Perkins calls on Cuomo to investigate Atlantic Yards bond issuance

From Atlantic Yards Report:

Well, if state Senator Bill Perkins can't get a written statement from Governor David Paterson's office regarding the Atlantic Yards bond deal, maybe Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will weigh in.

Perkins, as he promised, sent a letter to Cuomo yesterday:

"I write to request your opinion of the recent bond issuance on behalf of Forest City Ratner for the construction of the arena at Atlantic Yards.

On December 18, 2009 I sent a letter to Governor Paterson outlining my concerns. Your office was carbon copied. In essence, the ESDC crafted an unusual transaction whereby a nearly defunct entity, the Job Development Authority (JDA) was used to form the Brooklyn Atlantic Yards Development Corporation (BALDC) which then issued the $511 million worth of arena construction bonds.

I believe that the bond issuance was done in this manner to avoid a review by the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB) and the state Comptroller. I respectfully request that your office issue an opinion as to whether the process employed during the bond issuance was legal, as the public must have utmost confidence in the processes of government.

Enclosed please find a copy of my letter to the Governor. I look forward to your diligent response."

Update: note contrast

Note that Perkins's letter focused on the avoidance of PACB review, not the other issue raised in his letter to Paterson, whether the BALDC deserves a tax exemption.

Looks like Cuomo is going to be asked to investigate every state or city-supported development scheme... simply because of how corrupt they all are.

Parks Dept drinking too much eggnog?

Click for larger size.

Either Elizabeth Crowley married Dennis Gallagher recently, or there is a real moron working for the Parks Dept.

Great catch by Lost in the Ozone.

"Bottoms Up" went bottoms up

From the Times Ledger:

Bottoms Up, the “Rock Palace of Queens,” as proprietors Lisa “Tazz” Shelton of College Point, Charles Priola of Astoria and Paul “Vogue” Kenigsberg of Fresh Meadows, dubbed it, was a $750,000 labor of love that quickly turned into a nightmare.

They were on the way to creating a stellar music venue in the heart of Queens when they ran into problems getting a liquor license, which set off a series of setbacks that led to its premature shuttering.

“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” Kenigsberg said. A large neon Bottoms Up sign they ordered even arrived without bulbs.

The entrepreneurs said they poured their life savings and then some — borrowing large sums of money and maxing out their and their friends’ credit cards — into outfitting the 20,000-square-foot space above Parts Authority at 126-02 Northern Blvd. with a $50,000 sound system, $11,000 carpets and more only to be locked out months later by U.S. marshals and lose it all.

The trio signed a lease on the space in January 2006, and in February instructed a liquor license expediter to apply for a license. In June they finished construction and began to host dry shows since they still had no liquor license.

The expediter had not yet submitted their application when they went to him that month, they said, causing them to waste tens of thousands of dollars on rent, utilities and other payments while he dithered until finally submitting it in July.

The Parts Authority could not be reached for comment.

Despite the hard knocks, the hard rocking goes on. Shelton plans to open a new bar and restaurant called Seventh Gear soon in Astoria.

Two questions for these geniuses:

1) Did Parts Authority mention to you that they're leaving soon? You know, this Willets Point thing has been in the news for quite some time...

2) How can you open a new bar and restaurant in Astoria if you're broke?

Anti-crime cameras to be installed at Pomonok

From the Queens Gazette:

Pomonok Houses in Flushing, a city Housing Authority development, is set to get an infusion of $700,000 to install closed circuit television cameras in buildings that have been identified by the police department as high crime buildings, two Flushing lawmakers announced.

Assemblymember Nettie Mayersohn said she has acquired $500,000 in capital funding for the anti-crime project and state Senator Toby Ann Stavisky received $200,000 in state funds for the project. Stavisky’s funds will be used for the installation of additional cameras in strategic places.

The goal of the funding, the Democratic lawmakers said in a release, is to begin installing cameras in high-crime buildings to reduce crime and improve the quality of life for the residents of the targeted buildings.

Stavisky added. “The residents of Pomonok Houses deserve the peace of mind and security that these surveillance cameras will offer in terms of crime deterrence.” Stavisky added. “The residents of Pomonok Houses deserve the peace of mind and security that these surveillance cameras will offer in terms of crime deterrence.” The cameras, they said, would be strategically placed in specially designated areas that are prone to criminal activity, such as building lobbies, including mail boxes and elevators, interior elevator cabs and building entrances and exits, and also the building exteriors.

New teachers scrambling to get better pensions

From CBS 2:

Prospective full-time teachers are scrambling to get into the current state pension tier before a reform measure designed to save New York taxpayers billions of dollars takes effect New Year's Day.

The change adopted earlier this month means new hires will receive less generous retirement benefits than teachers vested under the current pension plan -- unless they followed the teachers' union guide to lock into the richer plan.

Teachers joining after Jan. 1 will have to pay 3.5 percent of their salary toward their pension for as long as they work. Currently employed teachers pay 3 percent for the first 10 years of service, then pay nothing.

As of Tuesday, 3,198 workers had joined the pension system this month under the more generous tier -- about three times the number who joined a year ago, according to data from the state Teachers Retirement System.

Bloomberg excited over money-losing project

From Atlantic Yards Report:

A statement from the mayor:

STATEMENT OF MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ON PROGRESS OF ATLANTIC YARDS DEVELOPMENT
“While the rest of the country wrings its hands about the national recession, we’re building our way out of it. The $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project - the most extensive development ever undertaken in Brooklyn - is moving forward, bringing thousands of units of housing and thousands of jobs for New York City’s middle class. In the past few weeks alone, we’ve made major investments or reached critical milestones on development projects decades in the making at areas like the Hudson Yards, Hunter’s Point South, Coney Island, Willets Point and other neighborhoods across the City. This is no time to wait and see what happens with the national economy and just hope for the best. We’re acting more aggressively than ever to create jobs and ensure New York City’s best days are still to come.”

Well, as the mayor conveniently forgets, the New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) found the arena--the only part of the project with a design--to be a net loss for the city. As for the thousands of units of housing, they depend on yet-to-be-announced city subsidies.

And while construction of the arena and other buildings surely would bring construction jobs, the number of permanent jobs projected has been steadily shrinking, with the market for office space questionable.

City chooses short-term cat solution instead of common sense

From the Daily News:

Hundreds of stray cats have settled into similar crawl spaces at Ravenswood, a 31-building complex on the Astoria-Long Island City border. The New York City Housing Authority wants them out, and had started to seal up the crawl spaces a few weeks ago before Romano and others intervened.

The latest plan - to trap the felines and bring them to city shelters - has riled up the long-time animal rescuer.

[Debi] Romano, who runs the SaveKitty Foundation, said her group is close to securing a grant that would help fund a trap, neuter and release plan. Romano and her helpers would trap the cats, adopt out the friendly ones, take the kittens and then release a small number of feral cats after they are spayed or neutered.

But NYCHA officials have rejected that proposal, Romano said.

In a statement to the Daily News, NYCHA said it consulted with the city Health Department to address its stray cat problem.

"NYCHA staff was instructed to post signs in and around the buildings to inform residents not to feed the cats," agency officials said in a statement.

Staffers were also told to purchase cat cages and "remove cats from the crawl spaces with cages and seal open vents."

Romano said NYCHA has purchased small cages that are more appropriate for squirrels than cats. And she worries that some cats, hiding in the crawl spaces, will be sealed in alive.

Romano said she has trapped almost two dozen cats in the area on her own in recent weeks.

She said a trap-and-release plan is the only way to cut down on the population.

Well that's the city for you. Long-term solutions are not something they want to deal with. They'd rather do something short-term that kills animals. Just like they did with the geese.

Girl who stabbed in self-defense is sought by NYPD

From the Daily News:

The 16-year-old girl suspected of fatally stabbing an ex-con lashed out after he and a bevy of men chased her onto a Queens subway train and tried to fondle her, her mother said Friday.

Thomas Winston, 29, and a pack of thugs tried to pull Cyan Brown out of a subway car at the 21st St. - Queensbridge station about 9 p.m. Thursday following an altercation that began outside a nearby chicken restaurant, police and family said.

She fought back and stabbed Winston before she fled on a Manhattan-bound F train, police said.

Winston, the father of a 10-month-old girl,was pronounced dead at a Manhattan hospital.

Although police have not disclosed any official suspects, Brown's family said detectives have been trying to contact the girl in connection with Winston's death.

Winston, who lived in a nearby shelter, had a long list of prior convictions that included criminal possession of a weapon and selling narcotics and also faced an attempted murder charge, sources said.

Get a lawyer, Cyan. FAST.

Nabes most screwed by truck traffic

From the Times Ledger:

From December 2008 to March 2009, the city tested every city neighborhood for four air pollutants: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, elemental carbon and fine particle PM2.5, which Health Department Director of Environmental Research Thomas Matte said “has the strongest connection to public health.”

Elemental carbon, PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide are primarily released into the air by vehicles, Matte said. Sulfur dioxide is more of an industrial-based chemical compound. Elemental carbon is often caused by truck traffic, he said.

Matte said air pollution in most Queens neighborhoods was most influenced by whether those communities had heavy traffic and large buildings.

Sunnyside and Woodside had the highest levels of nitrogen dioxide, elemental carbon and fine particle PM2.5, whereas Elmhurst and South Corona were most polluted by sulfur dioxide. Other western Queens neighborhoods that ranked higher on each list were Long Island City, Astoria, Jackson Heights, North Corona, Ridgewood, Glendale and Maspeth.

Bayside, Douglaston and Little Neck had lower levels of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide, but the northeast Queens neighborhoods ranked in the middle for elemental carbon and PM2.5.

Most South Queens neighborhoods had cleaner air. Queens Village and Rosedale had the least amount of sulfur dioxide, but Jamaica, St. Albans and Hollis had higher levels of nitrogen dioxide.

The Rockaways and Broad Channel had the cleanest air in all categories.

“Air pollution is a problem in New York City that is difficult to break down to specific neighborhoods — there’s a lot of overlap,” Matte said.

Liquor license self-certification coming

From the Times Newsweekly:

The State Liquor Authority (SLA) has instituted a pilot self-certification program intended to help the agency sort through a backlog of applications. According to Community Board 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio, who heard about the initiative in an information session held last week with new SLA Chairman Dennis Rosen, the program was initiated in September in response to a reduction in staffing, from 700 employees to about 150, that has caused the 3,000- application backlog.

As part of the new process, applicants and their attorneys are required to fill out a three-page form. The application does “not require full board determination,” meaning that it would not require a public hearing.

The form asks for assurances that the applicant’s paperwork is in order, that the location complies with state regulations, that the applicant is the owner of the business, that the local municipality (or in New York City’s case, the local community board) has endorsed the license, and that the applicant does not have a criminal record.

According to documentation on the SLA website, the program will be in effect until February 2010, at which point it will be re-evaluated.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Melinda and Johnny have won it in past years (Melinda a stunning two-time winner). But this year, we will crown a new monarch.

Ladies and Gentlemen, make your pick for 2010.

The winner will be crowned on New Year's Day.

NYPD officers pummeled at nightclub

From the Daily News:

Five off-duty cops still partying after a police holiday bash were beaten outside a Queens nightclub, and the assailants are in the wind, the Daily News has learned.

At least three of the housing cops were taken to Jamaica Hospital with bloody gashes on their heads and faces after the 4 a.m. fracas last week, police said.

The pounding took place Dec. 16 outside Tropix Bar and Lounge, a popular joint on Queens Blvd. in Rego Park, police said.

The five had been boozing it up at a housing police party at Terrace on the Park in Flushing - then hopped cabs to Tropix.

One of the cops approached the bouncer and flashed his police badge to get into the club, which was about to close, a source said.

A group of men outside started screaming at the cops, and a fist fight erupted.

The officers were hit with a steering wheel lock and another "heavy metal object," said another police source.

Illegal conversions happen in NJ, too

NEWARK (WABC) -- Two Newark men were badly burned when fire broke out in their basement apartment, which may have been illegally converted.

Eyewitness News is told the men were pulled from the basement apartment on Pacific Street just after 2:30 a.m. Christmas morning.

Both were badly burned.

Officials say they were rushed to the burn unit at St. Barnabas Medical Center in West Orange in critical condition.

The men were reportedly living in the basement apartment, which investigators suspect was illegally converted.

Other residents of the house, including two children, were treated for smoke inhalation.

The fire was quickly put out and the fire is under investigation.

Construction worker survives 8 story fall

By Jeff Wilkins and John Lauinger
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

It was the miracle on ... Eighth Ave.

A lucky hardhat remarkably survived an eight-story plunge in Manhattan Thursday after a scaffolding plank snapped underneath him, officials and co-workers said.

Jose Paulino, 29, plummeted from the 16th floor of a Garment District building on Eighth Ave. at 38th St. - but cheated death when he landed on his back on scaffolding eight floors below, police and a Buildings Department official said.

Paulino was conscious and had feeling in all limbs when emergency responders arrived and rushed him to St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan, fellow hardhats at the scene told the Daily News.

Workers had previously performed facade repair on the 20-story building at 580 Eighth Ave., said Buildings Department spokeswoman Carly Sullivan.

The accident happened about 2 p.m. as "workers were in the process of dismantling the scaffolding," Sullivan said.

Paulino stepped onto the plank shortly before it gave way, co-workers said.

The general contractor, Dry New York, Inc., was immediately forced to halt work at the site, Sullivan said. The company did not return a call for comment Thursday night.

Paulino was in stable condition at St. Vincent's last night, a police source said, but the extent of his injuries was not immediately clear.

His family and friends, some in tears, huddled in the emergency room last night, but refused to comment.

As of Thursday, the building had 47 open violations, according to the Buildings Department Web site.

MTA facility causing problems in Dutch Kills

From the Queens Gazette:

Residents in the Dutch Kills community are fuming over the condition of a trashstrewn MTA training facility in their neighborhood, along with a failure on the part of Sanitation inspectors and elected officials to force the agency to clean up their act.

Dutch Kills Civic Association Executive Director, George Stamatiades told the Gazette last week that residents are “sick and tired” of the way Sanitation inspectors are turning their heads at the piles of trash outside the facility on 31st Street and 39th Avenue.

The problem stems from trash that has piled up along a fence that runs outside the training center, which is located on a triangular block along 31st Street, from 39th Avenue to Northern Boulevard.

Dutch Kills President Gerald Walsh echoed the complaint, adding that the civic association has called on local politicians and city Sanitation officials for their help in cleaning up the area. All efforts have fallen on deaf ears, Walsh said.

Queens pols want amnesty for illegals

From the Queens Campaigner:

Queens members of Congress helped to lead the push for national immigration reform last week, co-sponsoring legislation to legalize millions of undocumented individuals that has drawn praise from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, foreign workers and immigrant rights activists in the borough.

U.S. Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills), Nydia Velazquez (D-Ridgewood), Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) and Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) were four of the more than 87 co-sponsors of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act introduced by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) Dec. 15.

“We believe part of our effort to pull the country out of the economic doldrums has to include immigration reform,” Weiner said. “We need to make sure we encourage this work force to come out of the shadows.”

The bill, which has come under fire from some Republican lawmakers, seeks to legalize undocumented individuals by requiring them to prove they have been working, register with the government, learn English, undergo a criminal background check and pay a $500 fine, among other steps.

Should an individual meet all the requirements, he or she would be able to receive a six-year visa and then a green card. The recipient also would be able to travel throughout and outside the country.

The act would funnel more funds into training and equipment for border guards and require the U.S. Homeland Security Department to improve immigration jails.

Questions:

How about public assistance, Medicaid, etc? When will they be eligible for those? Why would we invite an entire class of people to help themselves to handouts?

How will they prove they have been working when most are paid cash and off the books?

Won't they be subject to minimum wage standards and compete with Americans for jobs once they are granted amnesty, which defeats the purpose of looking the other way and reaping the benefits of having them be "guests" here?

What about the ones that don't qualify? Will we still be embracing our sanctuary city policies so they can stay?

Photo from the Daily News

Pol wants to seize Bloomberg's townhouse

Petition by State Senator Bill Perkins:

Mike Makes Blight Petition

The Community has conducted its own study which finds that the home of Mayor Michael Bloomberg is blighted, underutilized, provides limited public purpose and is very very old.

We the undersigned ask New York State Empire State Development Corporation to use its power of Eminent Domain to acquire the home of Mayor Michael Bloomberg to provide 500 units of affordable housing available to all the citizens of New York City.

• Go to form

I like this guy!

City planning kneeslapper of the year

City Planning maintains that it has a longstanding policy to not rezone districts from manufacturing to residential if they are currently occupied by manufacturing uses. - from "Auburndale rezone moves up" Times Ledger

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

Oh man, that was a good one.

Savage attack at Pomonok

by JAMIE SCHRAM, NY Post

Three thugs plunged a screwdriver into a Chinese-food deliveryman's back outside a Queens housing project -- leaving him paralyzed, cops said yesterday.

Chen Zhou was ambushed near the Pomonok Houses in Flushing at about 4 p.m. Tuesday. Cops busted Dijon Bright, Devante Tarver and Cody Youmans in connection with the attack and the theft of a bag of Chinese food.

Arrested engineer involved in Forest Hills craphouse

From the Times Ledger:

An individual involved in the construction of a Forest Hills home that has been fined nearly $200,000 for disregarding a number of stop-work orders has been accused of falsely certifying that he inspected a Brooklyn building where a city firefighter was injured after balconies collapsed, city officials said.

Vasilios Kourkoumelis, 34, of Astoria, was charged last week in a Brooklyn court with two felony counts of offering a false instrument for filing, according to city Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn.

“A professional who falsely certifies that a construction project follows the building code without even inspecting the job potentially puts the public at risk,” Gill Hearn said.

Kourkoumelis applied last year to enlarge the one-family attached town house at 110-46 63rd Road, which the city has slapped with $198,500 for, among other things, ignoring stop-work orders. Kourkoumelis himself has not been fined. But the home’s owner, Vadim Sezaynayev, and the owner of the construction company doing the renovations, Aleksey Shimonov, have been fined, according to city Department of Buildings documents.

Most recently, the DOB issued a stop-work order Nov. 19 that neighbors said has repeatedly been ignored.

Kourkoumelis did not return phone calls for comment. He faces up to four years in prison if found guilty on the felony counts, Gill Hearn said.

There are currently nine open DOB violations and 11 open city Environmental Control Board violations for the Forest Hills home.

The construction caused the DOB to issue a vacate order for the next-door neighbor’s backyard. DOB officials said no one could enter the backyard because conditions could be “perilous to life.”

Hey, I know that house! That's the thorn in Matches Malone's side.