TGE: They're Baaack!

Call it the power plant that just won't fizzle out.

TransGas Energy (TGE) has filed a petition with the New York State Board on Electric Generation and Siting and the Environment (hereafter the "Siting Board") - (reading that entire legal brief must have influenced us a bit) - to overturn its June 25th Order that TGE get the necessary approvals from the city to tear up streets and other public right-of-ways to put in underground pipes and steam tunnels.

To make a long story short (the issue will be covered in greater depth in the August 2nd print edition), attorneys for TGE argue that requiring city approval runs counter to the Siting Board's legislative intent, which was to bypass local municipal law that held up the construction of major electric generation facilities. From the legal papers:

A "realistic appraisal" of the statutory language and the legislative intent leads to the conclusion that the Board must have the authority to allow use of the City's property, even over the City's objection, in order to carry out the legislature's intent to elevate the siting of major electric generating facilities to a state, not a local function.

According to TGE's lawyers, the state has basically handed over the decision on whether or not to construct the power plant to the commissioner of the city's Department of Transportation, which would have to grant permits to tear up city streets. The city has been adamantly opposed to the plant, envisioning the North Brooklyn waterfront parcel where TGE wants to build the facility as the home of a future park, as outlined by the Greenpoint-Williamsburg rezoning.

This is just the latest in what appears to be a neverending cycle of legal maneuverings on the part of TGE, which has included suing the city and holding their own confusing eminent domain hearing.

TGE Nearly PUlls Off Public Hearing Under Community's Nose
Efforts to Condemn Bayside Fuel Site Continue
Judge Puts Park Plans on Hold

Domino Sugar Factory Hearing Tuesday

Public Scoping Meeting on the proposed Domino Sugar Rezoning

On July 31, 2007 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM and from 6:00 PM to 8:45 PM, the Department of City Planning, on behalf of the City Planning Commission, will hold a public scoping meeting on the Draft Scope of Work for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to be prepared for the proposed Domino Sugar Rezoning. Comments on the Draft Scope of Work will be accepted at the meeting and for ten days following the meeting.The meeting will take place at the City of New York Department of City Planning, Spector Hall, 22 Reade Street, New York, New York 10007.

For a draft scope of the DEIS click here.

UPDATE: Norman Oder has some good Domino analysis and comparisons to the Atlantic Yards project on his blog.

Innovative Development Launches in Greenpoint

Greenpoint Lofts, a development of business condos on Norman Avenue, held a large launch party on the roof of their five story building last night. The development is billed as Brooklyn’s first commercial condominium, which means that the individual lofts can be purchased and used for business purposes. This type of building is very big in Queens.
The event featured local business owners and artists in the fifth floor lofts spaces, as both Brooklyn neighbors and savvy folks from Manhattan were invited to tour the still under construction project. Word has it that 30% of the units have been filled, which I’m told is quite impressive. The party featured a catered rooftop party and I even got a massage. For more information on the development, check out greenpointlofts.com. Massage courtesy of greenhouseholistic.com.

West Nile Alert

Get out the bug spray.

The Department for Mental Health and Hygiene just issued a press release stating that the West Nile virus has been found in mosquitoes in Queens. The infected pests were collected from a pool in the Flushing section of the borough.

Here are some facts and symptoms to watch out for:

It is estimated that about 20% of people who become infected with WNV will develop West Nile fever. Symptoms include fever, headache, tiredness, and body aches, occasionally with a skin rash (on the trunk of the body) and swollen lymph glands. While the illness can be as short as a few days, even healthy people have reported being sick for several weeks.

The symptoms of severe disease (also called neuroinvasive disease, such as West Nile encephalitis or meningitis or West Nile poliomyelitis) include headache, high fever, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, and paralysis. It is estimated that approximately 1 in 150 persons infected with the West Nile virus will develop a more severe form of disease. Serious illness can occur in people of any age, however people over age 50 and some immunocompromised persons (for example, transplant patients) are at the highest risk for getting severely ill when infected with WNV.

Most people (about 4 out of 5) who are infected with West Nile virus will not develop any type of illness (an asymptomatic infection), however you cannot know ahead of time if you'll get sick or not when infected.

Rock-a-Wave at Rockaway

Queens and California just got one step closer as Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer open the second surf beach in the Rockaways. After Beach 67-69 is officially opened for surfing, local beach bums will dash out into the waves and do their best to “hang ten.” The event will be held at 11 am on Friday at Beach 67th St. It should be a swell time.

Get Your Powwow On

Looking for something a little out of the ordinary to do this weekend? Why not head out to New York City’s only working farm for the 29th Annual Thunderbird American Indian Mid-Summer Powwow?

Over 40 Native American tribes will gather in the Queens County Farm Museum apple orchard for music and entertainment. Really, how often do you get to attend an authentic Powwow in New York City? Maybe once a year?

For more info click here.

Outside the Blogosphere

In this week’s issues of the Ledger/Star:

Jeff Harmatz tags along with Western Queens residents to protest Con Edison rate hikes.

Phil Guie gets trapped on the 7 train…and lives to tell about it.

A congresswoman tells you to…Wha?!…keep your money!

Pol Position takes a big lick of Mob Candy.

Shane Miller goes where no member of the public has gone in over 100 years, with a bunch of other people.

Plus the usual tidbits and crumbs of information we know you crave.

Dive Into a Landmark...Someday

We guess it's better late than never.

On Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to landmark McCarren Park Pool in Greenpoint, as well as the Sunset Park pool and another in East Harlem. Read the full press release here.

Now the pools just have to have their status approved by 51 landmark professionals we like to call the City Council.

Of course, that doesn't make McCarren Pool any less of an eyesore, but the city has set aside $50 million to makeover the pool, and is currently looking for ideas on its future. The Open Space Alliance, in conjunction with the Parks Department, is actually passing out a survey, which you will be able to find printed in future editions of the Greenpoint Star.

Time of the Season:The Zombies Play Summer Concert

As part of the 29th annual Seaside Summer Concert Series,The Zombies, one of the best and most overlooked bands of the sixties will be playing a free show in Brooklyn, and they're not even the headliners. The top spot goes to the The Turtles, and other performers include The Rascals, members of the Moody Blues, and several other acts. Even though we've never seen them live, and it's been decades since they recorded their great albums, The Zombies are still a can't miss act, especially for free. Check out http://www.brooklynconcerts.com for info about Thursdays show and other shows throughout the summer.

Watch an old clip of The Zombies here.

So Long Frank!

Dennis Hamill wrote a good feature in the Queens edition of The Daily News yesterday about everyone's favorite civic curmudgeon from Northeast Queens, Frank Skala.

Over the years, Skala has earned a reputation for speaking his mind, but now that he has reached 70, he's apparently decided to scale back on his "civic chop-busting." We'll believe that when we see it, but if he's sincere, we can tell you that won't be be good for copy.

The feature even caught the attention of the folks over at nolandgrab.org, who feel that the world could do with a lot less Denis Hamill's and a lot more Frank Skala's.

It's A Potter's Field Day!

Will he live or will he die? More importantly, will those who crowded the Borders bookstore at The Shops At Atlas Park to get their copy of J.K. Rowling’s final Harry Potter book, which goes on sale at 12:05 a.m., get home before dawn?

At least it isn’t a school night.

As we speak, the hundreds who flocked to Atlas Park for their Harry Potter-centric celebration are engaged in various games and activities, including face-painting and a Potter-related spelling bee.

While the aisles are rife with fans who know all about Hogwarts, Hermione Granger and Dumbledore (I had to look those up), many Borders employees also admitted to being longtime enthusiasts.

Harold Pfeiffer, the café supervisor, who was dressed up in a big purple wizard’s robe, said he first became aware of the Harry Potter books years ago, when he was working as a classroom assistant.

At the time, he noticed many of the students, who were third and fourth-graders, were reading the books for fun. “I had to pick up the book to see what it was all about,” said Pfeiffer. “I just kept reading.”

Nowadays, when Potter-mania has reached the point where the fictional world has inspired doctoral theses, it’s refreshing – downright reassuring – to hear from fans who appreciate the books just for being good reads.

Seven-year-old Emma Rafferty, a Maspeth resident, is among that group. When asked what she loves most about the books, Emma, who had a Hogwarts-style black robe over an English boarding school uniform, had this to say: “It takes me from my house when I’m reading it. I feel like I’m really in Hogwarts or wherever they are.”

Look for photos from this event in the June 26^th issue of the Ledger/Star!

Homeowners Bill Con Ed

Tonight in Sunnyside, on the anniversary of last year's blackout, a flashlight march will be held to protest the increase in power rates across the city. Activists from the Western Queens Power for the People Campaign will be presenting a "giant check" sized utility bill to the power company, which will rack up the amount they feel Con Ed still owes the community in damages and lost revenue from the 2006 blackout. It's a safe bet the Con Ed representatives won't be on hand to recieve the "large fascimile" bill, and it probably won't fit in their post office box either, so they'll have to read about it in the Queens Ledger. Starts at 7 on Greenpoint Ave and 43rd St.

A PREVIEW OF NEXT WEEK'S EDITION

Got a problem with a local bar? How about motorcycles revving up and down the street into the wee evening hours? These folks did, so they brought their gripes to Community Board 5’s public hearing, which took place last Wednesday at the Greater Ridgewood Youth Council.
Were the local police able to help them? What did board members representing Maspeth, Middle Village, Elmhurst and Ridgewood advise them to do? Pick up the July 19th edition to find out!

In Print

This week in the Ledger/Star:

Whitestone leaders take an auto school to task for failing to make promised street improvement.

Brooklyn beep okays affordable housing project in North Brooklyn.

Flushing residents are on the lookout for a man who attempted to rape a seven-year-old last Friday night.

The Music Hall of Williamsburg taps Patti Smith to open the new performance space in September.

Photos from the Giglio Feast in Williamsburg this past weekend.

Phil Guie speaks with the owners of a new business on Grand Avenue in Queens that provides gaming fun in lush environs.