Avella & civic leaders rally against BSA application

(Bellerose, QUEENS) On Saturday, September 7, Senator Tony Avella, Bellerose civic leaders and residents rallied against the Indian Cultural and Community Center (ICCC) for moving ahead with their Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) application despite the recent release of a report by the New York State Office of the Inspector General that criticized the ICCC’s involvement in a state land sale.

Two years ago, Avella reached out to the Inspector General and the Attorney General and asked for an extensive review of the New York State Dormitory Authority’s sale of 4.5 acres of land on the Creedmore psychiatric-hospital campus in a no-bid deal to the politically connected nonprofit group for a fraction of its value.

This past week the Inspector General released their report which showed clear and convincing evidence that the ICCC not only “exploited loopholes in the statute and lapses in oversight by the Dormitory Authority” but purposely sought to deceive that agency as well as members of the community and elected officials regarding their intention to build residential housing on property which is the subject of the applications currently before the BSA. The findings in the report have been referred to the Attorney General’s office.

Despite this information, the ICCC is moving ahead with their BSA application, which is scheduled to be heard at a public hearing on September 10th.

Avella stated, “From the very beginning, I have had my suspicions regarding the ICCC’s involvement in this shady land deal. The Inspector General’s report confirms my suspicions, that at the very least the ICCC intentionally engaged in deceptive practices with the intent to mislead the public about its intentions with this property and at the very worst engaged in possible illegal activity. Obviously, this is completely unacceptable and the public deserves better. That is why I am pleased that this matter has been referred to the Attorney General for further review. We must get to the bottom of any misconduct committed by anyone involved with this land deal.”

“I am calling on the Attorney General to fully investigate the potential illegal conduct of the ICCC and for BSA to postpone any hearing until such a review is conducted,” concluded Avella.

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Who's protecting Tommy Huang?

From the Epoch Times:

Epoch Times spoke with two real estate owners whose properties were allegedly damaged by Huang’s practices.

Neither would speak on record, yet both were concerned about what will happen to the Huang buildings still standing. What will happen, they each asked, when families move into homes built with potentially dangerous foundations?

Considering the hundreds of developments Huang has done in Queens since 1979, it’s a frightening prospect.

Tony Sclafani, spokesman for the DOB, said the department issued more than two dozen violations at the Queens Boulevard site, and issued several thousand dollars in fines. They have also had inspectors at the site and others owned by Huang.

Yet, the fundamental problem, according to Sclafani, is “the department does not have the authority to refuse the issuance of a permit based solely on past work history.”

Sen. Avella pointed out that Huang must be getting protection somehow. “Obviously, somebody has been protecting him. I don’t know who. Because I have been after the Department of Buildings for a decade to shut him down,” Avella said.

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Avella denounces Vallone mailer

Statement from State Senator Tony Avella:

“I would like to set the record straight on the mailer that states Tony Avella is no longer running for Borough President, so now the choice is clear: Peter Vallone Jr. The mailer emphasizes that I have endorsed Vallone. In fact I have not endorsed Peter Vallone nor Melinda Katz and I will not be endorsing either candidate.”

From DNA Info:

Avella isn't laughing about the latest fliers, and said they mislead voters into thinking Vallone has picked up Avella's endorsement.

“He had no permission to do that, and I would not have OK'd it,” Avella told DNAinfo New York.

“It's disingenuous, and it misleads the public into thinking I've endorsed him, which I haven’t,” he said. “And never will. Ever.”

Vallone and Avella had sparred at forums throughout the campaign, including one where Avella accused the city councilman of using text messages to cheat on questions during a forum in July.

Avella, who dropped out after the filings were due, will still be on the ballot on Primary Day — and hasn't endorsed either Vallone or his opponent, Melinda Katz, a former member of the City Council and state Assembly.

Vallone, though, said he didn’t intend to confuse voters — only inform them.

The fliers are intended to inform voters that Tony Avella is no longer running, Vallone said.

“It was not my intent to make it look like an endorsement,” he said. “It told people he was off the ballot, and highlighted the views we both share.”

The campaign wanted to make sure voters didn’t “waste” their vote on someone who is no longer running, Vallone said.

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Tony Avella explains why he dropped out of BP race

Click here for audio.

I got the below literature with this note:

"Is it just me, or does this latest mailing from Peter Vallone, Jr., all but imply that he has Tony Avella's support?" - anonymous



Someone's got a really big pair.

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Horse stable fights sale to Korean church

From the Queens Chronicle:

Joy Tirado is no quitter.

She’s the owner of the Western Riding Club, a traditional stable in a residential neighborhood of Fresh Meadows, who is fighting to keep the facility open. And now its future may rest with a judge who will determine the outcome.

Since May, more than 1,000 area residents have signed petitions to keep the stable open. State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) tried unsuccessfully to get it landmarked and the Knights of Columbus held a fundraiser so Tirado could hire an attorney.

That’s because her landlord, John Lightstone, 87, who lives in the adjacent house, wants to sell the property to the Reformed Church of America, a Korean congregation. Church members told her they would tear down the barn and turn it into a parking lot and use the house for the church.

“I was never told the property was listed last year,” said Tirado, who has been there for three years. “I only found out in March. We don’t even know the price, as it’s ranged from $699,000 to $800,000.”

She was supposed to be out by the end of July, but the K of C came through with enough money for her to hire an attorney, who filed a legal complaint, and now “everything is on hold,” according to Tirado.

Her lawyer said that Lightstone’s attorney has not yet responded and has 30 days to answer the charges, which include the right of first refusal to purchase as is spelled out in her lease and a good-faith clause, among other issues. It is likely the owner will ask for a 30-day extension beyond that.

With a little breathing room Tirado is hoping to raise funds to buy the property at 169-38 Pidgeon Meadow Road and turn it into a community center and stable. “It would go from the Western Riding Club to It Takes a Village Ranch,” she said.

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And then there were 3

From the Daily News:

The once-packed Democratic race for Queens Borough President is turning into a duel.

State Sen. Tony Avella, the maverick politician who cut his teeth as a Queens civic leader, has dropped out of the contest.

“I will never stop fighting and advocating for all residents of Queens,” Avella said in a statement released late Wednesday afternoon. “Yet, at this time, I believe I can best serve the people of Queens by remaining a state Senator.”

Avella’s departure leaves City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. and former City Councilwoman Melinda Katz in a battle for the Democratic nomination. Businessman Everly Brown will also be on the Sept. 10 primary ballot.

Despite "dropping out", Avella's name will still appear on the ballot September 10th.

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Borough President campaign contributions break down as suspected

From The Forum:

Vallone is the fundraising leader with $1,224,797 cash-on-hand followed by Katz with $882,458.

An analysis of the three candidates funding sources shows very definite patterns with both Vallone and Katz pulling substantial contributions from large and well-connected real estate and construction firms while Avella’s base could most easily be described as grass-roots with mostly smaller contributions from individuals and local businesses.

Contribution levels for both Vallone and Katz frequently topped $4,000 whereas by contrast, Avella had few, if any, contributions above $1,000.

Among Katz’ major contributors included Cordmeyer Development, Vornado Realty and Tully Construction. Vallone Jr. counted Ahern Construction, Tully Construction as well as numerous unions including firefighters and sanitation workers among his major backers.

Avella’s major funders included numerous retirees, civil servants and local businesses. He has little support from corporate real estate and/or law firms.

If you want a good laugh, check out the NY1 Queens Borough President debate from Thursday night.

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Bill would prevent tax increase on properties with declining value

From Patch:

State Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside, has introduced a bill that would prohibit the city from increasing property taxes on homes where an assessed value has decreased in the previous year.

The senator said property owners in his northeast Queens district have been subject to huge property tax increases during the past decade as a result of the housing boom.

But as the housing market dropped substantially due to the recession that began in 2008, property values have yet to recover from these declines. However, the city continues to increase property taxes with no regard to property values that have declined and not recovered, Avella said.

Under Avella’s legislation, the city would not be allowed to increase property taxes on homes where assessed values had gone down during the previous year.

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Avella-Braunstein brownfield bill signed into law

From Bayside Patch:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed into law a bill proposed by state Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside, and state Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, D-Bayside, that would require the city to notify community boards of new brownfield site cleanups.

Currently, the city’s Department of Environmental Conservation requires a period of public comment for a brownfield cleanup and notifies adjacent property owners, nearby schools and local newspapers. But community boards had previously not been privy to information about new cleanups.

Under Avella and Braunstein’s bill, the DEC would be forced to notify community boards of all new brownfield cleanups.

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BSA breaks out the old rubber stamp

From Brooklyn Daily via Curbed:

Homecrest residents and local leaders are crying foul over a decision by an obscure city board allowing construction to move forward on an absurd tower on E. 12th Street — a ruling many see as proof that the agency is more concerned with politics than justice.

The bizarre building — which observers have described as “grotesque,” “hideous,” a “blemish,” and a “monstrosity” — looms 43 feet over nearby homes that average merely 21–30 feet tall. The structure is supported on steel beams over the crumbling ruins of the one-family bungalow it’s supposedly altering, and worse, the mammoth addition overhangs halfway across a shared driveway.

Neighbors sued the owner of the unfinished building, Joseph Druzie, claiming that the building permits were fraudulent and the towering structure violates local zoning laws. But the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals ruled last week that the permits were valid and Druzie could go ahead with the project — despite acknowledging that if not for an “administrative error,” the permits would probably never have been issued in the first place.

After neighbors Betty Travitsky and Bella Center filed suit against Druzie, Brooklyn Supreme Court judge Yvonne Lewis reprimanded the Board of Standards and Appeals — which is supposed to provide independent oversight of the Department of Buildings— and ordered the agency to reconsider whether Druzie’s building permits were validly issued.

“The [Board of Standards and Appeals] abandoned its obligation to review and, if necessary, correct the mistakes of the DOB,” Lewis wrote in her decision. She also said this time the city agency ought to look at the permits before rubber stamping them.

However, in a resolution published on July 26, the Board of Standards and Appeals declared that Druzie does have vested rights and, while admitting that Wygoda should have filed for a new building permit, the agency called the error “administrative” and ruled the permits valid.

Tony Avella, a state senator from Queens who crusades against unscrupulous developers, visited the tower on E. 12th Street earlier this year and cited the agency’s decision as further evidence of why the mayor should get rid of it.

“This is one more example of why the Board of Standards and Appeals should be abolished,” said Avella. “It’s just incomprehensible that this developer got away with this huge building. It’s a monstrosity, and not only that, but its a dangerous accident waiting to happen.”

In fact, the board appears to have performed no additional investigation or review beyond the consulting the buildings department, and based its decision largely on the testimony of the department it is supposed to police.

“The DOB testified during the most recent public hearings and submitted evidence on the validity of the permit, and the BSA reaffirmed its decision to grant vested rights,” said Jeff Mulligan, executive director of the Board of Standards and Appeals.

Klein called the decision proof that the Board of Standards and Appeals exists only to overrule common sense in favor of the Department of Building’s whims.

“This decision says that the BSA is going to rubber stamp anything the DOB does,” he said.

YUP.

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Developer caught violating stop work order, fined

Before

After

From PaulGraziano.com:

Several weeks ago, a construction fence went up around 156-10 32nd Avenue, a quiet block in Broadway-Flushing across the street from Bowne Park.  The house's new owner, Jian Wen Zhu, had recently applied for an alteration permit known as an "ALT 1" which specifically states that over 50% of the building must be retained, including the basement or cellar. In other words, an alteration permit means just that: an alteration to an existing building, not a new building.

Two days later, the building was more than 50% demolished; within another two days, almost the entire building had been removed, except for two exterior wall stubs.

Paul Graziano, candidate for the 19th Council District, had contacted the local homeowner association as well as State Senator Tony Avella, and wrote a "Zoning Challenge" to the Department of Buildings, as it was clear that the architect on record, Ling Li, had self-certified a project that violated the R1-2A zoning - New York City's most restrictive - which covers much of Broadway-Flushing.

After a series of 311 calls were made and official complaints were lodged by residents of the area, the Buildings Department sent an inspector, who stated that 'No violation warranted for complaint at time of inspection; site is fenced, gated and secure with permits posted and current for ALT 1 - no workers on site.' 

"This was an outrage," Graziano stated, "as the complaint that was filed with 311 called for a Stop Work Order, as the demolition for the house far exceeded what an ALT 1 permit allows and the permit itself should not have been granted as the floor area was over what is allowed under the R1-2A zone. The 311 operator had listed that the complaint was concerned with safety, and the Buildings inspector responded to that instead of what they were supposed to."

One week later, the Department of Buildings finally responded to the correct complaint, after much pressure from Senator Avella, Graziano and local residents. On Thursday, July 18th, a Full Stop Work Order was served to the owner for demolition contrary to approved plans. However, the contractors at the site continued to work on Friday, July 19th and Monday, July 22nd.

On Monday morning, Graziano and a resident involved with the homeowners association confronted the foreman of the construction crew - which numbered at least a dozen - and engaged him in a heated exchange which lasted for more than 10 minutes. The foreman stated that he was allowed to work and "do maintenance" to the property, and that they hadn't done anything wrong. When pressed as to why there was a Stop Work Order and they were still working, he stated that "the house had some extra rot in it so we had to take down more of it than we thought." He followed this statement with a discussion about how this was America and it was the owner's right to build what he wanted.

That afternoon, again pressed by Senator Avella, Graziano and the homeowners association, the property was inspected by the Buildings Department a third time. A violation of the Stop Work Order was issued for "failure to obey stop work order" and a $5,000 civil fine was levied.

Now, the owner must apply for full demolition and new building permits as well as file new plans, which must be approved by the Department of Buildings.

"I'm glad the Department of Buildings finally did what they were supposed to do," said Graziano, "but it shouldn't have taken so long. More importantly, this house, along with all of the other teardowns that have occurred in the last decade, would have never happened if Broadway-Flushing had become a New York City landmark historic district as more than 85% of the residents have supported. The homeowners association and residents of this area have spent significant time, money and effort to protect their century-old neighborhood from speculative developers."

All of Broadway-Flushing was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 and was downzoned in 2009 with the most restrictive "anti-McMansion" zoning in New York City (R1-2A and R2A), both of which were authored and designed by Graziano.

"Last week's victory against the developer who tried to break the restrictive covenants and split a corner property is wonderful and the Stop Work Order is welcome," Graziano stated, "but if Broadway-Flushing had been landmarked almost a decade ago as it deserves, neither of these - nor other - bad development situations would have happened. The house at 156-10 32nd Avenue was a beautiful house and there was absolutely no reason to tear it down in the first place. Should I be lucky enough to be elected by the people of the 19th Council District in November, landmarking Broadway-Flushing and our other historic neighborhoods in the 19th Council District will be one of my absolute top priorities to make sure this doesn't ever happen again."

Stop Work Order / Civil Penalty for 156-10 32nd Avenue can be viewed here:

http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/OverviewForComplaintServlet?requestid=5&vlcompdetlkey=0001648878

http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/OverviewForComplaintServlet?requestid=5&vlcompdetlkey=0001651663

http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/ComplaintsByAddressServlet?requestid=7&allbin=4109856&fillerdata=A

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Graziano and Avella survive Vallone challenges

Much to the chagrin of the Vallones, there will, in fact, be 2 candidates with Italian surnames in the Democratic primaries for Queens Borough President and City Council District 19.

Desperate candidates often have their minions file petition challenges, deny that they did and then don't follow through. That's what both Vallone Brothers did.

Then there's this from Crains:

In the race to be the next Queens borough president, Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. is running in a Democratic primary that will almost certainly determine who wins the seat in the heavily Democratic borough. Nonetheless, Mr. Vallone decided to seek the support and ballot line of the New York Conservative Party for his candidacy—a ballot line that would only hypothetically help him in what's expected to be an uncompetitive November general election—and submitted nominating petitions for the ballot line, city Board of Elections records show.

In the end, the Conservative Party's ballot line almost certainly won't be going to Mr. Vallone because of a petition snafu, according to his campaign: On the party's nominating petitions for Mr. Vallone, his work address was improperly listed, instead of his home address.

Correction: he wasn't looking for hypothetical help.  He was looking for a way to run in November in case he loses the Democratic primary.  Karma's a bitch, ain't it?

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LPC rejects Avella's landmarking request for Flushing Meadows

From Save FMCP:

Senator Tony Avella was joined last Friday by preservationists and several area civic groups at a press conference protesting the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s (LPC) decision to reject landmark designation for Flushing Meadows Corona Park (FMCP).

The 1,255 acre Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is the Borough of Queens’ most prominent park and provides open space and recreational benefits to thousands of borough residents and low and middle income families. The Park is a valuable asset for the City and the residents of Queens not only because of its green space and natural areas, but also due to its embodiment of historical structures and leading cultural and educational institutions. The Park also has a unique history, serving as host to two World Fairs in 1939 and 1964, plus hosting the General Assembly of the United Nations from 1946 to 1950.

That is why, earlier this year, Avella asked LPC to review landmark status for Queens’ most prominent and historic park, which is under the threat of devastating development interests. Currently, the Mets organization is floating the idea of building a Mall in the park, the United States Tennis Association is proposing to expand and Major League Soccer is still interested in building a stadium that would further eliminate parkland.

Unfortunately, LPC recently denied this request and indicated that the park did not meet the criteria for designation.

Avella stated, “I am very disappointed in the Landmark Preservation Commission’s decision to not designate Flushing Meadows Corona Park as a landmark. It is clear to me that with its rich history and importance as Queens’ most significant and treasured park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park deserves landmark recognition, especially now. With three separate development proposals threatening to take away valuable parkland, Flushing Meadows Corona Park needs to be preserved now more than ever.”

“Parkland is sacred,” continued Avella. “The City should not be entertaining these proposals which would radically reduce open and recreational space for the hundreds of thousands of Queens residents who use this park on a yearly basis. Instead, the City should landmark this vital borough park to ensure its continued usage for generations to come and send a clear message that parkland is not for sale!”

“That is why I am calling on the Landmarks Preservation Commission to immediately reconsider their decision and demand that they hold a public hearing on this important issue. At the very least, the residents of Queens deserve to have their voices heard,” concluded Avella.

I guess the only surprise here is that the Parks Department turned the Unisphere fountains on a full month before the US Open.

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Bus route causing problems in Whitestone

From CBS New York:

Residents of a Queens neighborhood have demanded action following a route change that is sending buses down a street so narrow that they barely fit.

The Q15A bus is barely able to round the corner between Clintonville Street and 10th Avenue in Whitestone, Queens. It’s a tight squeeze on a narrow, residential street.

During times of heavy traffic buses often get stuck, they claim. One resident shot footage on his camera phone of a bus trying to go in reverse down 10th Avenue.

When cars are parked on both sides of the street the road becomes even more narrow, making it almost impossible for a car and a bus to pass through at the same time.

Officials, including state Sen. Tony Avella, have asked the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to change the route, but the MTA claims that this is the best route.

“This would take many of the riders along a long, circuitous, U-shaped routing and greatly slow their commute,” the MTA said. “We believe 10th Avenue is a wide enough street on which to operate the Q15A.’

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Nervous Vallones challenge opponents' petitions

Paul Vallone was the only CD 19 candidate to challenge his opponents' petitions - he sent party man John Dorsa after Graziano, Voskerichian, Shafran and Duane. None of the other candidates challenged Vallone's or each other's petitions.

Someone is very nervous.

Then we have his big brother...

From the Politicker:

State Senator Tony Avella is accusing Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., a rival in the race for Queens borough president, of repeatedly "bullying" and "threatening" him in a push to get him to drop his bid.

"Personally, I think he's a bully and a coward and afraid of having me on the ballot," Mr. Avella told Politicker today, claiming Mr. Vallone has tried several times over the course of the election to get him to leave the race. "Let the chips fall where they may."

Mr. Avella and his campaign claim that a Vallone staffer called Mr. Avella twice yesterday to try to make a deal with the senator to duck out of the contest. According to sources in the Avella camp, the staffer called in the late afternoon to offer Mr. Avella an ultimatum: Leave the race or be kicked off the ballot.

"They said, 'We're at the BOE looking at your petitions, we see lots of problems. We can make you waste your money,'" the source said. "They wanted to make a deal, but Tony wouldn't talk to Peter."

A general objection was filed today against Mr. Avella's petitions from a woman named Rebecca Piniero, who is unaffiliated with the Vallone campaign.

But the Vallone campaign vehemently denied any threats had been made.

People unaffiliated with campaigns file objections all the time, don't they?

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Leroy's out

From The Politicker:

Councilman Leroy Comrie today announced an end to his bid for Queens borough president, citing “personal matters” as his reason for leaving the race.

“After careful consideration, my family and I believe, due to personal matters, this is the best course of action,” Mr. Comrie said in a statement. “I remain steadfast in my faith and belief in government and it is a true honor to continue to serve the people of Southeast Queens in my capacity as Councilman.”

Queens Democratic insiders weren’t sure about the legitimacy of Mr. Comrie’s campaign, however. Some had predicted, accurately ultimately, that he would eventually exit the race around the time when petitions were due to be handed in this week. He remains close to the county organization and would have complicated Ms. Katz’s path to victory against rivals like Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., a strong fund-raiser.

Mr. Comrie, who is term-limited, has been a rumored candidate for deputy borough president or even the seat occupied by indicted State Senator Malcolm Smith. With his exit, only Ms. Katz, Mr. Vallone Jr. and State Senator Tony Avella remain in the Democratic primary.

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Pay attention!

From the Queens Chronicle:

Sparks flew between Queens borough president candidates state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) and Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) at a Monday forum in Jackson Heights.

The topic of the night was sustainability but it shifted briefly when Avella accused Vallone of receiving assistance via text messages from volunteer supporters at the forum at Community Methodist Church.

Avella later said he didn’t accuse Vallone of cheating, but thought Vallone and another borough president candidate, Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), who also had his phone out, should put them away.

“Even if you aren’t getting texted the answer, it’s rude,” Avella said at a later interview. “You are supposed to be listening. We were taking questions from the audience.”

Vallone said that he was tweeting and arranging with his daughter how she would get home.

“I would rather be engaging with the public [via twitter] than listen to Tony,” Vallone said during a later interview.

Wait...was he texting his daughter or engaging with the public on Twitter?

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Lots of pols responsible for the sad state of St. Saviour's site

Here are photos from nutrichris on Flickr that show the current condition of the St. Saviour's site. Currently, 1/4 of the site is occupied by 4 warehouses, one of which is for sale (although strangely, that's not a photo of it at the link for it).

The others have already been sold, with involvement by the Empire State Development Corporation and the U.S. Small Business Administration. (Because news of being screwed out of a park by the local government got around, so the state and feds decided to join the fun.)

Recently, applications were put in for 4 more warehouses on the undeveloped portion. The architect? CB1's Gerald Caliendo.

Now, as you can see from the photos, the site is still being used as a dump inside and out, the construction fence is falling down and part is still sidewalk-free.

Of course, the lion's share of responsibility for this lands squarely in the lap of no-talent Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, who totally bungled an amazing chance to develop a park at the site. However, there's plenty more blame to go around. What involvement did the BP candidates have (or not have)? Here's what I have gathered from activists:

Council Member Peter Vallone said he couldn't get involved because it wasn't in his district, yet he had no problem showing up at rallies for Brinckerhoff Cemetery as far back as 2008. I guess since Caliendo gave $12,275 in donations to him, he decided it was a convenient excuse.

Former Council Member and Chair of Land Use Melinda Katz sided with Dennis Gallagher and wanted to see the church torn down and replaced with 75 housing units. Had the zoning change ever come in front of her, it surely would have passed. As Land Use Chair, Melinda had the power to influence the Landmarks Preservation Commission when the site was suggested for designation. She refused to do so. (We won't even go into what she did to landmark-worthy sites in her own district.)

Council Member and current Land Use Chair Leroy Comrie has been head of the Queens delegation now for years. The county delegation chairs get a pot of money every year during budget time to spread around their boroughs. Comrie had no interest in securing the extra $50K or so that was necessary to begin the ULURP and get the acquisition process started when everyone was on board and it was actually possible.

And of course, we don't have to remind you that the only BP candidate that ever showed up and tried to help was Tony Avella.

If this shitshow can happen in Maspeth, it can happen in everyone else's community as well. Vote for a borough president candidate wisely.

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BP candidates suddenly opposed to Mets mall, soccer stadium

From the Daily News:

Major League Soccer — which was in talks with the city to build a $340 million stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, — won’t be coming to Queens, said a local politician.

“The location doesn’t work,” said City Councilman and Queens Borough President candidate Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), who chairs the Council’s Land Use Committee. “There was no real benefit for Queens residents to site it in that location.”

Comrie, who said he opposes putting the stadium in the park, pointed out there is land available near Yankee Stadium.

Team officials said they are considering various sites all over the city — and Queens is not off the table just yet.

From the Daily News:

Two City Councilmen — who happen to both be running for Queens borough president — are trying to block the plate against a proposed mega-mall next to CitiField.

The lawmakers, Leroy Comrie and Peter Vallone Jr., announced Monday they oppose the current plan, which includes a 1.4-million-square-foot mall and is currently rounding third and headed for home in the city’s land-use review process.

“The community has responded negatively,” Comrie said. “They don’t feel their needs are being kept in the forefront.”

Comrie heads the powerful Council Land Use committee, and said changes may be needed before it gets the Council’s rubber stamp.

The lawmakers will vote on the mall and adjustments to the $3 billion development this fall.

Comrie (D-St. Albans) blasted a “ridiculous” provision that hinges the construction of the affordable housing to connecting ramps to the Van Wyck Expwy.

He said there are “ongoing negotiations.”

Meanwhile, Vallone said the new plan stretches outside of the boundaries of what was originally pitched in 2008.

“That’s not what we approved,” said Vallone (D-Astoria). “You can’t change it after we approve it.”

“It’s an urban renewal plan.” said Katz. “It’s so easy to talk about amending. We have to look at how to make it happen and move it forward.”

Ah, well Katz's reaction is not surprising. Neither is Comrie's. I'm sure this will sail through Comrie's Land Use Committee as soon as some adjustments are made to the plan.

But what happened to Peter Vallone's "it's not parkland" nonsense? He used to be all for this project before he was against it.

In the meantime, Tony Avella has proposed statewide legislation that would likely prevent the alienation of parkland in the future. Michael Simanowitz has agreed to introduce it in the Assembly. Let's see what the Albany tweeders do with it.

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Property liens for sidewalks damaged by street trees

From Bayside Patch:

State Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside, joined Little Neck residents on Thursday to protest the city’s policy of placing a non-monetary lien on several local properties that had received sidewalk violations for damages for which they were not responsible.

Several Little Neck residents were handed violations a few months ago that they felt were unfair since the majority of the damages are small cracks that are in line with cracks on the streets and uplifts caused by city tree roots.

While the residents are not personally responsible for any of the damages, a non-monetary lien will still be placed on any property with a sidewalk violation, which will come up on a title search of that property, Avella said.

The lien is removed once the condition is corrected either by the city or the homeowner. But if the homeowner is selling the property, they would likely have to put extra money in escrow prior to the closing to compensate the buyer for any potential repair cost for an outstanding violation.

“What the city is doing here is simply unacceptable,” Avella said. “Most of the small deficiencies in these sidewalks are being caused by city property, whether it is a city tree or street. Yet the city feels the need to not only sock these homeowners with violations, but to also place a non-monetary lien on their property.”

Avella said the rule seemed like an attempt by the city to skirt its responsibilities by pressuring homeowners into repairing the sidewalk, even though they are not responsible for the damages.

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