BREAKING: Asexual Former Mayor Closes Barn Door After Horses Are Gone

Thanks a lot, Ed. Your 5 years of cheerleading for this disastrous war and this disaster of a President will not be forgotten.

I’m bailing out. I will no longer defend the policy of keeping U.S. troops in Iraq to assist the Iraqi central government in the ongoing civil war.

There are few things on earth I find more grating than the sound of that sanctimonious fool's voice; I change the station whenever he comes on to do one of his editorials on Bloomberg.

Image lifted from New York Magazine (best NY magazine out there)

Commission to Study Congestion Pricing Approved

Like I said, rumors of the death of congestion pricing have been greatly exaggerated. And as for the $500MM we lost forever after missing that arftificial deadline?

The City Council would be required to approve whatever plan the commission recommends, and the Legislature would have until the end of next March to approve it, Mr. Bruno said.

The agreement appeared far more modest than what the mayor originally proposed. Still, state and city officials said they had been in talks with Bush administration officials and believed New York might still qualify for as much as $500 million in federal aid, despite the passage of an ostensible Monday deadline for cities to submit congestion plans to the Department of Transportation.

“We will continue to work together to access the federal funds that are available,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement.

Well, what do you know.

NYC Underground: Steam Pipes

Wow. I narrowly avoided that tremendous explosion of a steam pipe in midtown this evening.

I passed through the area on the 4/5 at about 5:45, and was stunned to see on televison less than half an hour later that there had been an explosion akin to a small volcano. At least, that's what the steam plumes looked like to me.

Gothamist has some great information up in an old post about just what lurks beneath our city streets. Among the links there is a graphic from National Geographic, to scale, which shows the utilities beneath our feet, including the city water tunnel that comes in at an almost unbelievable depth.

Queens Sleaziest, Part II: Thomas Kontogiannis

Disgraced and imprisoned felon/former Congressman Duke Cunningham (R - Alcatraz) has apparently begun to cooperate after a year in the slammer.

And that means more juicy details on Queens connection to one of the most egregious bribery scandals in US history: Thomas Kontogiannis.

Some choice tidbits:

The FBI stated that:

More than $1 million in bribes was laundered by being sent to Kontogiannis instead of going directly to Cunningham. Investigators identified at least 70 bank accounts maintained by Kontogiannis at one bank.

Despite his many businesses, Kontogiannis has not filed a tax return since 2001.

For the first time, investigators shed light on what Kontogiannis expected to get from Cunningham – help on a potential sale of fighter jets to his native Greece.

The Rolls-Royce that drew so much attention early in the investigation was not the only car that Cunningham made the contractors buy for him. In only two days in early 2002, the congressman bought a $43,000 Thunderbird and a $41,000 BMW from Bob Baker Ford in San Diego with $63,000 of his payment coming from bribes. That was three months before Wade gave him $10,000 toward the used Rolls-Royce.

In mid-2004, when Cunningham needed to make repairs to his boat, he called Wade and demanded $6,500 in cash. Wade took the money out of his petty cash, stuffed it into a bulging envelope and rushed it over to a Cunningham fundraiser at a Washington restaurant, giving it to a Cunningham staffer.

In his prison interviews with investigators, as summarized by the FBI, the former congressman is reported to have:

Openly “recalled exerting pressure on government officials” to reward his bribers.

Said Wilkes told him he was “hiding money in a bank account in Panama” to pay him bribes.

Spoke of having had to find ways to get around objections from Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, both of whom tried to block Cunningham's spending projects for Wade and Wilkes as wasteful and unneeded.

FBI Affidavit (pdf)
FBI Transcript (pdf)

What will it take for our local press to get interested in this story?

Gowanus Public Place/Mixed Use at 5th and Smith

So long, cement plant, hello affordable housing. (Affordable housing always seems to find it's way to toxic waste sites and flood plains, somehow.) Here's the press release from NYC:

Located at the southeast corner of 5th and Smith Streets and bounded to the east by the Gowanus Canal. The development’s affordable component will consist of at least 400 rental and/or cooperative units located above the community and commercial spaces of which a significant portion will be set aside for senior citizen housing. Twenty percent of the total residential units must be affordable to households of four earning up to $56,700 or up to $39,700 for a single household. A further thirty percent of the residential units must be affordable to households of four earning up to $92,170 or up to $64,480 for a single household. And one hundred percent of the senior housing must be affordable to seniors making no more than $34,020 for a couple or $29,760 for a single senior.

The development must include a community facility component that will add to and enhance the current inventory of community and cultural uses and spaces available in the neighborhood. Preference will be given to projects that include a boathouse, youth/teen center, community space, or artist studios and/or galleries.

The development must also incorporate a significant amount of landscaped open space. Open space must be located adjacent to the Gowanus Canal and should be designed to allow for and encourage public use. In addition, the project is subject to HPD’s New Construction Sustainability Requirements, which mandate design practices and materials that ensure healthy indoor air quality, energy efficiency, water conservation and the use of environmentally preferable products.

Get cracking on your RFP response now!

I took a couple pictures of the existing site from the elevated tracks. I'll post one when I have a chance.

Regional Rail Working Group Meeting 7/18, 6pm

One of my favorite aspects of Streetsblog is the calendar of events.

Wednesday night there will be a meeting of the Regional Rail Working Group, which advocates for better coordination of transit planning among regional transit agencies such as MTA, Metro North, LIRR, NJ Transit, PATH, hell, even SEPTA.

While responsible transit planning is not a panacea, it does come awfully close:

National security implications? Check. Reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Environmental Concerns? Check. Cleaner air, better resource allocation.
Health issues? Check. People walk more, stay more fit. See also cleaner air, above.
Traffic? Check. Tired of sitting in hours of traffic? Make it easier for people to use mass transit.

And so on. Here's the meeting details:

Regional Rail Working Group Meeting

Regional Rail Working Group
A Consortium of Transit Advocacy Organizations

A key topic for discussion will be a proposal by several New Jersey rail advocates to extend the #7 subway west under the Hudson River to New Jersey, to Secaucus Transfer. Also, discussion will continue on rail equipment options for thru-running at Penn Station.

Agenda items for the July 18, 2007, meeting will include a quick update on each of these key initiatives:

• Through-running at Penn Station -- special emphasis on rail technology issues
• Upper Level Loop Alternative for LIRR East Side Access
• Penn Station-Grand Central Connection
• Rockaway Cut-off -- one-seat ride Midtown Manhattan-JFK Airport
  
• Lower Manhattan Access
• Regional Rail Freight plan
• Intercity rail issues

The key discussion item will be options for extending the #7 subway to New Jersey.

When

Wednesday, July 18, 2007, 6 to 8 PM

Where

Conference Room, NYPD Downtown Center 104 Washington Street (just north of Rector Street)

Cost - Free!

More Info: http://www.rrwg.org/mm_next.htm

Asst. Crp.

A few items for your consideration:

Yassky, Montgomery: End the Ratner Gravy Train! (meanwhile, Vito Lopez showers Ratner with public cash via insane tax breaks)

Damn: Court St. Trader Joe's won't have Two-Buck Chuck after all.

Queens' Sleaziest Politician: Republican City Councilman Peter Gallagher

Damn it All: Teenage Hooligan Edition

Mysterious 19th Century Bunker Complex in Ossining