Debate, consternation and trepidation over fracked gas pipeline from Rockaway Beach to the Jersey Shore

From NBC:

Environmentalists and clammers are challenging a natural gas pipeline that would serve Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island. Brian Thompson reports on the heated debate.

$226M Woodhaven/Cross Bay SBS route only saves riders a few minutes

From Forest Hills Post:

The Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that the Select Bus Service that links the Rockaways with Woodside–via Woodhaven and Cross Bay Boulevards–has decreased travel times for riders since its introduction last year.

Travel times for bus riders have improved by nearly 10 percent on the Q52/Q53 SBS route, which was rolled out amid controversy on Nov. 12, 2017. Meanwhile, travel times for all other modes of transportation along Woodhaven and Cross Bay Boulevards have stayed the same since the introduction of SBS, the agency said.

The DOT, as part of SBS, removed a travel lane along the boulevards for the sole use of buses, which critics say has increased congestion. Furthermore, there have been parking bans in sections of the corridor that many argue has hurt small businesses.

But the DOT says SBS has been a success since it was launched 12 months ago.

What's the longest you could possibly spend on this bus? An hour? We're talking less than 6 minutes you're saving by taking the SBS. In the meantime, it's bumper to bumper traffic for everyone else, despite the BS that DOT is peddling about travel times for other modes of transportation staying the same.

Great use of taxpayer money here.

You can swim with dolphins off Fort Tilden

H/T Kent Parson

The case of the missing mail

From CBS 2:

On Thursday afternoon, the Postal Service apologized for the delivery issues, admitting, “There have been new hires to replace some recent retirements and to assist with prime vacation period.”

The Postal Service said since January it has been meeting quarterly with postal managers and community leaders to try to strengthen service in the Rockaways.

Dozens of residents shared their ongoing mail delivery problems on Facebook and by email, saying the Postal Service isn’t doing enough.

“They need to have the head of the post office come down and talk to us. They’re avoiding us,” Simon said.

The mistakes can be costly, from missing medication deliveries to late fees from missing bills. So residents say an apology is not enough.

The Postal Service suggests people track their mail digitally to help keep track of their letters and packages.

Dockless bike program hasn't gone as planned

From PIX11:

It's less than a week old, but some Rockaway residents want to put the brakes on a new dockless bike program after the two-wheelers started popping up in some very unusual and inconvenient places.

The great thing about the dockless bikes is that riders can pick them up anywhere. They just need to find the closest one by using the GPS built into each of the apps.

When riders are done, they can park them anywhere.

While that's convenient for the rider, it's also causing frustration for those in the community. On the Facebook Group Friends of Rockaway Beach, residents posted photos of Limebikes abandoned all over the neighborhood. One was ditched in the dunes, while others were left blocking driveways and sidewalks.

The problem is one Limebikes has experienced before. There's an entire Twitter account with the handle @DocklessBikeFail that showcases problems parking the bikes in Seattle.

Sometimes the bikes end up in trees, underwater or stacked on street corners.

Wow, what a great idea!

City closing stretch of Rockaway beaches for safety's sake

From CBS 2:

Longtime resident John Cori spoke to CBS2 in April about the ongoing erosion that he says should have been addressed and resolved years ago.

“It’s not unexpected,” he said. “We’ve been talking about this and warning the city.”

Cori adds that the Army Corps of Engineers has been slow to act.

“We know the issue, they’re closing the beaches,” he said. “We need to get the federal government in.”

City beaches are slated to open this Memorial Day Weekend, but the area between Beach 91st street and Beach 102nd Street will officially be off-limits. A section of beach in front of the 97th Street concessions area and bathrooms will be open, but there will be no access to the water.

More MTA tolling shenanigans reported

From Eyewitness News:

Cashless tolling seems like a win-win. Still in its infancy in our area, it has reduced traffic, commuting times, and vehicle emissions, making it good for the environment.

And it's already generating big bucks in profit for agencies that run it - like the MTA, which oversees E-Z Pass on bridges and tunnels in New York City.

But we're hearing from scores of consumers who are are saying it's a big loss for them after getting hit with fines in the thousands - facing collections - even after some say they've paid the tolls.

Cigarette, non-functional alarm cause of child's death

From PIX 11:

Smoking caused the Queens apartment fire that killed a 12-year-old boy on Sunday, according to the FDNY.

Fire marshals reported that the cause of the fire was accidental and related to smoking. The building's smoke alarm was also not operational.

Rockaway getting a funding boost

From the Daily News:

On the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, Mayor de Blasio announced plans to spend $145 million on seven park projects to help protect the Rockaways from future floods.

The city will launch the projects – with federal approval – starting with rebuilding Bayswater Park. The work includes installing a berm along the waterfront, plus building sports fields, play areas and a kayaking spot.

The cash comes from $120 million left over from the $480 million the feds earmarked for rebuilding the Rockaway Boardwalk, which Sandy destroyed. The money can be moved to other resiliency projects in the neighborhood.

The city is kicking in another $25 million.

The mysterious and creepy abandoned nursing home

Hi Crappie, I was wondering if anyone knows what's going on with the Nursing Home that's on the beach in Neponsit. I remember that Mayor Giuliani ordered an evacuation in the middle of the night in the winter because of structural problems with the building.There was an outcry that some people died from the move and there was talk that the mayor was doing his developer friends a favor by condemning the property. Recently I was at Riis Park and noticed a police car sitting by the building all day. What's up?

The Nursing Home on the boardwalk at 116 street has a dead tree hanging over it's main entrance.The tree was half dead before Hurricane Katrina pushed the boardwalk against the building. You think someone would have removed the dead tree before it clobbers someone and they will sue the city for millions.

Thanks

- Rich

No movement on Rockaway courthouse project after 5 years

From The Wave:

Concrete plans for the long-dormant courthouse on Beach Channel Drive hang in the balance as the back-and-forth between local residents and developer Uri Kaufman continues.

At a special Sept. 28 Rockaway Beach Civic Association (RBCA) meeting regarding the courthouse, members of the civic tore into Kaufman, president and CEO of The Harmony Group, as well as New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) reps in an effort to clarify future uses for the space and vent their frustrations about the deplorable conditions of the site and adjacent lot.

The historic building, which formerly served as a Municipal and Magistrate’s court, was built in 1932. Save for a brief use by an arts group in the 70s, the 24,000 square-foot building at 90-01 Beach Channel Drive has remained dormant since 1962.

NYCEDC stepped in in 2012, issuing a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for the adaptive reuse and redevelopment of the Rockaway courthouse. According to NYCEDC, the RFEI aimed to assess options for the reactivation of the site that were “compatible with the existing neighborhood in order to ultimately improve the overall quality of life for the community.”

As reported by The Wave in 2012, “a proposal for the development of the courthouse into an ambulatory surgical facility was approved by Community Board 14, which allows the developer [The Harmony Group] to move forward with negotiations to obtain the property from the city.”

Fast forward five years and the space, to the surprise of some but not many on the civic board, has yet to go into construction or finalize tenants.

Sandy victims died waiting for Build It Back

From the Queens Chronicle:

More than 900 Howard Beach residents, and close to 6,000 others in Queens, have dropped out of or were booted from the city’s Build it Back program since 2014, according to an analysis by Comptroller Scott Stringer.

The comptroller’s study, detailed in a Sept. 25 letter to the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations, states Queens had the largest drop in applicants to the trouble-riddled Sandy recovery initiative — from 9,284 who first sought help to 3,584 today.

Many of those dropoffs occurred in Rockaway, and mostly on the western end of the peninsula. In Howard Beach, there are now 936 fewer homeowners in the Build it Back pipeline. Broad Channel saw 530 applicants get out of the program.

Citywide, 20,275 people sought help from the initiative, first established by Mayor Bloomberg in 2013, but now only 8,310 have or are set to be assisted by the program.

Stringer — along with Councilman Mark Treyger (D-Brooklyn), chairman of the Council’s Recovery & Resiliency Committee — said “the reasons why individual applicants have left the program” are not clear, but are “likely attributable to many causes,” including dissatisfaction with projected timelines, people turning to other sources of aid, getting lost in “the tangle of bureaucracy,” and some being removed for not meeting “stringent entry requirements.”

And in some cases, according to the comptroller, some applicants died while waiting for assistance.

Now we have "rogue bikesharing"

From the NY Post:

A California company will dump 300 dockless share bikes across the Big Apple on Monday — and they don’t have permission from the city to do it.

Spin, a San Francisco-based company, will drop 150 rigs throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn and another 150 in the Rockaways, according to City Councilman Eric Ulrich, who is in favor of the company moving in even though New York has a contract with Citi Bike.

“Bike sharing represents the future, and I don’t believe we should be protecting Citi Bike as a monopoly,” said Ulrich. “Citi Bike has a contract to have docks on city property and that’s fine, but the city has to let bike riders and New Yorkers decide who they want to pay.”

Unlike Citi Bikes, which must be picked up from and brought back to a station after each use, dockless bikeshare companies use cycles with self-locking technology that customers can access through an app. They can then pick up and leave the bikes anywhere.

Transit advocates fear dockless bikes could be a disaster.

“They litter the streets everywhere they go,” said a source familiar with the operations. “They have to go somewhere and they end up in the middle of sidewalks and in dumpsters and in the way of everything.”

At least five rogue dockless bike companies have been sniffing around the city and buttering up officials since the spring, officials have said. Spin will be the first to actually set up shop here.

This is funny. If it's Spin or nothing, the Rockaways should have nothing, according to DOT. Also humorous is the unnamed transit advocate who claims these bikes will end up in the middle of sidewalks and in dumpsters. What?

Rockaway hostel vacated

From DNA Info:

The city shut down a "dangerous" illegal hostel run by a controversial operator who advertised the home as an airy getaway close to the beach — which hosted as many as 22 people at a time without proper exits or fire alarms, officials said.

Drifter Inn, at 427 Beach 69th Street, put up to eight people in a room inside the two-family Victorian home, renting bunk beds out at $35 a night on weekdays and $50 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The hostel was operated by Laura Jones, who has now been permanently banned from Airbnb, a company spokesman said.

In 2014, Jones tried opening the Hostile Hostel — which caused a stir over bungalow names including the “wife beater” and “gang violence.”

It later closed due to controversy surrounding the room themes, which Jones said was just a joke.

She did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

On July 13, the Department of Buildings and the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement ordered a full vacate of the new hostel, saying it was illegally converted from a two-family residence to include seven furnished rooms lacking necessary exits, fire alarms or sprinklers.

More crap development coming to Rockaway

Good evening,

I was heading home after checking out the completed boardwalk/sidewalk and got on the 116th station in Rockaway and heading for the shuttle train I saw some interesting new development next to the tracks. I assume this is up your alley (no pun intended) of your expertise because it looks like the header photo on your blog.

Then there is this piece in the Rockaway Times, a local newspaper passing for a real estate brochure, about some group tied to a developer involved in building some pretentious hip hotel. They are trying to beautify the development around them by painting over the green fencing and also trying to get ferry commuters to get loaded in a beer garden in a filthy construction site.

This reminds me of what Slate Properties tried to do in Ridgewood with Rockaway Brewery a year ago. Without the sand of course.

What did you say a few days ago when you posted about that terrorist conspirator that we live in a bizarro city. Well, these mental patients trying to turn these dirt yards into tourist attractions are validation of that.

JQ LLC

Flood barrier need questioned

From NY1:

Beautiful views off Breezy Point in the Rockaways could change; Connecting Queens all the way to Sandy Hook, New Jersey could be a barrier to shelter the city from flooding.

"This would save lives," said Bob Yaro of Storm Surge Working Group. "It will save tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars over its life in avoided flooding and disruption of the economy in the region."

Yaro's group calls not just for a barrier in the outer harbor, but also tying Queens to the Bronx near the Throgs Neck Bridge.

The group notes that New York lags behind London, the Netherlands, and even Russia.

"We're kind of standing down on the beach with our pants down around our ankles," Yaro said. "This is not how we want to protect this great city from these dangers."

And in a sign of its influence, a conference on the "urgent need for a regional barrier" is co-sponsored by the Port Authority.

But building a barrier isn't easy. The whole harbor system could cost $25 billion.

A rendering, seen in the video above, shows laying a highway on top to help pay, if it's given a permit.

Complicating matters further, Breezy Point is a private, gated community, whose residents aren't seen as exactly eager for interstate traffic to come through.

The group pushing the barrier says it's just an idea. Others question whether the barrier is needed at all.

Rockaway getting another hotel!

From On Rockaway:

For the past decade or so, visitors coming to Rockaway for a wedding or other affair, or even for a visit to the beach were told that there were no hotels in Rockaway suitable for even a short visit. Those travelling to Rockaway were often sent to hotels at Kennedy Airport or on Rockaway Turnpike in Nassau County.

Now, however, Rockaway Beach is about to get a boutique hotel designed by famous Wythe Hotel architect Morris Adjmi.

New building applications were filed Tuesday for the six-story project at 108-20 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, between 108 and 109 Streets, where Irish saloons and the famous McGuire’s Bar once stood.

According to the development Website NY NIMBY, the building would reach 86 feet high and hold 61 rooms, including seven extended-stay suites.

Hopefully it's more successful than the last "new hotel" in Rockaway.

Large development planned for Rockaway

From onrockaway:

Rockaway residents who have been around for a while will probably remember fondly the Beach Club restaurant and catering space where many locals held their important events and where many local meetings were hosted by Ken and Steve Good.

Soon, however, the abandoned Beach Club property and the former Spin City gym next door will become four nine-story mixed use buildings with shops on the first floor and residential units above. At least, that’s the plan.

Brooklyn-based developer Marcal Group has filed applications for a 149-unit development at 137 Beach 116 Street.

As detailed in onrockaway.com a month ago, it will be part of a larger complex called Seaside Landing, which will feature market-rate condos and affordable housing. The building would hold 142,660 square feet of residential space and 17,652 square feet of commercial space. And, if Mayor Bill de Blasio has his way, it will also be mandated to open about 30 percent of those units to the homeless.

As predicted... new Rockaway building to house homeless

From On Rockaway:

Published reports say that the new building at 9306 Shorefront Parkway will be housing homeless in 30 percent of its units under a new city ruling. Applications for the new 63-unit affordable apartments will close on December 27.

A new report from Crain’s New York Business puts a question mark on the new residential building opening in the near future at 9306 Shore Front Parkway in Rockaway Beach.

According to the highly-respected business newspaper, which is known for its excellent contacts with both business and city government, Mayor Bill de Blasio is apparently attempting to put homeless at the head of the line for affordable housing units such as those planned for the new Rockaway Beach building.

Hey, remember when this was posted which included a remark about it becoming a shelter? Well, BdB fooled us as it will only be part-shelter. What a way to revitalize Rockaway!

They are framing this as "these are for the homeless who can afford an apartment" which makes us wonder why, if they have a job and can pay a modest rent, they don't just move somewhere more affordable.

Being mobilized helps

From DNA Info:

The low-income communities of the Lower East Side and the Rockaways both suffered extensive damage from Superstorm Sandy four years ago.

But advocates on the Lower East Side were able to engage more effectively in post-storm resiliency efforts than their counterparts in Queens because they already had a robust network of community activism in place from years of fighting gentrification, according to a recently published study from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice & the Graduate Center.

Researchers focused on the role of community organizations and being able to respond to the “climate change politics” of the city, which is increasingly important as the frequency of storms is expected to rise along with rising sea levels, noted Leigh Graham, John Jay environmental psychology professor and lead author of the study.

While both areas have high concentrations of public housing residents and low-income households, the Lower East Side’s pre-existing civic infrastructure of community based organizations and social services fighting against development pressures enabled residents to recover more quickly, according to researchers who spent six months interviewing community groups in the area and 18 months in the Rockaways.

The Rockaways, on the other hand, were at a disadvantage, not only because the area is more geographically isolated on the far edge of the city, but also because it’s more racially and economically segregated.

There’s a high concentration of poverty along the eastern part of the peninsula where the residents have suffered from decades of economic “malaise,” which in effect weakened and undermined their post-storm response, researchers found.

“The Lower East Side and the Rockaways had similar levels of exposure in terms of storm flooding,” Graham said, “but the Lower East Side groups were basically a partner in a lot of the resiliency efforts after the storm, in part because residents, who live there, have been fighting gentrification for 30 to 40 years and established a level of organization, trust and power, that they were able to get a seat at the table as important stakeholders.”

Community groups on the Rockaways did not have the same level of organization prior to the storm and remain more focused on meeting present economic needs than on pursing long-term resilience planning, she noted.