NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is investigating this problem. His staff replied, “The Speaker and his staff are aware of the issue. It is currently being investigated”
BatteryPark.TV has previously reported on the citywide problem of lawbreaking town cars competing with yellow taxis. The problem is most severe near the bankers on Vesey Street. Recently, the cars unable to pick up illegal cash fares on Vesey Street have spilled over south into the residential areas of Battery Park on South End Avenue and the sleepy side streets.
To the untrained eye, they look like cars waiting on clients, but they are all simply loitering. Not only are the cars parked illegally in bus stops and blocking fire hydrants, but many of the drivers are mentally unstable and aggressive when asked to leave. We filmed one such encounter.
The quiet and peaceful streets in Battery Park, with plenty of parking spaces, creates a vacuum for tour buses, as previously reported, and now for illegal town cars, to park illegally in the neighborhood. The park ranger “PEPs” will respond promptly and should be called to handle problems that one should encounter. Without aggressive enforcement, the neighborhood will be labeled as a safe haven for the illegal drivers.
This video exemplifies why the illegally parked town cars are a menace to our clean residential community, and these are the registered TLC cars. The completely unlicensed rogue cars have more of the criminal element drivers.
The good news is that our parks PEPs and the NYPD will act promptly. Anyone witnessing a loitering town car or SUV should call (212) 417-3100
As the 9/11 Memorial opens, more and more tour buses will try to illegally park on South End, North End, West Thames, and Battery Place streets. Tess Huxley and Gayle Horwitz’s PEP have declared that they will not ticket the vehicles. However, any person can easily evict them just by asking nicely. The drivers know they are in the wrong and will rarely argue.
In this video, we show how easy it is.
Of note, the “mobile” yet permanent pastry/coffee shack on Albany aids and abets the tour buses by letting them park near him pretending to be customers.
A viewer of BatteryPark.TV recently sent a letter complaining about the illegally parked tour buses that park in front of his building on North End Avenue near Murray Street, and requested that BP.TV do a story on the problem. On Saturday, September 17th, we noticed more than five tour buses parked all along West Murray and winding into South End Avenue.
We approached one driver from the lead bus operated by Enchanted Coach (866) 423-9700. He refused to leave and taunted us to call the police, “Go ahead, call the cops”. We then approached the driver of an out-of-state tour bus from St. Louis. He initially agreed to leave and was driving away, when the lead driver from Enchanted Coach got into his bus, discussed the situation, and convinced him not to leave.
The Enchanted Coach driver also bumped into us and was threatening. He said, “Man, go screw a cow.”
The 911 police operators were called and a squad car arrived. The bus drivers quickly evacuated the illegal parking zone.
Coincidentally, the Battery Park City block party was underway and we told CB1 BPC Chairwoman Linda Belfer about the incident. She summoned over PEP Captain Falcon and asked him what the PEP could do. The BPCA has made previous announcements that the PEP would not be ticketing these buses. Captain Falcon assured Ms. Belfer that the PEP would begin requesting the tour buses to leave when they spot them illegally parking in the future.
If you have troubles with the tour buses parking in your area and the authorities are unresponsive, please email us promptly and try to snap photos. BatteryPark.TV will track a list of the worst repeat-offender bus companies.
A local printed flier featured today yet another pro-BPCA fluff piece highlighting the positives of the Asphalt Green athletic center. We previously reported how the BPCA Gayle Horwitz blamed the city for the long delays, then reported on the real reasons for the delays.
In the article today, the BPCA reached out to the sympathetic venue of the flier that relies on the BPCA for stories and advertising revenue, to place a story about an alternate site for swimming classes far Uptown on 91st street. Instead of expressing the true outrage of the community that our own swimming pool will not be ready this season, the article simply mentioned, “Anne Fenton, special assistant to Authority President Gayle Horwitz, said she realizes that the timetable is of special concern to parents…. “Construction is progressing toward completion,” said Matthew Monahan, the Battery Park City Authority’s senior vice president of public affairs. “Last week, the contractors filled the pool with 186,000 gallons of water, as well as installing a heat and natural gas meter. The boiler is running, which is working to dehumidify the plywood sub-floor in the gymnasium. In the next week and a half, the floor is expected to dry-out enough so that contractors can lay down the hardwood floor and it will stay down without buckling.”
Rather than representing true progress in construction, the filling of the pool is likely a PR ploy to give the appearance to passerby’s, who can look through the sidewalk windows and see the pool, that “It’s almost ready.” In fact, Ms. Horwitz informed the community (see video below) at the town hall meeting that the pool would soon be filled, and proceeded to follow that announcement with “(However) I cannot give any updates as to when (asphalt green will be completed).”
The Asphalt Green complex, and the far more expensive and even longer delayed Pier A in the South, are both being hampered by the mass firing of the 19 BPCA employees, many of whom were the only dedicated construction staff capable of navigating the city bureaucracy. Chairman Bill Thompson is in charge of the BPCA and is also running for Mayor in 2013.
I have not been to TriBeCa since last November, not counting Whole Foods, since the new shops opened by Goldman Sachs. Last night, I was appalled to see that the road construction on Hudson Street and North Moore was unchanged since at least twelve months ago. Employees at Bubby’s confirmed that no work has been done for eight months. There is even trash out in the middle of the street, if you can believe that. The project is under the authority of the city Department of Design and Construction led by David Burney.
DDC Commisioner David Burney
Mind you, this is not a slum. This is one of the wealthiest parts of the city where celebrities like Meryl Streep and Jon Stewart live.
Then, it occurred to me how this would not likely happen in Battery Park, simply because BatteryPark.TV and the viewers would not allow it. We don’t even tolerate illegal town cars or restaurant trash, much less this scene that we photographed on Hudson Street.
TriBeCa could really use a clone of BatteryPark.TV. Relax yee inept bureaucrats of TriBeCa. I do not have the time or the resources to invade your cozy hideouts…yet.
Stalled construction on Hudson and North Moore Streets
Trash in the middle of Hudson Street by fine restaurants
A surgeon and his wife who live in 2 River Terraces asked BatteryPark.TV to assist them with a trash problem. The neighboring French bakery, Le Pain Quotidien, leaves food trash on the sidewalk, sometimes open loaves of bread, for the rats to eat. The growing rodent problem has been a top priority for the BPCA, and CEO Gayle Horwitz has explained, “We hired the world’s leading authority on rats” to study the problem.
The BPCA has established trash compacting sites whereby the local apartment buildings can take their trash and avoid this sidewalk problem reminiscent of Naples, Italy. However, the BPCA explained to us today that private restaurants and stores are not part of this trash compacting program. The general manager of Le Pain Quotidien had no idea that trash compactors even existed.
Open loaves of bread in the trash of Le Pain Quotidien by 2 River Terrace
Saturday was a stunningly beautiful, blue sky, 70 degree day in Battery Park, but the West Thames Park grass field was still not opened despite having been ready for months. All of the grass fields in BPC are still closed.
Tess Huxley, the head of the Parks Conservancy, explained at the recent BPCA town hall that all of the fields needed time to establish roots. In fact, any golf course greens keeper or sports field professional caretaker would have been able to open the fields long ago, even after seeding in the Fall.
The mistake that Tess Huxley’s crew makes is that they fail to properly close the fields during rain, or to properly rest the fields when obvious wear and tear begins to burn out the grass. They have an “all or nothing” mentality: either shut down all grass fields or keep them all open no matter how conditions change.
As a result of this incompetence by the BPC Parks, residents are deprived of one the main attractions that draws people to the area to pay such high property taxes. The parks in BPC are only opened half of the year under the current management. This leads some to call for replacing the grass with unhealthy hideous artificial turf.
Some have speculated whether the real agenda of the BPCA, which never wanted to assume control the West Thames grass field, is to create a false problem of short annual usage time of the grass field, which then makes converting it to an artificial turf field a viable option. However, the residents overwhelmingly prefer the idea of having the grass field with no organized soccer allowed, and the large artificial turf fields at Asphalt Green are ample for organized sports.
In the classic album Dark Side of the Moon, Roger Waters wrote the lyric “The lunatics are on the grass” referring to overly strict caretakers of a London lawn who fanatically kept people off of the grass. In our case, we have Tess Huxley and her boss, Gayle Horwitz, as our lunatics running the grass lawns.
(Click images to expand)
Children unable to play on West Thames lawn, on April 14 2012
At the recent Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) town hall meeting, CEO Gayle Horwitz blamed the city for the long delays in opening of the Asphalt Green community center. She said that building inspectors were not looking at the proper boilers, etc. (see full video of her talk, below). However, sources close to the BPCA told BatteryPark.TV that the loss of the dedicated construction and architect crew of the BPCA, caused by the mass firing of 19 staff by Chairman Bill Thompson and CEO Horwitz, are the real causes for the construction delays.
Kevin Finnegan was the acting head of construction projects for the BPCA before he was fired last November. Kevin Chin was also on the construction team, along with two architects, Stephanie Gelb and Peter McCourt. All four were part of the 19 fired on the same day, without warning, last November.
A source close to the BPCA, who has been following the construction of the Asphalt Green complex, said, “The boiler and fire inspection folks are always a nightmare to deal with. Everyone in the city has the same issue, and they had the same problem at Site 3. But you can work through the bureaucracy and get it done. You mean to tell me that they had to use temporary heat all winter because they couldn’t get a boiler inspection? That is simply not credible. The real problem is that the building was still open… I went by a few months ago and the building wasn’t even closed up on the ball field side. I drove by again this week and it was still partially open. That indicates slow construction on BPCA’s part… To blame it on the city’s permitting process is ludicrous.
I noticed she also brought up Con Ed as a potential obstacle going forward. Again, they can be frustrating but you just have to work it. But you also need experienced managers who can pick up the phone and make the right calls. She fired them…
There are many reasons why the building was going slowly, but they come down to a failure to make timely decisions with regard to coordination issues with the developer of the base building. This is something I heard time and again from (BPCA staff). I would not doubt if there are also delays due to fire code issues. The plans for the community center were filed on the last day that the old city code was in effect, but were not stamped in by the fire department until a few days later. So you have a situation where it is unclear whether the new code or the old one is controlling. This is an issue that needed to be resolved last year so that the fire department and building department do not come in at the last minute and say the community center is out of compliance. If you start hearing about the “failure” of the fire department and building department to sign off on a temporary certificate of occupancy, you can bet it is over some code issues…
Pier A is also going slow as molasses and with significant cost overruns, and again BPCA has not P.E.s or architects on staff to provide proper direction. It would be like you opening up a medical clinic and staffing it with nothing but nurses and physician assistants. They can handle a lot of stuff, but when the big issues arise it is essential to have an M.D. on hand.”
BatteryPark.TV spoke with Kevin Finnegan, one of the BPCA construction experts fired last year. He said that the Asphalt Green construction is more complicated than if it were a standalone building since it is attached to a residential apartment building, and “You’re going to have a lot of confusion about the permits, when they have to be filed, which ones have to be filed, etc.”.
When asked whether the loss of the dedicated construction staff had contributed to city building permit construction delays and confusion, he explained that his job role often required him to act as an expeditor between the third party construction crew and the city. “The BPCA uses the LiRo Group as an outside consultant for construction projects and a separate “expeditor firm”. Frank Franco is the senior person at LiRo. Whether some of the continuity got lost when we were let go…on a project this complex, Frank would have called up, explained the problem, and I would have called the city and had the permit issue likely handled in a day. In fact, we did this with the ball fields. There actually was not an address that existed so no permits were able to submitted…If we had gone through the normal routes, it would have taken six or seven weeks…by me making a phone call to the Department of Buildings, we had it straightened out in a day. We had a permit the next morning. Very much so, that is what would have happened here at the (Asphalt Green community center had we been still employed at the BPCA).”
Mr. Finnegan could not comment on whether any actual physical construction problems arose since he left the project back in November and has not visited the site since then. When asked about construction delays at Pier A, Mr. Finnegan laughed and said, “On that one, (our in-house architects who were fired) could have helped out a lot.”
The Battery Park City Authority exists to oversee the construction of the area, yet the current leadership of the BPCA lack construction experience. CEO Horwitz has experience in the Macy’s retail store, then at the City Comptroller office under Bill Thompson. Chairman Bill Thompson is a lifelong politician and running for New York City Mayor in 2013 as he maintains his full-time job at the BPCA.
We had an interesting conversation with The New York Times reporter, Patrick McGeehan, who has covered Pier A and the Maritime Building for years. Unbeknownst to many, the BPCA is seeking a bizarre new source of additional funding for the stalled Pier A project.
A controversial federal plan allows foreigners with wealth to invest in developmental projects in exchange for green cards. According to the WSJ, “The so-called EB-5 visa is awarded to foreigners who invest $500,000 to $1 million in U.S. businesses; $500,000 is required if the investment is made in a high-unemployment or rural area. The investors must document that their investment created at least 10 jobs before they are granted green cards, which allow permanent residence in the U.S.”
The Maritime Building in the Battery Park and the Pier A, now under the BPCA jurisdiction, are both part of this new green-card-for-investing EB-5 visa program. Documents related to the proposed funding of the Roosevelt Island college campus also revealed other programs trying to capture funding, such as Pier A, according to testimony by Senator Schumer (courtesy of Mr. McGeehan of the NYT). The BPCA applied for the program in 2011. It is unknown whether any of these funding developments have led to the construction delays.
These latest financial developments are just part of a long convoluted and embarrassing history of this stalled project and eyesore to our community. In 2007, the BPCA assumed control after deputy Mayor Doctoroff brokered a deal to rid the city of the headache. A cap of $30 Million dollars was established for renovation, mostly funded by the city EDC.
It is unknown whether this $30 Million figure thrown about so often in reports is really in the bank accounts of the BPCA available for spending, whether it was delivered and squandered, or any of the details of how this amount was or was not spent. BPCA Chairman Bill Thompson and CEO Gayle Horwitz did not reply to our questions.
A source close to the BPCA told BatteryPark.TV, ” BPCA has gotten some of the money. What happened was that EDC authorized the $30 million, then reimburses BPCA on a periodic basis as the work is done. So BPCA has gotten some of the money, though I could not tell you how much. Nor do I know if EDC has officially raised the threshold to $36 million.”
Prior to the BPCA assuming control, decades of unsuccessful plans had come and gone. A Staten Island development firm called Wings Point had been in charge and failed miserably. Of note, the managing partner of Wings Point also created the BillyBey ferry company when it bought the New York Waterway routes.
It appears as if the BPCA is not backing down on it’s subversive plans to turn Pier A into a for-profit bar (see below). John Fratta, leading opponent to the bar plan and champion of the idea to make Pier A an Italian Heritage museum, was rebuffed by the BPCA. His group had requested via Freedom of Information Act the details of how it came to be that the Poulakakos family was awarded the plan to make the pier a restaurant and bar. He organized a small press conference event today at the pier in protest. Based on our sources within the CB1, there seems to be little resistance to the oyster bar plan.
March 29, 2011
John Fratta, CB1 Chairman of the Seaport/Civic Center Committee explain why the CB1 opposes the current BPCA plans to turn over the Pier A to a private restaurant group led by the Poulakakos family. He is leading a drive to convert the Pier A into an Italian American heritage museum to compliment nearby Jewish and Irish museums. Mr. Fratta calls the current plans, “A slap in the face to Italian Americans”.
Niether the BPCA nor the Poulakakos family accepted our offer to be interviewed.
(The video can be viewed in 1080i HD by clicking the YouTube settings)
Within the past week, two public meetings have been held that discuss the fate of The Battery Park City Authority (BPCA). The Town Hall meeting exposed many embarrassing problems for the BPCA, such as the delayed opening of the Asphalt Green complex, the fact that the PEP are not allowed to issue tickets to speeding electric scooters used on the sidewalks by deliverymen, and the calls for changes in leadership structure at the BPCA to have actual residents of Battery Park City sit on the board. A few days later at the monthly BPC section of the Community Board 1, State Senator Daniel Squadron appeared to discuss his proposals to overhaul the BPCA.
BatteryPark.TV extensively covered both events with video footage. However, The Battery Park Broadsheet did not post any reports despite having the founder and senior editor of the site, Robert Simko, present at each meeting with his camera. Instead, the Battery Park Broadsheet has featured articles on a variety of mundane local topics, such as sailing classes, a Pace University study on traffic flow, and the funding of a subway station on Fulton Street.
Is the Broadsheet, run by founder Robert Simko, incompetent, or has this omission of coverage of important stories critical to the senior leadership of the BPCA been an intentional act of journalistic bias? Is the Broadsheet simply an extension of the BPCA?
BatteryPark.TV asked The Broadsheet’s owner and senior editor, Robert Simko, why his “newspaper” has not covered the stories in question. He replied, “I am a small paper in a big downtown neighborhood with many stories to cover and can’t always give the resources necessary to properly cover any one story…to be honest, we are not friends (believe me!) with the BPCA!”
BatteryPark.TV has learned that several stories related to the BPCA which were first reported in The Broadsheet were the result of the BPCA staff proactively reaching out to freelance reporters for the Broadsheet. In stark contrast, BatteryPark.TV cannot have a single email or call returned by anyone at the BPCA, likely as a result of our critical reporting.
The Broadsheet relies heavily on the cooperation and assistance of the BPCA for the content in the printed and electronic versions. Many of the daily activities in the park and other postings come from the Parks Conservancy of the BPCA. In addition, the BPCA has provided revenue for The Broadsheet on the form of advertisements.
BatteryPark.TV currently does not accept advertising and is supported by grants and philanthropy, despite receiving unsolicited requests on a routine basis from entities wishing to advertise. BP.TV forwards advertising inquiries to The Broadsheet. Moreover, BatteryPark.TV has never received any government handouts from entities like the Downtown Alliance, LMDC, or the BPCA. As a result, BP.TV has a unique freedom of bias to cover the corruption in local politics and bureaucracies like no other news source that has ever existed in Battery Park City.
The Broadsheet provides many useful services to the community. However, loyal readers of The Broadsheet should be aware of the bias of omission in coverage of the BPCA and demand better from Mr. Simko.
The BPCA held a town hall meeting on March 29th, and two of the biggest concerns from the community were the growing problems of skateboarders vandalizing the parks, and food deliverymen speeding on electric mopeds, jeopardizing the safety of pedestrians. The parks PEP have the authority to issue tickets to these offenders, as well as confiscate and impound the mopeds.
If just a few deliverymen lost their mopeds or received a ticket, word would get out and there would likely be a dramatic reduction in violations. Likewise, if just a few teenagers were summonsed to juvenile court for skateboard vandalism, their social networks would spread the word quickly that BPC is not a soft target.
However, the PEPs have been hamstrung by BPCA CEO Gayle Horwitz and are forbidden from issuing tickets. Why? We explain in this video segment.
In collaboration with BatteryPark.TV, the park ranger PEPs have been effectively dealing with several problems plaguing the area. PEP Captain Falcon wrote:
Dear Sir,
We thank you for your email regarding noise/dog barking. We expect you may have seen our immediate response as of late. We have made contact with the owners of the Bloodhound you described and they have been cooperative. They assure us they will be mindful of their neighbors and will work with their dog. They even mentioned that they are contemplating professional training.
In reference to your additional concern regarding Livery cabs illegally parked. We have addressed this issue as they occur and will continue to address this in our jurisdiction adjacent to parks as it occurs. We have also referred your concern to our Liaison at NYPD Street Traffic Enforcement Unit in which we have seen their immediate response as well.
We are pleased to serve and assist in all community concerns.
All the best,
Captain Ed Falcon
The dog nuisance to which Captain Falcon refers is a large bloodhound owned by residents in the Financial District who bring their pet to the West Thames dog run every night in the evening and allow it to bark uncontrollably for 30-minutes.
Jeff Galloway, founder of the Battery Park City Dog Association and member of the Community Board, was alerted of these problems and refused to act. He replied, “The BPC dog runs have always been open 24 hours. I believe “ssshh” signs are posted telling people to be respectful of neighbors during late hours. Although there has been an occasional incident over the years, by and large there have been hardly any complaints from neighbors. My apartment overlooks the Kowsky Plaza Sirius Dog Run and it’s extremely rare that there is noise in the late night. The (policy of having no closing times on the dog parks) was set during the public comment process when each of the dog runs were being planned. Much of the other park area in BPC is also open 24 hours.”
The town car, or Livery cab, problem refers to our previous reporting seen here. State Assembly Speaker Silver is also assisting us.
As a result of BatteryPark.TV reporting, Goldman Sachs involvement, and the First Precinct, the NYPD traffic guards at the dangerous Murray Street have been nearly doubled in quantity, and the staff have been replaced. In addition, orange cones have been set up to help guide the traffic making left turns from Murray Northward onto West Street.
New NYPD traffic officers at Murray Street and West Side Highway
Looking Southward on West Street and Murray Street: extra traffic patrols and cones
The local community, backed by Goldman Sachs, is trying to petition the DOT to open a Vesey Street crossing of the West Side Highway. However, less appreciated is the extreme danger at the Murray Street crossing. The interchange allows cars to heading north to make U-turns, and most pedestrians are unaware of this so they jaywalk when it looks safe, only to be dodging U-turning cars. In addition, cars, heading west are allowed to turn left (south) into the crossing pedestrians, and many drivers are running red lights turning east onto Murray greatly jeopardize pedestrians.
The crossing guards that both the city and the BPCA have posted are woefully unskilled and un-empowered to ticket moving violations. They do nothing to stop cars running red lights in front of their eyes.
Multiple people have been killed or harmed just a few blocks south at the Albany Street crossing. Will a future fatality occur at Murray Street as some banker walking while texting with iPod earphones in is mowed down?
September 22, 2011
BatteryPark.TV has also alerted local police and officials about the dangerous pedestrian crossing on South Albany. On September 14, according to a local blog, a pedestrian was struck by a car as she crossed South End by Rector Place. The problem on South End is caused by distracted drivers searching for parking spots and ignoring the road. The crossing guards, like the Murray Street problem, are also very ineffective. The solution is to have full NYPD officers with ticketing power stationed at the intersections. Automated red-light cameras might help as well.
The problematic serially offending fruit shack is getting some competition from Hudson Produce across the street. We have found Hudson’s fruit to be of high quality, and it is now priced lower to compete better. In fact, the oranges are 50% less than Gristedes, for example.
- Mayor's Office, - NYPD First Precinct, Gripes, Livery town car drivers, Tour buses illegally parking, Videos, Whac-A-Mole series | admin | 
May 1, 2012 1:50 am | 
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