A podcaster and well-known Democratic Socialist from Astoria has
thrown the progressive wing of the Democratic party into disarray by
announcing she plans to run for the District 59 seat in the state
Senate.
Nomiki Konst announced Tuesday on “The Majority Report” talk show—a
daily political podcast–that she plans to run for the newly formed
District 59 seat that covers Astoria, Long Island City, Williamsburg,
Greenpoint and parts of Manhattan.
“I want to announce that I’m running for state senate in District
59—a brand new district that encompasses the community I live in.”
The new district was created mid-May, when a special master drew up
the electoral maps for the state senate, after a supreme court judge
tossed out the maps drafted by state Democrats on the basis that they
were unconstitutional.
Konst joins other candidates such as Elizabeth Crowley and Kristen
Gonzalez in the race. However, her announcement has upset many
progressives who believe she will cut into the vote for Gonzalez.
Gonzalez, a progressive who lives in Long Island City, has already
garnered the support of Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, the NYC-DSA, the
Working Families Party, Make the Road, New York Communities for Change,
Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, Councilmember Tiffany Cabán and many
other left leaning officials and organizations.
Gonzalez announced she was running months ago, when most thought Long
Island City was going to be part of Senate District 17—a district that
was eliminated by the special master last month. That district would
have included Long Island City, Woodside, Ridgewood, Maspeth, Glendale
and Greenpoint—although not Astoria.
Konst said she decided to run after the boundaries of District 59 were drawn– which include Astoria.
The lots by the Aqueduct train station has finally come to use.
Huron St. rowhouses are actually in context.
Last but not least, another McMansion similar to the monstrosity on the corner of the Hawtree St and the fork at Conduit Blvd and Albert Rd has materialized as well.
A mural for legendary late rapper Notorious B.I.G. just went up in Maspeth. Actually an ad for Amazon commemorating his 50th birthday just went up which depicts Biggie as a spirit emitting from a bunch of flowers. Or maybe that's insecticide. Curious why he would be depicted this way.
But I think I know where this gentrifier artist got her inspiration from...
Two bus redesign Zoom meetings held last Thursday and Monday included
proposals for changes to several lines throughout East and Southeast
Queens. The meetings were among the last in a series held by the MTA and
focused on Community Districts 12 and 13.
The Q1 bus had major
proposed changes that were relayed by Tori Winters, the principal
transportation planner for the MTA. The bus route currently starts in
Queens Village on Springfield Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue and ends at
the 165th Bus Terminal in Jamaica, though some buses leave the terminal
and end at Bellerose at Braddock and Jamaica avenues, instead of
returning back to Queens Village.
The proposed new route would
start at Bellerose, eliminating the main starting point in Queens
Village and all but one Springfield Boulevard stop (Springfield
Boulevard and Hillside Avenue) and 12 stops on Hillside Avenue, but it
would take over the Q6 route and extend to the JFK Cargo Plaza in South
Ozone Park by skipping the terminal and going through Downtown Jamaica
and then down Sutphin Boulevard. The route would keep the 179th Street
and Hillside Avenue F-train stop and it would also pass by the E, J, Z
train stop on Jamaica Avenue and the Jamaica Long Island Rail Road on
Archer Avenue. The proposal would more than double the weekday peak
service frequency of the bus from 10 minutes to 4 minutes, and nearly
double the off-peak frequency from 15 to 8 minutes.
“We
will be replacing the two routes with one higher-frequency route,”
Winters said about the Q1 in a slideshow presentation. “Local service
along Springfield Boulevard will be provided by the proposed Q78. The
Rockaway Boulevard segment of the existing Q6 would now be served by the
proposed Q7.”
The proposed Q45 would take over the Q36 route and
the Hillside Avenue portions of the Q1 that would be axed and start at
the Little Neck LIRR. The route would conclude in Jamaica on Archer
Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard, expanding its train service connections to
the E, J and Z lines, the Long Island Rail Road and AirTrain similar to
the Q1.
The Q75 is a newly proposed route that would go from
Jamaica to Queensborough Community College via 188th Street and Horace
Harding Expressway, replacing the Union Turnpike to Jamaica Avenue stops
along the Q17 and taking over the Q30’s primary role as a route to the
Bayside school. The Q31 bus would pick up the Q30 line’s Utopia Parkway
stops.
The
suggested Q82 would replace the Q36 service along Hillside Avenue and
combine with sections of the existing Q110 that goes along Hempstead
Avenue to get to the UBS Arena in Elmont. Instead of servicing 212th
Place in Queens Village, the route will serve Hollis Court Boulevard,
and any existing Q36 stops east of 213th Street would be picked up by
the Q57.
“The new Q82 route would mostly run nonstop alongside
Hillside Ave.,” said Winters. “The service will no longer provide a
route to Jamaica Ave., as the existing Q36 does.”
Buses with
suggested minor changes include the Q44, which would maintain most of
its route in Jamaica on Merrick Boulevard and Archer Avenue, but instead
of concluding its route at the Bronx Zoo, it would go to Fordham Avenue
Plaza at Fordham University; the Q43 in Jamaica, which would make less
frequent stops as it extends farther out to Long Island Jewish Medical
Center in Glen Oaks; and the Q2, which would maintain its route though
shifts in where it would stop between the 165th Street Bus Terminal and
Elmont were proposed.
The massive Innovation QNS project was rejected by Community Board
1’s Land Use & Zoning Committee Wednesday night—despite the
development team making modifications to the plans prior to the meeting.
The Innovation QNS developers, who seek to rezone a 5-block area in the vicinity of Steinway Street and 35th Avenue, made the adjustments in the wake of a public hearing held on May 25 where they received a vast amount of feedback.
The developers’ overarching plan involves creating a mixed-use
district between 37th Street and Northern Boulevard, bound by 35th and
36th Avenues, which would consist of more than a dozen buildings that
would range in height from eight to 27 stories as well as two acres of
open space.
Gerald Caliendo, co-chair of CB1’s Land Use & Zoning Committee,
told the developers at the May 25 hearing that the committee believed
that the size of the buildings along 35th Avenue—adjacent to
the residential area–needed to be reduced, while the larger buildings
should be located toward Northern Boulevard.
He also said that the committee held the view that there is a need
for active recreation space—such as a small soccer field or basketball
courts–noting that much of the open space was designed to be used as a
as commercial corridor to the retail area. Furthermore, the committee
called for a community center that would be operated by the likes of a
YMCA of Variety Boys & Girls club.
The developers—consisting of Silverstein Properties, Kaufman Astoria
Studios and BedRock Real Estate Partners—came to the committee meeting
with a series of changes to the plans. The essence of the plan, however,
remains the same, which involves 2,800 apartments—711 deemed
affordable—along with commercial, retail and community space.
Eran Chen, of ODA Architecture, presented the changes on behalf of
the development team to the committee, which included the following:
— the elimination of a 16-story building located at the corner of 35th Avenue and 41st Street
–the reduction of the height of a building at the corner of 35th Avenue and Steinway Street from 20 to 15 stories
— a reduction of the height of a building at the corner of 35th avenue and 42nd street from nine to eight stories
— reducing another building on 35th Avenue from 27 to 24 stories
The buildings, however, closer to Northern Boulevard have been enlarged to make up for the lost scale on 35th Avenue.
The developers also announced that they have added a 30,000 square
foot recreation center, which will offer indoor active space. The center
is going in where the community board initially thought a school was
going to be built—only to learn that the School Construction Authority
did not seek the site.
The developers also said that the retail space would be targeted toward locally-owned businesses.
Despite the revised plans, the underlying zoning application would
not change. The committee was assured by Jesse Masyr, a land use
attorney, that the developers would stick to the revamped plans noting
that it came down to their credibility.
In light of the news of Mayor Eric Adams and the asshole NYC Health Commissioner Vasan insisting on keeping mask protocols going for toddlers, I passed by the "open street" shortcut Freedom Drive in Forest Park and saw these equally ludicrous signs on the obstruction gate at what used to be a convenient short cut for drivers who need to go to the northern and southern parts of this World's Borough of ours.
Distancing??? Washing hands??? Face touching??? Masking??? WE'RE FRICKIN OUTSIDE!!!
Interesting how the City Department of Health doesn't have their logo on this.
With shootings on the rise in New York City, Mayor Eric Adams on
Thursday named as his new “gun czar” the head of a taxpayer-funded
“violence interrupter” nonprofit whom investigators had found used the
group to line his pockets and employ his relatives.
Andre
Mitchell, executive director of the nonprofit Man Up Inc, will serve as
volunteer co-chair of a task force addressing gun violence as part of
Adams’ campaign to reverse the trend of mayhem that’s plagued city
streets since just prior to the pandemic.
Since 2017, Mitchell’s
group has won nearly $20 million in city contracts to perform “anti-gun
violence” work from the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, an
arrangement that greatly expanded even after the city Department of
Investigation (DOI) in 2019 alleged financial improprieties and nepotism
at Man Up. The most recent extension ends July 1.
And during the
time City Hall extended the length and amount of the contract, there’s
no record that Man UP filed tax documents with the state Attorney
General’s Office or the Internal Revenue Service as is required of
active nonprofits. The last document on file dates back to tax year
2018.
Man Up is one of several groups that rely on neighborhood
leaders — some of whom have been convicted of crimes themselves but have
done their time and are turning their lives around — to intervene with
potential shooters before they act, by winning their trust and
cooperation.
The Biden administration recently embraced this local tactic, announcing it would target increased funding for “evidence-based community violence intervention programs.”
Adams dismissed questions about the DOI findings, noting that he himself hired his own brother
as a security advisor at City Hall. He also stressed the urgency of
tackling gun violence: “You’re talking about DOI? I’m talking about DOA.
People are dying.”
Added the mayor: “Some people say, ‘But what
about his background?’ What about all our backgrounds? We are not
looking for a nun. We’re looking for someone to be in the streets and
embrace our people. We’re looking for the right person for the job. And
AT (Mitchell) is the right person for the job.”
Ever since this violence interruptor "non"-profit got more funding from the city and the federal government, shootings have skyrocketed.
An
unhinged customer who feuded for months with a Queens Chinese restaurant
about not getting enough duck sauce with his order has been arrested
for the April shooting death of the eatery’s beloved longtime
deliveryman, cops said Thursday.
Glenn Hirsch, 51, was arrested at his home Wednesday night and charged with murder and gun possession for the April 30 killing of Zhiwen Yan, 45.
The
victim was riding his scooter near 108th St. and 67th Drive in Forest
Hills when he was shot in the chest. A witness told cops the driver a of
a Lexus SUV sped off from the scene.
Yan
worked for more than a decade at Great Wall, a Nothern Boulevard
restaurant whose manager, Kai Yang, 53, told police of a problem
customer who drove the same type of vehicle.
Police quickly focused on Hirsch and eventually developed enough evidence to charge him.
Hirsch was taken into custody without incident, an NYPD spokesman said.
“Zhiwen
Yan was a beloved member of his Queens community whose tragic murder in
April was heartbreaking,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell tweeted
early Thursday. “@NYPDDetectives
never relented in their investigation — and have now arrested
51-year-old Glenn Hirsch. He’s been charged with murder and criminal
possession of a weapon.”
This scene takes place in Fresh Meadows at this hotel steps away from
the Horace Harding Expressway and also a strip mall and public school.
This hotel, which has clearly failed to generate any business, was
subjected to numerous scoops and solidarity condemnation from the
community and elected officials
representing the district for it’s use as a homeless shelter for men
who were recently released from Rikers Island and was used during the
pandemic as housing for a hundred inmates
during the pandemic to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on the island’s
facilities. Which was irresponsibly made possible following former Mayor
de Blasio and the City Council cronies collaborative effort to shut
down Rikers to build four tower jails in the boroughs except for Staten
Island. But from the optics of this building, it seems that this hotel
in Fresh Meadows is being used as a trial run tower jail while the
official tower jail in Kew Gardens gets developed and which has already
started it’s construction.
It’s utterly amazing that the city approved this hotel on a quaint
residential block like this. Who in their right mind thought that
tourists would dwell here while vacationing in the city and it’s much to
big and out of the way to be utilized for prostitution and sex
trafficking.
Upon close inspection, the optics in the front entrance belie the
element that’s being housed here as cars line up on the sidewalk
obstructing most of the entrance of the hotel, despite the ample parking
in the lot behind it and the garage inside the building, conveying a
palpable sense of security for their neighbors across the street and the
passerby young and old.
Just
beyond the reach of New York City’s frenetic, round-the-clock subway,
people in a slice of western Queens wait — and wait — to board one of
the borough’s slowest buses.
Many of the 2.3 million New Yorkers
who live and work in Queens aren’t served directly by the vast network
of trains that keeps the nation’s biggest metropolis moving. The
borough, the city’s second most populous, has less subway service
relative to its size and population than the other four.
So hundreds of thousands of people here plan their lives around the only mass transit choice they have: the buses that lumber along traffic-choked streets.
One of those buses, the Q23, is among the slowest in the city. For the past four years, it has consistently traveled more slowly than the citywide average
of about 8 miles per hour — about the speed some people can run —
bogged down by an awkward path and riders who swarm two stops that
connect to the subway.
It
was slower than nearly all of the 76 other buses in Queens in April,
and it ranked dead last in the borough in January, when it traveled at
6.5 miles per hour.
The
Q23’s route curls around the Tudor-style houses and lush yards of
Forest Hills, then cuts through the bustling heart of multicultural
Corona before turning west toward the edge of Queens to head to its last
stop, near La Guardia Airport.
“Each
section has its own little demon,” John Breeden, who has driven city
buses for 11 years and counts the Q23 among his routes, said as he sat
behind the wheel on a spring afternoon. “You need patience.”
More
New Yorkers ride buses in this borough than in any other. On a given
weekday before the pandemic, 680,000 people took a bus in Queens, making
up about 32 percent of the city’s overall weekday ridership of 2.2
million.
Many
blue-collar workers rely on the Q23 to reach their jobs, and its
frequent delays can derail their commutes and make them late to work.
Some riders set out hours early to compensate. When buses are slow, people put off basic needs such as medical care, according to a May 2020 study published in the American Journal of Public Health. They spend longer in harsh weather, and their quality of life suffers because of lost time.
The
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the city’s public
buses, wants to speed them up in Queens, in part by getting rid of
stops and adapting to modern traffic patterns, making routes straighter
and more direct.
“Most of the subway
system was built when Queens still had farmlands,” said Janno Lieber,
the M.T.A.’s chairman and chief executive.
“Now
we have to make the bus system do a lot of the work in Queens that the
subway system does for so many other parts of the city that got more
heavy rail, because of when they were developed,” he said.
The authority released a draft plan to redesign the borough’s bus network in March, and it is soliciting community input through June.
Critics of the
plan say it would not solve problems like drivers who don’t follow the
rules, dining sheds that make narrow streets even tighter, and
construction jobs like the one that blocked Ms. Mora’s route.
“Realistically,
there’s not much you can do,” Mr. Breeden said. “It’s very populated
over there. And then you add in the churches, then you add in the
deliveries, and the people’s entrepreneurship out there — it’s always
going to be crowded.”
(From the Department of TransAlt website.) Ridgewood Reservoir Needs A Bus Stop
The historic Ridgewood Reservoir is a 50-acre natural oasis that serves diverse communities on the border of Brooklyn and Queens. Despite its beauty, ecological importance, and open access, the Ridgewood Reservoir, which is proximate to some of the poorest areas in New York City, is impossible to reach by public transportation.
The Ridgewood Reservoir needs a direct bus stop for New Yorkers to enjoy its benefits.
The reservoir is ill-served by current public transportation options. The closest subway station is the J train at Norwood Avenue, a mile away. The closest bus stop is the Q56 at Jamaica and Shepherd Avenues, a half-mile from the reservoir. Our greenspace currently serves as a cultural and ecological treasure solely for New Yorkers who can drive to it.
With more transportation options, our reservoir will be accessible to all New Yorkers to enjoy its many health benefits. This includes a multi-use path for walking, biking and running, bird watching and flowers, as a quiet respite from the city, and more!
So the Department of TransAlt wants to screw around with a Queens bus line so it could make a stop by here. I'll let Crappy explain why this is full of gaslighting bullshit and will do more harm than good (the good being that will mostly benefit the bike and public space scientology cult):
"Why lie? The B13 is maybe 300 feet from the north entrance. Maybe work on making that area by the Jackie safer instead of ruining someone’s commute by taking a bus out of the way. I’ve never heard of a bus line being routed to serve a park feature rather than the park itself.
It’s more that there is a heavily used parking lot where they want a bus stop and all the Caribbean and Dominicans using it destroy the narrative that only white people use cars.
When Bloomberg announced it was going to be a destination park the gentrifiers started sniffing around. Then he dropped it and so did they. Except for these turds, who are trying to monetize the park for their benefit.
The community board there was circulating a letter from MTA which showed that it would take the bus well off the route and lengthen commutes considerably, and if they used it as an end of line type of thing it was impossible to turn the bus around.
On top of that, the two buses that run there are Brooklyn routes and these dopes are sending out instructions to testify about the Queens bus redesign."
What's really funny is that there are routes where you can easily get there by bike from the Queens side, isn't that what this damn think tank bike lobby exists for, so why annoy everyone?
A mom of three cried Tuesday as she described being attacked when she left her temple in Queens.
A group of three stole her jewelry and threatened her with a gun. She
didn’t wan her face shown because she’s scared for her life. The attack
on her is the fifth one against Sikh individuals that PIX11 has
reported on since April.
The attack comes comes as the Asian American Bar Association released
a report revealing overall hate crimes in New York City have spiked.
Activists say they want more done to protect Asian American New Yorkers.
The mom who was attacked agreed. For right now, she’s hoping the people who robbed her are caught and see justice.
NYPD investigators said the robbery doesn’t appear to be a hate
crime, but that could change as the investigation continues. They’re
still looking for surveillance video and witnesses.
This is some development. Well, some over-development. It wasn't long ago when the city promised to build a school here along with promises to devote more units for families, but the folks at Madison Realty Capital had some other plans thanks to the former Mayor de Blasio's HPD very generous upzoning approval, much to the chagrin of the community's and Council member Holden's objections.
Have to admire the tenacity of this one holdout homeowner
Admin note: I was notified that I implied this was a NYCHA building and that's not the case at all. Luxury public housing is what I describe every new "affordable housing" building that has gone up in the last decade, mostly those built during the Blaz years, because of the ratio of incremental low rent units to higher market rate units.
The MTA is gearing up a plan to improve bike and pedestrian access to its mass transit system and bridges.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will release its
so-called Bike, Pedestrian, and Micromobility Strategic Action Plan
sometime this year after long resisting calls from advocates to open its
bridges to New Yorkers who aren’t behind the wheel.
“We want to improve customer access to our environmentally friendly
MTA services, however they get to their train or bus,” MTA Chairperson
and CEO Janno Lieber said in a statement. “As a cyclist myself, I know
that biking can be the perfect complement to mass transit.”
The state agency hired Sam Schwartz Engineering to consult on the
project, which officials say will work toward better access to transit
stations for bikes, pedestrians, and micro-mobility like e-scooters;
integrating bike sharing services, and improving access to the
infrastructure controlled by MTA’s Bridges and Tunnels division.
The Authority is also looking for written public comment on the project’s website.
The MTA is required by law to come up with the plan under legislation signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in late December,
and one of the bill’s sponsors said it was time for the region’s main
transportation agency to meet the growing demand for travel that isn’t
dependent on cars.
“Expanding access for cyclists and pedestrians on MTA bridges,
stations, buses, and trains will help us meet the growing demand of New
Yorkers who are choosing sustainable forms of transportation,” said
Bronx state Senator Alessandra Biaggi.
A
Queens woman does her damage from a third-floor apartment with an ocean
view: Water left running for days, flooding the building. Smoke pouring
from beneath her front door. Hoarding old junk in the hallway, from
bicycles to shopping carts. Taking a sledgehammer to her kitchen
cabinets.
But
her exasperated Rockaways landlord and unnerved neighbors can’t get
help from anywhere. Not from the cops. Not from the Fire Department. And
not from a Housing Court crippled by the pandemic.
I’m
trying to evict her because she’s a nuisance and the courts are
supposedly open for business,” said building owner Martin Hanan, who is
out roughly $40,000 in lost rent. “But apparently they’re not, because
they really don’t care. They don’t want to hear a word ... Honestly, I
gave up on calling the city.”
Hanan compiled a staggering six-page litany of Annamarie Hosang’s
behavior, from allegedly tossing a fire extinguisher at the building
superintendent to once blasting music from her apartment for 20 straight
hours.
A
Daily News review of Housing Court documents detailed the woman’s
alleged activities, with multiple reports of flooding the Beach 113th
St. building, ringing her neighbor’s doorbells and even threatening one
of her neighbors with a pipe.
When
the NYPD and FDNY arrived on multiple occasions, they dealt with the
situation and moved on, the landlord said, adding his tenants declined
to bring charges against the woman over fear of reprisals.
Hanan
is still awaiting a long-delayed hearing for her eviction, a process
that began in Queens Housing Court in September 2020. Things became even
more complicated after Hosang twice applied — in October 2021 and this
past February — for a COVID relief program that assures her a home
during the pandemic.
Hanan
says Hosang has paid no rent for her $1,725-a-month residence since
April 2021 and that he can’t even lease out the apartment downstairs
because the cascading water from above collapsed its ceiling. The stench
of mildew from her water-soaked apartment seeps through the building.
Two
longtime residents of the nine-unit building shared their own tales,
with both asking for anonymity rather than risk incurring their
neighbor’s wrath. One of the pair, referring to Hosang only as “the
squatter,” recited a list of unnerving incidents — including one where
she chased his wife with a shovel.
Earlier this month, a Roosevelt Island resident asked on Twitter:
"why is it impossible to get on a ferry at Roosevelt
Island?! They are coming full from East 90th. This is a constant issue
on weekends"
This Memorial Day Weekend Sunday afternoon was a perfect example of a full NYC Ferry Boat coming
from East 90th Street with little room for passengers waiting to board
at Roosevelt Island. After a few people boarded at Roosevelt Island, a
NYC Ferry Crew member announced only "one more" spot on the boat was
available even though there were at least 25 other people in line to
board.
Upon hearing this, a frustrated man waiting with his
family to board walked to the front of the line and told the NYC Ferry
Crew member that the people already allowed on the boat cut ahead of
those waiting in line and
that NYC Ferry needs to do a better job organizing the line at the
Roosevelt Island dock.
This is not a new problem. Larger capacity boats are needed during the summer.
Update
A proposal by mass transit guru Larry Penner:
I enjoyed reading "Gonna need a bigger boat" concerning Roosevelt Island customers left at the dock unable to board.
My old friends at NYC EDC (who directly manage their Private Ferry Operator program) for some reason I can't understand continue year after year to ignore Federal Transit Administration funding that could be used to purchase larger size ferry boats. Perhaps you might consider the following...
Why Not Apply For Federal Funding Available To Purchase Larger Ferry Boats for Roosevelt Island Service by Larry Penner
Here is one way City Hall can find additional funding to pay for larger ferry boats to support greater passenger capacity benefiting Roosevelt Island and other destinations served by the NYC Economic Development Corporation Private Ferry Operator program. The United States Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration will announce a NOFA (Notice of Funding Availability) in coming months. This is an opportunity to apply for a portion of the $30 million in Fiscal Year 2022 competitive grant funding for passenger ferry projects nationwide. FTA’s Passenger Ferry Grant Program, funds capital projects to improve existing passenger ferry service, establish new ferry service including the purchase of ferry boars along with repair and modernize ferry boats, terminals, and related facilities and equipment. Under this program, a portion of these funds are usually set aside for low or zero-emission ferries or ferries using electric battery or fuel cell components and the infrastructure to support such ferries.
FTA recipients such as NYCDOT can also choose to spend whatever they receive under their share of 2022 Fiscal Year Section 5307 Urbanized Area; $6.4 billion, 5307 Passenger Ferry $36.5 million or Section 71102 Electric or Low Emmiting $49 million for ferry projects. The Federal Highway Administration has funding under several programs including Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ), Surface Transportation Program (STP) and others which can be flexed or transferred to FTA can also finance capital ferry projects.
New ferry services can be implemented more quickly than construction of new subway, commuter rail or highways. These can take years or even decades until completion of environmental reviews, planning, design, engineering, real estate acquisition, permits, procurements and construction before reaching beneficial use. Completing all of the above, along with finding funding for ferry boats, docks and parking with costs in the millions is easier than finding the billions of dollars for construction of new or extended subway, commuter rail or highways. Utilization of ferry boats equipped with fuel efficient engines can make a positive contribution to air quality
Consider past history for federal support of the NYC DOT Staten Island Ferry. The nation's largest municipal ferry system moving 66,000 pre COVID-19 daily riders has benefited by over $1 billion in grants from the FTA (previously known as the Urban Mass Transportation Administration), going back to the 1970's. A majority of the Staten Island Ferry system capital program, including the purchase of ferries, Staten Island Pier 7 ferry maintenance facility, both renovated St. George, Staten Island and Whitehall Street, Manhattan ferry terminals, midtown Pier 79 West 39th Street ferry terminal, St. George, Staten Island ferry terminal replacement bus ramps and other support equipment necessary to run the system were all paid for primarily with federal funding. Additional funding was provided to purchase and preserve the old abandoned North Shore Staten Island Rail Road right-of-way for future restoration of transit service. The original service was terminated in 1953. This would reestablish a direct connection with the St. George, Staten Island Ferry Terminal. A past $450 million Federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Improvement Act (TIFIA) loan paid for rehabilitation of the St. George, Staten Island Ferry terminal bus ramps.
Mayor Erik Adams, Queens Boro President Donovan Richards, Manhattan Boro President Mark Levine and the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation should ask NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez to apply for these funds which could help finance new capital improvements for initiation of ferry service to Coney Island. NYC Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Andrew Kimball can do the same on behalf of the Private Ferry Operators Program. This is another great example of Washington providing financial assistance to promote public transportation.
NYC can also apply for capital grants from the New York State Department of Transportation to assist in funding. Albany also provides State Transportation Operating Assistance (STOA). Ridership on any transit service generates yearly federal transportation capital assistance via the annual FTA Section 15 annual reporting process. Numerous past private ferry operators have come and gone. They could not financially survive without government subsidy. MTA bus, subway, Staten Island Railway, Long Island and Metro North Rail Road along with NYC DOT Staten Island Ferry is subsidized by a combination of City, State and Federal assistance for both capital and operating costs. All new ferry services will require similar subsidies to survive.
Who wouldn't want to enjoy the fresh air and breeze that only waterborne transportation can provide. Riding a ferry can be less stressful than being on a crowded subway car.
(Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions in capital projects and programs for the MTA, NYC Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro North Rail Road MTA Bus, NYC DOT Staten Island Ferry along with 30 other transit agencies in NY and NJ.)
A controversy over property rentals is heating up in a beachfront community in The Rockaways.
Some
homeowners are being accused of taking advantage of a city program to
cash in on a major tax break, CBS2's Lisa Rozner reported Wednesday.
It's
prime waterfront property: several homeowner communities made up of
around 1,500 homes known as "Arverne by the Sea" in the Rockaway
peninsula were built in the early 2000s as part of an urban renewal
project.
The city designated it an "urban development action area project," which means homeowners would get a huge break on their taxes.
"We
were also first-time homebuyers, so that was helpful," homeowner Adam
Linet said. "Our tax rates are probably around 25 percent of what they
would normally be."
It was a great deal, which is why the Department of Housing
Preservation and Development required every homeowner make it their
primary residence.
"One of the same zip codes that has among the
deepest pockets of poverty in the entire city of New York. So, this was a
real opportunity for folks who had been stuck in generational poverty,"
Assemblyman Khaleel Anderson said.
In February, a Department of
Investigation report uncovered at least 15 homeowners violating the
primary residence requirement, receiving in total more than $1 million
in tax exemptions. Seventy properties had tax bills mailed outside of
the development and one couple even turned its home into a fully
licensed bed and breakfast.
Three months after the findings, Inn
Your Element is available on reservation web sites. CBS2 also found on
Airbnb entire homes available for $350 a night, another for $288, so
residents believe there are many more homeowners violating the policy.
"I don't feel safe when so many people are coming in and out of a
house," one woman said. "There are addresses that have been turned into
three rental units rather than two."
"We have trash issues. We have quality-of-life issues with noise complaints," Linet added.
Finance
records show one man who is a real estate investor according to
LinkedIn owns at least three properties and also has an address at a
luxury high-rise rental building in Manhattan.
Emails and calls to him and other alleged absentee homeowners were not returned.
CBS New York also caught up with yours truly who did a story and synopsis about this continuing scandal on Impunity City back in March. Looks like Mayor Adams and his HPD Dept are not going to do anything about this. Bunch of lily-livered scalliwags.
Queens Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks’ recent trips to Ukraine are an
about-face for the former Russia-loving pol who once referred to
Vladimir Putin’s government as “an important allied relationship” and
“strategic partner” for the US
Meeks, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, founded the
House’s Russia Caucus, along with disgraced former Staten Island pol Michael Grimm, once lobbied hard to remove impediments to trade with the country.
And Meeks’ sister, Janella Meeks, works for Brooklyn Sports and
Entertainment, a company once tied to Russian oligarch Mikhail
Prokhorov, a Putin confidant who used to own the New Jersey Nets.
Janella Meeks is deputy director of government and public affairs for
the company, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Unlike dozens of other Russian billionaires close to Putin, Prokhorov
has not been sanctioned by the US or Europe. He sold the team and
Barclay’s arena, pocketing more than a $2 billion in the deals, in 2019.
The sale of the NBA franchise was allegedly at the behest of Putin, The Post recently revealed.
But Meeks has recently embraced Ukraine’s fight against Putin,
accompanying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on an official Congressional
delegation visit to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelensky last month.
“We assured him of the United States and Congress’ unwavering and bipartisan support for Ukraine’s defense,” said Meeks in a statement earlier this month.
Italicized passages and many of the photos come from other websites. The links to these websites are provided within the posts.
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