Time to fix that sign...

From Lost City:

Postal Pride in Woodside

National Guard being deployed to the border

From Fox News:

President Obama told Senate Republicans Tuesday that he's read the controversial Arizona immigration law and is concerned it would allow for discrimination -- but is planning to deploy up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to allay security concerns.

An administration official confirmed to Fox News that Obama plans to request $500 million for "enhanced border protection and law enforcement" and deploy the National Guard troops as needed.

The official said the National Guard would be used to "provide intelligence; surveillance and reconnaissance support; intelligence analysis; immediate support to counternarcotics enforcement; and training capacity until Customs and Border Patrol can recruit and train additional officers and agents to serve on the border."

From Fox 5:

Bloomberg says countries that welcome immigrants prosper.

He says the U.S. has had some "disgraceful" and "stupid periods" in which it tried to close its borders.

Added Bloomberg: "Fortunately, sanity prevailed."

Wow, talk about twisting the truth! We aren't trying to stop immigration. We are trying to prevent a breach of security in a post-9/11 world. Remember 9/11? It was the event that made you mayor. We were thinking of making you president at one time, too, but fortunately, sanity prevailed.

Crash in Astoria after car chase

ASTORIA (WABC) -- A stolen Mercedes Benz being chased by police crashed into two other vehicles in the Astoria section of Queens.

The suspects lost control at the intersection of 31st Street and 36th Avenue just after 11:30 p.m. Monday.

The stolen car first crashed into a livery car and then a yellow taxi cab.

The drivers of both the taxi cab and livery car were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Two of the occupants of the Mercedes Benz were taken into custody. One was injured.

A third person fled the scene.

Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga may all close

From the Daily News:

The agency that runs the state's major thoroughbred racetracks says it will close them down on June 9 unless lawmakers agree to a bailout.

The New York Racing Association, which operates the Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga tracks, made the announcement Friday after sending out layoff notices to its 1,400 employees.

The financially beleaguered NYRA said it would "begin the implementation of plant closures" at the tracks on June 9 - three days after the prestigious Belmont Stakes.

"NYRA continues to pursue solutions with the state of New York that may avert the cessation of operations," NYRA said in its statement.

The Belmont meet is scheduled to end on July 18. The storied Saratoga season runs from July 23 through Sept. 6.

UPDATE: Crisis averted!

Meeting about Sunnyside rezoning

Sunnyside Post has the zoning maps.

Sunnyside_woodside-- rezoning maps

Judge considers Broadway Triangle lawsuit

From the NY Times:

A Manhattan judge has scheduled a hearing next month to determine whether the city’s plan to develop public housing in a rundown patch of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, would essentially foster segregation.

In a 22-page decision issued on Thursday, the judge, Emily Jane Goodman of State Supreme Court, indicated that there might be some merit in claims that the city’s plan to construct public housing in what is known as the Broadway Triangle could have a discriminatory effect.

A coalition of community groups in Williamsburg said the city and its allies charged forward with the plan without a competitive bidding process and without including a largely nonwhite group that would be affected by the project. The city awarded development bids to two nonprofit groups, the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, which represents part of the fast-growing Hasidic community, and the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council.

Although units in the housing projects would be awarded in a lottery, the Broadway Triangle Community Coalition, which filed a lawsuit to stop the project, said the project was zoned to allow primarily white and Hasidic residents to obtain units.

For example, residents of the predominantly white Community Board 1 area would be given first choice on half of the units, according to Justice Goodman’s decision. (The entire development would be within the Community Board 1 boundaries, but part of the Broadway Triangle lies in the mostly nonwhite Community Board 2 area, the judge wrote.)

The zoning calls for buildings that are six or seven stories high, a move opponents said was intended to accommodate Hasidics, who cannot use elevators on the Sabbath for religious reasons. The plans also call for large apartments, which opponents said would also accommodate Hasidics, who typically have large families.

Looting one fund to save another

Photo by Geoffrey Croft

From A Walk In The Park:

In Bayswater Point State Park in Far Rockaway, the two gates were already padlocked last weekend. A small square sign affixed to a pole read, "Park Closed." The 12-acre park located on the south shore of Jamaica Bay in Queens is a popular spot for fishing and family outings.

"You gotta be kidding," said Rick Hill, 39, when told how much the state would save by shutting down the park. "That's ridiculous – I mean, to close a park for $5,000. That's not even money."

A father of four, Mr. Hill said one of the main reasons he bought his house five years ago was because it was next to the park. He also fears the closed park will become neglected and overgrown.

On May 14th, The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation announced it was accepting a $100,000 donation from Citibank to restore services cut last year at Long Island State Park as well as to fund summer programs in Westchester and Rockland Counties. The gift will also allow the swimming area at Zach’s Bay to extend its operating season through Labor Day.

There's no subsidized NYC company that wants to donate $5,500 so Bayswater can stay open???

From Eyewitness News:

Senior officials in the Paterson administration say Gov. David Paterson will introduce a bill Monday that would keep all New York parks and historic sites open for the year including the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

But the officials say the Legislature will have to agree to take $6 million from the Environmental Protection Fund to pay for it.

The staffers say lawmakers in stalled budget talks as recently as Saturday insisted that a top priority is to keep the parks and historic sites open. Paterson sees the move as a way to address a chief concern he shares, but only with the corresponding cut he has insisted upon.

What a great idea! Let's rob Peter to pay Paul!

The Bloomberg business subsidy scheme

From the NY Times:

For all the giddy wealth that ran through the city before the economic crash, prized commercial real estate was often subsidized through state and city tax benefits, sometimes in special deals made behind closed doors.

And now, Condé Nast, which was granted $10.8 million in rent and tax breaks to move into a Times Square tower that was already heavily subsidized, is said to be having discussions with government officials about relocating downtown, into the tower planned as 1 World Trade Center. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has agreed to provide $1 billion in financing for the building.

The city has not decided if it will pitch in with taxpayer money to move companies from other parts of the city into the tower, but it has “a policy goal to help Lower Manhattan rebuild, and the new World Trade Center is a critical part of that,” said David Lombino, a vice president at the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

We all know that the bill has come due for lavish spending by the city and state: swelling public pensions, huge borrowing by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that bought next to nothing, government salaries that grew faster than inflation. There is another, off-the-book cost that is also being paid: billions in public incentives given to some of the richest companies in the world.

For more than 25 years, they have been distributed by mayors, with little oversight or control, as an exercise of their discretion when faced with threats by companies to leave town.

They were criticized as forms of corporate welfare — often by the mayors themselves — that simply shifted the burden to other, smaller taxpayers, most of them not as well-connected.

Many of the threats to leave were barely disguised feints, and sometimes not even that. Condé Nast, for instance, publishes some of the most exalted titles in the magazine business, and the chances that the company would move out of Manhattan are slim to none. Other businesses equally unlikely to leave the media capital — The New York Times Company, CBS, Reuters, NBC, News America, ABC, McGraw Hill, Viacom, Hearst — were also given public money.

Mr. Giuliani also awarded subsidies for new baseball stadiums, but those deals were canceled by Michael R. Bloomberg almost as soon as he took office in January 2002. The city had a major deficit. There wasn’t enough housing or space for schools. “It is just not practical this year to go and build stadiums,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

A few years later, Mr. Bloomberg used hundreds of millions in public money to help the Yankees and Mets build stadiums.

In 2004, Mr. Bloomberg declared that he had “ended corporate welfare as we know it, by no longer paying companies — who wouldn’t have left anyway — to stay in our great city.”

He has not. But he has cut down on the number of deals, and in some cases, has put in provisions that require the companies to pay back their subsidies if they don’t keep their promises to keep jobs in the city.

Will the taxpayers now pay to move companies from one part of the city to another?

A lesson on getting what you really want...

From the Times Ledger:

After dozens of protesters marched into the meeting and spoke passionately in support of the measure, Community Board 3 members Thursday night voted to support turning part of 78th St., adjacent to Travers Park, into a two-month play street this summer.

The board voted 27-9 with two abstentions in favor of supporting the play-street application of Jackson Heights Green Alliance, a community advocacy group fighting for more park space, which rallied about 150 supporters throughout the neighborhood Thursday and marched them from 78th St. into the Louis Armstrong Middle School cafeteria where the meeting took place.

“Play Street! Play Street!” chanted the crowd as they cheered, clapped and stomped to show their support.

Officials from the city Department of Health, Department of Transportation, Fire Department, and the Police Department spoke in support of the play-street initiative, along with Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) and state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights).

Many were overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up to the meeting to support the cause.

Dromm, whose victorious November campaign dealt largely with advocating for more park space, said he was pleased with the board’s vote and although the final say goes to the Department of Transportation, he thinks the measure will be approved.

“It was a great victory for the kids in Jackson Heights,” he said.

Sorry, but tossing kids in the street to play is a temporary solution, not a victory. A victory would be to get a new park built to serve the community which has a dearth of park space. We seem to have lowered our expectations to satisfy Bloombergian standards. You gave them an out. They convinced you that this is what you want when it's less than satisfactory. This is not the direction to be going in. Why not have all those people show up at every CB3 meeting and demand a park? Why not hold press conferences that do the same thing? Let's see if the Department of Health, Department of Transportation, Fire Department, Police Department Councilman Danny Dromm, Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras and state Sen. Jose Peralta show up then. I'm guessing you'll have a lot of "we can't afford it" type bullshit thrown your way instead. $3B budget surplus this year, folks.

Keep the heat on and don't settle.

What our 2-time Queen is up to these days

At the Desk of 026TRD0510
From The Real Deal:

After 13 years in elected office (first in the state Assembly and then on the City Council's powerful land use committee), Melinda Katz, 44, is now settling into private-sector life. After her hopes to become city comptroller were dashed in the last election, she joined the law firm Greenberg Traurig, where she's on the government relations team. But this time she's on the opposite side of the table, advising developers on land use and zoning issues and lobbying on their behalf, too. This comes after some critics said she favored developers during her tenure on the land use committee, something Katz disputes. But it's not all politics in her 15th-floor Midtown office. She also pays homage to her much-publicized singing skills, which were cultivated in a musical childhood in Forest Hills, Queens, in the house where she still resides.

Erasing Bloomblight in Brooklyn

Miss Heather noticed that someone took an empty Bloomblighted lot on Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn and turned it into a garden, with the permission of the owner.

Flushing RKO Keith's Theatre sold

From Crains:

A Manhattan condo developer paid $20 million for the landmarked RKO Keith Theatre in Flushing. The deal was arranged by the bank that holds the mortgage which was taken out by the former owner, troubled real estate investor Shaya Boymelgreen.

Patrick Thompson said he hasn't decided what to do with derelict property on Northern Boulevard that has stood vacant for nearly 25 years. Options he is considering include building a condo or nursing home on the site. Mr. Thompson said Doral Bank, one of his lenders, contacted him about buying the property after Mr. Boymelgreen defaulted on the loan.

“I picked it up for the price of the loan,” said Mr. Thompson. “I saw a real economic opportunity here.”

Mr. Thompson says he can build a 389,000-square-foot building.

“It is going to be good for the community to have something in the location,” said Craig Price, a lawyer for Mr. Thompson who worked on the deal.

On today's agenda...

11 a.m. Michael Bloomberg and Janette Sadik-Khan attend the opening of a new asphalt plant, at 30-01 Harper Street, in Queens. [Courtesy of the Politicker]

They are cutting a ribbon on a city-owned asphalt plant in Willets Point.

That's right - as long as it's city-owned, industrial uses are okay.

I hope to own a condo there some day so I can blog about black lung.

Prediction: Not one reporter asks why they think it will be a good idea to have 5500 housing units, schools and retail shops near an asphalt plant and not one asks why this site wasn't included in the rezoning of Willets Point.

Photo from SI Live

Police seek Springfield Gardens party shooter

From NBC 4:

Police are asking for helping identifying a man wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting of six people at a party over the weekend.

The suspect, as seen in this police sketch, is described as a black male, 20-25 years of age, approximately 5'8" tall, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and dark pants.

One person was killed and five others injured when shots rang out during a junior high school reunion party in Queens early Sunday morning.

The mayhem erupted around 2:15 a.m. outside a Springfield Gardens home on 182nd Street and 145th Drive . About 200 people were attending the IS 238-grad party, which then became a larger block party, police sources said.

It's unclear when the violence erupted, but a 20-year-old man identified as Dane Freeman was found dead on a sidewalk with a gunshot wound to his head, police said. Freeman was from Cambria Heights, police said.

The five wounded include two men, ages 25 and 21, who were each shot in the leg; a 23-year-old man who was shot in back; a 22-year-old woman shot in the shoulder; and a 21-year-old woman who was shot in both hands. All five of them are in stable condition.

There have been no arrests, and the investigation is ongoing.

City plans a dump at Bayside High

"The DOE has decided to dump 1,000 students into Bayside High School, requiring the school to use more trailers and operate at 180% capacity or more on at least a 12 period day.

Information obtained from the school's Leadership Team confirms that the DOE has increased the school's 2010-11 projection to 1500 students above its capacity and intends to increase the number of special education students in the school by 40%. Coming at a time of anticipated severe budget cuts, the City's plan will endanger Bayside's outstanding record of compliance with special education mandates and derail the school's efforts to reduce guidance caseloads to 200 students per counselor.

The school's recent initiatives to gain college accreditation for courses and establish new programs are also at risk due to the anticipated stuffing planned by the DOE.

"Although the DOE claims that high schools with 400 kids are ideal, they continue to load the high schools of Eastern Queens beyond the 150% mark. This community has been underserved for years. Don't our kids deserve smaller schools now?" asks one parent.

"This is becoming a great school. Why doesn't the DOE listen to parents and staff on an important matter like enrollment numbers?" asked another.

"They don't try this in Manhattan. The City thinks they can get away with stuffing these schools because immigrant parents don't complain" said another.

As the DOE continues efforts to close schools supposedly "saved" by a judge's decision by discouraging new applicants and offering current students in them transfers to Bayside, the Department is also now offering transfers into Bayside from other schools including Newtown, Richmond Hill, John Adams, John Bowne, Flushing, Springfield Gardens, and Grover Cleveland, among others. These efforts are expected to push Bayside even beyond the new higher projected figures.

Bayside, already operating on an 11 period day plus Saturdays, will have to drastically reduce the number of community groups using the building after school and weekends in order to cope with the new schedule. Currently, over 50 Bayside local community groups and schools use Bayside's gyms, pools, athletic field and classrooms after school and weekends. That number will need to drop as the school will need to schedule additional classes using these facilities.

The DOE is using deliberately fuzzy math in justifying the setting up of Bayside for failure, such as underestimating how many current students will return to show open seats which don't exist.

The Parent Teacher Association plans to meet with City Councilman Dan Halloran as well as with DOE officials to voice their opposition to any increase in student numbers and to push for a net decrease in the current numbers." - anonymous

Get in line, kids!

From the Daily News:

New numbers show Public School 143 in Corona has the longest kindergarten waiting list in the city, with 110 students.

The school, which has received three successive A's on the city's report card, is so popular it's already overcrowded with kids from the neighborhood.

The city Friday released numbers showing 980 kids citywide have been waitlisted at their local kindergarten. That's down from 1,885 originally waitlisted in March. But at PS 143 the situation worsened from only 23 students waiting for a spot.

It's a problem throughout the district in which the school is located, District 24, where 307 students are waiting to get into their local school - up from 162 in March.

The agency sent out alternative offers for waitlisted kids throughout the city. For PS 143 kids, they've opened an annex - but a neighborhood away in Elmhurst.

WRONG. IT'S TWO NEIGHBORHOODS AWAY, IN MASPETH. See, at first they promised it would be for Maspeth kids, but now the truth comes out... Same old story, and then they wonder why there is local opposition to new schools. BUILD THEM WHERE THE ANCHOR BABIES LIVE.

THANK YOU NICK "As Long as Its Not in Woodhaven or Glendale Where I am Running for Office" COMAIANNI.

Shady enrollment at P.S. 31Q?

"It appears that this elementary P-K to 5, is having a tower of floors constructed on the roof of the building. it is located at Bell Blvd. at 46th rd.
in Bayside.

In 1982 its pupil utilization was one of the 17 lowest in the district. In 2003, with a 6th grade, it was 113% of capacity. the D.O.E. then moved the 6th grade to M.S.158Q.

In 2010, the D.O.E. website shows an enrollment of 548 and 133% utilization.

The seats in the building in 1982 were 738. The 2009 enrollment was 551.
Seats divided by enrollment = utilization %

Where are all the pupils coming from? It has been rumored that a dormitory scam is operating in C.S.D.26? Rumors of bribes from parents to officials have been alleged.

See: PRINCIPAL EYED FOR "ILLEGALLY" ADMITTING KIDS, N.Y.Post 4-8-2009.

A lot of crap costing citizens plenty of taxes." - anonymous

Blockshopper makes money off your personal info

Dear Queenscrapper,

I recently came across a website called Blockshopper.com. What this website does is pull public records from home sales and lists those information on their website. Unlike other real estate sites Blockshopper lists the owner's full name. If you have a unique name, one Google search will often reveal your EXACT ADDRESS, courtesy of Blockshopper.com. Blockshopper will also write ARTICLES about your home transaction. They will phish for pictures and info about you from a work bio, resume sites (ex linked.com), even a wedding site (if you happen to have one) and use all that information to concoct an article (all without a person's permission). If you are buying or selling a home Blockshopper will write an article about you by phishing for your information all over the internet. Your home sale is now public news!!! Countless people are victims of this with no where to turn.

This site also makes stalking very easy as a Google search can turn up your exact address!

Here are some complaints from people all over this country:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/blockshopper.html
http://www.brownstoner.com/forum/archives/2010/01/blockshopper_an.php

I just wanted to spread the word.

Sincerely,
Stressed Out Homeowner

Queens liver cancer rates are way up

From the Queens Tribune:

During a “State of the Hospital” presentation at New York Hospital Queens, Director of Surgical Oncology Dr. Mitchell Chorost subtly revealed a little-known reality within the borough.

“We’re seeing an unusually high rate of liver cancer as a result of Hepatitis C,” he said, citing ethnic factors as the main driving force behind the spike. “A lot of people don’t realize that the problem is out there.”

Chorost’s findings, coupled with the 15th Anniversary of Hepatitis Awareness Month this May, bring a new urgency to raising awareness about this communicable and deadly, yet treatable, disease.

Nearly 80 percent of all untreated cases of Hepatitis C are believed to lead to liver cancer, according to the State Dept. of Health. The cancer itself causes 10,000 deaths nationwide each year.

According to Chorost, a growing population of first-generation Asian and Russian immigrants has driven an increase in the overall rate of Hepatitis C and liver cancer.

“These cultures are very close people,” he said. “They assimilate with each other and that’s how they spread these diseases within each other.”

It is a byproduct of a growing rate in their native countries, the doctor added.

“There is no vaccine against Hepatitis C. It’s a worldwide epidemic, effecting namely Far East countries like China and Korea,” he said. “These are patients who weren’t aware they had it in China and Russia and they came with it. They’re carriers.”

Illegals are killing and maiming Americans

From NJ.com:

...what about those New Jersey officials who failed to do anything about Rodolfo Godinez even after he was arrested following a bar fight months prior to those schoolyard murders in Newark?

Now he's on trial, accused of murders that might never have occurred if he'd been deported when he failed to prove his citizenship upon arrest.

As I've noted, I've spent years traveling around Latin America and had my papers checked more times than I can remember. It's a little nutty when Latin American leaders object to our government doing the same thing their government does.

From 1010WINS:

Cops on Long Island have arrested an alleged hit-and-run driver after four teenage pedestrians were run down near the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island.

The 16-year-old girls were preparing to cross Old Country Road Wednesday evening when they were struck by a Toyota Camry that had jumped a curb.

Two of the girls landed on the hood of the car and were screaming as they were carried for a short stretch before being thrown to the roadway, police said.

Witnesses told police the car stopped twice before leaving the scene.

The suspect, 26-year-old Elias Garcia, of Hempstead, was to appear in court in Mineola on Thursday to face charges of assault, reckless driving and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Police say Garcia is an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. He was apparently driving without a license and may now face deportation.

The most seriously injured girl received 170 stitches in her head. The other three were also treated at area hospitals for less serious injuries, police said.