Via Adam Perlmutter, word that the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court has tossed out TransGas’s latest courtroom gambit. Or, in the words of Justices Spolzino, Skelos, Dillon and Covello:

ORDERED that the motion of the respondent City of New York to dismiss the petition insofar as asserted against it for failure to timely join it as a necessary party is denied; and it is further,

ADJUDGED that the determination is confirmed, the petition is denied, and the proceeding is dismissed on the merits, without costs or disbursements.

Perlmutter, who has been one of the leaders in the community opposition to TGE’s Bushwick Inlet plan, says that the company’s only recourse at this point is to appeal to the State Court of Appeals (the highest court in the state).

So Williamsburg and Greenpoint are one step closer to getting a substantial piece of land for Bushwick Inlet Park, but there is still more waiting in store.

NewYorkShitty reports that the Sweater Lofts (239 Banker Street) has been issued a vacate order by DOB. Once again, tenants are out on the street while the landlord who created the problem is in the clear.

Normally, I’d more upset for the tenants, but this has always been a case of landlord blatantly flouting the laws for a quick buck. I think there is a big difference between a legitimate live/work loft situation and a situation like this where the landlord was bottom feeding for a fast buck. Unlike the typical loft situation, the landlord converted the building on his own dime and marketed it as residential when he knew that was illegal. Does it suck that innocent tenants are shit out of luck? Absolutely. But this is very different than 475 Kent or 889 Broadway – lofts where the tenants themselves had a lot of time. money and effort invested in the building. This is just a case of a landlord taking advantage of the law and his tenants.

While I was at the FingerAlbero meeting, there was another small gathering to hear the DOT’s latest position on truck traffic in the neighborhood. According to the Courier, DOT is considering taking a more comprehensive approach to the problem of truck traffic in Greenpoint and Williamsburg:

DOT officials said they are widening the scope of their plan, which now includes diverting truck traffic to Greenpoint, McGuiness and Meeker avenues.

“Time is money to truckers and convenience is money,” said DOT spokesman Seth Solomonow.“Hopefully this encouragement to take McGuiness or Greenpoint will separate shorter truck trips from longer distance truck trips that don’t end in Northside Williamsburg.”

Hmmm, that sounds kind of familiar. Next thing you know, DOT will be commissioning a comprehensive truck study for CB1. It could happen.

Last one – in the 20th Council district, Yen Chou wins with less than 25% of the vote. Only 1,825 votes wins a council race.

With 99.15% of precincts reporting, Diana Reyna is leading the race for the 34th with 45% of the vote. Maritza Davila is second with 43% (only 195 votes behind), while Gerry Esposito is back at 11%.

CityRoom says that deBlasio is leading Green, 32 to 31 (with 65% reporting). That is big – a contrary to all of the polling. In the comptroller race, Liu is at 39%, one point below the magic no-runoff number, with Yassky at 29%.

Locally, Short says that Diana Reyna is up by 97 votes (45% to 44%), while Steve Levin appears to be walking away with it – just over 31% with 70% reporting (and no runoffs in council races, I believe).

Brooklyn11211 hereby calls the Mayoral primary for Bill Thompson.

We’ll come in from our limb now.

So, there’s an election today. It will probably determine who your City Council member is for the next four (or eight or twelve) years. It will also probably determine who your Comptroller, Public Advocate and Borough President is for the next four (or eight or twelve) years. So it’s kind of important and worth paying attention to.

Al Sharpton called last night, and he wants me to pass on his support for Bill de Blasio. Ed Koch called last night, and he’s supporting Melinda Katz for Comptroller (so is Diana Reyna, but she didn’t call me last night). Sara Horowitz from Freelancer’s Union called, and they’re supporting David Yassky for Comptroller and Evan Thies for Council.

Here are links to the very excellent candidate profiles Juliet Linderman did for the Greenpoint Gazette.

In the 33rd District (open race):

Isaac Abraham
Ken Baer
Doug Biviano
Ken Diamondstone
Steve Levin
Jo Anne Simon
Evan Thies

In the 34th District (Diana Reyna is the incumbent):

Maritza Davila
Gerry Esposito
Diana Reyna

And for the citywides, here is a recap of the major races from the Times.

Sad news – another punk dies too young.

I came to Jim Carroll via Patti Smith and Catholic Boy and all that – it was some years before I heard about Basketball Diaries (but not that many years). Still, I’ll resist the obvious Catholic Boy cut and go with this rather nice tribute from YouTube.

The Daily News is out with its endorsements for significant City Council races. Locally, they are endorsing Evan Thies in the 33rd and Diana Reyna in the 34th. Here’s what they have to say.

[Thies] has distinguished himself in fights for affordable housing and public space.

and

[Reyna] has secured millions for new community and youth centers.

Reyna in particular is racking up the endorsements – she now has the Times, the News, El Diario, and the Brooklyn Courier. Thies adds the News to his earlier endorsements from the Brooklyn Paper and the Brooklyn Star.

In the 39th, the News like Brad Lander. Like the Times, the News is not making an endorsement in the 35th (Tish James’ seat). I’m sure some will see conspiracy there, but maybe it’s just not seen as a competitive race