International counterfeiting ring busted

From the Times Ledger:

A Whitestone resident and another Queens man were among nine people indicted in an international counterfeiting and smuggling ring that delivered goods to sites in Ridgewood and Maspeth as well as College Point, federal authorities said.

Kin Yip Ng, 43, of Whitestone and Yenn-Kun Hsieh, 45, of an undisclosed location in Queens, were charged along with a Brooklyn woman, two Malaysians and four Chinese citizens with conspiring to smuggle counterfeit shoes, handbags and wristwatches into the United States, the Maryland U.S. attorney’s office said.

According to a federal indictment issued March 16, the defendants arranged with undercover agents from the federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Bureau to import and clear shipments of counterfeit products into the United States without paying federal taxes and customs duties.

The nine defendants manufactured, brokered and distributed the fake Nike, Coach, Gucci and Cartier goods, importing them from Malaysia and China, federal prosecutors said. The items arrived in Baltimore, where the shipping containers were unloaded and delivered to locations in Ridgewood, Maspeth and College Point, as well as Brooklyn and New Jersey, prosecutors said.

The alleged smugglers imported 130,000 pairs of counterfeit shoes and 500,000 fake designer handbags, officials said.

Hsieh, Ng and others also allegedly paid the undercover agents extra to launder money for their ring and at one point paid the agents to ship three cargo containers to England, prosecutors said.

City still growing, but not as fast

From the NY Times:

As for metropolitan New York over all, about 110,000 more people moved out last year than moved in from elsewhere in the United States, according to the estimate, which is made on the basis of projected growth rates since the 2000 census.

Only two years earlier, the loss was twice as high, and in the middle of the decade it approached 300,000 annually. In New York City, the loss was 77,000 last year compared with 171,000 in 2005.

The shrinking migration deficit reflected several factors. The city is considered a more attractive place to live, and fewer retirees may be leaving it because they delayed retirement after the recession took a toll on their savings or they were unable to sell their homes.

The city registered a net gain of 57,000 immigrants from abroad, down from the decade’s peak of 94,000 from 2000 to 2001. The decline mirrored a national trend.

In Queens, for the first time this decade, more people moved in — either from elsewhere in the country or from abroad — than moved out.

Health Dept targeting Queens business owners

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Some business owners in Queens claim they are being harassed by the city's health department.

Kelly's Bar, located on Crescent Street in Astoria, was slapped with a dozen summonses after receiving 132 violation points during its last inspection earlier this month.

The health department says it's only doing its job.

An inspection report released by the department shows Kelly's Bar received critical violations for evidence of mice, using pesticides not in accordance with labels or applicable laws, not providing a hand washing facility near or in a food preparation area and toilet room; raw, cooked or prepared food that was adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated and/or not discarded in accordance with the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) plan, and not having a supervisor on duty with a food protection certificate.

Sondra Tesseman, who has owned the bar for 40 years, says each violation could cost her anywhere from $200 to $2,000. Tesseman claims the health department closed the bar down for six days for having low water pressure in a kitchen she says doesn't get used because food is not served at the establishment.

Tesseman says it was the first time the bar has ever been closed down for a health violation and believes the cash-strapped city is sending health inspectors to the area to raise money at the expense of business owners.

Kelly's Bar is not the only one suffering.

Owners of a neighboring doughnut shop say they have also been fined by the health department for minor violations including having signs posted in a wrong spot.

Inspection reports for Gleason's and The Doral Coffee Shop show the establishments received several violations, including evidence of live mice, rats and roaches.

All's not well on Albert Road

From the Queens Courier:

“Whatever it takes, I’m committed to seeing this through to completion,” said City Councilmember Eric Ulrich of the decades-old Reconstruction of Albert Road Area (a.k.a. HWQ411B) project.

At a recent meeting with Janette Sadik-Khan, Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner; Maura McCarthy, DOT Queens Borough Commissioner; and others, Ulrich learned that the project needs $1 million to proceed.

“I will include this in my capital budget request,” said Ulrich. “This will be submitted in a few weeks.”

HWQ411B has been delayed numerous times since it was first proposed in 1981, but last year officials from the city’s DOT, Department of Design and Construction (DDC) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said that, if all goes according to plan, 2011 is when construction should begin.

The 28-block project will provide new roadways, sidewalks, sewers and water mains, all of which are desperately needed due to either nonexistence or serious deterioration, say residents.

The DDC, according to Ulrich, is trying to acquire property.

The DOT confirmed this, saying that land will be purchased from property owners in order for the streets to be widened.

Swinging '60's crapitecture

From Lost City:

...rarely have I seen crapitecture that apes the curved, groovy lines of 1960s office buildings.

Frank, is this one of your designs?

Bloomberg admits that fewer cops = more crime

From the Daily News:

Turns out you can't do more with less.

Mayor Bloomberg admitted Friday that the recent uptick in murders could be linked to fewer cops on the streets because of budget cuts.

"It is worrisome," Bloomberg said of the 23% rise in murders this year. "We have fewer police officers than we did before. More cops always helps."

The city's police force stands at nearly 34,500, down from its peak head count of 40,864 in 2000.

And Bloomberg's latest budget plan whacks the department to its lowest level in two decades, leaving city streets with 32,817 officers come July.

Bloomberg has continued to boast the NYPD can do more with less.

"All of the experts said it couldn't be done, particularly in a down economy, but we've done it," he gushed in December when he announced record-low murders.

Schools on closure list to remain open

From NY1:

A federal judge has ruled the city broke the law when it voted to close 19 public schools.

The ruling comes in the wake of a lawsuit filed from the United Federal of Teachers that claims the Department of Education did not properly follow the law and did not analyze the impact the closures will have communities.

DOE officials held hearings on the matter back in February.

The city has the option to appeal the ruling.

Mulgrew_BoardofEd001

Checking him out

From the Daily News

Go ahead, you know you want to caption this photo!

Flushing Commons in a nutshell

Remarks of Flushing resident Cheshire Frager at CB7 hearing:

"There have been times when a developer with a huge project that will have great impact on a neighborhood and its infrastructure has been made to address those impacts to get project approval.

Rockefeller & TDC are going to make millions from Flushing Commons, which will put more stress on overworked water & sewer systems in Flushing-- and they don’t have to put in a penny to upgrade those systems.

Rockefeller & TDC are going to make millions from a project that will create dangerous over-crowding on the Main Street station platform & #7 trains that are bursting now-- and they won’t invest a dime to alleviate those problems.

TDC & Rockefeller are going to make millions from a project that will cram more students into already over-crowded schools, and they’re not required to contribute to the cost of more classrooms.

TDC & Rockefeller are going to make millions from a project that will increase traffic delays by as much as 1/3, bringing in more cars with fewer parking spots, and they won’t have to ante up anything to pay for the required solutions.

Rockefeller & TDC are going to make millions from a project that breaks a signed agreement to cap parking fees in perpetuity, have 2,000 parking spots, bring in a multi-screen movie theatre & a bookstore, and no one is making them-- or Bloomberg’s Economic Development office-- keep to the agreement.

Rockefeller & TDC are going to make millions from a project whose 3 year construction will destroy local businesses, but they won’t have to spare a cent for adequate compensation.

So who will be stuck in endless traffic jams, and pay for upgrading water & sewage systems, building more classrooms, extending the subway station, repairing damaged roads? Not Rockefeller-- they’ll count their millions and be outta here. Not Michael Lee at TDC-- the city councilman’s BFF.

We’ll pay-- through the city government that seized this property from black homeowners and a black cemetery, built a public parking lot-- not even a bus terminal!-- and is now selling it for the private profit of Michael Lee and Rockefeller. For shame!"

Johnny already doing something shady

From the NY Post:

While Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has cracked down on the corrupt use of pension-fund “placement agents,” City Comptroller John Liu is cracking open the door for the return of the shady practice.

Liu, who manages investment of the city’s approximately $100 billion in pension funds, is urging the boards of the five retirement systems to lift a ban on the backroom intermediaries, who collect fees to help investment firms get lucrative business with the pension funds. Placement agents typically collect 1% to 2% of the funds they bring in from city and state pension systems. The fees can easily reach $1 million or more per transaction.

Several investment firms hired by the city pension systems have used Credit Suisse First Boston as a placement agent in the past. Liu’s new chief investment officer, Larry Schloss, resigned as chairman of the firm’s private-equity arm in 2003. Liu’s office said Schloss, whose city salary is $224,578, oversaw the placement agent division, among others, at Credit Suisse, but denied any conflict.

“Larry’s financial expertise makes him uniquely qualified for his position,” a Liu spokesman said. “He holds no stock in Credit Suisse, and left there more than five years ago.”

Uh huh. This is the Queens Tribune's Person of the Year and Queens Civic Congress' biennial Civic Convention and Luncheon keynote speaker.

Murders way up this year

From the Village Voice:

Well, of course, it's too early to really tell how the year is going to go, but so far, the murder rate here in the Big Apple is up 23 percent, according to this week's NYPD stats.

Through March 21, there have been 97 murders this year so far, compared to 79 at the same time last year. Thirty-nine of those killings took place over the past four weeks, compared to 24 during the same period last year.

Three other crime categories are also on the rise so far: Rape is up 11 percent, assault is up 6 percent, and burglary is up 4 percent. Robbery shows a slight 1 percent decline.

Queens upzoned more than the other boroughs

From the NY Times:

Amanda M. Burden, the city’s planning director since 2002, said the city’s approach to zoning was based on a “finely grained” process of listening to the needs of separate communities and neighborhoods. “We respond to communities where the threat is the greatest to the neighborhood fabric,” she said. “We upzone where it’s sustainable, and where reinvestment is needed.”

Mitchell L. Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University who has been an informal adviser to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, said that for decades, the city had been zoned for too many people, and that it was overdue for the kind of adjustment pursued by the Bloomberg administration. Ms. Burden “has done more to reshape the city than anything Robert Moses ever did,” he said.

Whether or not that is true, the Furman Center report starts to paint a picture of significant change, finding that city planners were, in many cases, successful in their goal of creating housing within half a mile of existing transportation hubs. In other places, though, zoning regulations that restricted new building have taken “capacity away from communities well served by transit,” the report says.

Most of the new residential capacity was created in Queens, followed by Manhattan and then Brooklyn. In the Bronx, rezoning measures that affected more than 18 percent of the borough added virtually no residential capacity, the report found.

No kidding! Queens has long been the place to dump more people on top of an infrastructure from the early 1900s.

Smith hogged the tweeding cash

From the NY Post:

Sen. Malcolm Smith is the Prince of Pork.

The Queens Democrat pigged out on $5.7 million in grants last year -- more than any other state legislator and $4.4 million higher than the average state senator, according to a report by a government watchdog.

That disparity makes Smith the poster child for an oft-criticized system that ensures that politically powerful lawmakers get to dole out a lion's share of pork-barrel grants.

The report by the New York Public Interest Research Group found that roughly a third of the state's 212 legislators -- led by Smith -- gobbled up half of member-item funds in 2009-10.

In the Senate -- which Smith had led as majority leader until last summer's coup fiasco -- 43 of the 62 senators got less than the average allotment of $1.2 million.

In the 150-seat Assembly, 114 lawmakers got less than the average $300,000.

"It's indefensible," said NYPIRG Legislative Director Blair Horner.

Noting that Sen. Roy McDonald (R-Saratoga) got $250,000, Horner said, "There are just as many people who live in Senator McDonald's district as there are living in Senator Smith's district. They should get the same amount."

More work on the 7 line; N getting cut

From the Daily News:

Queens straphangers can expect more headaches in a few weeks, when a new project begins on the elevated tracks of the 7 train.

The 21-month project to scrape and repaint the structure from 40th St. to the entrance of the East River tunnel on 21st St. will cause some delays, including single-track service on a couple of weekends, officials said.

But after weekend service was shut down for most of February, some elected officials are just thankful locals won't be stranded.

"In this case, we have at least some advanced notice," said City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside). "We understand that work needs to be done."

We have advanced notice every year when the work is done. I don't understand this statement. Do you want an engraved letter?

From AM-NY:

Buried in the 127-page MTA document detailing transit service cuts is this doozy: the end of N express service in Manhattan.

As part of plans to kill the W line, the MTA will run the N local from Canal Street to 42nd Street. That leaves just the Q for express service, tacking on at least two minutes to the commutes of 77,000 straphangers, according to agency figures.

Muss takes a back seat at Sky View Parc

From the NY Post:

Muss Development's equity partner in its massive Sky View Parc complex near Flushing Meadows Park "has taken over the driver's seat" in the slow-moving, $1 billion-plus scheme, sources said.

Toronto-based private-equity firm Onex "started calling the shots," an insider said, even before it brought Related Cos. into the huge Queens project as a "consultant" with a role in apartment-sale marketing at three towers now under construction, as well as in retail leasing and management.

A Related source said the Time Warner Center developer has sent in an army of specialists before it even formalizes a deal with Onex.

Related will have no equity. But the arrangement would seem to open the door to the Stephen M. Ross-led development giant to one day land such a role in Joshua and Jason Muss's second trio of planned luxury apartment towers at the site, for which no start date is set.

The source close to Related said the company understood that there's "full commitment" for Muss and Onex to put up the three additional towers, but noted, "it would be timed to market demand."

Onex, which pumped at least $70 million into Sky View Parc, left decision-making to Muss until recently, but has since "restructured" the relationship.

Faculty and students question CUNY law school's move to LIC

From the NY Times:

The City University of New York School of Law trains students to be public interest lawyers — the kind who battle bureaucracies and fight injustice.

The CUNY School of Law is to buy space at 2 Court Square in Long Island City, Queens.

But now, some of its teachers and students are taking aim at their own administration. At issue is the school’s plan to move from its current home, a former junior high school in Flushing, Queens, to a newer, sleeker building in Long Island City that Citigroup completed in 2007.

Last year, CUNY announced plans to buy six floors of the building, with about 260,000 square feet, for $155 million, or about $600 per square foot. That is more than the price paid for some office space in Manhattan last year, where 11 large buildings were sold. Their prices averaged $397 per square foot, said Robert Knakal of Massey Knakal Realty Services, a brokerage firm.

The law school deal, which has not yet closed, has aroused the ire of some students and faculty members. The student government passed a resolution last month demanding that the CUNY administration explain how the price was determined.

In their resolution, they demanded that CUNY explain the purchase “in a manner other than by mere comparison with the $250 million projected cost of construction of a new building.”

Ms. Weinshall, a former city transportation commissioner, declined to be interviewed. Asked for a copy of the draft appraisal, Michael Arena, a CUNY spokesman, said it would be released “upon completion of the sale.” A spokesperson for Citigroup would not answer questions about the deal with CUNY other than to say the company was “working toward an April close.”

In addition to the cost, some at the law school are worried that the deal will change the nature of the only publicly financed law school in New York City, a school known for its dedication to social justice and its rejection of corporate culture.

Sounds like another developer bailout to me.

Unfinished crap in Jamaica Hills

"Hey Crapster,

Any idea what the story with this house is? (see attached photo) It's on the corner of 83rd Ave and Homelawn Street, just south of the St. John's Univ campus, and although I pass it every morning on my way to work, there hasn't been any activity there for many years. Looks like the contractor responded to a stop work order by walking away from the project.

Thanks."

- Anonymous

Well, the address is 172-28 83rd Avenue. There is a partial stop work order on the property, the fence permits have expired and the building permits were revoked. I can't seem to find out why, however. Will keep working on it. I asked someone who knows more about the area than me, and he replied, "I think they tried to beat the clock with the Jamaica Hill rezoning - went from R3-2 to R3X...not sure, though."

Thought of the day

"Someone in Brooklyn has found a creative way of making their feelings about Ratner known...

NY1 reports the ironic fact that this sign is actually, like virtually
everything else, owned by Ratner."


Photo by Duelin' Markers on Flickr.

Bloomberg: Crime doesn't happen in the subway

From the Daily News:

Subway crime doesn't exist!

That's the claim Mayor Bloomberg made on WOR radio Friday, saying "there is no crime on the subway from a practical sense."

Bloomberg, a frequent 6-train commuter, was responding to a question about whether crime would increase if the MTA cuts 450 token booth clerks as planned.

He estimated there are five crimes a day on subways - "given that we have five million people that take the subway a day, that is essentially zero."

"You can say, 'Well let's not cut that.' Excuse me, what do you want to cut?" he said.

How about your staff? Has the mayor never been on the train when it has been delayed "due to police activity"? Have you even looked at the most recent stats?

Good government group crosses the line

From the Daily News:

One of the city's oldest watchdogs is trying to find the right balance between its bark and its bite.

Citizens Union, the good-government group that has pushed for reform and transparency since 1897, is grappling with how close it should be to the politicians and government officials it monitors.

One of its board members, Joel Berger, resigned this month with a scathing e-mail, accusing Citizens Union of straying from its roots by cozying up to Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

"It saddens me that the organization has become so timid, conflicted and corrupt that I can no longer serve it in good conscience," Berger wrote.

Citizens Union executive director, Dick Dadey, and its board chairman, Peter Sherwin, both reject those charges.

They said they have consciously tried to work with New York's movers and shakers to create real reform, instead of just hollering from the sidelines.

At a hearing this month on the commission, Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) lashed out at a union staffer who testified against a state plan to curb the mayor's Charter power.

"I'm just trying to figure out what are the outer limits of Citizens Union's willingness to be a shill for the mayor," Lancman said. "At what point is Citizens Union going to actually advocate for the citizens and not merely for Mayor Michael Bloomberg?"

Citizens Union called for a referendum on extending term limits in 2008 and strongly opposed how Bloomberg rammed it through the Council. Then it endorsed him for re-election, saying he was good on most other issues.

Not only that, but according to Atlantic Yards Report:

The Citizens Union (CU), responding in December 2006 to a drastic decline in estimated tax revenues--first revealed by AYR, then picked up by the New York Times--called for a “limited delay” in the process and noted that it “does not align itself with those who oppose the project and wish to use the process of delay to kill the project, because we believe that economic development is needed so that the city can continue to be a dynamic place of business and meet the needs of a growing population.”

No call for an investigation as to how Ratner got away with bidding less for the railyards than competitors and winning the bid? No outrage over eminent domain abuse? That's some 'good government' group.

Told y'all about this shady group months ago. Glad that the mainstream press is finally catching on. Sadly, only after the election...