Parolee responsible for car break-in spree

From LIC Post:

The police believe that they have nabbed a man responsible for a large number of neighborhood auto break-ins.

Long Island City—from Court Square through Hunters Point—has been subject to about 60 auto break-ins in recent months, according to Captain Brian Hennessy, the commanding officer of the 108 police precinct. However, an August 24 bust has brought that spike to a halt, he said.

Hennessy said the police caught the perpetrator breaking into the cars by wrapping his fist up in clothing and punching the windows.

They arrested Rafael Medina, a 45-year-old from the Bronx, who was out on parole when he was busted. He is back in prison.

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An amazing feat

From the Queens Courier:

A pregnant woman was injured when she backed her car over another vehicle in Bayside Friday evening.

According to police, at 211st Street and Northern Boulevard, she put her Honda in reverse, drove over a sidewalk and curb, and mounted the other car.

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Bioswales or garbage pails?

From CBS New York:

Some Queens residents say new sidewalk gardens aimed at improving drainage may end up being more of a bother than a help, CBS 2′s Janelle Burrell reported.

The city is spending $2.4 billion to install more than 6,000 of the gardens, known as bioswales, throughout the five boroughs over the next five years. The gardens are engineered to extend five feet into the ground and can hold up to 2,500 gallons of rainwater.

Matt Mahoney, associate commissioner for intergovernmental affairs for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, said that alleviating the demand on the sewage system will save taxpayers $3 billion over the next 20 years.

But Pat Kannengieser, who said two of the gardens are slated to be added in front of her Middle Village home, said she is worried she will inevitably be the one left to maintain them.

“I see them also as catch basins for litter,” she said.

The DEP said it is paying the Parks Department to maintain the plots, but Kannengieser said the city plans to clean the gardens just once a week.

Okay, these will be maintained by Parks? Does anyone believe that? They don't have the money to do routine maintenance in actual parks, never mind along the curb.

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Whitestoners still concerned about traffic near park

From the Queens Courier:

Getting to and from a Whitestone playground is no walk in the park, some residents say.

The lack of a crosswalk or traffic controls at the 3rd Avenue and 147th Street entrance to Francis Lewis Park is dangerous to pedestrians, said Malba Civic Association president Alfredo Centola.

“It’s a beautiful park,” Centola said. “These poor kids, with their parents, whenever they come to the park to play, they have to take their lives in their hands.”

Most residents must cross three-way traffic to enter and leave the park, located at the edge of the East River, since the majority of homes in the area lie across 147th Street.

Irene Rama of Whitestone said sometimes she and her kids are forced to stop in the middle of the street to avoid an oncoming car even after stopping to look in every direction beforehand.

Residents say a piece of property, bordered by jutting construction boards, that is being developed directly next to the park impairs the vision of pedestrians trying to cross.

Centola said he has sent the DOT a letter of complaint every 18 months since 2005.

Queens Borough Commissioner Maura McCarthy mailed the civic leader a response in 2011 saying the department completed an analysis and determined “Multi-Way Stop controls are not recommended at this time.”

“Factors such as vehicular and pedestrian volumes, vehicular speeds, visibility and signal spacing were all taken into consideration in making our determination,” the correspondence reads.

Shortly after the letter, the city installed one pedestrian crossing sign in front of the park, but it only faces one direction of traffic. Centola said the sign is also too high for drivers to see.

“At this point, I’m speechless and dumbfounded,” he said. “The DOT is once again being negligent and refusing to take care of the issues.”

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Family's cars burglarized at cemetery

From WPIX:

While Annie Boghossian and her family were burying her grandmother, about a half a mile away from the burial site, their cars were broken into.

It was during the funeral of Josefina Iskandaria at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Flushing Queens, that family members claim perpetrators broke into five parked cars of people attending the service.

It happened on Friday around 2:30 in the afternoon.

They said purses were stolen from three of the cars. But, it gets worse.

Within hours, the family claims their credit cards were racking up charges all over Queens and on Long Island.

An engagement ring and other jewels they said were also taken from cars.

More than what was stolen; they feel betrayed and bewildered by what they feel is such a despicable act — theft at a funeral.

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Flushing & Whitestone parking hogs

"As street parking is becoming increasingly difficult in this part of the neighborhood some tenants don't have any regard for their neighbor’s needs, they bring boats, trucks, schools buses and also big RV's to be stored permanently on the streets in front (or not) of their houses taking valuable parking space from their respective neighbors.

Others park cars for years and although is not against the law there should be an ordinance that help remove from the streets vehicles that have been there for more than an specified amount of time, also, not to allow vehicles bigger than a certain size to be stored not only preventing neighbors from parking but preventing the view, sunlight and breeze to reach certain dwelling units besides being eyesores.


In front of 21-17 147th Street in Whitestone there's what appears to be a huge covered RV permanently parked taking some two or three parking spaces.


Near the corner of Union Street and 26th Avenue in Flushing in front of the Mitchell Gardens #1 coop building 142-15 26th Avenue there's another RV type of truck color brown with license plates FCR-3579 that has been parked there for months now. It’s near the water hydrant in front of the playground

In front of 146-16 25th Rd in Flushing there's a black BMW parked on the street for years, I’ve been walking this block at least once a week for a long time now and this car has always been there in the same position, you can see the marks of time on the car’s body and tires. License plates AXM-9464.

In front of 144-13 26th Avenue in Flushing there’s a very long limousine belonging to Royal Way Limousine Inc with license plates T621443C that barely moves from this place, the owner could park blocking his/her own driveway in order to save someone else some space.

All these vehicles are taking someone else's parking space, most people in these parts need the street parking space because most tenants in the neighborhood rent and don't have the right to use the driveway since landlords store their property in the garage of the house they rent to other people." - anonymous

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The sordid history of the Four Sparrow Marsh project

From the Daily News:

Construction on a project that includes a major car dealership has quietly started on a controversial piece of land in Mill Basin twice tied to scandal-scarred politicians who have tried to help developers buy the land from the city.

In April, the Bloomberg administration announced it had sold the 110,000-square-foot parcel near the Four Sparrow Marsh and the Belt Parkway to Brooklyn auto dealer Lilaahar (Sammy) Bical, owner of Kristal Auto Mall, one of the biggest Cadillac dealers on the East Coast.

Bical was helped in his bid to obtain the land after paying tainted state Sen. John Sampson (D-Canarsie) a $10,000 "retainer fee" to help arrange a sit-down with Bloomberg administration officials, the News reported last month.

Those meetings occurred in early 2012, and this past March the city sold him the land for $4.2 million.

Sampson and his lawyer, Zachary Carter, did not respond to calls seeking comment.

The FBI is investigating whether Sampson broke the law by seeking and receiving retainer fees from Bical, and another businessman, in an unrelated case, who sought his assistance in dealing with the government, sources said.

Originally, the city planned to sell the land to Forest City Ratner to build a mini mall. That plan was scuttled in September 2011 after a Forest City Ratner official was revealed to have asked disgraced former state Sen. Carl Kruger for state funds, according to a criminal complaint.

As part of the new deal, the city also sold Toys R Us the land it currently occupies for $13 million.

The first part of construction, which has just begun, entails carving out a spot for a new parking lot for the toy store, which park advocates charge is being built on protected marsh land. The expanded car dealership will later be built on the old Toys R Us parking lot, city officials said.

Conservation groups and park advocates plan to sue to block the city's sale of the land on the grounds that it lacked proper state approval.

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No one can seem to shut illegal site down

From the Queens Courier:

Neighbors on one Glendale block say the nearby garage is a chronic nuisance.

“These people are lawless all day, every day,” said one woman who wished to remain anonymous.

The garage, nestled on a quiet block in Glendale, sees dozens of cars every day. Neighbors complain the owners’ cars stay parked on the sidewalks and down the street for days, inconveniencing residents.

However, owners Elsie Serrano and Oscar Ortega claimed they are running a completely legal operation.

“I have receipts for everything I have done here,” Serrano said.

The shop’s license to sell cars is up to date, and both Serrano and Ortega are licensed to run their business.

However, neighbors allege they do not sell vehicles, but illegally repair them.

Ortega said his store brings cars to a nearby Getty station for service and if the station is too busy, he will do an oil change or fix brakes himself. He added that the store also legally washes cars. However, neighbors said they have seen workers do larger-scale repairs.

“They’re fixing collision and mechanical problems,” said Danny, a resident who withheld his last name. “You can smell chemicals along our block. These are people that have no morals, no respect.”

The owners frequently have their large family visit the site, and several neighbors said they blast music and intimidate residents at all hours of the day.

The 104th Precinct has paid many visits to the site, handing out numerous tickets and summonses. Neighbors said police officers have told workers to shut down the operation, though the 104th did not return calls for comment.

The Fire Department has allegedly shut the site down four times, but the shop continues to reopen. The woman said she has not seen any police or fire presence at the site since April.

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