Fort Totten Gate Security: An Ever Changing Story

A protest rally still remains a very real possibility.

At a meeting held on Tuesday, February 17, 2009, Fire Department Chiefs and Unit Heads decided to completely eliminate gate security at Fort Totten. This is contrary to earlier reports from official FDNY sources that the security would be provided by light duty fire fighters.

At this time attempts are being made to obtain copies of the conveyance agreement, which some interested parties believe call for FDNY to maintain gate security. As expected, FDNY is reluctant to make the documents available for review. Efforts are underway to obtain the documentation elsewhere.

A protest rally still remains a very real possibility.

BLOOMBERG TO FORT TOTTEN & BAY TERRACE: DROP DEAD

Fort Totten Gate Security – Update

According to reliable sources, the FDNY has decided that terminating Fort Totten gate security is a bad idea. Light duty firefighters will continue to protect the Fort’s front gate. Fire marshals will share some of the responsibility.

BLOOMBERG TO FORT TOTTEN & BAY TERRACE: DROP DEAD

BLOOMBERG TO FORT TOTTEN & BAY TERRACE: DROP DEAD

Effective March 1, Fort Totten will no longer have gate security.

BLOOMBERG TO FORT TOTTEN & BAY TERRACE: DROP DEAD

Gate security at Fort Totten will be discontinued on Sunday, March 1, 2009. Fire Commissioner Scoppetta is taking this action in response to the Mayor’s recently announced budget cuts. Termination of the security contract will threaten Fort Totten and the surrounding community.

Both FDNY and NYPD house units on Fort Totten which have high security needs. To go into detail would be irresponsible but suffice it to say that these units deal with matters pertaining to terrorism and criminal investigation.

Without security there will be burglary and vandalism concerns at night. In addition, the abandoned old buildings, many of which are part of the Historic Monument Trust, would be prime targets for arson once it gets dark. Night time criminal activity in the Fort will spill over into Bay Terrace.

Completely removing security guards from Fort Totten’s front gate is ill-advised and will eventually cost the city more in terms of increased vandalism, burglary, arson, crimes involving violence and police services. This action poses a real threat to the safety of our community.

Bloomberg has now told us to drop dead. The Bay Terrace Cafe will send him the same good wishes when election day rolls around.

Queens is Ready to Puck Around

SKATING SOON at a rink near you - the Iron Triangle Islanders?

From the NY Daily News

Could Isles net the Point? Plan pushes Iron Triangle home

BY Nicholas Hirshon
Tuesday, February 10th 2009, 10:45 AM

SKATING SOON at a rink near you – the Iron Triangle Islanders?

The Queens Chamber of Commerce is making a long-shot bid to lure the four-time Stanley Cup champions from Nassau County as part of redevelopment plans for Willets Point, a maze of auto body shops near Citi Field.

The Islanders – who are reportedly mulling a move in case plans fall through to revamp their arena, the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, L.I. – declined to comment on the Willets Point proposal.

Queens Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Jack Friedman noted the Isles’ Coliseum lease expires in 2015, near the anticipated opening of a Willets Point convention center.

“Queens makes sense [for the Islanders] from so many levels because of the airports and its central location,” Friedman said, also noting the area’s proximity to highways and subways.

But Yale University Prof. Charles Euchner, an expert on sports team relocations, mocked Willets Point as a “half-baked” option because it would require too many infrastructure changes.

The Islanders stoked speculation about a move last month by scheduling a preseason game for September in Kansas City, which opened a state-of-the-art arena in 2007 and has been trying ever since to land a National Hockey League franchise.

The Isles are also moving their training camp in Canada from New Brunswick to Saskatoon, a puck-wild city that gunned for the St. Louis Blues in 1983.

Meanwhile, Islanders owner Charles Wang has reportedly grown impatient with Nassau officials for taking years to okay his project to renovate the Coliseum and redevelop the nearby area with shops and restaurants.

A spokesman for the Town of Hempstead board, which must approve Wang’s plans, said its members are “anxious to do everything we can to keep” the Islanders in Uniondale.

But Friedman isn’t alone in asking Wang, a Queens College grad, to consider a change.

Asked about hosting the Isles, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall said she would be “very receptive” while the city announced it’s “open” to letting the team play in a Queens park.

City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) said the Isles should relocate to Queens to escape the Coliseum mess while staying near fans in Nassau and Suffolk – a scenario that neither Kansas City nor Saskatoon can offer.

“A hockey team like the Islanders enjoys a strong fan base,” Liu said of the local following the team has built over four decades. “Their enterprise is not like a warehouse you could plunk in the middle of anywhere.”

Even Mets third baseman David Wright was willing to share the borough’s sports scene.

“I’d recommend it,” Wright said of an Isles move. “I would endorse playing in Queens.”

Marshall Backs Effort To Honor Park Activist David Oats

Queens Tribune

Marshall Backs Effort To Honor Park Activist

David Oats
By Brian M. Rafferty

David Oats loved Flushing Meadows Corona Park. One of his first assignments as a young reporter was to speak with Robert Moses, the visionary power broker who masterminded so much of the development in the city – as well as the creation of the park and its second World’s Fair.

The meeting between Oats and Moses created a lasting bond between the young reporter and the park that stands in the heart of the borough he called home.

Oats, who died suddenly on Feb. 5, 2008, spent a large portion of his career as editor of the Queens Tribune, but never lost touch with his first love – Flushing Meadows. When he retired from newspapers he continued to work tirelessly as an advocate for the park, even going so far as to travel to Europe to advocate both for a third world’s fair and for the park’s use as a venue for the Olympics.

David Oats

Oats saw the park as a dynamic location, filled with the energy of not just the people who use it, but the events that have taken place there through the years. In short, the park was his first true love – a love that filled his heart until the day he died.

It is fitting, then, that a year after his death, a portion of the park may be named for him. The idea, first touted by this paper in the days after Oats’ death, is supported by this newspaper, its publisher, Oats’ widow and Borough President Helen Marshall.

Marshall has asked New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to rename the promenade around the Unisphere after this fierce park advocate.

“David loved the park and Queens, and I am happy to support this effort to provide some sort of fitting memorial to him for all he did for Flushing Meadows Corona Park,” Marshall said Wednesday.

The letter asks for Benepe’s aid in officially naming the pathway surrounding the Unisphere for Oats.

“He was a dedicated Queens historian and preservationist who devoted his time and energy to ensuring the lasting legacy of the 1939 and 1964 World Fairs,” Marshall wrote. “He worked tirelessly as an advocate for park lovers who cherish our borough’s flagship park… As the first anniversary of his death approaches, it is fitting to now memorialize his efforts on behalf of the park and our Borough’s residents.”

Congratulations to State Senator Frank Padavan

The Bay Terrace Cafe congratulates Frank Padavan on his reelection to the New York State Senate and wishes him continued success. Based on past performance there is no doubt that Senator Padavan will work tirelessly on behalf of all his constituents. We look forward to Senator Padavan visiting the Cafe.

Newsday.com
Padavan set to return to NY Senate

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN

Associated Press Writer

February 4, 2009

ALBANY, N.Y.

State Senator Frank Padavan wins reelection.

Incumbent State Sen. Frank Padavan, a Queens Republican, is expected to return as a victor to Albany next week following months of recounts and challenges in his race against Democrat James Gennaro, a New York City Council member.

Padavan says the net change in a review of 2,708 invalid ballots shows him winning by 578 votes instead of 580. A judge is scheduled to review recount results Thursday and is expected to allow the New York City Board of Elections to certify the results.

Padavan, who said he’s been staying up on issues from his district office, will be returning to a changed Senate, with Democrats holding a 32-30 majority, their first control of the chamber in 43 years.

“I feel like I’ve never been away,” he said, adding the job remains representing the people in the district.

Fort Totten on the “Fringe”

The "Fringe" can now be seen on FOX

FORT TOTTEN ON THE “FRINGE”

On Thursday February 5, 2009 the TV show “FRINGE” is  scheduled to shoot interior and exterior scenes at Fort Totten Park.

Approximate time:    9am – 6pm

North Flushing Says “NO” To McMansions

Homeowners group head Sandi Viviani and civic group head Tyler Cassell say "No" to McMansions.

FROM THE DAILY NEWS

Homeowners group head Sandi Viviani and civic group head Tyler Cassell have been working on new Flushing zoning.

In an effort to ward off oversized McMansions, city planners have proposed new zoning for 257 blocks in northern Flushing.

The plan is designed to help the area keep its look and feel of mostly single-family homes and attached Tudors on tree-lined streets.

The proposed zoning changes are “long overdue,” said City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside).

“New construction has been destroying the quality of life,” said Avella, who lobbied hard for the rezoning, which includes a new zoning category for larger one-family lots.

The proposal applies to an area roughly bounded by Union St. on the west, the Clearview Expressway and Francis Lewis Blvd. on the east, Northern Blvd. and Station Road to the south and 25th Ave. to the north.

The complex plan includes several different types of zoning. It is to be discussed at 7 p.m. Thursday at a joint Community Board 7 and Community Board 11 public hearing at Holy Cross High School.

“We are proposing new zoning that will safeguard the character of this beautiful, lower-density community,” said City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden.

The plan would replace outdated zoning that dates to 1962, and “establish a low-scale regulatory framework to ensure that future development matches neighborhood character,” Burden said.

Tyler Cassell, president of the North Flushing Civic Association, applauded the move.

“We have been hoping for this for the past 10 years,” said Cassell, who sits on a zoning committee with members of both community boards.

READ THE FULL STORY

New York Hospital Queens Expansion on Schedule

From the Queens Chronicle

The $300 million expansion project at New York Hospital Queens in Flushing is right on target for a scheduled completion in mid-2010.

The seven-story wing will provide 80 single-bed rooms, in accordance with a 2006 state law. The remaining space will be used for surgery and expanded services.

New York Hospital Queens Expansion

Located on the front side of the hospital, the wing replaces the facility’s Main Street parking lot.

Already completed is NYHQ’s three-level parking garage at 141st Street and Booth Memorial Drive. It holds 372 cars and opened in November.
—Liz Rhoades

Phil “Pit Bull” Konigsberg Reelected 4th Chair of CB7

This time the “Best Person” did emerge victorious. Phil “PIT BULL” Konigsberg was reelected 4th Chair of CB7. Phil is a person who refuses to compromise his principles. Among the other CB7 Executive Committee Members, Konigsberg, a Bay Terrace resident, represents the lone independent voice – an objective free thinker who rejects overtures for him to follow the clique.

Phil was the only CB7 Executive Committee Member to vote against the Willet’s Point Redevelopment Plan. Supporting a proposal that included eminent domain as part of the land acquisition process was something he could not support. Without Phil’s involvement the CB7’s Executive Committee would be a rubber stamp for developers and most government agencies.

There is some speculation that Konigsberg’s opponent was hand picked by the clique for the purpose of eliminating any Executive Committee Member who wouldn’t follow the so called “party line.”

The Cafe is proud to have Phil as a regular customer. He will always be welcome and his next meal is on the house.

Congratulations to Phil Konigsberg!