Too Inconvenient to Enforce

By Paul Pogozelski 

Our city seems to have two sets of laws on the books – the ones that tax paying citizens have to follow day in and day out, and the ones that city government deems too inconvenient to enforce. From congestion pricing to gas stoves, the last few years have seen the average New Yorker dealing with higher costs and rules that carry violations. Yet, the city allows new arrivals to brazenly trample over the city’s most basic ordinances without any resistance.

This is the scene on Starr Street in Ridgewood, right on the edge of District 30. The road is filled with illegally parked campers and trailers, many of which stay parked in the street for weeks or even months at a time. These trailers are more than just an inconvenience. They’re a blatant violation of our traffic and safety laws that cause major quality of life problems for local residents. These vehicles are not street worthy and do not belong on our streets. Many are missing license plates, inspection stickers, registration, insurance, you name it. 

However, one day after the average citizens’ vehicle inspection or registration expires there is no warning issued by our city’s traffic enforcement agencies, rather an obnoxious orange envelope is left on your windshield to mail your violation in with. Thankfully the city grants us the ability to pay parking violations online with a convenience surcharge, so you don’t have to worry about our US Postal service misplacing your payment.  

This is only the beginning of the problems caused by these unauthorized campers. Neighbors have spent over two years bombarding the city with 311 complaints, videos, and photos documenting the continued illegal activity on the block. However, the most response they ever see from the city is getting their complaints marked “resolved” without any action. 

These vehicles continue to disobey alternate-side parking rules, noise ordinances, and some are even so shameless as to attach their vehicles to city electric and water services to receive free utilities at taxpayer expense.

These issues are not limited to Ridgewood – they’ve already started to make their way into Middle Village. Last summer, three campers appeared overnight near Juniper Park – like many of the other trailers that have been seen in the area, they lacked license plates, registration, inspection stickers, and brake lights. 

The situation last summer in Middle Village featured three camper trailers being parked across the street from two houses of worship, a public school and a park pathway. The presence of the trailers sparked immediate complaints. 

However, despite receiving word back from local officials that the problem would be resolved by the days end, the campers remained overnight and into the next morning. It was only when I helped organize a local group of concerned residents to protest near the location of the trailers did the city finally intervene and assist with removal of these campers.

The camper epidemic cropping up around the city proves that our government is only interested in enforcing the law when it serves their interests. It was only when people from the neighborhood mobilized to act as a united front did anything get done. But it shouldn’t have to come to this.

This isn’t just about parking violations and noise complaints; it’s about fairness and accountability. Taxpayers deserve to live in a city where the rules apply equally to everyone. Instead, they’re watching as the government enforces minor infractions with them while turning a blind eye to egregious violations by others.

The time has come for city officials to listen to the people they serve. Ridgewood residents, and New Yorkers across the city, deserve better. It’s time to enforce the laws equally, without favoritism or selective enforcement, and to restore accountability in our neighborhoods.

Remember our elected officials work for us and not the other way around. I will work tirelessly to earn your vote and the privilege to work for you in the New York City Council. Together, we can amplify our voice so that our communities needs are not dismissed as merely a nuisance they can dismiss in the chambers of City Hall. 

Good Government Starts With Perception – Sensible Lobbying Ban Set

It’s no secret that leaving the city council has been a lucrative deal for those legislators who were able to play well in the sandbox while they were members. They are often hired by lobbying firms looking for access to current legislators and to agencies. The recent probes and indictments of senior staffers of this current administration are unprecedented. Just in time, Brooklyn Democrat Lincoln Restler just got his bill passed that prohibits senior mayoral staffers from lobbying a city agency for two years after leaving. It’s a start. Mainly it has them focusing on their job as a senior staffer instead of trying to amass power and influence.

 

A Few More Executive Orders?

We’re thinking a few more executive orders need to be considered;

  • Astoria’s Neptune Diner be relocated to Flushing
  • The Newtown Creek be renamed The Gulf of Brooklyn
  • The Jets take a new home in a stadium built in the old Flushing Air Field.
  • Joey Chestnut banned from participating in the Nathans Hot Dog Eating Contest …. Because there’s no loyalty these days.

One From Adams Too

And while we’re at executive orders, although Mayor Adams is a bit under the weather this week, non-profits, have also been under the gun recently, due to the excessively late reimbursement of funds for city contracts. They are celebrating Adams’ executive order from last week. Each city agency must now designate a chief non-profit officer in order to ‘improve’ services to non-profits. No doubt this move in answer to the concerns of the council reps, who all have been reporting to us that the non-profits in their districts have been desperately calling them to put pressure on the city to get paid. As we have written in this space recently, delaying payments to non-profits been a problem in the past …. usually when the city comptroller is challenging the mayor for his seat, intended to make the mayor look bad.

 

Inauguration had Biden & Harris in ‘Time-Out-Chair”

No matter what you might think of the Biden-Harris, watching them be forced to sit right next to Trump during his inauguration speech was like watching our kids in the ‘time-out-chair.’  They’re thinking …. ‘how fast can I get out of here?’

Our Pol Position bots couldn’t take our eyes off the desperately uncomfortable scene at the inauguration on Monday. Did you all think Trump wasn’t going to be Trump, the entertainer? You all thought he was going to be gracious about the previous administration? However you all might feel about Trump or Biden, it was quite cringe-worthy to watch Biden sit there, five feet from Trump (with Harris right next to him), and hear Trump say our country will not be taken advantage of any longer.  “For many years a corrupt establishment…. (an administration) that can not manage a simple crisis at home….. All of this will change, and it’s starting today. Decline is over,” he said. “In recent years our nation has suffered greatly,” he continued. 

Numerous times through his address, when nearly everyone stood up and clapped, Biden, Harris and their spouses had to sit there and endure this. It just seemed torturous. We were actually waiting for Biden or Harris get up from their seat. How hard it must have been to sit there and have to listen to something that makes your blood boil. 

Next time sit the outgoing administration on stage, but in the back. 

And the Hamburglar wants his hat back!

 

Congestion Tax Opening Door For Gov Bid

By now it is pretty clear what the mayoral election field will look like this year. A crowded field of candidates clearly to the left of Adams, lining up – with the exception of Curtis Sliwa, who will hold down the right flank. With the exception of Andrew Cuomo, who, in a flash poll last week, apparently is at 35%, all the other candidates are currently polling in the single digits.

The race for governor might be getting clearer as we watch Hochul try to convince New Yorkers that the congestion price toll is a benefit. The MTA is taking an early victory lap & bow on the impact of Congestion Pricing in the ‘whole’ week it has been in service. If we believe their data, it seems 40,000 fewer cars were in the zone last week when compared to the same week last year, a 7% decrease in traffic. Last week, they say 530K vehicles entered the zone. So the toll has reduced the number of cars in the zone. 

Is that a victory?

The MTA thinks so, but we suggest the people in NYC don’t.

How many of those cars are making that left turn on 2nd Avenue at 60th Street, going into Queens – and not really adding to the traffic in the zone? Can you wait a little while longer to tell us how great the congestion zone toll is?

We can’t escape the tactic that the Governor and the MTA are using, reminding us of the recent history in the national campaign for president. While the Harris camp was holding the juice cup to our lips, convinced that the economy was fine and crime is on the decline, the Trump camp just told the country to use the ‘eye test’ to measure the state of the economy and the state of crime. The eye test won, and it is doubtful that Hochul can do some kind of magic trick to convince the voters that congestion pricing is a worthwhile investment for the individuals paying the $9 fee. The voters will say whether it’s worth paying more for goods delivered inside the congestion-pricing zone, as suppliers pass along the cost of the toll to consumers. Hochul might just be facing the same result in her bid for reelection. While Republicans like Mike Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis say they will work with Trump to stop the toll, they might gain some ground in a popular vote for governor. We don’t see Nicole running, but Lawler seems to be delivering his opinions on a bunch of talk shows as of late and he might just be convinced he has a path to victory.

 

In Hakeem We Trust – Local Kid Makes Good

It was a delight to see democratic Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader (by a whisker), use the phrase ‘build the economy for the working class,’ as a goal, through bipartisan legislation. We’re not sure why, but his address to congress struck a chord with many we spoke with this past weekend. Maybe it’s the way he said it …. maybe it’s because he didn’t look like a sore loser, as the democrats still don’t have control of the house. He handled it well. He grew up here, deep in Brooklyn, and his New York roots make him a leader who will do a lot more to bring the two parties together than has been done in a generation. Our sources in Congress say that he is pretty well respected by both parties. We pointed out in this column a few months ago that Jeffries has a good deal to do with Hochul putting a pause on congestion pricing. Our sources tell us that his team knew the constituents in his district are against congestion pricing. Now it’s here. Nothing has changed. Brooklynites are still against it. He could get challenged in his district in two years. We know that Trump has promised to nix CP. Jeffries could be the hero if he signs on.

 

Lions & Tigers & Ex-Cons, Oh My

Why is it that the same people who are so vocal about giving convicted criminals a second chance at rehabilitation and the best conditions at Rikers, are the same ones who object when someone like Anthony Weiner, Andrew Cuomo of Hiram Monserrate is interested in running for office again? No, they’re not all ex-cons, but you get the point. That’s the question of the week and we, at this Pol Position desk struggle with that too. When it comes to ethics should politicians be expected to be beyond reproach? We think so, but it’s just so ironic to see who comes out first. We’ll be interviewing candidates who are serious about running for office. As you are all aware, we focus on hyper-local.

If this past election season is any indication of what’s to come, people like Anthony Weiner and Andrew Cuomo (who both might run for mayor) and Hiram Monserrate (who will undoubtedly run for the city council) might just have a fighter’s chance of winning at the ballot box.

 

80-acre parcel cries for more than just housing

Real Mixed Use For Airport Tract

The NYC Economic Development Corp has called for proposals to develop the 80-acre plot of land that was part of the former airfield in College Point called Flushing Airport. The airport was built in 1927, and was the major airfield in New York until LaGuardia was developed in 1939. Used by smaller aircraft after that, the airfield finally closed in 1984 and has been pretty much unused since. Its swampy tract has been a mosquito magnet for decades and with the housing shortage, and remedies prescribed in the ‘City Of Yes’ zoning changes, it might seem converting the whole thing into a housing development would be a slam dunk. But this plot brings with it a great opportunity, and we suggest building housing, with some basic commercial businesses and some ‘community space’ is a weak goal. Public transit in College Point is miserable, it’s a marshland (which makes building housing much more challenging) and being it’s surrounded by industrial uses, we’re not convinced it would be such a great place to live. 

 

The RFP seeks what it calls ‘innovative’ ideas for the use of the land. The EDC suggests housing, plus amenities that can produce jobs, as well as spaces that can be used by the community. Developers have until March 20th to submit proposals, and we presume the favored ones will include the most housing possible. Brand new sterile neighborhoods, built with an ample spec of mixed use, lacks ‘character.’ Just check out Long Island City, between 47th Ave and 57th Avenue along Center Blvd. There’s nothing but residential with maybe one story of commercial use on the ground floor. None of it feels like a community. The commercial part is scantily occupied by useful retail services. What makes LIC great is the Vernon Blvd. stretch of small stores just two blocks east. Thinking ‘outside the box’ necessitates looking at what makes neighborhoods like Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Forest Hills and Ridgewood much more desirable now than ever. Small thousand-square-foot storefronts, some retail, room for eateries, cafes, service businesses and artisan shops. 

 

Queenslink or Queensway?

Federal DOT doing the right thing, giving transportation advocates another chance…. a 400K grant

The ten-year debate in Queens ended last year with ‘a park’ winning support over ‘transportation.’ Although a bit under the radar, the decision to use the abandoned Montauk rail line as a park came to fruition last year. The Trust for Public Land has been doing outreach to talk with stakeholders on more specifics to the plan to turn the 30 ft. wide, 3 ½ mile long stretch between Forest Hills and Ozone Park into a ‘highline type’ park. The swath of land runs parallel to Woodhaven Blvd., just a few blocks east of the roadway.

But wait …. It seems Federal DOT has given the transportation advocates another shot. Queenslink is advocating using the path as transportation. They were just awarded a grant of a 400K … if they can raise 100K on their own. We have not really heard of anything like this before but apparently it’s a federal grant program which has to do with collecting data to show how transportation impacts ‘underserved’ communities. Queenslink has been pushing that the three and a half mile former Montauk rail line running from Forest Hills to Ozone Park be used as a light rail line, linking south Queens to mid-Queens, connecting to the LIRR in Forest Hills, the J train in Jamaica and the A train in Ozone Park. 

Should the rail line be used the way the ‘High Line’ is used in Manhattan, as a park pathway? Or should the swath of land be used as a transportation link? It seems Queenslink lost the debate. But it lost the fight due to the highly questionable cost estimate. 8.1 billion for bringing back the rail or 350 million for making it a park-like pathway for bike riding, walking and the like. It’s a no-brainer for sure. But is the cost really 8.1 billion? The grant dollars should be spent on studying the cost.

A recent poll done by Senator Joe Addabbo determined that 75% want a rail link. Just look at a train map in Queens. The real transportation desert is the route between north and south Queens. But there is a strong lobby for parks and the lobby for rail transportation is quite weak. But Queenslink is not going away, and they shouldn’t. We see the 8.1 billion dollar price tag as baloney. Although every legislator that has constituents impacted by this stretch has signed on to help Queenslink, unless this 8.1 billion dollar price tag is refuted the half-million dollar grant to study the use of the land is a waste. We know there can be a solution that combines the use between transportation and a park. It should be noted that the Forest Hills community is the most supportive neighborhood for using the line as rail.

Not only will a rail link connect south Queens to mid Queens, taking a train from the Rockaway or South Ozone Park into Manhattan goes through Queens, then Brooklyn and takes an hour or more. A link through Forest Hills can cut as much as 20 minutes from a commute. We say look at the return on investment in the long term. Decades of economic growth will follow.

 

A Weather Emergency?

Is an OEM Weather Emergency Advisory necessary for what every meteorologist said would be a dusting of snow? We got an advisory Sunday and wondered who was at the switch. It’s just unnecessary. It reminds us of the alert we received about the earthquake in New Jersey in April. It was a 4.8 magnitude quake. Everyone seemed to feel it; every news station reported it within minutes and then a full 15 minutes later, the NYC Emergence Alert System sent out their emergency alert. Nobody is going to pay attention to these alerts if NYC doesn’t get it right.

 

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