A film that may interest you

A story about greed, politics and the land grab of the century, ZIPPER chronicles the battle over an American cultural icon. Small-time ride operator, Eddie Miranda, proudly operates a 38-year-old carnival contraption called the Zipper in the heart of Coney Island’s gritty amusement district. When his rented lot is snatched up by an opportunistic real estate mogul, Eddie and his ride become casualties of a power struggle between the developer and the City of New York over the future of the world-famous destination. Be it an affront to history or simply the path of progress, the spirit of Coney Island is at stake. In an increasingly corporate landscape, where authenticity is often sacrificed in the interest of economic growth, the Zipper may be just the beginning of what is lost.

Zipper website

It opens Friday, August 9th at IFC in Manhattan.

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Turtles dying at Bowne Park

This is a large, bloated, dead turtle with its mouth open in agony in the pond at Bowne Park. One of its legs is probably entangled in a discarded length of fishing line. This has happened before. It’s disgusting and extremely upsetting. The turtle most likely drowned and then bobbed to the surface as it started to decompose and filled with gas. Last summer an enormous turtle died in a similar manner.

When is the Dept. of Parks going to wise up and BAN FISHING AT CITY PARKS???? I don’t think the dead wildlife find it all that sporting!!!

Something is extremely wrong with people that feel the need to torture animals with their children for fun. Their justification of fish not being able to feel pain is just painfully stupid! Haven’t they ever seen a fish out of water? Does it look like it’s not suffering?

PEOPLE NEED TO STOP TORTURING AND KILLING ANIMALS FOR FUN!!! ESPECIALLY AT OUR PARKS!!!

Regards,
Flooshing Rezident

As always, thanks again Crappy!

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What's a Tropical Carrot?

"Corner of Grandview Avenue and Himrod Street, outside Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood. Not sure who put this here, but it's certainly illegal." - Anonymous

What IS a tropical carrot, anyway?

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He's certainly no Helen Marshall

From the Bronx Times:

Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. may want a soccer stadium for the Bronx, but forget about sacrificing any parkland for it.

“I do not think that using public parkland is such a good idea,” said Diaz, who would still love to see an arena built in the borough for the NYC Football Club, a Major League Soccer franchise still vying for a home in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

Wow. Why is it that on this side of the water elected officials think that building stadiums on parkland is a great idea?

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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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An unusual crime

From Fox 5:

Police in Queens were investigating an unusual bank robbery on Friday morning.

Someone used a backhoe to break into a Chase bank on 48th Street in the Maspeth section of the borough.

It apparently took place at about 3 a.m. while the bank was closed.

Video from SkyFoxHD showed a wall and door smashed in the front of the building. The backhoe was still sitting in front of the building.

Police say the thief broke in through the ATM vestibule. The ATM was laying in front of the building after the break-in.

Police were still on the scene in the 8 a.m. hour. It was unclear if any money was stolen in the break-in.

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NYC Council Watch is watching Paul Vallone

From NYC Council Watch:

Paul Vallone’s bio on the Sacco & Fillas website notes that Vallone & Vallone “can get you through the door from staff to principal,” and indicates the real value of the Vallone name: influence. Indeed, the actual family business since Peter Vallone the Elder left politics has been lobbying city government on behalf of a variety of clients through the firm Constantinople & Vallone.

Paul Vallone doesn’t say it anywhere in his campaign information, but he is officially registered as a Constantinople & Vallone lobbyist, along with his father and his brother Perry. A number of Paul Vallone’s major campaign contributors are among his lobbying clients. For instance, Deborah Gaslow of Boca Raton contributed the maximum $2,750 to the campaign. Ms. Gaslow is the wife of Peter Gaslow, owner of furniture maker Empire Office, which has paid Constantinople & Vallone $40,000 over the last 18 months.

The owner and senior employees of Mega Contracting have donated more than $3,000 to the campaigns of both Paul and Peter Vallone, Jr., while Mega Contracting has paid Constantinople & Vallone $240,000 in fees since 2010. Mega Contracting, incidentally, has been awarded contracts for the construction and rehabbing of a number of municipal projects, including NYCHA houses, MTA station upgrades, and work on schools, police precincts and city hospitals.

So Paul Vallone has represented these folks as a lobbyist, and hopes to continue to represent his former clients when he takes office. Seems like putting the cart before the horse, doesn’t it? The usual trajectory of a political career is first to be a public servant and eat bread from the sweat of one’s brow, and then after a time to leave office and cash in as a lobbyist. Paul Vallone is reversing the typical course of a political career, starting out as a lobbyist, and then seeking elected office! It looks as though the revolving door revolves both ways.

Well this contradicts Paul Vallone's assertion that he was never a lobbyist, doesn't it?

Let's recall the last time he ran for office:

If this sounds like the same evasive answer he made back in June of this year, you're right. Except the second time he didn't accuse audience members of being related to Jerry Iannece.

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