The Flushing Blog

Public Advocate Letitia James has released her annual worst landlords watch list, which includes the 10 worst buildings in Queens.

By worse, we mean these buildings have the most housing code violations.

Three buildings in northeast Queens appear on this list, with a staggering number of violations.

Second on the list is 150-15 Sanford Avenue in Murray Hill, which has a whopping 244 HPD violations. The head officer listed with this property is Nada Gracin.

Third on the list is 139-29 34th Road, right along Union Street near Leavitts Park. This building has 204 HPD violations. Their head officer is Lucia Chiao.

Finally, ninth on the list is 116-01 14th Road in College Point. This building, with head officer Norman Mirsky, has 135 HPD violations, according to the public advocate’s office.

“No New Yorker should be subjected to live in a hazardous home, yet bad landlords in our city are forcing too many tenants to live in dangerous and indecent conditions,” James says.

The Department of Transportation has approved a long-requested traffic signal for a busy intersection.

Parsons Boulevard and Rose Avenue will have the new traffic signal installed by February 28, 2018.

“I am happy I was finally able to help residents of the Kissena Park community obtain action by DOT  to make this intersection safer for motorists and pedestrians,” said State Senator Tony Avella.

In a general election that had few surprises in New York City, all council members in northeast Queens won another term in office.

In the 19th Council District, which runs from College Point and Whitestone to Bayside and Douglaston, Paul Vallone retained his seat. He defeated Republican challenger Konstantinos Poulidis and Reform Party candidate Paul Graziano.

Vallone tallied 14,284 votes out of 24,880 total votes cast, good for 57.41 percent, according to unofficial returns from the BOE website.

Poulidis took home 6,121 votes, or 24.6 percent, despite not running a real campaign.

Perhaps the most shocking result was Graziano’s distant third. In September, the land use consultant and civic activist challenged Vallone in the Democratic Primary and fell only 600 votes short, roughly 45 percent of the vote.

In the 23rd Council District in eastern Queens, incumbent Barry Grodenchik fended off a challenge by Republican Joseph Concannon and independent John Lim.

Grodenchik collected 14,837 votes, or 64.67 percent in an easy victory.

Other winners include Rory Lancman, who cruised to victory of Reform Party candidate Mohammad Rahman, and Peter Koo, who ran unopposed.

If we told you a group of volunteers built an entire playground in six hours, would you believe it?

Well, that’s exactly what happened over the weekend at Pomonok Houses.

KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit organization that collaborates with partners to build playgrounds, worked with NYCHA and the Fund for Public Housing to build the colorful play space.

“We demonstrated what’s possible when a community comes together to put kids first,” said James Siegal, CEO of KaBOOM! “Play is how kids learn and grow, and also how they feel valued, protected and loved.”

Last September, KaBOOM! worked with local groups to build another community playground at the Samuel Field Y. Read more about that here.

“Frank Skala Way” is coming to Bell Boulevard.

Councilman Paul Vallone announced last week that the corner of Bell Boulevard and 40th Avenue will be co-named in honor of the late community activist.

A retired teacher who founded the East Bayside Homeowners Association, Skala created the first series of alumni books and an alumni association for Bayside High School.

He co-founded the Friends of Bayside High School and was also a former member of Community Board 11. He also organized the Bell Boulevard Restoration coalition and was a member of the Coast Guard Restoration Advisory Board at Fort Totten.

“Frank Skala was a fiercely dedicated community activist and civic leader,” Vallone said. “I look forward to hosting a co-naming ceremony in the coming months so that Bayside will forever remember Frank and the enormous impact he had on our history and quality of life.”

“My family is thrilled by this honor. Dad lived in Bayside for over seven decades. It was never his goal to be popular,” said Bonnie Skala Kiladitis. “It was to be remembered. Remembered for doing what was right for his beloved hometown.”

“Anyone who knew my father knew that there was only one way! The Frank Skala Way.”

At @FlushingTwnHall w/ @CMPeterKoo to update residents about the #Legionnaires disease cluster. Get the facts: https://t.co/0y6jJCtKC3 pic.twitter.com/6P8UfwUZuq

— Commissioner Bassett (@DrBassettDOHMH) October 30, 2017

Health officials say that an additional case of Legionnaire’s disease was identified in downtown Flushing, but the person was not hospitalized.

The person began feeling symptoms well before the cluster was declared, but was only diagnosed on October 25th.

If by next week the Department of Health does not see any additional cases, they will declare the investigation over. However, remediation of the cooling towers identified during the investigation will continue.

Here’s some background if you need a reminder. The downtown Flushing investigation was announced on October 24. There were 15 cases reported in the area.

One person remains hospitalized, but no deaths were announced.

Legionnaire’s disease is not contagious and it is treatable if identified early, health officials say. Symptoms include fever, cough, chills and muscle aches.

New Yorkers with any of these symptoms should immediately see a doctor. Legionnaire’s disease can be diagnosed with a urine test.

The sidewalk repairs along 39th Avenue between Main Street and Union Street are complete, and now they feature new trees, mulch and concrete around the empty pits.

The Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce worked with the Parks Department to plant the four Ginkgo Biloba trees.

“Ginkgo Bilobas are extremely hardy and a proven urban street tree,” said Queens Forester Neil Barrett. “Hopefully, once they’ve had a few years to settle in, they’ll help transform that street of Flushing.”

According to Queens historian Dr. Jack Eichenbaum, ginkgo are distinguished by their fan-shaped leaves. Here’s Eichenbaum on the history of trees in Flushing:

“Flushing was the site of the first plant nurseries in North America. The Prince nurseries (the origin of Prince St!) began in the early 18th century, hybridized fruit trees for the North American climate. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were among their customers. Later, the Parsons nurseries which occupied land now utilized by Flushing High School, Weeping Beech Park and Kissena Park, grew trees for Central Park and Prospect Park. Parsons and other nurserymen also planted exotic species of trees on the streets of Flushing. Northern Blvd, originally Broadway and the center of commercial Flushing before the subway, was a narrower thoroughfare graced by mature trees in what are now additional traffic lanes.”

Over the weekend, Ultimate Champions Taekwondo hosted a tournament at Queens College to raise money for hurricane victims.

Students at the studio raised a whopping $15,000 for a charity called Island Harvest.

“Our community is proud to generate positive energy and help those in need,” said Head Master Michael Ro. “We really appreciate all the support of our extended family of students, parents, instructors and neighbors.

Ultimate Champions Taekwondo has been in the community since 1988, and now has 37 locations across Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island.

On November 7th, which is Election Day, the toughest vote won’t be for mayor, comptroller, public advocate, borough president of City Council member.

It’s likely the ballot question for the proposed Constitutional Convention, a once-in-20-years opportunity to open up the New York State Constitution to make changes.

The debate has intensified as Election Day nears. Good government groups and some progressive advocates, such as those pushing for ethics reform, are pushing for a “yes” vote.

Most elected officials and labor unions, who have poured in significant funds into this vote, are completely opposed to it.

State Senator Tony Avella declared last week that he’s opposed to “Con-Con,” and urged his constituents to vote against the proposal. Here’s why:

“The idea of redoing the constitution sounds good on the surface, but when you dig a little deeper, you will find opening every part of the constitution, in this politically charged chaotic environment, is risky at best and will do more harm than good. A constitutional convention would put many of our long-established labor protections in jeopardy and could also significantly roll back many of the hard-fought environmental regulations that are crucial to our state. If you thought politics was controlled by special interests and dark money, a constitutional convention would worsen an already bad situation.”

Recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, elected officials donned purple to bring attention an important issue.

Wearing purple pays tribute to those who have died, and celebrates those who have survived, the pols say.

Assemblywoman Nily Rozic and Councilman Barry Grodenchik hit the streets to conduct outreach on resources available to the community.

“Partnering with the community to create programs and provide services is integral to any effort aiming to elevate domestic violence awareness,” Rozic said.

“Domestic violence is not only a woman’s issue; it is an issue that should concern and must concern every single person,” Grodenchik added. “We need to work together to ensure that our community understands the impact of domestic violence so that we can help stop abuse.”