Hoidy toidy fountain breaks yet again

From DNA Info:

Long Island City parents got a burst of relief Monday when the children's sprinklers at Gantry Plaza State Park turned on for the first time this summer — but then the spray showers were closed off again the next day.

The waterfront "sprayground" had been closed since last fall, when it was damaged by saltwater that flooded the park during Hurricane Sandy. The problem appeared to be fixed earlier this week when the sprinklers were finally spouting water again and open to frolicking kids.

But on Tuesday, though the spray showers were still flowing, they were blocked off with barricades, to the disappointment of neighborhood parents.

The high-tech spray showers first debuted at the Gantry Park playground last summer, complete with an on-duty lifeguard and a button that allows children to control the sprinklers' water pressure.

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Bowne Park looking much better

Hi Crappy –

Well – we now have definitive proof that the only way to get some people to do their jobs in a timely fashion is to shame them! And shame them we shall!

Guess what? The Bocce court at Bowne Park is almost done! They sit on the project for about seven months and then all of a sudden it’s completed in a week! Is it possible that someone in the Parks Dept. is a fan of the Crapster?



The benches are in, the walkway paved and the protective guards removed from the trees. As usual – there’s a lone worker plugging away – God forbid that the contractor FROM NEW JERSEY send over a crew and just complete the damn job. And why is the contractor schlepping in from Jersey - did Whitestone fall off the map? Hey Parks Dept. – we have contractors right here in Queens – please hire locally!



On to our second victory. The platform in the pond has finally been replaced! It only took three trucks and about eight guys scratching their heads (and elsewhere) to accomplish this.



It’s sad that you have to harangue a city agency to get people to do their jobs – their cushy, benefits-provided, paid-vacation with overtime jobs. Especially in this economy when McDonald’s workers are expected to hold down two full-time jobs to survive.

Well Crappy – all I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you! Without your forum we’d still be waiting! You are a force to be reckoned with!

Flooshing Rezident

I can't take full credit for this, for it's the people who are walking around and taking photos that are the real heroes. I am just putting it in an electronic form for all to see. I also know that after the blog post, political pressure was applied to get the park cleaned up. As for having a fan in Parks, I hope I do have at least one. The Dept is, unfortunately, stretched too thin and does the best it can despite its funding getting cut year after year. Just remember the next time you see stuff like this, that it's the way it is because your council member approved the budget that doesn't give Parks nearly enough to do what it needs to do. - QC

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A can of crap

I came across this listing last week for houses at 58-07, 58-09 and 58-11 32nd Avenue in Woodside. As you can see, the house on the right is a bit odd-looking. I got George The Atheist on the case and he went down and took a series of photos of the area, including the interesting church down the street.

I tell you, just when you thought you'd seen about everything...

Notice how the top of the facade appears different in George's photos than it does in the listing photo.

You may have noticed this in the listing: "The properties are fully occupied on a month to month basis." While that may not seem strange considering the owner is looking to sell them, the fact of the matter is that they don't have certificates of occupancy yet. In fact, I couldn't even find temporary C of O's on any of the addresses on the DOB website. Here's a sample.

You can always count on Woodside to produce Grade A crap.

Perhaps George summed it up best: "Convenient amenities. Lose your keys...a can opener may do."

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A crap above - Ridgewood edition

Sometimes developers just make you scratch your head. Case in point, this house at 481 Fairview Avenue in Ridgewood. It looks as though half of a story was added onto the roof of this house, but the explanation is more than meets the eye. The most recently applied for and rejected permits were for a "mezzanine" on the top floor to allow for storage space and an additional bedroom above the roof. Now, in order to capitalize on a "mezzanine" there has to be an existing story above it, which was not the case here. Unfortunately, the construction was done anyway, because in this city, "build first and pay a fine (or don't) if you get caught" is the way to go.

This address has a litany of uncured, unpaid violations.

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Ok, Queens. Can we top this one?

From CBS 2:

One look at the abandoned house in Riverdale and you know exactly why the neighbors are so upset. The shingles have fallen off. You can see holes in the roof. A tree is actually growing out of the house. And garbage and machinery is strewn all over the yard.

Public records show the house was purchased in 2006 for more than $3 million. The property is owned by a real estate company called 620 Blackstone, LLC, run by Josh Neustein.

Neustein owns several rental properties in the area and lives only a few miles away from this home, also in the fancy Riverdale section of the Bronx.

A woman inside the home told Leitner she was at the wrong address, but neighbors and public records confirmed the residence owned by Neustein.

He was named to the city’s worst landlord list in 2012 by Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, with 753 open hazardous violations on five buildings.

What's with the zoning here?

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Kids' community garden being sold out from under them

From the Queens Courier:

Residents and volunteers are asking the city not to squash their community garden.

Until last year, the vacant lot at Kneeland Avenue and Manilla Street in Elmhurst was growing weeds as tall as the average resident, attracting illegal dumping and unwanted vermin. After taking a look at the site, Young Governors, a teen community organizing program, got together and turned the lot into a community garden that is verdant with fruits and vegetables today.

But the garden the teens created side-by-side with residents is at risk of becoming a multi-family house since the property’s owner put it up for sale.

“What we need here in Elmhurst is a garden, not another high rise development,” said Senator Toby Ann Stavisky. “We need a place for children to play. We need gardens where people can till and nourish and eventually eat the produce.”

The community hopes to get the opportunity to save the garden — or relocate it another area — with the help of the city.

“These volunteers literally have turned what has been an eyesore in Elmhurst into a project that is productive, into an area that is not only beautiful and prevents it from being a blight on our society, but has literally turned into a productive project that feeds people,” said Councilmember Grace Meng.

Volunteers go week after week to care for the crops. They have donated fruits and vegetables from the garden to the New Life Community Development Corporation, a local organization that helps people in need in the community.

Well then I'm sure Grace Meng and Toby Stavisky will find a way for the city to purchase the lot so that the kids can keep on farming and feeding people. It's not like there's any place left in Elmhurst that's undeveloped that it can be relocated to. The current lot has been empty and abandoned for DECADES, so it's interesting that the owner, Queens Blvd attorney John Blaha, suddenly resurfaced and is taking an interest in selling it now. Here's what's next door and what they have to look forward to:


Except it will be worse, since it's a corner lot that allows for more density.

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The history of Tommy Huang

From The Real Deal:

Huang left his native Taiwan in 1974 at age 20 and settled in Flushing, Queens. A few years later, he married Alice Liu, heiress to Taiwan’s Haw Di-I Foods and Bull Head Barbecue Sauce fortunes and cousin to City Comptroller John Liu, a Democrat who is running for mayor.

While studying business at Queens College, Huang saw opportunity in Flushing’s many vacant properties and decided to go into the real estate business.

“I could not believe it,’’ Huang told the New York Times in 1997 of the empty land he saw around him. “How come nobody wants to buy it?’’

With the help of his wealthy father-in-law, Huang built seven high-rises and hundreds of houses. By the late 1980s, he had been credited with helping to revive downtown Flushing with projects such as the Golden Shopping Mall and Main Street Tower, a nine-story office building. In 1986, Huang paid $3.4 million for the dilapidated RKO Keith’s movie theater on Northern Boulevard in Flushing. Huang closed the landmark and began work on the site, with plans to develop it into a major shopping center.

Soon, Huang caught the eye of the Democratic political machine, which at the time was led by then-Queens Borough President Donald Manes. Working with Manes to encourage business development, Huang solidified his ties with the Queens political establishment, which helped him evolve into one of the most powerful real estate developers in the borough.

“They were grooming Tommy to be the fair-haired boy,” said Jerry Rotondi, a member of the Committee to Save the RKO Keith’s and a long-time critic of Huang.

“He was the symbol of the revitalization,” State Senator Leonard Stavisky told the New York Times in 1997. “But it was wrong to entrust so much of it to Tommy Huang.’’

It’s been suggested that Huang’s political ties with the city comptroller and others could partially explain the city’s inaction.

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