SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Earlier this week, a boatload of Southern Brooklyn politicians banded together to introduce a bill that would waive fees for businesses recovering from damages sustained during Superstorm Sandy, according to a press release.

The bill whose sponsors include Domenic Recchia, David Greenfield and Michael Nelson would waive fees for permits, applications and inspections for businesses doing their best to rebuild and reopen after the events of Sandy.

Councilman Vincent Gentile, who co-sponsored the bill, stressed the importance of this legislation in a press release.

“Some businesses are literally rebuilding from the ground up and when you’re spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to get your business up and running again, you really shouldn’t have to bother with superfluous fees for permits and inspections.”

Businesses that qualify for the special waivers must have been open before Sandy struck and were located in Evacuation Zones A and B or in a building that was inspected for structural damage by the Department of Buildings. These fees have already been waived since Sandy due to an executive order from the mayor, but the pols are looking to extend it beyond its current expiration date.

Here is a list of the fees being waived.

• Department of Buildings permit and inspection fees required for construction, demolition, scaffolds, boilers, plumbing, electrical work, signs, scaffolds, limited alterations and after hours work.
• Fire Department fees for inspection of fire protection systems and gas station fuel dispensing systems, as well as for plan review and examination fees for installation of fire protection systems and fuel dispensing systems.
• Department of Transportation permit fees for opening the street, debris containers, sidewalk construction, vaults, and canopies.
• Department of Small Business Services permit fees for waterfront construction, equipment use, mooring, fill work, as well as fees for work notices and certificates of completion.
• Department of Environmental Protection permit fees for fuel burning incinerators, as well as fees for certificates of instruction in the use of and to operate the same.
• Department of Consumer Affairs licensing fees for salvage and liquidation sales of goods.
• Taxi and Limousine Commission Fees in connection with the licensing of vehicles, replacing medallions, transferring licenses, and for-hire vehicle inspections.
• Landmarks and Preservation Commission fees required with respect to obtaining certificates of no affect and certificates of appropriateness.

Source: wallyg via Flickr

Tomorrow, the board of the MTA will cast their votes on raising tolls on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to a whopping $15 – and local pols are fuming.

State Senator Marty Golden, Congressman Michael Grimm and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis issued a joint statement to the board and its chairman, Joe Lhota, urging them to kill the proposal and grant Brooklynites and Staten Islanders a measure of economic relief.

The statement follows a letter sent by the trio on December 13. In it, they wrote:

This proposal will hit the pockets of all New Yorkers who traverse the Verrazano Bridge for the purposes of work, shopping, medical care, family visits, and more. It is just unacceptable that the most expensive bridge in the world, already at $13, has the potential to become more expensive.

… In these difficult economic times, the last thing New Yorkers need is the burden of additional travel expenses. The proposal now before the MTA will further strain the budgets of millions of New York’s families and cause a loss of revenue for countless businesses. This proposal is not only misguided, it is something New Yorkers are not willing to accept.

The current proposal calls for raising the toll $2, from $13 to $15. The increase would be $1.06 for those with E-Z Pass.

The three Republican legislators are not alone. Last month, Democratic Councilman Vincent Gentile stood before the board at its November 28 hearing and blasted the plan. He also demanded that the MTA extend the discount they give to Staten Island residents to Brooklyn residents as well.

Jumaane WIlliams

It’s no longer about the Super Bowl or World Series fanatics – New York City leaders want real American champions to parade down the Canyon of Heroes.

Southern Brooklyn representatives united in favor of a new resolution that urges the mayor to produce a ticker-tape parade for the veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Council Member Jumaane D. Williams, of District 45, introduced the resolution to give the war veterans a welcome home they rightfully deserve.

Williams’ resolution says the city is passing on an opportunity to uphold tradition and honor the bravest among us.

“Sports champions and near champions, celebrities, foreign dignitaries and veterans of wars and conflicts in World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam and the first Gulf War, have all marched down Broadway to a cheering crowd and skies full of ticker-tape, confetti, paper streams and the like,” the resolution states.

Councilmembers representing Sheepshead Bay and other Southern Brooklyn neighborhoods agree.

“I have co-sponsored Councilman Williams’ resolution, and am proud to have done so,” said Councilman Lew Fidler. “I have been calling upon the Mayor to have this parade for some time.”

Other’s felt this was long overdue. “I cannot think of a group that is more deserving of being honored with a parade down the Canyon of Heroes than the veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Councilman David G. Greenfield. “We owe our freedom to these brave men and women and they deserve to be recognized and thanked for their service.”

Councilman Vincent J. Gentile, representing Bay Ridge and parts of Bensonhurst, also agreed with Williams – stating priorities must be changed. Gentile stated sports teams are honored at large every year, but veterans do not receive the welcome home they deserve.

“Are [veterans] not the real giants here?” said Gentile. “Not only is it the right thing to do and it’s the least we can do for these brave men and women to honor the sacrifices they’ve made to protect our freedom abroad.”

Domenic M. Recchia Jr., the councilman for Coney Island and Gravesend, stated he supported Councilman William’s proposition “100 percent.”

With all of the positive feedback and support from local Council Members, Williams said it is now up to the mayor to make the right choice.

“A number of my colleagues, including Speaker Quinn, have expressed support for a ticker-tape parade in the past,” Williams told Sheepshead Bites. “I hope they all decide to rally behind this legislation so we can send a strong message of support to our veterans and that Mayor Bloomberg will put politics aside to do what’s right.”

The mayor is opposed to the parade, agreeing with Pentagon officials who say New York City should wait until all veterans have returned safely.

Councilman Michael Nelson acknowledged the timing issue but agreed with Williams’ resolution whole-heartedly.

“While the Pentagon may reason that it is premature to pay tribute to the veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, I firmly stand alongside Councilman Williams and many New Yorkers who feel otherwise,” said Nelson. “I certainly cannot think of a more fitting way to acknowledge our most worthy heroes, these brave veterans, than by celebrating our pride ‘New York City style’ – with a ticker-tape parade in their honor.”

Source: www.nad.usace.army.mil

If the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) tries to yank its North Atlantic Division headquarters from the Fort Hamilton Army Base, it will be over protests from a number of Southern Brooklyn leaders, including Congressman Michael Grimm.

USACE — the world’s largest public engineering, design and construction management agency — is threatening to defect across the East River to rival borough Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood in a move that has got local pols and community leaders crying foul.

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Gay rights advocates are "outing" Kruger, alleging he is a closeted homosexual.

From the Daily News:

After voting “no” on the gay marriage bill yesterday, Sen. Carl Kruger exited the Senate chamber and walked straight into the buzzsaw that was Allen Roskoff and Corey Johnson.

The two outspoken gay advocates stunned onlookers by heckling the Brooklyn Democrat, publicly calling his sexuality into question and threatening to support a primary candidate against him in 2010.

I reached the duo, who arrived in Albany Tuesday night in time to see the Assembly pass the marriage bill for the third time since 2007, as they were en route home to New York City. Roskoff proudly confirmed he and Johnson “told Carl off.”

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The Brooklyn Public Library system launched an online petition last weekend in an attempt to throw the brakes on a proposed $17.5 million budget cut. If passed the 20 percent cut would usher in a layoff of one of every six employees, reduce operational hours of most branches to five hours a day, five days a week, and cause a drop in available book, audio and video resources.

The cuts are tied to Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed executive budget, a four-year financial plan that seeks to close a $3.4 billion budget gap. But the mayor’s decision to shave off from the public library system to help the economy is logically twisted and ill-advised. During economic recession, libraries are an essential resource to a financial rebound. They provide education, career assistance, communication tools, and a center for community organizing. By giving space, internet access and job hunting tools, libraries serve many as both the soft pillow at the end of our deep plunge, and the ladder to getting us back up.

I know this because, when I lost my job last year, I spent many afternoons building Sheepshead Bites in the cool basement of the Sheepshead Bay library. It was a place to go and do work without the benefit of an office, and the internet access saved me money better spent on groceries. Sheepshead Bites owes a part of its existence to the little library on East 14th street.

Speaking of the Sheepshead Bay branch – an already dilapidated, suffering limb of an increasingly whithered tree – as the city drains the financial juices, it’ll no doubt be southern branches like ours that will pay the deepest price. And when it comes time to shutter doors – inevitable once people show they’re willing to accept cuts – ours will no doubt be high on the list.

Brooklyn Councilman Vincent Gentile, chair of the Libraries Committee, gets it. He beat out the BPL petition by a few days, putting one of his own on his website: www.vincentgentile.blogspot.com. “Mayor LaGuardia kept libraries open seven days a week during the Great Depression,” Gentile noted at a recent Community Board 10 meeting. “The more the economy gets worse, the more important the libraries become.”

So, please, help save our libraries by visiting Brooklyn Public Library and signing the petition. Then head to Councilman Gentile’s and sign his.