Future of KGH site is up in the air

From the Queens Chronicle:

More than a year has passed since a fire destroyed a strip mall in Kew Gardens Hills. And the site’s future is a big question mark.

On the night of Dec. 30, 2016, a blaze destroying the 14 businesses from 77-39 to 77-63 Vleigh Place, including a kosher pizzeria, bakery, law office and barber shop.

The Department of Buildings condemned the building the next day and slated it for demolition on Jan. 11, 2017; the project began last September and was signed off as completed by the city on March 28.

The block is now a large concrete pit, partially filled with dirt and enclosed by windowed green barriers. A Caterpillar demolition excavator, as well as scattered construction waste and materials, can also be seen on-site.

Engineer volunteering to help Kew Gardens bridge businesses

From the Queens Tribune:

A once-dim future for the Lefferts Boulevard bridge businesses in Kew Gardens appears to be getting brighter.

Recently, three engineers—from the MTA, city Department of Transportation and a volunteer retired engineer from Kew Garden—examined the bridge after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority told the business owners that the platforms on which their buildings are located must be demolished.

Al Brand, the retired engineer, floated the idea that an additional concrete slab could be installed underneath the bridge.

Concerns regarding this proposal include whether the slab would allow adequate clearance for Long Island Rail Road trains underneath and the possible cost of the project.

Michael Cohen, communications director for Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D- Forest Hills), said that Brand is volunteering his expertise and acting as a representative for the Kew Gardens community and Koslowitz in the MTA’s discussions.

Cohen noted that there are still many questions that need to be answered regarding the site. He said that Koslowitz is pleased that the MTA is considering the alternative. He added that the agency has committed to hosting a meeting before Aug 1. to discuss bringing in a third-party consultant to review this matter and making a recommendation.

Partial collapse of building near Queens Plaza

From DNA Info:

The partial collapse of an apartment tower construction site near Queensboro Plaza injured six workers Monday, authorities said.

The workers suffered minor to moderate injuries in the incident, which took place at 42-20 27th St. around 11 a.m. when crews were pouring concrete into a 20-by-20 foot form that collapsed onto the seventh floor below, according to the FDNY and Department of Buildings.

The six hurt workers were taken to local hospitals for ailments that included back, leg and arm injuries, FDNY officials said. All were in stable condition.

The DOB halted all construction and issued a violation for failure to safeguard the site, according to a spokesman.

Bioswale blunder in Maspeth

From CBS 2:

A city project intended to help the environment has a Queens resident upset over the destruction it has caused in front of her home.

As CBS2’s Valerie Castro reported, the project has cost the woman thousands of dollars.

“They destroyed the concrete,” said Jeanette Romano of Maspeth. “Destroyed it, destroyed it.”

Romano is not happy about the city’s recent installment of a rain garden in her sidewalk – a sidewalk she said she has paid to repair before.

“We got a notice to fix the sidewalk, which we did,” Romano said. “A year later, they came and broke it up to put a tree in, cracking all the sidewalk.”

Romano said after the tree was installed, she paid more money to repair the damage and spruce up the spot with concrete bricks.

As for the total cost, Romano said, “I can’t even tell you – thousands.”

A year later, the bricks were torn out for the rain garden, which will be made up of stones, soil and plants.

“It’s terrible. It’s absolutely terrible,” Romano said. “Every time I come out, I get very anxious and upset about this.”

The rain garden, or bioswale, on Romano’s block is one of hundreds installed across the city by the Department of Environmental Protection to keep dirty runoff water out of sewers and protect natural waterways.

The DEP said residents are given notice when a bioswale is going in, but it is not something a resident can choose to avoid.

Piece of Van Wyck collapses into Flushing Meadows parking lot

From CBS 2:

Some Queens residents said a popular parking lot is turning into a danger zone, and they blamed falling debris.

As CBS2’s Elise Finch reported, the parking lot sits under the busy Van Wyck Expressway, and near a popular recreation center.

People who frequent the area said they want to see long overdue repairs finally happen.

An enormous slab of concrete and metal has been all anybody visiting the Flushing Meadows Aquatic Center could talk a about lately. It looks as though it fell from the underside of the Van Wyck Expressway into the parking lot — just steps from the swim center’s entrance.

“This has become dangerous,” said Loida Papandrea of Little Neck, Queens. “You can see. You can see all the breakage. This is not the first time cement has fallen down if you just look at all the cracks.”

Shortly after noon on Tuesday, NYC Parks Advocates President Geoffrey Croft got multiple calls from people who work and play in the area. They said a huge chunk of debris fell 30 feet, narrowly missing several cars.

The slab measures 2 1/2 feet by 2 1/2 feet, and likely weighs more than 200 pounds.

Twenty-four hours later, it was still there.

Former mayoral hack's project has safety issues

As previously reported, a new hotel is being constructed in Fresh Meadows on 186th Street, much to the chagrin of the neighborhood. It seems they had a little accident at the site recently:

(Here are the rest of the complaints.)

Quite a few violations at this construction site. Not surprising considering that former Mayoral Community Affairs Unit representative George Frangoulis, pictured above, chatting with cops, is managing the project. He also represented Tommy Huang at one point.

Update on 149th Street bridge project

I found this info which seems to be stating the open contractor bid will start March 24 and due deadline April 23 but states "deck replacement" only. Sounds a bit funny to me. Does that mean the concrete only or the steel which supports the concrete deck?

If it's the concrete only maybe they are willing to take their chance it may not crack a second time. Also, June 12 2014 queens papers stated an engineer has already begun designing a new bridge for a complete rebuilding.

Hotel contractor has unsafe history

From DNA Info:

The subcontractor overseeing concrete work at the West 37th Street hotel construction project where a concrete slab crushed a worker Tuesday has a history of safety violations, records show.

Rodalfo Vasquez-Galian, 27, of 418 Liberty Ave. in Jersey City, was killed after the block fell on him while he was working on the foundation for the 22-floor hotel at 326 West 37th St. Tuesday afternoon.

A stop-work order was issued Tuesday for the entire work location because an approach pit, which gives workers access to space beneath the foundation, was not dug, according to the city Department of Buildings.

Federal Department of Labor records show that Park Side Construction, which was responsible for cement work on the project, was issued $11,900 in fines on May 27, because the company lacked safety equipment at an 81 Fleet Place project. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the fine because the company had no fall protection for workers.

After Tuesday's fatal accident, the DOB issued a violation to the adjoining building where the slab became detached, 320 West 37th St., and also gave a partial vacate order for the first-floor storefront on the exposed side of the building, a DOB spokesman said.

New York State also sued Park Side in 2013 for failing to pay more than $174,000 in worker's compensation insurance, according to court papers.

149th Street bridge should be repaired some time next year

From the Queens Tribune:

While the long-defunct 149th Street Bridge has caused headaches for Queens residents for years, the saga may be reaching its end.

The Dept. of Transportation said it plans to begin construction next fall for the 149th Street Bridge, which has been in need of major repairs for the last few years. While the bridge originally closed in 2010, it has yet to reopen due to problems with the previous work that was done.

The 149th Street Bridge, which stretches over the railroad, closed in May 2010 for demolition and reconstruction, with a scheduled reopening for November 2011. Numerous delays stalled the project’s completion, with the DOT discovering cracks in the cement of the new bridge in May 2012. The bridge was not safe for vehicular traffic and remained closed as a result, opening to pedestrian traffic only in June 2012.

For the next two years, the DOT remained silent on the bridge, until June 6, 2014, when it confirmed that the bridge has to be torn down and rebuilt again. The agency is pursuing litigation against the firm responsible for the bridge’s initial design.

Flushing’s elected officials recently met with Queens Borough Commissioner Dalila Hall to discuss the reconstruction’s progress. According to the DOT, the new design should be finalized by the end of the year, with a slated completion scheduled for November 2015.

Parks cuts down tree instead of unchaining it

"Hi QC,
I don't know how it all happened but the oak mentioned in the post of 6/19 has been taken down.

It was a beauty...unchained, with finality, by a chain saw." - Rachel

Here's proof tha, posting stuff here gets action. Unfortunately, this wasn't exactly the action most of us had in mind... It was nice of them to cut the tree down but leave the concrete sitting there so now it's even more of an eyesore.

Service Request #: C1-1-985659537
Date Submitted: 06/28/14 9:46:05 PM
Request Type: New Tree Request
Details: For One Address

Thank you for contacting New York City 311. Your Service Request has been sent to the Department of Parks and Recreation for action.

Perhaps planting a new tree will take care of it. Unfortunately, that concrete crap is likely to sit there until the next planting season, because this is how the Parks Department rolls.

Is there a blade of grass that the Buks won't pave over?

Hi Crappy,

I wrote to you some time ago about the trash problem in KGH, now I have this. This "construction" work started last week in the side yard of a semi attached in KGH. This beautiful work is being done by none other than....you guessed it, Bukharians. Other than that this probably illegal 2-family house stays up all night being loud and smoking cigarettes, but this work is beyond anything. Can this be legal? I thought the city put an end to this heinous look. The address is 137-10 70 Road. I haven't seen any construction signs anywhere.

Signed,
Pissed in KGH.

Well, if this is actually being used as a 2-family house, then it would be an illegal conversion, as DOB has it listed as a 1-family. The last complaint about that issue was closed in 1997. And paving over your front yard has been illegal since 2007, but as this appears to be a side yard, it's likely okay as per the zoning code.

I'll just sit back now and wait for one of the Buks to nastily write about how jealous we all are of them for beautifying the neighborhood and raising everyone else's property values.

Why would someone do this to a street tree?

Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2014 18:56:24 -0400
Subject: Illegal Activity at Forest Hills Tree Pit

To The Parks Department, Councilmember Koslowitz, & Assemblyman Hevesi,

I would like to report a time-sensitive matter. A healthy mature tree's tree pit was illegally filled with cement, as the sidewalk was redesigned on the side of an apartment building in Forest Hills. The site is the west side of 68th Avenue between Queens Boulevard and Yellowstone Boulevard. A nearby address is 103-25 68th Avenue.

Constricting the trunk of the tree from its nutrients will likely cause the tree to die prematurely. Offenders need to pay a violation and be held responsible for restoring the tree pit and rescuing the tree.

I propose harsher penalties for causing damage to trees inclusive of arborcide. The offender should be required to finance at least 2 new trees and their planting either at the site or in close proximity.

Please respond as soon as you can, so we can solve this quality of life issue and formulate more effective solutions for an environmentally sustainable and aesthetically pleasing New York.

Sincerely,

(Name withheld)

Nothing to see here, folks!

From Clean Up Jamaica, Queens:

On Saturday I reported that a not yet business, a Live Fish and Meat Store at 169-13 Jamaica Avenue obviously had leftover cement and did not want to dispose of it properly and so just dumped it all around the tree, not only causing damage to the tree, but making a mess of the sidewalk. I reported this via 311 and this was the response I received:

Service Request #: C1-1-905206700
Date Submitted: 11/02/13 1:02:54 PM
Request Type: Illegal Tree Damage
Details: Trunk Damaged

Your Service Request was closed.

The condition was inspected and it was determined that no work order was necessary. The condition will not be inspected again for at least 90 days.

Go f*cking figure.

After calling Parks & Recreation, now they are going to look back into the matter. What the hell is there to look it, there is a major violation that took place.

Joe Moretti
Jamaica, NY 11432

Replacing the Rockaway boardwalk a huge undertaking

From the NY Times:

Replacing it will be hugely expensive, with a tentative price tag of $200 million. It will involve 4.7 miles of new decking and about 50,000 linear feet of railing. And though work could start by the end of the year, the Boardwalk will take years to rebuild; just how many is unclear.

What is certain, however, is that it will not be made of wood. Soon after the hurricane, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that the storm had laid to rest the debate over wood versus concrete as the preferred material for boardwalks. He pointed to the few concrete sections that had come through in relatively good shape.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which pumped nearly 600,000 cubic yards of sand onto the beach this summer, will eventually build whatever storm protections are chosen, but that will not happen for years, given the Corps’ lengthy technical and economic reviews. The Corps plans to share draft alternatives for the Rockaways with the public early next year, said Chris Gardner, a spokesman for the agency.

In the meantime, parks officials and engineers reassured the residents that the Boardwalk would be rebuilt to withstand future monster storms.

Not only will it be raised along its entire length, but the decking will be securely fastened to concrete pilings. The old Boardwalk had simply rested on the pilings, making it vulnerable to the storm surge.

Parks isn't always to blame for street tree conditions

Ok, so what a-hole did this?

This concreted tree is in front of 578 Seneca Avenue in Ridgewood. I suppose a vibrant, diverse tree hater is lurking around there.

So, is this tree a goner?

Grand Avenue concretions

Someone discharged concrete into the street on Grand Avenue in Maspeth in 2 locations. Here's the first one, near Hamilton Place.

And here's the second one, near 69th Street.

I wonder what DOT wants pedestrians to look for here. It's the drivers that have the responsibility to stop at the stop sign. It's the poorly maintained roadway that seems to need attention.

149th Street bridge saga drags on

From Eyewitness News:

As the Eyewitness News Investigators reported in April, a bridge in Queens is so riddled with cracks, the city has kept it closed to traffic.

Not only is this bridge still closed more than a year after a complete overhaul, but there appears to be no real fix short of starting all over again.

Now the city blames the engineer and the engineer faults the city.

Flooding bill too little, too late

From the Times Ledger:

A bill that would help prevent flooding after intense storms — an increasingly common scourge of many homeowners in some areas of Queens — was passed by the City Council last week to the applause of a Queens councilman.

The legislation, passed Feb. 6, requires the city Parks Department to identify types of vegetation it could plant that would help absorb stormwater before it could overwhelm storm sewers, causing a mix of polluted rainwater and sewage to overflow.

Councilman James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows), chairman of the Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection who drafted the legislation, applauded the bill’s passage Monday.

“In Queens, we know the challenges of managing stormwater all too well,” Gennaro said. “Several areas in our borough, and in the rest of our city, are prone to flooding with rainwater after heavy storms.”

Areas of Fresh Meadows, Forest Hills and other parts of the borough are particularly vulnerable to flooding, with many area residents saying their homes become inundated by a mixture of stormwater and sewage during intense storms. Some have complained that as soon as they fix the damage from flooding the next storm will hit and they will be deluged again.

Flooding is also occurring more often in recent years as intense storms happen more frequently than in the past, a development that Gennaro has attributed to climate change.

Gennaro said the flooding is also due in large part to the urban transformation of the city, with large portions of the previous natural vegetated landscape morphed into swaths of concrete, which does not absorb rainwater.

Oh? And who allowed that to happen?

Concrete tester pleads guilty

From the Daily News:

A company that certified the safety of concrete at thousands of New York City construction projects admitted it regularly faked tests and made up inspection reports, authorities announced Friday.

American Standard Testing and Consulting Laboratories, and company president Alan Fortich, 45, pleaded to corruption charges for filing bogus tests over the last 10 years on an impressive list of high profile buildings. Five other executives admitted filing false documents.

They faked tests at Yankee Stadium, the Second Avenue subway, the Javits Center, a control tower at JFK Airport, the Port Authority bus terminal, the Lincoln Tunnel, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a Columbia University science center.

The city, the MTA, the Port Authority and dozens of private sector builders were all victims, and dozens of buildings had to be retested to make sure the concrete used was not going to fall apart.

All the buildings were declared safe, Vance said. It wasn’t clear Friday who paid for the retests.

The guilty pleas make clear just how pervasive corruption was in the concrete testing business — American Standard was hired in 2008 to replace Testwell Inc., another firm indicted for faking concrete tests.

In admitting to enterprise corruption, a felony, American Standard will likely be barred from bidding on public contracts at the agencies affected.

Concrete king owes $20M in fines

From DNA Info:

The Brooklyn developer and concrete tycoon who hopes to expand his Red Hook shipping terminal with toxic landfill owes the state tens of thousands of dollars in fines for illegally dumping into Gowanus Bay.

Records show the amount John Quadrozzi is on the hook for could be as much as $20 million.

Quadrozzi, the owner of Gowanus Bay Terminal and the 46-acre Gowanus Industrial Park in Red Hook, left a large pile of potentially contaminated fill on a broken pier near the bay in May 2006, according to court documents provided by the state's Department of Environmental Conservation.

The fill, comprised of dirt and other unknown materials, washed into the water during high tide shortly afterward. The pollution "compromised the ecology of the shoreline," the DEC said in an email to DNAinfo.com New York.

"Since the origin and composition of the material is unknown, it is…possible (not certain) that the material contained chemical constituents that would…not be acceptable in tidal waters," a DEC attorney wrote.

"The environmental consequences may have included... the clouding of waterways and interfering with the habitat of living things that depend on those waters."

The DEC ordered Gowanus Industrial Park to pay the state $60,000 in civil penalties in May 2007, an amount that was to be submitted in 10 monthly installments through 2008. The company has yet to pay $45,000 of that original fine.

The DEC also directed GIP to remove an 18-foot-tall, 200-foot-long corrugated metal fence it had installed without permission between Henry Street Basin and the Red Hook Recreation Area, which effectively walled-off the area's waterfront views.

Quadrozzi and his company ultimately fought both orders and submitted only the first three payments totalling $15,000, the DEC said.

They also left the fence in place for more than a year, contending that it kept trespassers out of the terminal and "promote[d] the health of the people of the State of New York by preventing a spreading of dust" — a claim the DEC labelled "a stretch at best," according to court documents.

Quadrozzi and GIP eventually removed the fence in 2009, but only after an appeals court found their contentions against removing the fence "without merit."

The fines could multiply hundreds of times over. In 2008, the DEC filed suit seeking $10,500 for each day the remainder of the outstanding $60,000 fine has not been paid since May 23, 2007, plus an additional $10,000. To date, that amounts to nearly $20 million.

The fines, however, have not stopped Quadrozzi from seeking to expand the Gowanus Bay Terminal, located in Gowanus Industrial Park.