By The TimesLedger
Like most New Yorkers, we have been stunned and appalled by the ticket blitz targeting the awnings on small businesses. And like most New Yorkers, we assumed that the blitz was the result of the city's budget crisis.
Then on Friday night we learned that this blitz that has cost small businesses thousands of dollars may have been instigated by “community activists” who pressured the city to enforce arcane laws buried deep in the city's building code. In his “Give Me a Break” segment on ABC's 2020, John Stossel interviewed Gene Kelty, the chairman of Community Board 7, which includes Flushing and it immigrant neighborhoods, and Mary Sarro, a community activist. The two adamantly defended the onslaught of the awning police.
Sarro said, “Those ugly, ugly signs totally destroy a community.”
Not to be outdone, Kelty added, “These foreign languages are illegal on awnings, they say, and they're dangerous because you can't understand them. … It's very confusing and it takes the attention away from the road.”
It's not the first time that Kelty has complained about foreign languages on signs in downtown Flushing, but it is the first time that we heard anyone say that the awnings are dangerous. In these difficult times, Kelty should be looking for ways to help small business owners, not harass them.
Fortunately the City Council is drafting legislation that will call for a six-month moratorium on tickets written for illegal awnings. That's a good start but tremendous damage has already been done. In addition to the outrageous fines, the storeowners have paid thousands of dollars to have awnings taken down and replaced. And for what? Because they included a telephone number or an Internet address or the hours a store is open on the awning? One shop owner said he got fined for adding the Energy Star logo that the state had asked him to post.
It is not enough to change the awning law. This abuse of authority must not be allowed to happen again. The authority to issue tickets and violations must be used wisely and with discretion. Merchants should not live in fear of being blindsided during the next assault of city agents enforcing an obscure code that they never knew existed.
After 17 years there appears to be light at the end of the RKO Keith's tunnel. The once beautiful and landmarked theater sitting on Northern Boulevard at the northern border of downtown Flushing has long been an eyesore. The whole neighborhood has suffered.
A Brooklyn developer wants to transform the rotting hulk into a 14-story complex of retail, offices and apartments. To do this, they will need a zoning variance. There is some question whether the plans including sufficient parking. That issue needs to be addressed, but hopefully it will not be a deal-breaker. If this company has the resources to make this happen, then it should get the city's enthusiastic support.
The people of Flushing have suffered ever since developer (we use the term loosely) Thomas Huang bought the property in 1986 and then did nothing with it – at least nothing useful. For nearly two decades Huang and the city have battled over the site. The city should have taken the property off his hands years ago, but with issues that do not involve awnings, the Buildings Department often moves very slowly.
But that's all in the past. Hopefully, the new owner will be able to preserve the landmarked lobby of the RKO Keith's with a building that will bring new jobs and new life to downtown Flushing.
It seems that hardly a week goes buy that we do not hear of someone being arrested for a scam relating to the attack on the World Trade Center. But in the pantheon of sleazy, heartless con artists, Justin Patrick White of Long Island City stands out. Last week White pled guilty to running a telemarketing scam that collected more than $450,000 for what he called the Police Survivors Fund.
After 9/11 the money really started to flow. And out of all the money collected, White gave only $25,000 to charity and only did that when he was afraid of being uncovered.
There are so many people in Queens who will give generously to any cause that will aid the families of fallen police or firefighters. It is despicable that people like White would take advantage of their kindness. According to the US Attorney's office, White faces no more than five years in a federal prison when he is sentenced. If that's true, the punishment does not fit the crime.
For more than two years White lived off the generosity of “suckers” who thought they were helping the families of the city's fallen heroes. Because of con-artists like him, people will grow increasingly skeptical of even the most worthy cause.
