Author: Dan Rose

Are you traveling out of LaGuardia Airport, but don’t want to pay the large fee for airport parking? 

LAZ Parking, located at 133-59 Roosevelt Avenue Flushing, NY 11354, offers 24 hour white glove valet service at discounted rates for airport travelers! At only $20 per day for LGA travelers, their secure indoor garage (located in the same building as the HYATT hotel) is perfect for keeping your care secure.

“AT LAZ Parking, we take pride in securing your car. Let us relieve the stress of parking on the busy streets of Flushing.” – Brian Persaud, Facility Manager.

Call for more information: 718.888.1234 x5296

LAZ Parking Website

For anyone who’s ever ridden the Q58 bus from Main Street to Ridgewood and wondered if it could possibly go any slower, the answer is maybe not.

The Q58 was voted as Queens’ slowest bus as part of the New York Public Interest Research Group Straphangers’ Campaign’s latest Pokey Awards, traveling an unforgivably slow average of 7.7 mph.

The good news here is that Queens’ slowest bus is still faster than the slowest buses in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

State Senator Tony Avella will join local community and business leaders Mr. Ikhwan Rim, President of the Union Street Merchants Association, and Ms. Kristen Colligan, President of the Korean American Parents Association to demand that the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) take action on long-standing traffic problems caused by Flushing Commons construction.

Despite working for months to try to resolve these issues, pedestrians still struggle to walk along a street robbed of its sidewalk and local businesses still lose money by the day, according to a press release that came out of Avella’s office earlier today.

The Nassau Inter-County Express bus service is investigating after a video surfaced on YouTube allegedly showing one of its drivers repeatedly saying “F*** You!” to a customer asking for a transfer.

YouTube user Zulfiqar Ali posted the video, which has so far received 1,455 views, on December 1.  @Pat_chou90 shared it on Twitter on December 4.

A media representative for the bus service said that currently, “NICE is trying to facts” about the incident.

“The video does not show what led up to this incident.  The brief clip only shows the reaction of our Operator.  However, NICE is deeply concerned about this incident.  We are currently investigating this situation and will take appropriate action, as necessary.”

The Flushing Blog has not yet been able to verify the time and location of this incident, though @Pat_chou90 said in his Tweet that it occurred in Flushing, Queens.

Other posts on Chou90’s rather sparsely populated Twitter feed include, “#25MPH is a JOKE,” “Park Slope, too many rich folks,” “nice bus sucks,” “M15 bus suck,” and “nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.”

After Borough President Melinda Katz announced last week that a lawsuit filed against her by six former trustees of the Queens Library Board had been dismissed, those same trustees accused her of presenting misleading information about the case.

The trustees released a statement saying the Katz’s press release regarding the case dismissal was “disingenuous, if not outright misleading.”

According to the ousted trustees, they chose to “dismiss [the] action because it was no longer in their interest as volunteers to spend personal money on litigation.”

But the borough president’s release, they said, “suggests a decision by the court on the merits” of the case.

In her release, Katz wrote that the lawsuit was “a bitter attempt by the removed trustees at personal retaliation devoid of consideration for the public interest.”

“The court’s action underscores just how specious their claims were, and I am gratified this has finally been dismissed from official course of business,” her statement read.

Additionally, the trustees said, the press release credits the new board with a number of achievements “that in fact were conceived or implemented under the watch of the prior board.”

Included in those successes were a program that allows library customers to borrow mobile WiFi hotspots, the beginning of construction on the Peninsula Branch of the Queens Library in the Rockaways, the start of a National External Diploma Program, and the creation of two new Friends of the Library groups in Arverne and Briarwood.

The former trustees claim that they were a part of the development or implementation of all of those projects.

“The former trustees are proud of what they have done and wish the library well in finishing the job that they started,” they wrote in their response to Katz’s press release.

When asked about the former trustees’ accusations, Katz did not specifically address any of the claims.

“The lawsuit has been dismissed, the case is closed,” a spokesperson for Katz said.

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With applications now submitted for a new development project at Flushing’s Municipal Lot 3 on 41st Avenue, nearly 4,000 local seniors, family members and residents have banded together to call for the inclusion of housing for the elderly at the site.

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is currently reviewing responses to its request for proposals (RFP) on the property.

Michael Koo of the Chinese American Business Association helped put together a petition over the last two weeks in response to what he calls a crisis for seniors living in Flushing.

“We want to see senior housing,” Michael said. “Our people are going to Jamaica or going to the Bronx. They don’t want that. It’s too far and it’s strange for them.”

Koo brought the stack of signatures to Councilman Peter Koo’s office, located at 135-27 28th Avenue, in hopes of his support for the additional senior housing.

“Because of the pending development of Municipal Lot 3, there is a potential for a senior building there,” Councilman Peter Koo said at a roundtable meeting in his office last week.

The councilman added that well-planned senior housing is especially important and it must be close to transportation or near local amenities because of disabilities that often come along with old age.

“I will turn this in to the mayor’s office and also let HPD know that the seniors in our community really want more senior housing,” he said. “A lot of them have waited more than 10 years to get into senior housing.”

Councilman Peter Koo and CABA member Michael Koo hold roughly 4,000 signatures in support of additional senior housing in Flushing.

Seniors join Councilman Peter Koo at his office to discuss their frustration with the lack of senior housing in their community.

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On Thursday, December 11, the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce invite you to their launch party from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at FLUSHING TOWN HALL, 137-35 Northern Boulevard. Flushing, NY 11354. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chamber-launch-party-tickets-13316262299

Grace Meng, Toby Ann Stavisky, Ron Kim, Nily Rozic, Peter Koo, Peter Tu, Simon Gerson, Christopher Kui, Ernesto Vigoreaux, Jukay Hsu, Don Capalbi, Mabel Law, Alfred Rankins, James Chen, Ellen Kodadek, Helen Lee, Alfonso Quiroz, Shaokao Cheng, Edna Rutledge, Todd Yeung, Taehoon Kim, Jane Wong, Maureen Regan, Regina Im, Alice Lee, Lloyd Cambridge, Joseph Xu, Jack Friedman + John Choe invite all to the official Launch Party.

Network and connect as you help launch the Flushing community into the 21st century. Experience world-class cuisine + culture.

For info, contact JOHN CHOE at GREATERFLUSHING@GMAIL.COM or call 646-783-8985. The Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce Inc. is a nonprofit membership association registered in the State of New York.

Parking is hard to find, so LAZ parking garage (5 min walk from Flushing town Hall,) is offering a special discount to Town Hall visitors. $10 for 3 hours, or $20 for the entire day!

On Sunday, December 7, Queens BotanicalGarden, located at43-50 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11355. is hosting a winter celebration event. From 1PM to 5PM, get into the holiday spirit with an afternoon of family fun, including a winter Garden tour, botanical crafts, live musical performances and Tree Lighting Ceremony.

 

Event Schedule:

• 1 to 5pm: Refreshments and treats for purchase
• 12:30 to 4:30pm: Appearances by Santa — bring your camera!
• 1 to 2pm: Tour the Garden in Winter
• 2 to 4pm: Botanical craft activities (additional fee; while supplies last)
• 3 to 3:45pm and 4:15 to 5pm: Concert by the Rough Dozen acappella group performing seasonal songs
• 4:45 to 5pm: Tree lighting ceremony and sing-along

Parking is hard to find, so LAZ parking garage (5 min walk from Queens Botanical Garden,) is offering a special discount to QB Garden visitors. $10 for 3 hours, or $20 for the entire day!

A coalition of over 70 local and national organizations has submitted a letter to the city calling the Flushing Creek Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) “deeply flawed, both in process and in substance.”

The Stormwater Infrastructure Matters (SWIM) Coalition, consisting of dozens of organizations dedicated to ensuring swimmable and fishable waters around New York City, believes that the city’s current long-term goals for controlling sewage aren’t stringent enough.

But according to the recent Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) decision in the Alley Creek LTCP, the city is already doing all it needs to control sewage and storm overflow, says Lawrence Levine, SWIM Steering Committee member and senior attorney in the NRDC water program.

Following the submission of the Alley Creek LTCP by DEP, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said it didn’t go far enough to reduce stormwater outfall and sewage dumping, but the city sued to support its plan. Now, the fate of all future LTCP’s hang in the balance of that lawsuit, argues Levine.

“Because that was the first one to be submitted that set the tone for everything else,” he said. “If the city wins, they’re going to get to take that same position with every other plan. If the state wins, then the city will have to do more.”

According to Levine, the Clean Water Act calls for the establishment of the highest attainable use for a water body and says that ideally, all waterways should be swimmable and fishable. But according to DEP, maintaining the status quo goes far enough.

In Flushing Bay, which will be up for LTCP review in the next two years, the current designation is non-contact recreational use, but even those who use the waterway correctly face the risk of eye infections and gastrointestinal problems.

The Empire Dragon Boat Team NYC, a team of breast cancer survivors who use the bay regularly for practice, have had several members hospitalized after contact with the filthy, sewage-rich bay waters.

SWIM member Jaime Stein wrote to DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd called on the agency to be more transparent and welcome public input.

“It is impossible at this time for any member of the public to evaluate DEP’s proposal or its underlying analysis, as the public is merely provided a PowerPoint presentation, instead of the actual draft plan,” Stein wrote. 
“The final Hutchinson River LTCP submitted in September failed to even acknowledge the comment letter we submitted, at DEP’s invitation, following the last public meeting on that plan,” Stein added.

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