Transportation between Brooklyn and Queens is pretty bad

From CityLab:

One might think that getting from Brooklyn to Queens—or vice versa—would be easy.

For one, they’re physically connected to each other; they share the same landmass—the start of Long Island, but not technically Long Island. Secondly, they’re New York’s two biggest population centers. And finally, of the five boroughs, they’re both major drivers of population and job growth in the city right now.

But unless you own a car—which most New Yorkers do not—it’s strangely hard to get from one borough to the other. By subway, residents must seek out train lines at the ends of each borough, before backtracking. Bus routes are notoriously circuitous and slow. Both systems are a result of the spoke-hub model, designed at a time when Queens was comparatively pastoral and Brooklynites largely headed into Manhattan for work. So much so that even in 2018, it’s a common refrain in New York City mass transit that if you’re going between the two boroughs, you’re either going through Manhattan, or not going at all.

That’s what made The Great Cross-Borough Mobility Mode Challenge (that was my name for it, at least) on this steamy Tuesday morning during rush hour a bit more interesting.

Just after 8:30 a.m, seven participants simultaneously left a starting point in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and hopped onto their assigned means of transportation: subway, bus, Citi Bike, Uber, UberPool, taxi, or electric moped. Their goal? Pass this goofy made-up finish line—which had a sign, green tape, and all—outside of the Court Square Diner in Long Island City, Queens, where myself and a handful of other transit-beat reporters were waiting beneath the shadows of rapidly rising condos and subway tracks.

The race was put on by Revel, a shared electric moped company that recently premiered in north Brooklyn. The point of the stunt, beyond snagging some media attention, was to highlight the fact that traveling during rush hour between Brooklyn and Queens sucks. And it only stands to get worse once the L train goes offline for 15 months in April of 2019, dispersing hundreds of thousands of riders onto overburdened stations and roads. The big question: Which of these shared-mobility services, old and new, performs best under pressure?

And they wonder why we own cars here...

A nice, relaxing Labor Day walk in Astoria

"I take an evening walk along 30th Avenue in Astoria, Queens, NYC from Steinway Street to 31st Street during Labor Day Weekend. This major street is home to many businesses, restaurants, cafes, and a popular night life."

Inspector finds no problem where there clearly is one

From the Queens Chronicle:

When Mary Ann Giammarco sees the empty house at 73-36 179 St. in Fresh Meadows, she isn’t happy.

A graffiti-stained commercial truck sits in the driveway, with lumber languishing behind it. A sign on the door urges passersby to stay out.

“The whole property is just an eyesore,” Giammarco told the Chronicle last week. “And the homes around here are beautiful.”

A resident of the same street, she is a member of the Utopia Estates Civic Association and a block captain.

Giammarco penned a letter to the editor about the site that the Chronicle ran last week. It also doubled as an open letter to Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows), who then reached out to the 107th Precinct, Community Board 8 and the Department of Buildings about the location.

Earlier this month, multiple 311 complaints were issued about the property, leading a DOB inspector to visit it on Aug. 21. But no conditions contrary to the zoning and construction codes were discovered, so no violations were issued.

Plans had been filed last year to gut renovate the single-family house and add a second floor to it. But they were rejected.

The house wasn't looking so bad a few years ago, as you can see in the Google Street View above from 2013. The Chronicle photo shows how fast a property can go downhill without maintenance. How did a DOB inspector not find a problem? The presence of the truck alone is a zoning violation.

Let's hear it for the bros

From the NY Post:

Cyclists in New York City aren’t as legion as they might seem. Despite a “boom” touted by City Hall and The New York Times, the number of citizens who bike to work remains a minute fraction of all commuters. According to the US Census, 3,599,786 New Yorkers get to work by means other than cycling, while the DOT reports that just 45,800 commute by bike.

Yet, to mollycoddle this racially and gender-distinct elite, the city expanded bike lanes from 513 miles in 2006 to 1,133 today. This, of course, comes at the expense of the polyglot masses. It means 1,133 fewer miles for cars to maneuver. It means less room for delivery vehicles and emergency vehicles to park. It means turning lanes that baffle pedestrians, motorists and cyclists alike.

Yet, after warping the entire pattern and fabric of movement to funnel motorized conveyances through ever narrow spaces, City Hall has the chutzpah to growl about “congestion.”

Hilariously, the Dale Earnhardts of the handlebars turn into colicky babies over every minor impediment to their progress. They tweet their rage whenever a bike lane is blocked by any of the inevitable nuisances — like utility digs, construction and fire trucks. You know, the things most New Yorkers deal with every single day while taking it in their stride.

Fury’s in their blood, as was true of the guys who wished me death by dump truck over my last bike lane-bashing column. Bring it on, boys! But spare the women and children.

Will you believe them or your own lying eyes?

If you want to see everything that is wrong with community boards in this city, read this piece in the Queens Chronicle. We all know that Joe Moretti has very publicly sent photos and complaints regarding this underpass to CB6 yet they claim that they have received no complaints.

From The Filth of Forest Hills:

In the above article:

“When contacted, Community Board 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio said the board has not received any complaints about the underpass. The same was true for CB 9, according to a representative.”

BUT THAT is completely false, “The Filth of Forest Hills” blog has been reporting on this situation with photos since March of 2018 and sending the posts to the not only the local community boards, but Councilmember Karen Koslowitz, Queens BP Melinda Katz and her staff, Senator Andrews Hevesi and DOS. In fact here is a response from community board 6 back in March. SO HOW can they say there have never been any complaints, when they have received SEVERAL from THE FILTH OF FOREST HILLS, plus post have been place in the Forest Hills Post as well.

QN06 (CB)
To thefilthofforesthillsqueens@yahoo.com
Mar 19 at 10:29 AM
Thank you for contacting Community Board 6.

We will forward your concerns to the New York City Department of Sanitation and New York City Council Member Karen Koslowitz.

Queens Community Board 6
104-01 Metropolitan Avenue
Forest Hills, NY 11375
Telephone: 718-263-9250
Fax: 718-263-2211

Name: The Filth of Forest Hills

Address:

Phone:

Email Address: thefilthofforesthillsqueens@yahoo.com

Questions or Comments: The Austin Street pedestrian underpass is filled with litter and dumped garbage, not to mention all the graffiti. Some fo the garbage like the photo of the bagged Christmas tree has been there for months. SO WHAT IS this board and the local hack elected officials are doing about this. AND why isn’t there more outrage from Forest Hills/Kew Garden residents about this. Keep being complacent, a homeless shelter hotel at the Comfort Inn housing single men has already causing issues and trash/litter, loitering and panhandling is already noticeable. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, to turn Forest Hills/Kew Gardens in the next ghetto like Jamaica Queens. https://thefilthofforesthillsqueens.wordpress.com/2018/03/11/the-filth-of-forest-hills-kew-garden-journey-continues-garbage-graffiti-mars-austin-street-underpass-kew-gardens-rodney-dangerfield-still-gets-no-respect-in-death/

HERE IS ANOTHER ONE SENT:

QN06 (CB)
To
Forest Hills
May 1 at 1:02 PM
Good Afternoon,

Please be advised that DSNY cleaned the debris from these locations. We will be contacting DOT regarding the graffiti.

Thank You!

Queens Community Board 6
104-01 Metropolitan Avenue
Forest Hills, NY 11375
Telephone: 718-263-9250
Fax: 718-263-2211
From: Forest Hills [thefilthofforesthillsqueens@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2018 7:23 PM
To: AnnMarie Boranian; GulluscioFrank; Andrew Hevesi; Helen Marshall; Karen Koslowitz; Melva Miller; Sally Wang; DSNY, Commissioner (DSNY); Queens Crap; Iciano, Bruno (DSNY); peter Mastrosimone; Greg Mocker; Channel 4 newstips; NY 1 NY1; Terranova, Ignazio (DSNY); Turso, Vito (DSNY)
Subject: [SUSPECTED SPAM] More garbage, more homeless, more not a damn thing being done about any of these situations in Forest Hills
Read below for more of the decline of Forest Hills.
AND in the meantime, the Austin Street Pedestrian Underpass Walkway is still a disgrace of grafitti, garbage and flooding that make it difficult to go up and down the stairs since the drain is clogged. The condition has been like this since December 2017. AND none of that garbage on those cement barriers on Queens Blvd have yet to be cleaned up and more garbage has been added.
Good job folks, wish I had a job where I did not have to do anything or be held accountable and bring home a nice hefty paycheck.
SHAME on you community boards. Why lie about this when you have recieved numerous complaints about this situation since March from this blog and even responded a couple of times to the complaints. AND where is Karen Koslowitz and Melinda Katz, each who have also received numerous complaints from this blog on this situation.

What exactly do these people do all day?

Queens posts highest rental increase in the country

From The Real Deal:

According to this week’s market reports, Queens rents rose by 8.4 percent in August and the number of housing permits in the city rose by 35.6 percent last year.

Queens posted the highest rent hike in the country in August, registering an 8.4 percent year-over-year increase to settle at an average rate of $2,342. This was followed by Phoenix, Arizona, which had the second highest rent increase at 6.8 percent. Manhattan and Brooklyn also registered price hikes of 1.9 percent and 3.9 percent,respectively. The national average rent stood at $1,412, up 3.1 percent from the same month last year. Read the report here.

BQX somehow became shorter and more expensive

From Crains:

The de Blasio administration today released plans for its Brooklyn-Queens Connector, a streetcar officials envision running along the waterfront between the two boroughs. It has been delayed by complex infrastructure challenges.

The original streetcar was expected to cost $2.5 billion and run roughly 16 miles between Astoria, Queens, and Sunset Park, Brooklyn. But the updated plan calls for a shorter route to Gowanus instead and will cost $2.7 billion. That translates to an increase in per-mile cost from roughly $156 million to $248 million.

De Blasio first announced plans for the streetcar in February 2016. But as officials looked further into potential routes, they found that the rat's nest of underground infrastructure presented enormous potential for increasing costs and would need to be thoroughly studied. As Crain's reported late last year, the problem presented officials with a catch-22: By studying the infrastructure more carefully, the city insulated itself from risk in the event it had to scrap the project, but doing so caused delays and drove up costs.

The original project was supposed to be completed in 2024 and be paid for through property tax revenue as the land around the route increased in value. The updated version of the project is now expected to be operational in 2029 and would require $1 billion from the federal government, according to a report in The New York Times, which noted that the city tax revenues originally thought to be available for the BQX are being spent on other priorities, including affordable housing.

Caption contest over before it begins!

It's the Friday before Labor Day and someone has been having fun in Van Bummer land. I tip my cap to you, whoever you are! (Perfect "smugshot" on that poster as well.)

Meet the new community boards! (Same as the old community boards!)

The NYC Charter Revision Commission has issued some recommendations that should be on the ballot this November. If adopted, they will impose the following on community boards:

Term limits

 Provide a limit of four consecutive full two-year terms for community board members, provided, however, that for purposes of staggered implementation, certain initial appointments may include a limit of five two-year terms;

 Establish that the four-term limit would become effective for appointments or reappointments beginning on or after April 1, 2019; and

 Establish that community board members who had previously served for four consecutive terms are not barred from re-appointment after one full term out of office

So in summary, the dinosaurs that have been on the board for 30 years will likely get another 10. There's also a whole lot of gobbledygook about a Civic Engagement Commission which just sounds like an unnecessary government expansion.

All hail democracy!

In case you missed it: The gubernatorial debate

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and challenger Cynthia Nixon square off at Hofstra University on Aug. 29, 2018, in their only debate before the primary election. The pair have several fiery exchanges and accusations on who can best lead the state.

Screwed by flooding!

From The Real Deal:

Homeowners in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have seen home values lose nearly $7 billion due to flooding since 2005, according to a new study.

That’s on par with the $7.4 billion in value lost during the same time across the five southeastern states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.

The new study from the nonprofit First Street Foundation said the Northeastern tri-state area lost nearly as much property value than storm-drenched Florida because of the concentration of valuable real estate in the area, the Wall Street Journal reported.

New York lost $1.3 billion in potential value between 2005 and 2017, and New Jersey lost $4.5 billion. Connecticut lost $916 million.

DOT is at it again

From the Queens Tribune:

Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) and Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills) are calling on the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) not to follow through on plans to expand loading zones on Austin Street’s busy commercial strip.

Hevesi and Koslowitz said that they are attempting to facilitate a dialogue among the DOT and the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce and local business merchants, who say that the expansion of the zones would limit parking for their customers.

The DOT has proposed a variety of changes to Austin Street, including new 60-foot loading zones that would provide 36 spaces with 30-minute limits for trucks. The zones could be utilized from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Monday through Friday.

Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., there would be eight loading zones providing 24 spaces, while three loading zones with nine spaces would be available between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

“If the businesses that these loading zones are intended to help are against them, then what is the point of this proposal?” Hevesi said. “Unless the DOT provides some reasonable explanation, then this remains an unnecessary solution in search of a problem.”

In a statement, a DOT spokeswoman said that the aim of the initiative is to establish curbside regulations that help to ease congestion and promote safety.

Queens Machine nominates committee members without their consent

From the NY Times:

The New York Times called dozens of the Queens party machine’s nominees for county committee. The candidates for 21 seats were running without their consent.

Most of these candidates did not know they were running at all until a reporter told them; two, including Ms. Gambichler, found out when they got letters from the city Board of Elections showing how their names would appear on the Sept. 13 primary ballot. Only four candidates The Times spoke to said they were running on purpose.

The total number of unsuspecting candidates could be considerably higher: Party leaders fielded more than 1,300 nominees, at least a hundred more than in the last race in 2016.

What’s more, the machine is press-ganging nominees even as reform-minded candidates seeking the same entry-level seats at the table, inspired by Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, are being disqualified in droves for falling afoul of complex filing rules.

It is not entirely clear why the party would want to populate the committee with people who did not know they were on it. But any seats filled by party candidates would not be filled by insurgents.

Many of the machine’s unwitting soldiers are elderly or in poor health, and were confused or upset to learn of their political careers from a reporter’s phone call.

How NYCHA became de Blasio's biggest problem

From Politico:

On the same day the scandal-scarred New York City Housing Authority was publicly acknowledging that it had violated a series of federal standards over the past year, the two city officials charged with overseeing it were occupied with other matters.

Mayor Bill de Blasio was rolling out his latest plan to raise money for his national political ambitions, and Alicia Glen, the deputy mayor who oversees housing, was discussing her proposal to build more statues of women across New York City on "The Brian Lehrer Show."

The juxtaposition highlighted what has become clear since de Blasio took office in 2014: Decaying buildings that house some 400,000 New Yorkers have rarely topped the priority list, and the administration is only now beginning to embrace policies that could have made a difference years ago.

Through a review of City Hall decisions and interviews with more than three dozen current and former government officials, politicians and people who work in the affordable housing industry — many of whom wished to remain anonymous to speak freely about a controversial subject — a picture emerged of a government conflicted over how to handle an agency with entrenched problems that call for an implausible increase in federal funding.

In de Blasio, NYCHA is overseen by a cautious politician, unwilling to challenge unions over work rules that impact building maintenance and leery of upsetting tenants concerned with private development on public land. Glen has presented different challenges: She declined to incorporate public housing into her affordable housing plan, rendering it less urgent and less subsidized, sources said. And where the mayor has acknowledged some ownership of NYCHA, despite its structure as a quasi-federal entity, she publicly distanced herself — a characterization she strongly disputes.

De Blasio campaigned on a promise of attending to those he believed former Mayor Michael Bloomberg ignored. Few embody that population better than public housing residents — who are predominantly black, Hispanic and financially struggling — yet they remain among the most disadvantaged in de Blasio’s New York.

NYCHA’s problems have now become unignorable.

BQE reconstruction is going to really suck

From Brooklyn Daily:

Work to rehabilitate the three-tiered 1.5-mile stretch of expressway from Atlantic Avenue to Sands Street can now start as early as 2021 — months after full L-train service is supposed to resume — and wrap by 2026, after state lawmakers in April passed a budget authorizing use of the streamlined design-build process for the city-led job, which will allow the Department of Transportation to solicit one bid for both the design and construction phases of the project, instead of contracting separate firms for each.

Green-lighting design-build, which proponents say will also shave about $100 million from the repair’s total $1.9-billion price tag, means the repairs will likely finish before 2028 — the year local transit leaders warned they might have to force the roughly 16,000 trucks that travel the expressway daily down local streets instead so the triple cantilever doesn’t collapse beneath their weight.

And residents shouldn’t worry about the decrepit, nearly 70-year-old roadway crumbling before then — even if they’ve read reports of other bridges around the world spontaneously collapsing — because the city’s top priority is making sure its infrastructure is safe, the mayor said.

But unlike said L-pocalypse — for which, city and state transportation officials are rolling out a plain to aid the roughly 225,000 L-train riders who cross the East River daily that includes more service on other trains, more ferries, new bike paths, and other options — there’s no backup highway for drivers to use when sections of the expressway are closed for its repair, DeBlasio said.

More than 29K new dwelling units being built in Queens

From QNS:

A new interactive, real time map released by the Department of Buildings this week shows that Queens has approximately 21 million square feet of apartment space under construction, among other findings.

As announced in a press release on Aug. 22, the map shows the entirety of New York City’s nearly 200 million square feet of building space currently under construction, complete with details about each individual project and links to online copies of building permits. The map is the latest installment in the DOB’s initiative to share data with the public, following the release of the interactive map of sidewalk sheds earlier this year.

The map shows all active permits that have been filed with DOB, including new buildings and alteration projects. It automatically updates in real time as new permits are issued and existing permits expire. Users have the ability to filter through the data shown by building type, number of dwelling units, square footage, estimated cost, general contractors, community board boundaries and boroughs.

When filtered to show just the building projects in Queens, there are several interesting facts about the borough’s buildings.

There are a total of 2,450 active permits in Queens that comprise a total of 37,642,187 square feet of building space under construction in Queens. Of that, approximately 12 million square feet of space is being built in Community Board 2, covering Long Island City and Sunnyside.

In total, Queens has 29,451 dwelling units in the pipeline, and five buildings under construction in the borough rank in the top ten most dwelling units in the city.

29,451 new dwelling units, with probably about 1-200 that are affordable. And the 61,000+ citywide homeless population will keep growing.

Bill would require market feasibility study before hotel building

From SI Live:

After plans surfaced for two boutique hotels on Port Richmond Avenue, Senator Diane Savino (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn) has introduced legislation to combat the increasing number of hotels across the city in neighborhoods that don't have a market need.

The recent outcry against hotels planned for Port Richmond on Staten Island inspired the bill to ensure there is a need for hotels before they are approved.

"It's clear that the city has failed New Yorkers with its indiscretion when it comes to allowing hotels and motels in areas that simply don't need them," said Savino.

The main concern within the Port Richmond community is that the hotels would not generate legitimate business, instead being turned into de facto homeless shelters.

Her legislation would require business owners perform a market feasibility study to ensure that there is a need for a hotel in a specific neighborhood. If the owner can't show that there is a market for the hotel, they wouldn't receive approval to build.

You can swim with dolphins off Fort Tilden

H/T Kent Parson

Chon gets away with it

From the NY Post:

One of the honchos of Spa Castle pleaded guilty Thursday to attempted tax fraud charges, while the notorious Queens bathhouse agreed to pay $2.5 million for cheating the system by under-reporting income.

Daniel Chon was sentenced to a three-year conditional discharge — and no jail time — after copping to felony attempted criminal tax fraud charges.

The College Point spa mecca, meanwhile, was convicted of criminal tax fraud charges and agreed to pay the millions in restitution and damages as part of a simultaneous civil action.

The state Attorney General’s Office brought a slew of indictment charges against Spa Castle, Chon and several members of his family last year, claiming they failed to pay $1.5 million in taxes by under-reporting revenue.

Weinstein noted, however, that Chon pleaded guilty to just one count related to attempting to not remit sales tax “in excess of $10,000.”

The cases against Chon’s siblings — Victor Chon, Stephanie Chon and Spa Castle owner Steve Chon — were all dismissed with prejudice, according to Weinstein.

“We have zero tolerance for tax cheats who leave New Yorkers to foot the bill,” Attorney General Barbara Underwood said in announcing the pleas. “The defendants orchestrated a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud taxpayers.”

Wow, this is zero tolerance?

Plane noise is killing us

From PIX11:

For years, the Federal Aviation Administration gave tennis fans first-class treatment.

During the U.S. Open, the FAA diverted planes from nearby LaGuardia Airport, away from Arthur Ashe Stadium during the tournament. But in 2012, the tennis climb, as the flight path is known, stuck.

The decision permanently sent airplanes over the densely populated areas of northern Queens during takeoff.

"It's pretty loud, sometimes you think it's just a few meters above your roof," said Daniel Vasquez, who lives in Bayside.

Vasquez said he's constantly woken up by the rumbling of planes flying overhead. Now, according to a new study out of Columbia University, it turns out that turbulence may be causing more damage than anyone realized.

"I think the most damaging and shocking is the fact that given the noise impact, the air pollution impact, the noise from the planes, you could lose one year off your life," Sen. Tony Avella said.

Avella represents the impacted neighborhoods and said the FAA committed a classic double fault when it made the switch permanent. Not only was there no environmental impact study, but he said, the FAA didn't even bother to let the community know about the switch.