Month: March 2008
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Livery Cab Attack
Via Gothamist, a report about a woman attacked by a livery cab driver. The driver apparently followed the woman into her building, where he then molested her. Luckily, the victim was not hurt, and though shaken up, is fine. The woman in question had called Metroline for a car, but it appears that the car…
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TransGas = Toast
The community finally prevailed in Albany – the TransGas plant proposed for Bushwick Inlet has been killed. No doubt Adam Victor will file an appeal, and we will have to live with this fight for a few more years. But it is a significant victory nonetheless.
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GL: Fixing DOB
On Gowanus Lounge this morning, Robert has a list of remedies for DOB failings. Here’s a quick rundown, with my handicapping: 1) […] The number of inspectors should be at least doubled, if not tripled. Until the numbers are increased, there should be a cap on the number of permits for major projects that can…
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Crying Wolf?
In today’s Sun, Council Member Jessica Lappin says of the 51st Street construction site: This is a site that was not under the radar screen, this was a site where the community had contacted the DOB, officials had contacted the DOB. To me it seems there should have been heightened scrutiny on the part of…
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Another Weekend in Williamsburg
North 1st Street, 12:50. While havoc was raining down in Turtle Bay, it was just a normal Saturday in Williamsburg. A walk through the Northside early yesterday afternoon showed over half a dozen active construction sites. At 80 Metropolitan (above), North 1st Street was blocked as workers loaded material. No flagman was present. Urban Green…
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Fubar
Tina Fineberg for the New York Times Construction accidents are getting to be pretty routine these days (in case you missed it, another day laborer died in an accident this week), but crikey, today’s accident is anything but routine. The picture above, from the Times, shows what was a four or five-story building. Until earlier…
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Its Not a Zoning Change
Its also not news. Every developer in the City is rushing to get into the ground before the 421-a tax abatement (not zoning) changes go into effect.
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No Telescopes
No Telescopes. Photo: Newyorkshitty Good thing they said what they meant – I might have been confused (unlike my three-year-old, I guess I’m not so good at these international “no” signs – I was also confused about the penguins). [Thanks Heather]
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Developers: DOB Too Aggressive
This is pretty rich. DOB finally takes an active role in the enforcement of construction safety, and the real estate industry immediately cries foul: I do believe that the city is responding to a number of accidents — some terrible tragedies and other accidents where nobody got hurt. But why they believe shutting down that…