate was set up to help owners of one- and two-family homes when the city enacted an 18.5 percent property tax hike in 2002. He says the rebate for owners of houses, condos and co-ops was necessary because of a state law that says when the city raises or lowers property taxes it must do so for all classes of property equally.

A separate 7 percent property tax cut put in place last fiscal year and added again for this year may be in danger of being eliminated.

_____________________________

MTA spooks riders with service cuts talk

Only months after announcing two fare hikes, the MTA is asking its agencies to develop budget-tightening scenarios that could include service cuts if the economy worsens or local government does not offer more money, an official said Monday.

Even the talk of cuts immediately upset transit advocates, who argued that the system’s growing ridership makes service reductions senseless, and suggested the call may simply be a ploy to get more funding for the cash-starved organization.

Each agency, including New York City Transit, must come up with a contingency plan by next month that decreases expenditures by about 10 percent, and includes scenarios that would scale back subway and bus service.

EDC man in trouble for gift taking

EDC official fined for accepting gifts from contractor
By Adam Pincus, The Real Deal

A 24-year veteran of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) was fined $11,500 for accepting gifts worth more than $4,050 from a firm doing business with the city.

Nazir Mir, former vice president of capital programs for EDC, admitted to investigators that he accepted gifts from Kiska Construction, according to a statement from the city's Conflicts of Interest Board.

EDC and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation have awarded the construction firm -- headquartered in Ankara, Turkey, with a local office in Long Island City -- three major contracts related to the development of the High Line project. Mir oversaw the development of the project.

The gifts included two meals in New York City, and lodging and travel expenses for his son's honeymoon to Istanbul, Turkey, the board said.

City workers are not allowed to accept gifts worth more than $50 from any company that does business or may do business with the city.

Mir worked for the agency from November 1983 until December 2007.

Website to check for contractor complaints

NY sets up site listing contractors with complaints against them
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is unveiling a new Web site to help New Yorkers avoid home improvement scams and dishonest contractors.

Cuomo says launching the site is timely because of instability of the housing market, which is likely forcing homeowners to hold on to their properties for longer and make more improvements.

The Web site, www.nyknowyourcontractor.com, features a database listing contractors who have had a complaint or lawsuit filed against them. The site also includes tips on what consumers should do before hiring a contractor, other resources and links, and information on how to file a complaint against a contractor.

Cuomo says his office has handled more than 1,550 complaints against home improvement contractors since Jan. 1, 2007.

[Notice how the website redirects you to the City's Department of Consumer Affairs which doesn't tell you dip. Thanks, Andrew.]

Jamaica's Chapel of the Sisters restored

They came for a rare glimpse of the Chapel of the Sisters, restored by a $700,000 project to its glorious, circa-1857 self after years of neglect.

A century and a half ago, Nicholas Ludlum - an ancestor of Cate's, though the surname spelling changed over the years commissioned the chapel to memorialize his three daughters, who died at ages 1, 13 and 21.

The chapel was deemed so unique that the city landmarked it in 1977 - along with the adjacent Prospect Cemetery, where Nicholas Ludlum, his wife Sarah and their daughters are buried.

But by the late 1990s, decades of neglect had left the land in disrepair. Pews rotted in the chapel, layered in pigeon and rat dung. Outside, chest-high vegetation towered over tombstones dating as far back as 1728.

Restored from ruin, a 19th century chapel comes back to life

A ceremony today at the Romanesque Revival chapel on 159th St. between Archer and Liberty Aves. will usher in the next chapter of its history.

The land - owned by the city Parks Department - sits on the campus of CUNY's York College, which plans to use the chapel for classes, faculty meetings and a music performance space, said college spokesman Nate Moore.

Ludlam's husband, Dick Frankenheimer, wondered if the city would make good on its promise to maintain the grounds.

Maintenance is never as sexy as fixing something up and having a ribbon-cutting photo op.