Hamilton Beach: Still Under Water

By Patricia Adams

The residents of Davenport Court in Hamilton Beach have had enough. After more than 20 years of flooding along their street, frustration rises with the dangerous and destructive tides that threaten their safety and continue to destroy their quality of life.

“I used to have a basement,” says Michael Caspare, who lives with his wife and daughter near the end of the street. A quick tour of Caspare’s home leads to a small staircase and what has now been transformed into little more than a crawl space. “I filled it in with six feet of dirt and then poured four inches of concrete over that.” Without the fill, the basement would have kept taking on water—eroding the foundation and inviting a host of complications into the family’s home.

Caspare’s wife, Margarita Bravo stands nearby holding a stack of correspondence that’s been sent to “every city official I could find.” But she says the writing, the meetings, the complaints and the outcries have not resulted in a remedy. She has been fighting — seemingly in vain — for years. Despite the deaf ears she has faced, Bravo continues to be hopeful the damaged duct pipe at the end of the street will be repaired. “It should be draining the water from the street into the adjacent canal,” Bravo explains. “The last time it was fixed was more than ten years ago.”

But on Monday night at a site meeting with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Councilman Eric Ulrich may have brought a little hope to the hearts of Hamilton Beach residents—that is until the tide rises again. The situation is extremely difficult and complicated according to Ulrich. A long term solution would involve reconstruction and repair of a faulty, inadequate drainage system, installation of a proper seawall and bulkheads and elevating and pitching streets affected by constant flooding. Problems arise in the fact that the job that would have to be handled as a collaborative effort between the DEP and the Department of Transportation (DOT).

“The long term solution is obvious,” Ulrich said.” In addition, he notes, there are environmental laws in place that regulate what is permissible construction for the area. But he says, for the people who live with this on almost a daily basis, what is far more crucial is what can be done now.

“I am determined to put a short term solution in place for now. The people who live with this deserve and have every right to demand immediate relief.” To that end, the freshman Councilmember arranged for DEP Deputy Commissioner James Roberts - who directs the city’s Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations - to attend the site meeting.

The man that runs every sewer in New York City listened to the complaints of a group designated to represent the community. One by one they reiterated what they say they have been telling city officials over and over for years.

“We had 18 inches of fill on this street but some of the neighbors decided they didn’t want that so the city came in and took it out,” said Roger Gendron, whose life on Davenport Court for the last two decades has been punctuated by a painful lack of response from the city. “If the check valve was on the pipe at the end of the block like it’s supposed to be, we’d be fine. Pointing to the pipe, Gendron uses his hands to show the diameter of the holes he says contribute to the pipe’s inability to drain water from the street. “This is more than mechanics,” Gendron says. “There are serious issues of toxicity connected to this water.”

The rain and high winds that have plagued much of the city in recent months has caused flooding on many streets in other neighborhoods, but in Hamilton Beach, the floods come year-round, rain or shine. The area’s close proximity to Jamaica Bay causes flooding in the area as often as two weeks out of every month.

Now, at the urging of Councilmember Ulrich, a meeting to address the problems between the DEP and DOT will be scheduled in the upcoming weeks. “The fact that Commissioner Roberts has come to the site himself is encouraging to me and should be to the community,” said Ulrich. “We are going to address this problem and give these people some of what they want. They have to get something to alleviate their problems. And they have to get it now.”

According to Ulrich, Roberts will return to the site — most likely during high tide -as will DEP’s citywide Commissioner Caswell Holloway, to assess the situation further and determine what measures can be put in place readily to combat the flooding problems.

Although Hamilton Beach residents can say they’ve heard that song before — from a string of Ulrich’s predecessors — there seems to be an air of confidence in the young elected official who is trying to put a plug in the situation now. “He’s pushing for us and we have faith in him,” says Margarita Bravo. “People say we should just move out—that we are like prisoners in our own homes. But we’re not going anywhere. And we want it fixed.”

Residents Hope New Laws Will Resolve Train Issues

By Conor Greene

A group of residents who say local rail operations are destroying their quality of life are hoping that the answer to their problems lies with legislation being considered in Albany. However, it appears that the federal Interstate Commerce Act will make it difficult to enact all of the reforms residents are pushing for.

At last week’s Juniper Park Civic Association meeting, Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D- Forest Hills) updated residents and members of the group Civics United for Railroad Environmental Solutions on legislation he is drafting in hopes of addressing residents’ complaints regarding rail operations.

Members of CURES have been working for the past year to address issues including emissions, idling, noise and security along the railroad corridors that cut through Middle Village and Glendale. The group was co-founded by Glendale neighbors Mary Parisen and Mary Arnold, and has been meeting in recent months with elected officials and rail company executives to push reforms they say are needed.

Hevesi told the audience at last Thursday’s session that he is currently working on two pieces of legislation to address some of the concerns, and has three additional related bills coming down the line. “The emissions are a problem, but the biggest problem I’m hoping to address is the garbage trains,” said Hevesi, referring to train cars that pass through the area carrying stinking trash, which is often not secured properly.

However, the efforts to enact reforms on the state level have been hampered by the Interstate Commerce Act, which prevents local officials from putting restrictions on rail companies that operate across state lines. As a result, the rail companies “are not very cooperative” and feel like they “don’t have to listen to anyone,” said Hevesi. Hevesi says his bill circumvents the commerce act by dealing directly with the issue of waste, since transfer stations, such as the one in Maspeth, are located on state property.

The first law would require that smelly waste be transported in containers covered by a solid lid. That bill recently passed the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee, paving the way for it to be acted on in the coming months. The second law would institute stiffer financial penalties for rail companies who violate that requirement, as the current fines are “very small,” according to Hevesi. Under his proposed law, the fines would double for subsequent violations, meaning companies could be fined up to $90,000.

“Right now it is a small hit, so they don’t care,” said Hevesi, adding that the rail lobbyist in Albany is opposing the measures and that every Republican on the committee voted against the legislation except for one GOP member. “The bottom line is, they’re gearing up for a fight… This will be a protracted fight, but we’re going to fight it.”

In the meantime, residents say they are still forced to endure unbearable noise from idling locomotives at all hours of the night and early morning. “I do not have an alarm clock because I do not need one,” said Anthony Pedalino of 69th Place, where trains idle for more than a half hour “every single weekday of the year.” As a result, many neighbors are attempting to sell their homes, something Pedalino said he is now considering. “It is a total sham, and I blame it mostly on the elected officials,” he said.

In response, Hevesi delivered some bad news: while he is attempting to tackle the issue of garbage trains through legislation, he is likely unable to resolve the issue of idling trains. “I want to be really candid – the idling I don’t think I can do much about.” As a result of the Interstate Commerce Act, those issues would have to be tackled in Congress, according to Hevesi. “I just want to be candid. It’s a very difficult issue.”

A representative from the city Department of Environ-that inspectors visited that area on a recent morning to measure the noise coming from the trains. He reported that the area was “very quiet” at 5 a.m., before any trains arrived. However, he described noise caused by a locomotive that arrived at 5:30 as “very, very uncomfortable” and “intolerable.”

Hevesi said the rail companies will likely claim those local standards don’t apply to their interstate operations. The DEP official said it appeared the problem could be alleviated by simply moving the trains away from the residential area, as they are currently parked right next to homes.

“We certainly deserve a good night’s sleep. Without that, there’s no quality of life,” said JPCA President Robert Holden, adding that the problem will only get worse if legislation Mayor Bloomberg is pushing is approved. Under that plan, trash from additional communities around the city would be transported through the Glendale-Middle Village area by rail, according to Holden.

Flood Victims File Lawsuit Against City

By Conor Greene

A dozen families whose property was damaged during the flooding of August 2007 have filed a lawsuit against the city claiming its storm water system was unable to handle torrential rainfall that hit the area.

“The initial lawsuit involves twelve families, but if we get the class action we can open it up to all 810 families that filed against the city,” said Forest Hills resident Bruce Saffran, whose apartment was filled with water and raw sewage. “I just want to be made whole. I’m not suing for all kinds of crazy damages, just to replace what I lost.”

In addition to being compensated for the damages, the lawsuit aims to force the city to upgrade the borough’s infrastructure to prevent future flooding. According to attorney Oscar Michelen, who is representing the victims, Queens only has a single line to carry both storm water and sewage, unlike other boroughs where there are two separate lines.

“What happens is sewage comes back up through the toilet bowl into the bathroom. All of a sudden the pipe gets flooded with water, which has to go somewhere, so it pushes into the pipe that is normally reserved for sewage,” said Michelen. “That’s why these folks are getting three feet of sewage in their apartments. Every time it rains heavily, folks hear water in their toilet gurgle. When you get heavy rain, you’re really in trouble.”

The August 2007 rainfall sent four feet of water sweeping through Saffran’s ground-floor apartment on Yellowstone Boulevard, destroying virtually all of the family’s possessions. He was forced to literally flee the apartment with his wife and young son, and to make matters worse, the bathroom toilet overflowed at the same time, sending raw sewage into the apartment.

”I don’t want to have to stay up at night worried every time it rains. It’s not a way to live [and] I think it’s almost cruel for the city to expect us to,” said Saffran. “None of us are looking to hit the litigation lotto. Everyone is legitimate with legitimate loses we think the city owes us for.”

The lawsuits come a month after City Comptroller William Thompson announced that the city is not responsible for compensating flood victims. The announcement came after an investigation by the city Department of Environmental Protection “found no basis for holding the city liable.”

However, Michelen took issue with the fact that the city conducted its own investigation. “They should have invested in an independent review. At least then it’s a third party and not their own internal investigation. I would be surprised when we review the report if it was really as thorough as it should be,” he said. “Everyone knows the situation in Queens, so this was very foreseeable. A number of things contributed to it that the city was aware of, and this is the price the people in these neighborhoods have to pay.”

The city has been served with the lawsuit, which Michelen says names the dozen families and seek “protection for the entire class of individuals who were damaged by the August 2007 flood.” Once the city responds to the suit, Michelen will file a motion asking the court to certify it as a class action. If that happens, all 810 residents who filed claims against the city will be notified that they might be eligible to join the action.

“We’re very confident that because of the number of claimants, we will get class action,” said Michelen. “This is the age-old story in Queens, [where] flooding is nothing unusual. The city just chooses to ignore it until they get sued or something else happens.”

City Won't Compensate '07 Flood Victims

DEP CLAIMS STORM SYSTEM IS NOT TO BLAME

By Conor Greene

Many homeowners whose properties were damaged during the 2007 floods are livid that the city is claming it’s not responsible for their losses.

Comptroller William Thompson announced last week that the city has denied flooding claims filed by property owners and businesses in the wake of three torrential downpours in April, July and August 2007. The announcement came after an investigation by the city Department of Environmental Protection “found no basis for holding the city liable.”

“Unfortunately, DEP’s report and that agency’s findings leave my office with no alternative but to deny these claims,” said Thompson in a statement. “Under the existing law, we are unable to provide the relief that was requested in these claims. I deeply regret that we are not able to provide claimants with better news regarding this unfortunate incident.”

In its report, the DEP “indicted that the extremely heavy rainfall on those days overwhelmed the existing sewer systems in the affected areas.” Department crews “responded to the flooding in a timely manner and took appropriate measures to relieve the flooding conditions.”

As a result, victims such as Bruce Saffran of Forest Hills have been left with little recourse other than to file a lawsuit against the city. The torrential rainfalls in August 2007 sent four feet of water sweeping through Saffran’s ground-floor apartment on Yellowstone Boulevard, destroying virtually all of the family’s possessions.

“The city is letting us down tremendously,” said Saffran, who was forced to flee the apartment with his wife and young son after the water rushed into his apartment. To make matters worse, the bathroom sink and toilet overflowed at the same time, sending raw sewage into the home. “The floods poured through the lobby and came racing through the apartment, knocking furniture every which way. I was scrambling to get out, get my wife out, call 911 while carrying my son out literally upstream through water,” he said.

“This backup came from the sewers, so everything was covered with a layer of fecal matter. It was just a nightmare. You walk in and there’s nothing left,” said Saffran, who estimates the damages ran close to $100,000 – not to mention items that can’t be replaced, including wedding and baby photos. “We lost everything we owned, literally.”

Saffran said he “wasn’t shocked at all” by the city’s determination it isn’t at fault after receiving a letter from the DEP almost two years ago that denied any responsibility. However, he says the city installed a larger storm drain on his block within months of the flooding – which shows that officials realized the infrastructure wasn’t up to the task. “That tells me they knew there was a problem,” he said.

Since several individuals and business owners filed claims with the city seeking enormous amounts of money, Saffran suspects the city decided to simply deny all claims and deal with each individual lawsuit one by one. “I’m not trying to gouge anybody, all I want is to be made whole, and I made that clear from the get-go,” he said. “It’s not like I jumped on the back of a bus that had just rear-ended somebody.”

The city’s decision not to compensate flood victims was also met with criticism from local politicians including Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, whose district includes the hard-hit neighborhoods of Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, and Assemblyman Rory Lancman, who called the city’s decision “callous.”

Crowley (D-Middle Village) said the neighborhoods “are still feeling the repercussions” of the storms and faulted the DEP for failing to ensure the horror faced by homeowners isn’t repeated in the coming months.

“Given that the [DEP] has yet to adequately address the infrastructure issues, these community members remain vulnerable to future disaster,” said Crowley. “With the raining season here, I share their fear of the potential impact of future storms. My constituents need to know that their tax money is going towards their security such as pipelines and sewage systems that will not collapse in the face of another storm.” She said the city infrastructure, which was designed in the 1920s, “does not come close to meeting the security needs of the community.”

Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) said years of negligence by the city was to blame. “The city has known for years of inadequate sewer infrastructure and regular, widespread flooding, and the city must take responsibility for failing its most basic municipal obligations – to keep raw sewage from flooding into people’s home when it rains,” he said. “It is outrageous that the city will not only not fix this problem, but actually refuses to provide restitution for those who have had their homes damaged.”

Lancman, whose own home was flooded by untreated sewage, questioned why Mayor Bloomberg is “focusing all of his time on building baseball stadiums… but doing absolutely nothing for residents of Queens whose homes and streets are flooded when it rains.” He noted that the mayor didn’t use any of the federal stimulus money to upgrade the borough’s drainage system.

Patricia Donovan, whose on 74th Street near Penelope Avenue in Middle Village was damaged in both July and August, was also upset but not surprised to learn that the city had rejected her $16,000 claim. She has no doubt the blame rests with the city and said she has dealt with flooding problems since 1996.

“I’m tired. I’ll move next time. I can’t stay here anymore,” she said. “It’s not worth it. It’s going to happen again and I’m really tired of it. I don’t see anything being done… I shake when a storm is coming. It’s a horrible way to live.”

Angela Runza, whose home on 78th Street in Middle Village sustained about $40,000 worth of damage, faces a different problem in the aftermath of the 2007 flood – her insurance carrier has dropped her, forcing her to switch to a much more expensive carrier. “I had raw sewage in my basement twice,” she said. “It was the most disgusting thing, horrible. It was the worst experience of my life. All my neighbors, everyone in my area had floods.”

After her house was flooded for the second time within a month, Runza says she checked with her broker before filing a second insurance claim and was told she wouldn’t be dropped by her carrier, Travelers Insurance. Nonetheless, she eventually received notice he was being dropped because she filed two claims within two years. “I wouldn’t have put the claim in for another $5,000” if she knew she would be dropped.

Runza said that she wasn’t aware that flood victims could turn to the city for help, so she wasn’t one of the nearly 1,150 Queens residents who filed claims with the city after the two major storms in the summer of 2007. However, despite Thompson’s announcement, she has no doubt that the city is responsible for the damages.

“I’m shocked, because at one of the town hall meetings they said they were responsible, and now they’re saying no,” she said. “How can it not be a city issue? To have raw sewage floating in people’s homes is disgusting. I really feel the city should do their part.”

Victims of the July storm had until April 15 to file lawsuits against the city, while victims of the August flood have until May 5.

Initial Contract for Ridgewood Reservoir Approved

Comptroller Gives Parks OK for Perimeter Work

By Conor Greene

After a false start last summer, the city comptroller has signed off on a contract for design work around the perimeter of Ridgewood Reservoir.

Comptroller William Thompson announced last week that he has approved a preliminary design contract between the city Parks Department and Mark K. Morrison Associations. It allows for design work to begin at the perimeter of the Ridgewood Reservoir, which is located within Highland Park near the Brooklyn boundary.

The project, which comes following substantial community input, will include installation of fences, lighting, steps and benches and will increase public safety on the reservoir’s walking paths. The contract also calls for MMA to issue “three conceptual plans” concerning the overall construction and design of the reservoir, including one design dedicated to “passive” recreation.

“I am happy to announce the approval of a contract to begin the design of the perimeter of Ridgewood Reservoir, which will greatly improve the safety of those who utilize the space as a means of recreation,” said Thompson in a statement. “Under this new agreement, we have ensured that the public will have a say in the ongoing design and construction process of the rest of the reservoir each step of the way.”

Last summer, Thompson rejected a $3.3 million contract Parks attempted to enter into with MMK which would have involved converting one of the property’s three basins into ballfields. Doing so would have required that between 11,700 and 27,500 large truckloads of fill would have been transported through local streets.

When he rejected the contract last July, Thompson noted that he has “consistently urged the city to rethink its plans to develop” the 50-acre site, which he called “an accidental wilderness” in a New York Times op-ed piece he co-wrote with Robert F. Kennedy.

In the letter to Parks rejecting the first contract, Thompson argued that due to the “sensitive ecological nature of the location,” the project’s environmental review process is of heightened importance and “must have maximum transparency.” He also expressed concern that under the proposed contract, the vendor responsible for the environmental review would be a subcontractor working for the architect, “who has a vested interest in pursuing construction of a $38 million project.”

The news was well received by advocates who are pushing to have the reservoir’s thick shrubs, trees and wetlands preserved for hiking, bird-watching and other passive recreation. On the other side are those who want the property developed for active recreation, including ballfields.

To prevent the public from being excluded from discussions about the future of the property, Thompson and Parks “also have established a protocol within the contract that requires the public to have a say in the design process prior to and after the initial design concepts are created.”

The reservoir, which sits on the Brooklyn-Queens border, was built in 1848 to provide drinking water to Brooklyn residents. It was converted as a back-up reservoir in 1959 and taken off-line in 1989. Since then, tree, plants, turtles, fish, frogs and more than 137 bird species, including eight rare ones identified on the National Audubon Society’s “Watch List,” thrive on the land, according to the comptroller’s office.

Since rejecting the initial contract last June, representatives from Thompson’s office have attended a number of meetings to address the concerns of the project with community members. “This contract creates a level of community input that enables this process to be open and transparent,” he said. “By involving all parties in the process, the final result will better reflect the best interests of all involved.”

The reservoir property was controlled by the city Department of Environmental Protection until 2004, when it was turned over to the Parks Department. Through Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative, $50 million has been allocated for improvements there – leading to the current battle over what type of development should occur.

“The Parks Department is pleased that the Comptroller has approved the preliminary design contract so that the Parks can begin the design process and incorporate the input gained in numerous public listening sessions, meetings, surveys, and tours with the community, local elected officials, community boards and local environmental organizations since 2007,” a spokeswoman wrote in a statement.

The statement adds that Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe took Comptroller Thompson on a tour of the reservoir last fall, and that Highland Park is one of eight large parks being redesigned through PlaNYC, which aims to ensure that every New Yorker lives within a ten-minute walk of a park or open space.

Budget Woes Top CB 5 Meeting

By Conor Greene

A discussion on the requests being submitted to the city for the 2010 budget highlighted last week’s Community Board meeting.

Board District Manager Gary Giordano informed board members and residents in attendance last Wednesday in Christ the King High School that the city’s current budget situation is “very difficult at best” as a result of the nationwide economic crisis. With about $1.5 billion less coming in through projected tax revenues, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed “significant budget cuts” in many important areas, said Giordano.

According to Giordano, proposed cuts include about $94 million from Department of Environmental Protection; $455 million from the Education Department; $1 million from Department of Buildings; $17 million from Housing; $23 million from Parks; $33 million from the Department of Aging; $136 million from Administration of Children’s Services and $9 million from City Planning.

The FDNY budget is due to increase by $5 million while the NYPD’s increases by $87 million, under the mayor’s preliminary budget. The Sanitation Department would receive a $22 million increase in its budget under the current play.

However, according to Giordano, the police and fire increases are likely due to wage increases, as the NYPD’s head count will reduce from 31,349 this year to 28,656, and the FDNY ranks would decline from 11,349 members this year to 10,929. As a result of the city’s budget woes, some items requested by the board have been put on hold.

“Lots of items we requested are difficult to pinpoint the extent to which they are going to get funded,” said Giordano. “Personally, I am more worried about police protection and fire protection than some of the capital items.”

However, Giordano did express confidence that the Cooper Avenue underpass project will move forward. “We lobbied hard for that in a lot of different directions,” he said, adding that he is expecting to receive at least half of the $20 million requested.

Other projects requested include measures to prevent flooding throughout the area, which Giordano said has begun starting in the northern portion near Calamus Avenue, and the construction of new catch basins, especially ones with brick that has worn away. A project to improve Grover Cleveland Park is being funded through the Schoolyards to Playgrounds initiative and should begin this year. Finally, Councilwoman Diana Reyna (D-Bushwick) was able to secure funding for the second phase of the Ridgewood library project.

Beyond that, “other projects are difficult” to secure funding for, said Giordano. For example, reconstruction of south Middle Village streets has been pushed back to 2013, he said. Since that entire project is close to $20 million, “I don’t see that happening,” he said, suggesting that the board may have to divide the project into smaller sections to get it moving forward.

Senate Candidates Face Off on Issues

HB Civic Hosts Topic-Driven Debate

By Conor Greene

The two candidates vying to represent the 15th Senate District faced off for the first time at a debate Tuesday night in Howard Beach.

The event in St. Barnabas Church was hosted by the Howard Beach Civic Forum and marked the first time incumbent Serf Maltese (R-Glendale) and his challenger, Councilman Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) have faced off during the campaign in the 15th Senate District.

The winner on November 4 will represent the communities of Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ridgewood and parts of Elmhurst, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Ozone Park, Rego Park, Richmond Hill, Sunnyside and Woodside. Since it has the potential to help tip the balance of power on the Senate, the race has been one of the closest watched during this campaign cycle.

The event centered on issues including education, public safety, quality of life, healthcare and transportation, and the candidates were urged to refrain from making personal attacks. The format featured a general statement by the candidates on each issue, followed by questions submitted by the audience.

Education and Funding

Calling higher education “very important,” Maltese said he has fought to provide the Tuition Assistance Program for as many students as possible during his 19 years on the state Senate. “I argue for Queens County so we can get every nickel we can,” he said, adding that he tries to visit all 50 schools in the district every year. “Because of my seniority [in the senate] I have been able to secure literally millions in grants for our schools,” he said.

Addabbo said the goal with education “is to keep everybody here” in the community. He stressed that the quality of a neighborhood depends on maintaining strong schools. “The funding formula is still unfair,” he said. “We need to get a fair share for our children.” Education “needs to be a rally cry in the state Senate… We need to get that money right into the classrooms – otherwise people will leave our community, and we don’t want that.”

Safety and Quality of Life

Maltese, an attorney, noted that his past experience as an assistant district attorney has given him knowledge of the legal system. “It was a twenty-four hour job,” he said. “That experience served me well later on… I think law enforcement and public safety is one of the most important things.”

He said he has been the prime sponsor on 239 “Maltese laws” including a bill that increases the penalties for drunken driving. He was also a co-sponsor of Megan’s Law, which requires sex offenders to register with the state. “Over and over again, I was one of the leaders on the Crime and Corrections Committee,” he said. “I made the concerns of crime victims one of the most important things.”

Addabbo touted his work as a member of City Council’s Public Safety Committee, which he said helped provide NYPD officers with up-graded equipment. He said there is a real need for “more police in our precincts” and said that the state “obviously has to do more” to help fund public safety in the city. He also wants residents to receive e-mail alerts when a registered sex offender moves into the neighborhood. “You don’t have to log on and check a list – they contact you,” he said. “It is important for our families.”

Addabbo also cited noise pollution, parks and graffiti as other important issues affecting residents’ quality of life. “We cannot neglect these issues. I have not done so on the City Council and certainly will not do so on the State Senate.

Dead Fish in Shellbank Basin

The candidates were asked about recent incidents of dead fish washing up in the Shellbank Basin. Addabbo had raised that issue while discussing quality of life issues, and stressed that the sight and smell of thousands of dead fish did have an effect on residents.

He said he received calls from residents on his 24-hour constituent line when the problem first arose several weeks ago. He immediately notified the mayor’s office. “It is very important that we take control of these quality of life issues and not let them fester,” he said. He said a meeting is scheduled for October 3 with representatives from the city Department of Environmental Protection and the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

“They need to tell us what happened, why it happened, and how it should never happen again,” said Addabbo. “No more finger pointing. There will be a meeting and we will get answers.”

Maltese said his local district office was alerted to the situation by a local doctor and that he immediately notified DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd. “She said it was the first she had heard of it and would immediately tend to it.” The next day, the DEP were at the basin, scooping out the dead fish, he said.

Economics

Addabbo stressed the need for the state to better support local small businesses, instead of providing funding to large corporations and big box stores. “The state doesn’t do enough for small businesses,” he said, calling them the “backbone of our community.” He called the state’s practice of funding big companies “wrong” and said that the program needs to be reformed to “put the money down to the local people.”

Given the tough economy, he ripped a proposal to raise property taxes. “You don’t raise property taxes, you cut government first,” he said. “This year’s state budget is wrong. How can you increase spending and not have the money to pay for it? For far too long, the old business as usual hasn’t worked in Albany. This year we have a choice.”

He also cited the 44 cases of foreclosures within Howard Beach, along with the approximately 500 families in danger of being foreclosed. “It will increase crime and decrease property values,” he said. “That’s a lot of homes. We need to call a moratorium on foreclosures.”

Maltese agreed that the “commercial strips are the lifeblood of our communities” and said he is “very firmly in support of small businesses” and has “fought against many big box stores” proposed for the area over the past few years. He said the Senate “acted immediately” to address the foreclosure crisis, which has hit Queens especially hard. He said a bill was passed to place a moratorium on foreclosures, a statement later challenged by the Addabbo camp.

“What’s occurring on the federal level is going to affect us all,” he said of the current economic crisis hitting Wall Street. He said the six percent cut to the state budget was not enough. “The fact is, we have to take our belts in, and we can do it.”

Transportation Funding

Maltese called mass transit “vital to the communities of this senate district” and noted that he funded $2 million of the $2.7 million renovation of the Metropolitan Avenue M train station in Middle Village. “I was able to put money right into a station where it was needed,” he said.

He also boasted of the $1.2 million reconstruction of Eliot Avenue, which made it safer where it cuts through a cemetery. “He said he is “against any increase in tolls or fares,” which “isn’t the [right] way [for the MTA] to raise money.”

Addabbo called for “making transportation more reliable and safe.” He spent seven years on the City Council’s Transportation Committee, and stressed the need to both criticize and work with agencies like the MTA. “I’ve grilled them on how they do things,” but also gained increased service on some bus routes “by working with the MTA,” he said.

An issue close to home for Addabbo is eliminating the toll to cross the bridge into Rockaway. “It’s absolutely unfair we pay a toll to visit the Rockaway beaches,” he said. He said the toll should be eliminated between Labor Day and Memorial Day. “We should be able to enjoy the rest of our borough – our borough – without paying a toll. It has to be removed,” he said.

Regarding the proposed MTA fare hike, Addabbo said the authority “has a real problem” and stressed that their books must be examined “to make sure they’ve made the proper cuts internally” before fares are raised. Addabbo said he recently submitted a petition to the MTA with more than 2,000 signatures of residents opposed to a fare hike.

Maltese said he meets regularly with MTA officials on issues such as fare hikes. “I don’t like it and I know our constituents don’t like it,” he said. However, he said that due to the state’s current economic difficulties, “I know we are going to have more problems.”

Healthcare Costs

Addabbo stressed that healthcare “needs to be made more accessible and more affordable.” He cited Medicaid fraud as a major issue that needs to be addressed, with billions each year being diverted from other programs. “Those are dollars that can be spent on families and schools,” he said. “We need to get a handle on this.” He also argued that the state’s plan regarding hospital closings needs to be reexamined. “We need to keep those hospital doors open,” he said.

Maltese noted that he helped restore $59 billion for nursing homes and hospitals that former Governor Eliot Spitzer cut from the state budget. “I’ve tried to keep my eye on hospitals in Queens County,” he said. “The fact is, I was able to save [Wyckoff Heights Hospital] in 1990, not only for the employees, but for the people who patronize it.”


Addabbo and Maltese pose with members of the Howard Beach Civic Forum’s executive board following Tuesday’s debate (above), and the candidates shake hands after the debate.

The Forum Newsgroup/photos by CONOR GREENE

Addabbo Calls on DEP to Clean Up its Act

Residents, Elected Officials Angry Over Lack of Action

By Patricia Adams

Angry residents of Howard Beach gathered with Councilman Joe Addabbo on Monday afternoon at a press conference to address the dead fish that have been washing up in Shellbank Basin for the past two weeks. Some at the conference have lived on the canal for more than four decades and insist the problem has never been anything like this.

Addabbo was joined by Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer, CB 10 chairperson Betty Braton and Democratic District Leader Frank Gulluscio. “We’ve seen the same problem for several weeks in a row,” said Councilman Addabbo. “That’s more than twice than it has ever occurred in the history of the area. Obviously something is wrong.”

Addabbo went on to express his sentiment that the situation was definitely not part of a naturally occurring phenomenon and that immediate action must be taken.

“I have sent letters to both the DEP and the DEC demanding a site meeting immediately,” said Addabbo. “We don’t want to meet with these agencies in our offices. We want to meet them right here where they can experience the same disgusting smell we’ve been forced to endure for weeks.”

Don Sclafani says he has been boating and using the canal since he was a teenager. Now more than 40 years later, the Howard Beach resident says the DEP still clears their tanks by dumping them every August leaving what he claims is a slick that resembles anti-freeze at the surface of the water.

“First they dump and then the fish die,” said Sclafani. “The DEP is lying to us. I have spoken to a retired DEP employee who confirmed for me that they [DEP] dump chlorine and chemicals in the water when they clean their tanks. I can’t give you his name,” Sclafani said, “I promised I wouldn’t give him up.”

Elected officials and residents agree that resolving the problem begins with dredging the mouth of the canal. Because the water at the mouth of the canal is very shallow and at the top of the canal is much deeper, dredging it would begin to fix the problem by making the water depth more even. The diverse layering of the water leads to problems with oxygenation, resulting in the fish kill.

“If the water was stirred up and the oxygen was distributed more evenly throughout the canal, there would definitely be a great benefit in dealing with this problem,” said Betty Braton, chair of CB 10 and a resident living on the canal for 50 years. “Dredging would not eliminate the problem completely, but it would certainly be a vast improvement,” said Braton, “in addition to which it would make it much easier and safer for boaters who use the mouth of the canal to navigate in and out of the waterway.”

Braton says that as a resident she has been sickened for the past weeks, trying to clear dead fish from her dock and boat. “I care for my 102-year-old mother and the only fresh air she gets is outside in her back yard. She has been in the house for the past few weeks because the odor here is so unbearable.”

And Braton is certainly not alone in vocalizing her disgust over the situation. For weeks, residents have been gathering at the parking lots of CVS and Starbucks, both of which overlook the most troublesome parts of the canal, to share their woes over the mess surrounding their homes. Many attended the press conference holding photos of the hundreds of dead fish they took from the decks off their homes.

Bob Giallanzo, a resident who lives on the canal was toting the photos of hundreds of fish that had washed up on the beach. “I called DEP to complain so many times. I even got routed to DEP in another state. Obviously they are an agency that needs to be supervised.”

Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer was quick to point out that in addition to area residents who must deal with the nauseating odor, there are also major consequences for business owners. “How is an establishment like Starbucks, where people want to sit by the water and have their coffee, supposed to deal with this,” Pheffer questioned. “In a community like this, where many businesses, especially eateries, use the waterfront as a selling point, there is a real problem. This situation has severe economic ramifications and is a major contributor to a decline in the quality of life for our residents.”

Among the areas of concern to those pushing for the meeting with DEP and DEC are whether or not the temporary de-stratification system is operational now and has been working through the summer, the current status of plans to construct a permanent facility and the protocol for timely cleanup should there be a similar event in the future.

Councilman Addabbo assured residents that he will not rest until the appropriate measures are taken to remedy the problem as quickly as possible. “I want an explanation from both DEC and DEP as to what is going on here, and I want this cleaned up now. Whether or not this fish death is a natural thing, the residents don’t care. We just want it cleaned up. Now.”

Councilman Addabbo donned rubber gloves to give the “reel feel” approach to the problem of dying fish in Shellbank Basin. Addabbo has promised residents that he will press the DEP and DEC for answers and results.

Something's Fishy in Howard Beach

DEP’s Temporary Facility Fails to Save Fish

By Patricia Adams

The sight and smell of what appeared to be thousands of dead fish in Shellbank Basin, the waterway which runs parallel to Crossbay Blvd. in Howard Beach, angered and upset local residents during the long Labor Day weekend.

City Councilman Joe Addabbo reported that a constituent, who had called 311 to report the problem, notified him on Friday after business hours via his 24 hour live hotline.

“That constituent was upset by being told a clean up would be in 10-14 days. That's not acceptable,” Addabbo said, “I responded by immediately going myself to the Starbucks vicinity to see the problem firsthand.” Addabbo then called the mayor's office, which responded by sending out DEP to clean up fish within 48 hours. "I'm thankful a constituent called my 24 hour service and that the mayor's office and DEP responded. I believe now we need to get answers from the NY State DEC as to how the situation occurred and how it can be avoided in the future."

That DEP was on scene and cleaning up was confirmed by Community Board 10 Chairperson Betty Braton. “My home abuts Shellbank Basin,” she said, “DEP's boat and personnel were there working throughout the holiday weekend.”

Similar occurrences in the past have been blamed on a lack of oxygen in the water, causing fish to die. One contributing factor is that the depth of the water in the northern end of Shellbank Basin is considerably deeper than it is further south in the waterway.

Braton also reported that the Community Board office had informed DEP, both by phone and letter; over two weeks ago that some water discoloration and odors were present; usually precursors to a lack of oxygen in the water. “We felt that perhaps the temporary destratification system was not working properly and asked them to investigate," she said.

A number of years ago the NY City DEP initiated a temporary facility located at 158-35 Crossbay Blvd. and tested to see if a destratification system, essentially an aerator powered by a compressor, would increase dissolved oxygen levels. The agency thought a compressor introducing air into the water through tubes laid on the bottom at the deeper end of the canal would aid in preventing the de-oxygenation that periodically occurs.

The temporary system did help, according to local residents, and the instances of discolorition, foul odors, and fish kill lessened in recent years. As a result DEP sought to erect a permanent destratification facility. They selected a site located in the southern section of the Starbucks parking lot to install the system.

The city's planned acquisition of that site was approved by Community Board 10 in April 2007, by the Queens Borough President, Helen Marshall, in May 2007, and by the City Planning Commission in July of that year. Councilman Addabbo also supported the planned permanent facility.

According to Community Board 10, its District Manager, Karyn Petersen spoke with DEP officials on Tuesday. At this point DEP has not determined the cause.

At this point, some local leaders think the problem may be that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has not yet approved necessary permits to allow construction to start or has prevented the temporary facility from being operation during the interim. If that's the case, as one waterfront resident aptly commented, “It stinks and they better fix it.”

In another phone call with DEP on Tuesday afternoon from CB 10, DEP indicated that the temporary facility is in operation at this time. As of Wednesday afternoon, it appears however that there is still a major problem with a foul smell emanating throughout the neighborhood and thousands of dead fish floating on top of the water and washing up along the shores of the basin.