Queens Gazette cries a river for troubled medical building

From the Queens Gazette:

Recently a police report was filed with the 114th Police Precinct by Pali Realty for extensive graffiti damage done to the multimillion dollar medical facility under construction at 23-25 31st St. in Astoria. Graffiti vandals damaged the façade and exterior glass windows. Damage to the building is estimated to cost more than $150,000, causing an unnecessary expense and delays.

“It is a real travesty that damage by graffiti vandals continues to plague our neighborhood. We deserve a neighborhood free from graffiti and vandalism,” said Yianni Konstantinides of Pali Realty, the developer of the property. “Every bit of damage done places burdensome costs for this project and negatively impacts this building and other hard-working small business owners in New York City.”

Pali Realty has invested millions of dollars into the Astoria Medical Facility on 31st Street. Upon completion, it will serve as a full-time medical facility featuring 134 underground parking spaces and offices for 26 physicians with a support staff of approximately 80 people, bringing jobs and medical care to a largely underserved community. The medical office building will be occupied by various medical groups and hospitals. These local medical services and new jobs will be a major benefit to the Astoria Community.

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Astoria landlord in deep doo-doo

From DNA Info:

A Queens landlord was indicted Monday for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from prospective tenants for rent on apartments that were deemed uninhabitable after the space was illegally converted into a nine-family building, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.

Hinyoung Limtung, 55, is facing charges for allegedly pocketing $44,050 from would-be renters for apartments at 31-70 Crescent St., near Broadway, in Astoria — despite the fact that a vacate order had been issued at the property for unsafe and illegal conditions.

According to the Queens DA, the Department of Buildings had issued the vacate order in December of 2012 after an inspection found the two-family building had been illegally converted into a five-family building, and that the first and second floors had no sprinkler system and no secondary means of egress.

A second inspection of the building in February of 2013 found tenants still living at site, despite the vacate order, and that the property had been illegally converted again, this time into a nine-family dwelling, the Queens DA said.

Officials say Limtung collected rent from 10 prospective tenants between December 2012 and April 2013, despite the vacate order.

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Astoria candidate doesn't play by the rules

Astoria attorney John Ciafone is running for City Council District 22 (Astoria) to replace outgoing Peter Vallone, Jr. He has run previously for the council as well as for the assembly. He dropped out back in 2010, and he may have dropped out this time around as well since there are no CFB filings from his campaign on file.

What you may not know is that Ciafone currently appears on Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio's slumlord list. To his credit, he is on the "most improved" list, having reduced his violations from 195 to 2. He tried to donate to DeBlasio, but it was returned. Local council member/Vito Lopez protege Steve Levin and Queens BP candidates Peter Vallone and Melinda Katz apparently have no qualms about keeping his money, however.

Ciafone currently has ads on residential buildings in the Williamsburg-Greenpoint area.

They appear on 202 Franklin Street, 119 Freeman Street, and 199 Green Street, among others.

No permits are on file, so far as I can tell, that allow commercial signs on these buildings.

It's all about who you know, and who you give money to.

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CPC approves Vallonia expansion

From Brownstoner Queens:

Also at today’s meeting, the commission approved zoning changes for the $1 billion Hallets Point project planned for the Astoria waterfront. The project (pictured above) will bring 2,600 units to a now-sleepy corner of Astoria. Plans for this mega-development have been floating around for years so it’s big new that it’s finally ready to roll. The commission-level approval today follows the Community Board 1 vote of support back in May.

Lastly, the CPC approved landmarking of Jamaica High School and Forest Park Carousel. No surprises there, since the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to landmark these two structures earlier this summer.

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Introducing the Melrose Ballroom

There's a building going up in Astoria called the Melrose Ballroom at 36-08 33rd Street.

Their website advertises it as coming in early 2013, but apparently they're a bit behind schedule.

Here's what the finished product will look like. Hooray for chartreuse!

Just for fun, I decided to see what was there before this new building. Oh, I'm sorry, according to the permits, this is not a new building. There was only supposed to be "INTERIOR DEMOLITION AT FIRST FLOOR, MEZZANINE, AND SECOND FLOOR."

Yeah, okay. They DID get caught, BTW.

The final result will be this.

"Miraculous Greek singers" are scheduled to perform here starting mid-November. Why, you may ask?

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Astoria scammer in the slammer

From the Queens Courier:

An Astoria landlord has been charged with taking thousands of dollars from potential tenants after posting a Craigslist listing for an apartment and room at his home that were never vacant.

According to a criminal complaint, Mario Lalicata, also known as Mario Lamagra, posted a rental listing on Craigslist for a basement apartment or room at his 48th Street home in Astoria. Between March 23 and August 13, Lalicata allegedly took security deposits ranging from $500 to $2,000 from prospective tenants and collected first month’s rent in two cases. Afterwards, as the move-in dates got closer, Lalicata allegedly suspended the moves after making up numerous excuses. When the tenants tried asking for their money back, the landlord allegedly promised to return the money or said the money was being used for repairs. Lalicata allegedly then stopped answering and returning the tenants’ calls.

On August 13, Lalicata was arraigned on a 22-count criminal complaint with ten counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, two counts of first-degree scheme to defraud and ten counts of petit larceny.

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Astoria roadblocks

These photos were all taken on one side of the street along a block in Astoria. How do restaurants get away with taking up public parking spaces and putting objects in the middle of the sidewalk?

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Don't stay out too late this week!

From DNA Info:

There will be no overnight train service at five subway stations in Queens this week as the MTA makes repairs on the E, M and R train lines, part of the agency's FASTRACK program.

Starting Monday night and running through Friday morning, service will halt from 10 p.m. through 5 a.m. at the 36th Street, Steinway Street, 46th Street, Northern Boulevard and 65th Street stations in Astoria and Woodside, according to the MTA.

The E and R trains will be running express between Queens Plaza and Roosevelt Avenue, and M service will end early each night between 71st Street in Forest Hills and Essex Street in Manhattan.

Straphangers can instead take a free shuttle bus that will make local stops between Queens Plaza and Roosevelt Avenue-74th Street, the MTA said.

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Does St. Michael's Cemetery have land to swap for parkland?

This was passed on by a reader:

BILL NUMBER:S581

TITLE OF BILL: An act to authorize the city of New York to discontinue use of and convey certain park land

PURPOSE: To authorize the city of New York to discontinue use of certain park land and convey it to the St. Michael's cemetery.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1. Authorizes the city of New York to discontinue use as park land and to convey, in fee simple, the land described in section three of this act to Saint Michael's Cemetery.

Section 2. Provides that the authorization of this act shall be subject to the requirement that the city of New York shall use any proceeds and/or land received in exchange for the conveyance authorized by this act to acquire land, to be dedicated for park purposes in an amount equal to or greater than the fair market value of the land being conveyed.

Section 3. Describes the land authorized to be discontinued as park land and conveyed as the property bounded by Astoria Boulevard to the north, 30th Avenue to the south, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the east, and St, Michael's Cemetery to the west, in the Astoria section of Queens, City and State of New York. The property consists of a 3.77 acre highly irregularly shaped parcel of vacant land know as St. Michael's Park.

JUSTIFICATION: This legislation would allow St. Michael's Cemetery, located in Astoria, Queens to acquire a small strip of park land that is underutilized and in disrepair located adjacent to the cemetery.

St. Michael's Cemetery has agreed to transfer a replacement parcel of land to the City of New York in order to replace the park land acquired and ensure that the western Queens community does not lose valuable green space.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2012: Senate Bill 2513 (Gianaris) - Died in Senate Cities Committee 2012: Assembly Bill 4874 (Simotas) - Died in Assembly Rules Committee 2010: Senate Bill 2768-B (Onorato) - Died in Senate Cities Committee 2010: Assembly Bill 4317-B (Gianaris) - Died in Assembly Cities Committee

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.

VOTE: COMMITTEE VOTE: - Cities - May 30, 2013
Ayes (5): Lanza, DeFrancisco, Grisanti, Avella, Breslin
Ayes W/R (1): Ball

So, where is the replacement parkland?

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Over-the-top mailer fails to mention overflowing garbage

From the Daily News:

Look, up in the sky — is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s Vallone-man!

City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. touts himself as a bona-fide superhero in a new campaign mailing that Queens residents received this week — complete with Vallone donning a Man of Steel-style unitard with a bright red “V” on the chest.

“Police respect him, criminals fear him,” the flyer says at the top, next to an action shot of Vallone grasping an American flag. There’s also a tribute to Vallone from Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly — in a comic book font, of course.

Wow, this almost convinced me to pull the lever for the Junior! But then I received this:

"I put in a complaint about the amount of trash on Broadway on weekends and the poor removal by Sanitation. Plus, a few of those restaurant owners and landlords are slobs - treating the trees as ashtrays and dumping grounds. I will also blame careless, dirty pedestrians who seem too weak to hold onto a cup to toss in a garbage can.

Well, here is the response I got from Vallone - "basically I tried to fend off budget cuts but in the meantime here is how you can set-up a volunteer clean-up using materials from Dept of Sanitation." Not bad, but when do I have time to organize this when I am working and attending to family matters?

Maybe they should add a surcharge to developers building oversized buildings to pay for additional sanitation services for the whole community."

Chris Sahar

Thank you for writing in regard to sanitation issues and I will forward your concerns to the Department of Sanitation. Below are two links for citizens to be active in cleaning up trash in their neighborhood:

http://www.citizensnyc.org/programs/grants.html
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dsny/downloads/pdf/contact/requests/misc_request/volcleanup.pdf

Keeping Astoria clean is a top priority, and I refuse to let the quality of life fall below acceptable standards. I am as upset as you are about the recent increase in litter, not just in Astoria, but City-wide.

These quality of life issues are a direct result of cutbacks forced on New York City by politicians in Albany. Two years ago our local sanitation district had 141 officers and because of attrition and hiring freezes, our sanitation district stands at 119 officers. Budget cuts have lowered public trash can collections from twice a day in 2008 to once a day in 2010. I recently wrote to the Commissioner of Sanitation asking for restoration of twice a day public trash can collection.

Keeping Astoria clean is a high concern of mine and I have negotiated in the City Council to get funding in the budget to have well over one hundred heavy duty trash cans placed at various locations throughout my district in heavily trafficked areas. I also allocate money in the budget each year to pay for a sweeper who cleans 31st Street from 20th Avenue to 23rd Avenue and Ditmars Boulevard from 29th Street to 33rd Street each day and have provided funding to other groups to hire sweepers. A few years ago, I successfully fought to save twice weekly garbage pickups, weekly recycling, and to rehire 200 fired sanitation workers.

Property owners are responsible for keeping their sidewalks and curbs clean and free of debris. I, along with my colleagues, passed legislation that allowed for Sanitation Agents to issue summonses to homeowners for dirty sidewalk and curb areas only during two 1-hour periods. The time slots are from 8:00 to 9:00 in the morning and again from 6:00 to 7:00 in the evening. These time slots allow for the majority of homeowners to be home to clean their sidewalks. Commercial establishments are also required to sweep in front of their stores. From 31st Street to 81st Street on Ditmars Boulevard, the routing times are 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., and from 31st Street to Shore Boulevard, the times are 11:00 a.m. to 12 Noon and 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts there are dirtbags in our society who have little respect for other people’s property and just throw wrappers and other debris on the sidewalk.

I am sure that with continuous effort, our vision to maintain a cleaner, safer neighborhood will be successful, despite the cuts which Albany has forced upon the city.

Again, thank you for taking the time to express your concerns.
Very Truly Yours,

PETER F. VALLONE, JR.

All that fluff stuff that the superhero did with regard to sanitation and the neighborhood still looks like a pigsty. It's so bad there that one of the candidates running for Vallone's current seat has focused on the filth as his number one concern for the district.

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Let's play a guessing game

"Egyptian slum, or Steinway Street?" - Nick

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Billboard owners want to be grandfathered

From the Daily News:

Two Astoria landlords are boldly advertising their displeasure with the city.

Paul Halvatzis and Steve Kesoglides are feuding with the city over billboards on their residential buildings, both located on the north side of Astoria Blvd. near the Grand Central Parkway.

In 2011, the city presented each man with a sky-high fine and informed them that the billboards — both of which dated to the World War II era — were out of compliance with the law.

The city won a ruling in 2010 that allowed the Buildings Department to crack down on longstanding signs near highways — if they didn’t have permits.

The owners are now fighting the city in Queens Supreme Court, demanding that the billboards be grandfathered for permanent compliance.

A decision is expected within the next few months, a lawyer for the owners said.

The Buildings Department went after Kesoglides — despite his permit — because billboards cannot be grandfathered into residential zones, said DOB spokesman Tony Sclafani.

The agency was empowered to issue fines after it won the 2010 billboard suit.

“That was created more than 40 years ago,” he said of the zoning. “By law, advertising signs are only allowed 10 years after a residential zone is designated.”

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Astoria also a pig sty

"Here is the Astoria Garbage Photo of the week. 41st street and 28th avenue. The neighborhood is turning into a slum." - Nick

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Liquor license denied, now bikini club may go 100% nude

From DNA Info:

There might be bikinis, but there won't be booze.

A proposed Astoria bikini bar that's drawn the ire of local politicians had its liquor license rejected by the State Liquor Authority on Tuesday.

The owners behind Racks, at 19-26 Steinway St. between 19th and 20th Avenues, applied for a liquor license this spring with plans to open the space as a bar and grill where the female servers would don bikinis.

Several neighborhood politicians came out in opposition to the planned adult-entertainment spot, arguing Racks is an unsavory addition to the neighborhood and would negatively affect the area's property values.

"A place like Racks is wholly out of character with the family-friendly neighborhood of its proposed location," said Astoria Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas, who led the public charge against the bar, collecting signatures from local residents and holding an opposition rally at a nearby park.

"Astoria does not need scantily-clad women performing lap and pole dances a stone’s throw away from a playground, middle school, and our neighbor’s homes," Simotas said in a statement.

The bar's owners could still choose to go forward and open — even as a full-on nude adult entertainment establishment — and just not serve liquor.

Great job, Aravella! The place is in a 100% industrial zone, yet it's going to affect children? Be careful what you wish for - you just may get it.

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Mr. Noguchi, meet Mr. Crap

From Brownstoner Queens, we find out that the finishing touches are being put on this 3-family baby across the street from the Noguchi Museum.

The post says that Gerald Caliendo is the architect, but someone else is taking credit for it.

It's Frank Lloyd Crap! Welcome back!

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Easier parking coming to Astoria, Jackson Heights & Lindenwood

From the Queens Courier:

Vernon Boulevard’s bike lanes are set to get a makeover this summer to provide extra safety for riders and more space for drivers.

According to a plan the Department of Transportation (DOT) presented to Community Board 2 on June 6, the two one-way bike paths on each side of Vernon Boulevard would become a two-way protected lane. The lane would have a five-foot buffer running alongside the west side of the street. The lanes would also be painted green to provide easier visibility.

The existing bike lanes were set up as part of the Queens East River Greenway in 2008, which connects the waterfront from Hallet’s Cove in Astoria to 45th Road in Hunters Point.

After hearing community concerns over the lack of parking, DOT also plans to create a protected bike path through Rainey Park in Astoria. That would free up 35 parking spaces between 34th Avenue and 33rd Road.

From the Queens Gazette:

PARK Smart is an innovative parking management program that will help make it easier to find a parking spot and reduce congestion and double parking. The community and city Department of Transportation developed the Jackson Heights PARK Smart plan together as part of the Jackson Heights Neighborhood Transportation Study.

PARK Smart aims to increase the number of available parking spaces by encouraging motorists to park only as long as necessary. Parking rates in certain parts of the neighborhood will increase as motorists are parked longer. In other areas, a value rate will allow longer parking at the current rate.

The Progressive Rate encourages short stays, while providing more time for those who need it, on 37th Avenue, 74th Street, 82nd Street, and Broadway.

The Value Rate provides a low-cost, two-hour option for parking in lower demand areas. The Value Rate will be in effect on Roosevelt Avenue (from Broadway to 82nd Street) and 37th Road (74th to 75th Streets).

Meters on 74th Street will be extended to turn off at 10 p.m.

The meters on 74th Street and on Roosevelt Avenue will be converted from a one-hour limit to a two-hour limit.

From the Forum:

While Community Board 10 members said at their meeting last week they are pleased the city Department of Transportation is looking into additional parking for the congested 156th Avenue between 77th and 78th streets in Lindenwood, they voted to have DOT officials to take a closer look at their proposal.

Residents who spoke at last Thursday’s meeting said they supported the city’s plan to make parking less of a headache in the area, but asked that the DOT implement parallel parking spots along the north side and angled spots on the south of 156th Avenue. Al Silvestri, a DOT representative who attended the meeting, said the city has proposed doing the opposite – placing parallel parking along the south side and angled spots along the north.

The city first began looking into creating additional spots – meant to alleviate severe parking problems that residents said they have dealt with for far too long – following a request from the office of Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park).

CB 10 members pointed out that the angled parking proposed by the city would be on the same side as residences’ driveways, which they argued could create a logistical nightmare for drivers trying to exit their homes.

“That side of the street has cars that are pulling out,” said CB 10 member Joann Ariola. “You really need to take a look at flipping it and putting angled parking on the other side. That would be much safer.”

Silvestri said his department would review board members’ suggestions.

A bill also passed this Wednesday that should help with parking meters:

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Supposedly sealed building caught fire

From the Queens Gazette:

Fire marshals are looking into the cause of a stubborn, smoky fire on the afternoon of June 10 that destroyed a vacant home on 47th Street in Astoria, fire officials said.

Twenty-five fire units and 106 firefighters responded at about 4:30 p.m. to the two-alarm blaze at 31-40 47th Street that sent one firefighter to Mount Sinai Queens with burn injuries, a fire spokesperson said. Several other firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation and other injuries at the scene.

Fire marshals arrived at the scene a short while before the blaze was brought under control, to begin combing through the remains of the building to determine exactly what sparked the fire. Fire officials would not say if the blaze is considered suspicious.

I think I have the answer:

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Isabella's of Astoria demolished for Muslim school

From Brownstoner Queens:

A one-story mosque at 24-30 Steinway Street in Astoria has been demolished (or not quite demolished, it seems, as there are only alteration permits as opposed to new building permits on file) to make way for a five-story structure that will house a school in addition to religious facilities, according to DOB permits. Based on this DOB violation, it seems safe to surmise that the Al Iman Center (aka the Al Marwa Center) has been operating in one form or another since the mid-1990s.

Okay, Skippy, the mosque hasn't been demolished. Isabella's has been demolished.  You can see the rendering of the school in the window of this Google Maps shot:

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