News From City Council Member Eric Ulrich

NYC Council Member Eric Ulrich Celebrates Opening of Rockaway Beach for Summer

Council Member Eric A. Ulrich (R-Queens) joined Parks Department officials, residents and colleagues in government on the boardwalk at Beach 97^th Street in Rockaway on Friday to celebrate the annual opening of the city’s public beaches. After reminders from Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to stay safe this summer, the officials and residents sampled some of the food available on the boardwalk this summer and tried their hand at beach tennis.

Ulrich said, “As we all know, Rockaway continues to be one of the city’s best kept secrets. It’s a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family, and to enjoy the beach. There are lots of new and exciting amenities this year, and I encourage everyone in Queens to visit this summer and discover the beauty Rockaway has to offer.”

In all, the City boasts 14 miles of beaches that attracted 19 million visitors last year. New this year will be food concessions run by Rockaway Beach Club, LLC, which will serve tacos, po’ boys, arepas, enchiladas, Italian ices and more at snack bars at Beach 86^th, 97^th and 106^th streets. In addition, a mile of new boardwalk is open this year along stretches between Beach 23^rd and Beach 81^st streets.

NYC Council Member Eric Ulrich: Additional Police Presence Needed at Aqueduct

Council Member Eric A. Ulrich (R-Queens) is asking the NYPD to assign additional police officers to the 106th Precinct in advance of the planned September opening of video lottery terminals at Aqueduct Race Track in Ozone Park.

The new racino is expected to draw more than eight million visitors each year, and local residents and Community Board 10 have already expressed concerns about the current staffing levels at the local precinct.

Ulrich said, “In order to keep our streets safe, we are going to need more cops at the 106^th Precinct. My constituents should not have to worry about any rise in crime that might emanate from Aqueduct. We need to do everything we can to guarantee a good quality of life for the neighborhoods surrounding the track. This request is more than reasonable.”

Ulrich had the opportunity to speak directly with Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly during a recent Public Safety Committee hearing and in a May 18 letter to the department. He requested that the new officers be assigned beginning in the new fiscal year so they will have time to acclimate themselves to the area before the racino opens.

In the letter to Commissioner Kelly, Ulrich wrote, “While the new racino is scheduled to open later this summer, many of my constituents are still concerned about the level of police protection the community will receive from the NYPD. Despite the fact that vehicular and foot traffic will increase, it still remains unclear if and when the local precinct will receive additional police personnel. Undoubtedly, more police officers will be needed to patrol the residential neighborhoods surrounding the facility… I believe this request is warranted given the size and scope of the new venue and the necessary planning that will go into maintaining a good quality of life for area residents.”

NYC Council Member Eric Ulrich Statement on Mayor's Plan to Close Engine 294 and Other Fire Companies

Council Member Eric A. Ulrich (R-Queens) released the following statement on the Mayor's plan to close 20 fire companies around the City, including Engine 294:

“The Mayor’s plan to close Engine 294 and other fire companies around the city is downright dangerous. Response times will go up and lives will be put at risk. Woodhaven and Richmond Hill desperately need adequate fire protection and emergency services, especially since many of the homes there are attached, wood-frame structures. We simply cannot balance the budget by putting people in harm’s way. Mark my words - budget cuts like these can be deadly and I will do everything in my power to fight them.”

NYC Council Member Eric Ulrich Co-Sponsors Bill to Prevent Children from Being Exposed to Pornography in Public Libraries Council Members Eric A. Ulrich (R-Queens) and David G. Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) announced bipartisan legislation on Sunday that will protect children at New York City’s public libraries from exposure to Internet pornography. The legislation would make it a misdemeanor criminal offense for any adult to view pornographic materials within 100 feet of a minor in a public library. Ulrich said, “This is a common sense piece of legislation aimed at protecting our children while they spend time at the library. Kids shouldn’t be exposed to sexually explicit content, and taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for it either. This is a serious concern for many people who don’t want their children subjected to this form of public indecency.” Greenfield said, “I am a strong supporter of our public libraries and the value and rich experiences that they provide to New Yorkers. Part of that experience, however, should not be traumatizing children by exposing them to sexual predators and debasing pornography. Our bipartisan legislation would send an unmistakable message to sexual predators: expose yourself to children and you will go to jail.” The legislation would make viewing pornography within 100 feet of a child a misdemeanor carrying fines of between $1,000 and $10,000 and the possibility of jail time, as determined by a judge. Because the proposed legislation is narrowly tailored to protect children, it is expected to pass any constitutional challenges.

NYC Council Member Eric Ulrich Statement on Mayor’s Proposed Budget

Council Member Eric A. Ulrich (R-Queens) today released the following statement in response to Mayor Bloomberg’s FY 2012 Executive Budget:

Ulrich said, “This is a very difficult budget. Even though years of prudent fiscal planning helped the city weather the recession better than most, cuts still seem inevitable. I’m especially concerned about the impact potential teacher layoffs will have on class size in our schools, and I’m also worried about the proposed firehouse closings. As an alternative, I am encouraging my colleagues to seriously consider some of the recommendations that have already been made by the Independent Budget Office. Rest assured, before the City Council adopts the budget, I will do everything in my power to protect vital services and persuade the Mayor to find money elsewhere.”

On Earth Day, Weiner Report Shows Republican Budget Proposal Would Severely Harm New York’s Environment

Today, to commemorate the 41^st annual Earth Day, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D – Queens and Brooklyn) released a report highlighting the dangerous impact of the proposed Republican FY 2012 budget on New York City’s environment, which if implemented, would cut $54.1 million from the fund that ensures clean drinking water for the City and cut $2 million in funding from Gateway National Recreation Area, the country’s largest urban national park.

Under the 2012 Republican budget proposal, funding cuts would also be made to numerous national monuments and historic sites in the New York area, including $900,000 for operating costs at the Statue of Liberty and $120,000 in funding for Governors Island National Monument.

In addition, nearly $400,000 would be cut from projects affecting Jamaica Bay and the Rockaways. These cuts would jeopardize all of the beach replenishment that has been conducted over the past decade by delaying the long-term prevention plan against storm damage that is currently underway. They would also delay the vital marshland restoration projects that have already begun, including the replenishment of Elders Point East, for which Rep. Weiner helped secure $1.5 million. Last month, Weiner announced $500,000 to help prevent erosion at Plumb Beach, but reduced funding to the Army Corps also places the future of projects like this at risk.

The GOP budget would also have a direct impact on park staff and visitors at Gateway National Recreation. Because national parks rely heavily on personnel for their operations, these GOP cuts would mean fewer park rangers at Gateway, especially in the summer when park visitation is at its peak.

In total, over $5 million in funding would be slashed for all national parks in the City and nearly $290 million would be reduced from National Parks Service nationwide. Visitor safety would be put at risk and visitor center and campsite hours could also be reduced significantly.

The proposal put forward by Republicans would also cut $2.8 billion, or 27%, from the Environmental Protection Agency.

“The draconian GOP budget proposal would slash vital funding for projects that protect our beautiful green spaces, national parks and waterways," Weiner said. “The future of our city’s natural treasures shouldn’t be subjected to the whims of Republicans in Washington who care only about appeasing the most extreme elements of their party.”

Full details of Weiner’s Report below:

The Republican FY ‘12 Budget Proposal Would Harm Gateway National Park

• Funding to Gateway National Park’s would be cut by $2 million, a 13% cut from FY10 levels. (NYC IBO).
• This would mean that there would be fewer park rangers in Gateway, especially in the summer when the visitation to the park is at its peak. This puts visitor safety at risk and could mean reduced visitor center and campsite hours. Park facilities would also deteriorate because they do not have the funding or personnel needed to maintain them.

The Republican FY ’12 Budget Proposal Would Cut Funding to New York Area Monuments and Historic Sites

• Funding for the African Burial Ground National Monument would be cut by $2 million
• Funding for the Castle Clinton National Monument would be cut by $19,000
• Funding for the Federal Hall National Memorial would be cut by $115,000
• Funding for the General Grant National Memorial would be cut by $270,000
• Funding for the Governors Island National Monument would be cut by $120,000
• Funding for the Hamilton Grange National Memorial would be cut by $4,000
• Funding for the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site would be cut by $11,000

The Republican FY ’12 Budget Proposal Would Cut Funding to the Statue of Liberty

• The Statue of Liberty would lose $900,000 in funding for operating expenses, 80% of which goes to personnel.

The Republican FY ‘12 Budget Proposal Would Harm Jamaica Bay and the Rockaways

• Would cut the Army Corps of Engineers funding for the bay by nearly $400,000.
• These cuts would jeopardize all of the beach replenishment that has been done over the past decade by delaying the long-term prevention plan for storm-damage that is currently underway. They would also delay the marshland restoration that has already occurred at some of the islands in the Bay.

The Republican FY ‘12 Budget Proposal Puts New Yorkers’ Health at Risk

• The Drinking Water Revolving Fund, which works to ensure that local residents receive clean and safe drinking water, would be cut by $54.1 million for NYC. (NYC OMB)
• The Clean Water Revolving Fund which works to ensures that local communities can provide clean and sanitary wastewater treatment services for their residents would be cut by $283 million for NYC. (NYC OMB)

Rep. Weiner, who has been endorsed numerous times by the New York League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club, has worked tirelessly to protect the environment over the course of his career in Congress. His district is home to Gateway National Recreation Area, the nation’s largest urban national park.

From working to combat Jamaica Bay’s vanishing marshlands, to hosting the first Floyd Bennett Field Blue Ribbon Panel to create recommendations on how to best improve one of the nation's most-visited national recreation areas, guarding Brooklyn and Queens’ natural beauty has always been at the forefront of Weiner’s agenda.

He has secured over $10 million in funding to replenish Rockaway beaches. This funding has been used to prevent shoreline erosion and design a long-term storm damage prevention plan through the use of groins and jetties. He secured an additional $6 million in funding to restore Jamaica Bay marshland, including 42 acres at Elders Point East. A marshland restoration project implemented by Rep. Weiner is underway at Elders Point West, with an additional 50 acres set to be restored at Yellow Bar Island.

Weiner has also secured over $14 million funding for Gateway National Park during his years in Congress.

Small Plane Lands On Queens Beach - Story by By WNYC Newsroom

A single-engine plane landed in the waters off Rockaway near JFK Airport Monday night — but all three aboard are safe.


NYPD emergency crews pulled the pilot and two passengers out of the plane, which went down in the surf near Beach 56th St. around 7 p.m. Monday. It was not clear what caused the plane to go down.


The plane took off from Farmingdale, Long Island, and was headed west, according to police. The destination was not known but officials said it was not believed to be headed to the airport.


The cause is under investigation.


With the Associated Press

Leonie Haimson: Mayor Bloomberg Booed and Excoriated for his Proposed Teacher Layoffs and Attacks on Seniority Protections - The Huffington Post

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Mayor Bloomberg was roundly booed at the annual Queens St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday for threatening to lay off of over 4,000 teachers and his attack on their seniority rights. Check out the video below and excerpts from the Daily News, NY Post andNY1:

Chants of "Save our Teachers" rang out from pockets of the green-clad crowd that lined Newport Ave. and Rockaway Beach Blvd. in Belle Harbor....

Anthony Hannon, 80:...."What he's doing to our teachers and our Fire Department - it's shameful. Who cares about bike lanes? He's an idiot," sputtered Hannon. ....

"The classrooms are already overcrowded and now he wants to lay off thousands of teachers?"asked Jeanne O'Leary, who has been teaching at nearby Public School 104 for 10 years.

... Sondra Smith, 38, a special education teacher at Public School 114... has been teaching in the city school system for 15 years. Despite the mayor's prediction that thousands of teachers could be laid off next academic year, she said she did not fear for her job. Heckling the mayor as he turned the corner onto Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Ms. Smith yelled, "You're against the teachers, and you're against the kids."

She was appalled that she has had to buy school supplies for her 30 students, complained that the classes were overcrowded, and thought that the mayor should embrace a city tax at sporting events to make up for any shortfalls in the school budget. "There are so many things the mayor could be creatively thinking of to save teacher jobs and serve the kids, and he doesn't because he doesn't care," she added."

See also this AP article, in which the destructive effects of the layoffs is explored:

"The proposed New York City cuts, combined with attrition over the last two years, would take roughly one in eight teachers out of the city's public schools and could swell classes to an average of 24 to 29 kids, depending on grade level - far outstripping the national public school average. ...Parent advocates say the city is ignoring an already-broken agreement made in 2007 that was supposed to reduce class sizes across the board."

In the article, Professor Alan Krueger of Princeton, (former chief economist of both the US Labor Department and the Treasury Department) points out that for every dollar spent on keeping class sizes low, the economic benefits would be expected to yield two dollars in terms of increased salaries for these student later in life.

NY1 video excerpt below:

Rep. Anthony Weiner Announces Cancellation of LNG Public Hearing

Just minutes ago, the United States Coast Guard canceled the meeting about a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal off the Rockaway peninsula. Due to Governor Christie’s veto of the proposal, Liberty Natural Gas’s project has been indefinitely shelved.

Rockaway Public Hearing Announced on Proposed Natural Gas Terminal on February 8th

At the request of Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn and Queens), the US Coast Guard has agreed to hold a public hearing for New York City residents on the proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal 23 miles off the Rockaway shoreline.



The formal hearing begins at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, February 8th at Beach Channel High School. It is preceded by an open house at 5pm. Public meetings will also be held in Long Branch, NJ and in Edison, NJ.

Liberty Natural Gas has proposed building a liquefied natural gas terminal and 44 miles of pipeline off the coast of New York. Weiner called on the US Coast Guard to hold hearings in New York City to ensure that area residents are able to discuss the proposal and hear from the relevant agencies firsthand.



In a letter to the Coast Guard, Rep. Weiner wrote, “To better understand the potential ramifications we need hearings in the affected communities—including the Rockaways. If we are going to make an informed decision, my constituents need to hear the proposal details directly from the responsible federal agencies and the company placing the pipeline.”

Clothesless Man Jumps From Rockaway Railroad Trestle Into Frigid Jamaica Bay by Daniel Maurer - Intelligencer NY Magazine

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The view from the trestle - Photo Daniel Maurer

The Rockaway Park shuttle, which was stalled for hours during the blizzard, faced another challenge this morning when a man jumped off the railroad trestle connecting Rockaway and Broad Channel and took a short plunge into the icy waters of Jamaica Bay. Passengers first became aware of the commotion when the Broad Channel–bound shuttle slammed on its brakes and blared its horn shortly after 11 a.m. The conductor was overheard radioing in a description of the African-American male jumper, who he later saw emerge in shallow water, without his clothes. The train continued to the Broad Channel station, where witnesses told Intel that they'd seen the man strip off his coat on the platform and walk the tracks onto the bridge. There, he stripped off his shirt and pants. 'I think he was trying to get hit by the train and when it stopped, he just jumped,' said one. Service was still running as of 11:20, when police were on the scene looking for the man.

Shark Weekend Hits Close to Home as Deadly Fish Seen Near Rockaways by Corinne Lestch and Tina Moore - NY Daily News

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It was shark weekend in Rockaway Beach.

Lifeguards cleared the water at the Queens beach for about 45 minutes Saturday after sharks were spotted, witnesses told NY1.

"There was a girl on a board and the shark was tugging at her leg, her (leg)strap," a beachgoer said. "She was out with her father, and when she looked down the shark was circling her board."

The girl's father told lifeguards he saw three small sharks, said the woman, who didn't give her name.

Larry Jamieson, 48, said a Parks Department employee at the beach told him she also saw three sharks.

Jamieson, of Nyack, said it was a "little freaky" when everyone got back into the water to surf after waiting nearly an hour.

"There were 20 of us out there and I could see everybody looking all around, their heads bobbing up and down," Jamieson said. "I felt like we were on a movie set."

"Everytime a seagull dives in the water everyone's looking around for a shark."

After a while, everyone seemed to forget about sharks and enjoy the waves, he said, adding that he caught some good ones.

A Parks Department spokeswoman didn't have information about the incident but said the beach was also closed briefly Friday after a possible shark sighting.

Track worker's Death in Queens to Spark $50 Million Lawsuit Against City by John Marzulli - NY Daily News

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The widow of a track worker electrocuted on a third rail in Queens is set to file a $50 million wrongful death suit against the city, the Daily News has learned.

Jackie Knell will file a notice to sue today, charging there were numerous violations at the work site April 26, when her husband slipped and fell.

Lawyer Sanford Rubenstein said the "third-rail protecting boards were removed and there was no signage or lights alerting employees of the exposed third rail."

The News reported last month that a preliminary investigation of the tragedy raised a number of safety concerns, including that Knell was lugging 90 pounds of spikes when he apparently lost his balance.

A spokeswoman for NYC Transit declined to comment.

New Cross Bay Bridge Toll Plan Will Cost You by Bryan Yurcan - Queens Chronicle

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The bulk of the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge rebate program that has been in place for residents of the Rockaway Peninsula and Broad Channel will soon be no more.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced this week that the program will be modified come July.

Under the old rebate program, participating residents of ZIP codes 11691, 11692, 11693, 11694, 11695 and 11697 who have an E-Z Pass are reimbursed $1.13 each time they cross the bridge using E-Z Pass. The toll charge is credited back to residents using MTA funds that come from the state mortgage recording tax.

However, the MTA said starting July 23 the Rockaway toll rebate program will be modified and residents within those six valid ZIP codes in the Rockaways and Broad Channel districts will pay a $1.13 toll for each of the first two trips across the Cross Bay Bridge. All subsequent trips taken on or during the same day on the same E-Z Pass tag will continue to be rebated to the account under the Cross Bay Resident Rebate program

The fare will be $2.75 for cash customers and $1.71 for non-resident E-ZPass customers. In addition, Rockaway residents may also purchase tokens, which cost $1.54 per trip. .

The MTA said the service change was approved to help close an $800 million budget deficit.

Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), blasted the agency’s decision.

“I am outraged by the MTA’s most recent attempt to balance their books on the backs of Broad Channel and Rockaway residents” said Ulrich. “In my opinion, this is just another unfair tax levied upon hard working New Yorkers, many of whom are already struggling to simply make ends meet. The MTA must get serious about its own inefficiencies and poor accounting practices before they reach into the pockets of people just trying to travel around their own community.”

The rebate plan is only valid at the Cross Bay Bridge for passenger vehicles. It does not apply to commercial trucks, motorcycles, taxis, buses or limousines.

In 2009, 3.6 million trips were taken by residents participating in the Cross Bay Resident Rebate program, according to the MTA.

Rockaway, Broad Channel Residents Gripe Over MTA's Plan to Put Toll on Cross Bay Bridge by Daniel Edward Rosen - NY Daily News

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Rockaway and Broad Channel residents accustomed to free passage on the Cross Bay Bridge are chafing at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's plans to start charging them for round trips on the span, beginning next month.

"We're getting hit from all sides, and we can use a little help and a little fairness" from the MTA, said Daniel Mundy, 47, a firefighter and Broad Channel resident who uses the bridge every day. "It's going to be a hardship for a lot of people."

The MTA said that beginning next month, locals with E-ZPass will pay a round-trip fare totaling $2.26. Each successive trip will be free of charge. Nonresidents with E-ZPass will pay $1.71 per trip. No official start date has been set, said Kevin Ortiz, an MTA spokesman.

The Cross Bay Bridge rebate program, which was put into effect in 1989, originally charged Rockaway and Broad Channel residents with E-ZPass $1.03 per trip. The fee would be automatically remitted to their accounts.

But the MTA has had the rebate program in its crosshairs since it announced last December that it would have to close an $800 million budget deficit. Scrapping the rebate program would save the MTA $3.5 million per year, said Ortiz.

The move will also create the only intraborough toll in the city, said City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park).

"How can we justify charging people to travel to and from their own community?" Ulrich asked. "This is not going to solve the MTA's problem."

The loss of the rebate will force Broad Channel residents to pay for "something most people take for granted," like taking their kids to school or visiting the hospital, said Jonathan Gaska, district manager of Community Board 14.

It will also affect the Rockaways beach tourism at an inopportune time during its busy summer season, said Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway Beach).

"If you live in the Bronx, you go to the beach for free. But if you live in Queens, you have to pay to go to the beach. That's unfair," said Pheffer.

Mundy agreed about the toll's unfairness.

"Now, for me to attend the community board meetings, to meet with my local police officers, I have to pay the toll," said Mundy.

This is the latest transportation blow for the Rockaways. The money-losing Rockaway Ferry service is set to stop running July 1, barring a last-minute reprieve from the City Council.

Natural Gas Pipeline Foes Have New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Their Side by Daniel Edward Rosen - NY Daily News

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Rockaway residents are "breathing a sigh of relief," officials said Tuesday, after a key gatekeeper vowed to veto proposals for liquefied natural gas terminals off the Atlantic coast.

But the companies that want to build the terminals aren't sailing away just yet.

"This community really has a fear of this project. It does not serve a purpose for us or for the city," said Jonathan Gaska, district manager of Community Board 14 in Far Rockaway.

He and other local officials hailed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's pledge last week to oppose LNG terminals near the shorelines of New Jersey and New York.

Christie, who along with Gov. Paterson, has veto power over such projects, said LNG terminals "are not the answer for New Jersey's needs."

"I remain unconvinced of the need and efficacy of these facilities, or their ability to lower prices," he said.

Christie's pledge renders such projects "dead on arrival," said Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens and Brooklyn).

"Let's not waste our time - pull the plug now," Weiner said.

The Atlantic Sea Island Group, BlueOcean Energy and Excalibur Energy have been courting state officials in both states to build these terminals.

The Atlantic Sea Island Group wants to build a man-made island 15 miles off Rockaway. A terminal there could deliver up to 2billion cubic feet of gas per day through an underwater pipeline connected to the mainland in Nassau County, according to planners.

Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer said she wasn't sure why Gov. Paterson has not rejected the terminals himself.

"We thought it would be good if our governor took the initiative and said 'no' right away," said Pheffer (D-Rockaway Beach).

But Joel Baskin, a spokesman for the administration, said the governor has been silent on the proposals because he has "yet to receive a proposal for any LNG terminal."

Gary Lewi, a spokesman for Atlantic Sea Island Group, said the company had not given Christie a detailed report on its terminal and hopes to do so "before there is a final decision on the project."

Track Supervisor Who Died on Rockaway Shuttle Line Shouldn't Have Been Working in the Rain by Clare Trapasso and Pete Donohue - NY Daily News

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Family and friends of James Knell mourn the death of the track worker killed after slipping and falling on to a third rail while doing track work in East Rockaway, Queens. Marino for News

The track supervisor who tripped and fell to his death on a third rail Monday apparently shouldn't have been working in that morning's wet weather, union officials said.

NYC Transit safety regulations state workers shouldn't be near the electrified third rail if it is raining or the area is rain-slicked, as it was when track supervisor James Knell died along the Rockaway Shuttle line, according to Transport Workers Union Local 100 President John Samuelsen.

The scene on the tracks of the Beach 90th street Station where an MTA employee was electrocuted. Pictured here are ground clips attached to the uncovered section of the third rail. Costanza for News

"How could this happen?" father-in-law Gregory Odette said. "They shouldn't have been working in the rain. I don't understand. Somebody made a mistake."

Track workers twice were pulled from tracks during heavy rainfall before the 4:30 a.m. tragedy, sources said.

It was unclear if the rain had completely stopped or if there was a light drizzle when Knell fell at about 4:30 a.m. NYC Transit declined to comment during an ongoing investigation.

Sources said track workers toiled on and off through rain during the overnight shift.

The power was turned off for the project but was restored so a test train could come through the area around Beach 90th St.

Knell was a track crew member before being promoted nine years ago to crew supervisor. He was represented by the Subway Surface Supervisors Association, which declined to comment on rules and regulations Tuesday.

"We're just concerned with the grief of the family right now. There will be another day for that, if necessary," association President Tony Gamma said, adding the tragedy does highlight "the everyday dangers of the job that our members do."

Transit Worker Dies After Being Electrocuted by Third Rail on Queens Elevated Track by Pete Donohue, Barry Paddock and Corky Siemaszko - NY Daily News

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MTA workers investigate scene where supervisor Jimmy Knell fell onto the third rail and was electrocuted Monday on an elevated line in Queens. Egan-Chin/News

A veteran transit worker was electrocuted Monday when he slipped and fell on the third rail on a rain-soaked stretch of elevated tracks in Queens.

The sudden death of 45-year-old James Knell, broke the heart of his high school sweetheart, Jackie, whom he married two years ago after being apart for decades.

"He was my soulmate," she said through tears as she left her parents' home in Flushing last night.

"She wanted to have a child with Jim," said Jackie's weeping father, Gregory Odette, 61. "They were hoping."

Knell, who dated his future wife when they were teenagers in Flushing, doted on her 10-year-old twins and often took them fishing on his boat, Odette said.

And, in a cruel twist, Knell was filling in for another worker when he died, Odette said.

"He shouldn't have been out there working in the rain like that," he said.

Knell was the first city transit worker killed on the job since 2007, when the deaths of Daniel Boggs and Marvin Franklin prompted the agency to enact new safety regulations and procedures.

Transit and union officials said Knell died about 4:30 a.m. as he was wrapping up a track replacement project on the A line near the Beach 90th St. station in Rockaway Beach.

The power had just been restored so subway service could resume for the rush hour, but a protective board had not yet been placed over the third rail on that stretch, officials said.

Knell was retrieving a bucket of spikes that had been left on the tracks when he slipped, possibly on loose gravel on the concrete walkway beside the track.

"I was about 100 feet from him. I saw him walking by," a grieving subway worker said. "The next thing I know, I heard he fell and was electrocuted."

Over at Metropolitan Transportation Authority headquarters, a somber NYC Transit President Tom Prendergast said, "We lost one of our own this morning.... This is the first fatality in three years. It's never easy to have an employee fatality, but we did have one today."

While it appeared that Knell's death was a tragic accident, Prendergast said an investigation was underway to "both determine a cause and to ensure we prevent a recurrence."

Union officials blasted NYC Transit for making the men toil on the tracks during a downpour.

"Working in the rain around a live third rail is inherently dangerous, it shouldn't happen," Local 100 President John Samuelsen said. "A man is not going home to his family."

Knell, of East Rockaway, L.I., worked for the agency for 13 years and had been a supervisor for the past nine.

"It's ironic as we remember Boggs' and Franklin's third year of their tragedy, we lose another worker on the tracks," said Paulie Navarro of Transport Workers Union Local 100. "It's a sad day in the track department again."

Odette said Knell's death was the tragic end to a love story that began after both divorced.

"Jackie would say to me, 'I really love him,' and I would tell her, 'Let him know,'" he said, choking back tears. "You'd see them walking down the street holding hands."

Rep Weiner on Gov. Christie’s Statement on Natural Gas Terminal:

“Since This Means the Project Is Effectively Dead, Let’s Not Waste Our Time – Pull the Plug Now”

Today, after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced his opposition to offshore natural gas terminals, effectively vetoing a proposed 53-acre development off the coast of Rockaway, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D – Queens and Brooklyn) called for an end to the project.

“Governor Christie has signaled his opposition to this plan. Since this means the project is effectively dead, let’s not waste our time – pull the plug now,” Weiner said. “There’s no need to squander resources reviewing a proposal that is now dead on arrival.”

City to Stop Rockaway Ferry in March by Nicholas Hirshon - NY Daily News

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Ferry that connects the Rockaways and Wall Street will end service on March 19. City says it serves only about 160 commuters weekdays.

The Rockaway ferry won't see its second birthday.

The city will terminate the flailing ferry on March 19, ending a short-lived experiment that carried commuters between Breezy Point, Queens, and Wall St.

The $6 ferry was subsidized with about $1.5 million in City Council funds. But the cash dried up as ridership dipped below a mandated threshold of 300 daily passengers, city officials said.

Elected officials immediately opposed the ferry's discontinuation.

"I'm personally outraged," said Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Rockaway Beach). "The Rockaway ferry is a lifeline for so many people who rely on it to get to and from work each day."

A spokeswoman for Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a key proponent of the Rockaway ferry, said that she remains "fully committed to a five-borough, year-round ferry system."

The Economic Development Corp. maintained that the ferry averaged 160 weekday commuters, with far fewer riders during weekends and the winter.

Fare collections recover no more than 30% of the ferry's operating costs, said EDC spokesman David Lombino.

As a result, the city subsidizes the ferry as much as $100,000 every month - or about $25 per rider, Lombino said.

But the ferry's operator, Tom Fox, insisted the passenger average was 176. He also said that ridership jumped 2.3% from 2008 to 2009, while ferries declined in popularity citywide.

"I saw it trending very positively," Fox said. "It has tremendous potential."

Many riders prefer the ferry, which departs from Riis Landing three times daily and returns thrice a day, over the long A train ride into Manhattan.

Susan Malley, who lives in Breezy Point and commutes by ferry to her secretarial job near Wall Street, said she might "cry" without the reliable sea service.

Asked to describe her emotions, Malley replied: "Upset is putting it mildly. They [city officials] must be joking. The A train takes an hour and a half to get to downtown alone."

Fox blamed the ferry's demise on a lack of marketing since its 2008 debut. He also bemoaned the inability to easily transfer to the subway.

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, meanwhile, targeted the hefty fare.

"We're not giving up on ferry service, but we will have to see how an alternate means of transportation can be achieved with a fare that is not $6 one way," she said in a statement.

The EDC is conducting a citywide ferry study that includes Rockaway and potential landing sites in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, Lombino said.

Long Island City is among the Queens options, Lombino said, adding the city aims to start "sustainable" East River ferry service in 2011.

Vacant Jamaica Bay Property Originally Tabbed for Private Developments Set to Become Waterfront Park by Daniel Edward Rosen - NY Daily News

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A vacant Jamaica Bay property originally tabbed for private developments is slated to be transformed into the borough's newest waterfront park.

The 1.2-acre site along Beach 88 St. near the Cross Bay Bridge, will offer a range of activities to the public such as picnicking, fishing and boating.

The property was snapped up by the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit group that specializes in land conservation, for $1.925 million, more than $1 million less than its market price, according to the owners.

"We basically purchased and donated the property within five minutes," says Matt Shaffer, assistant director of marketing services for the nonprofit group. Funding by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey allowed the Trust to give the property to the city for the park's construction set to begin in Spring 2010.

"(The Trust for Public Land) is proud to continue supporting both the needs of New York neighborhoods in gaining new, much-needed park space, and our city harbor and estuaries in maintaining sound ecological balance. This does both," said Leslie Wright, the state director of the Trust.

Hudson Companies LLC, the original owners, planned to build 20 single-family homes on the waterfront property sometime in the next year, said Alan Ball, an owner of Hudson Companies.

"We had no debt on the property, and we could have held on to it pretty easily, so we said we might as well cut bait and move on," he said. "Moving this project to the Trust for Public Land was a very good thing to do.

The addition of the waterside park would bring much-needed parkland and open space to the Jamaica Bay area, which some environmental activists say is being overdeveloped.

"The more public access we have in the area, the better. We have too much development in the area," says Daniel Mundy Jr. of the Jamaica Bay Eco-watchers.

Don Riepe, director of the Northeast chapter of the American Littoral Society noted that "Any park of any size is welcome... every piece of open land has been developed in the Rockaways in the past10 years."

Residents Want to Keep Free Pass for Cross Bay Bridge by Brendan Brosh - NY Daily News

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The Cross Bay Bridge rebate program, which saves Rockaway and Broad Channel residents millions of dollars every year, is in jeopardy of being axed as the MTA tries to fill a nearly $400 million hole in its budget.

The program allows E-ZPass holders in those communities to essentially cross the bridge for free.

"We'll block the bridge and get arrested again," vowed Democratic District Leader Lew Simon, who has been active in the fight to remove the toll for more than two decades. "We plan on busing people to the hearings."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board approved a 2010 budget yesterday that would also reduce train and bus services and potentially eliminate free student MetroCards. Before the cuts can be implemented public hearings must be held and another vote taken.

The bridge produced $12.2 million in toll revenues, MTA spokeswoman Judie Glave told the Daily News earlier this year. The MTA spent $3.6 million on the program in 2008, she added.

Locals with E-ZPass are charged a $1.13 toll every time they cross the bridge. That money is then remitted to them in the form of a rebate.

The community fought against the toll until the rebate program was introduced in 1998, when Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington helped negotiate a deal , Simon said.

Broad Channel residents, who live in zip code 11693, have to take the bridge to pick up a package at the local post office.

Members of Community Board 14 must also cross the bridge to attend local meetings.

"This is the only place in the country where you have to pay to see your neighbor," said Broad Channel activist Eddie O'Hare.

Locals are hoping to get new MTA Chairman Jay Walder - a Rockaway native who attended Beach Channel High School - to save the rebates.

"The battle should be to eliminate the toll altogether," said Community Board 14 District Manager Jonathan Gaska. "This won't help businesses and it'll increase the traffic problems."

The rebate program was on the chopping block earlier this year, but was saved during last-minute negotiations between the MTA and state officials.

The normally subdued Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer even strong-armed Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and then-Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith to procure the money and save the program.

"I thought I was going to fall off my chair when I heard about this again," Pheffer said yesterday.

Beach Development Offers New Hope for Rockaway by Natasha Lennard - Queens Rules

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For 40 years the 300 acres on the Atlantic Ocean was a desolate eyesore. The razed ground, cordoned off by six-foot-high wire fences, was a favored dumping ground for slabs of concrete, disused car parts and piles of dirt from construction sites in Rockaway.

But now at night, lights go on in 134 three-story, pistachio and blue homes, with oceanfront views and neat lawns. A short walk away, the foundations of a giant supermarket and YMCA are being built.

After a decade of planning, Arverne by the Sea is becoming a reality. The $800 million development is changing the face of this remote peninsula on the southern tip of Queens that had fallen into decline since the middle of the last century.

The development ought to bring in more middle-class families without the displacement of normal gentrification, as urban planners are building on empty land. This promises to improve quality of life for newcomers and old-timers alike.

“The development will bring in families, working people – people who will lobby for better services in the area,” said Jonathan Gaska, the district manager of Community Board 14, which encompasses Rockaway.

Arverne, which stretches along Rockaway’s southeastern shore for 20 blocks, was an empty lot for nearly four decades. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the land hosted row upon row of tiny beach bungalows – seaside havens for middle-class New Yorkers looking to escape the thick air of Manhattan in the summer.

However, as international travel became popular, the vacationing masses abandoned the Rockaway outposts. The area fell into disrepair in the early 1960s and was designated an urban renewal area by the end of that decade. By 1973 the entire locale was demolished.

“There were a number of attempts to develop the land,” said Gaska. “There were plans for a casino at some point. Then in the eighties there were plans for high-rise buildings.” But it was only in the late 1990s that the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) came up with a viable idea, he added.

In 2001, property developer Benjamin-Beechwood LLC, in association with HPD, proposed the Arverne by the Sea development. It included 4,100 units of housing, half of which would be for middle-income buyers, a YMCA and a large Stop and Shop. The City quickly approved the plan.

“It will revitalize the whole peninsula,” said the Arverne project manager, Nick Masem. From his office in a container next to the construction site, Masem explained that the property sales in the development, which began in 2006, have defied the housing turndown seen elsewhere in the City. Only three of the 137 family houses are still unsold.

The popularity of the new homes should comes as no surprise – the area offers prime oceanfront real estate. Yet developers left eastern Rockaway well alone for much of last century. Arverne went into decline, owing largely to city government action in the 1950s and 1960s. They demolished vacant bungalows and in their place built grey pre-fab concrete high-rises in which to house the destitute and displaced poor. According to 2000 census records, nearly one-quarter of households on the east of the peninsula were below the poverty level.

Crime-rates soared as well; police department records show Rockaway’s easterly reaches had the highest increase in crime in the city in 2007. The area became attractive mainly to intrepid surfers and drifters with nowhere else to go. Now there will be more people like Adiel Campos, a 38-year-old police officer who moved to Arverne with his wife and three children last year.

“It’s just so nice and quiet here,” he enthused. Campos added that he looked forward to the YMCA opening up, even if it meant more traffic in the area. It will be the Y’s largest aquatics facility in the city, including two indoor swimming pools.

Although Mayor Michael Bloomberg broke ground on the YMCA site in 2006, work only began on it two weeks ago. YMCA representative, Kevin Shermach explained that there were “issues,” including permit delays and an unsuccessful request by the community to enlarge one pool.

The facility that is now going ahead is expected to serve 10,000 youths and 5,000 adults from the surrounding area each year. “We currently don’t have an indoor pool or recreation center of that size and scope,” said Gaska. “It will be great for the kids and a place for people of all ages to enjoy,”

Construction on the $22.3 million Stop and Shop supermarket, which is being built on the 55,620 square feet between Beach 69th and Beach 73rd Streets, began last week, according to the developers.

Meanwhile, the new residents of the Arverne neighborhood eagerly await the local amenities. Abe Mossallam, an airline pilot who moved to Arverne with his pregnant wife and 18-month-old baby in July, admitted that living without a supermarket nearby had been irritating. “It’s getting annoying, especially now my wife is seven months pregnant. She has to drive for 20 minutes to get the groceries.”

Mossallam stressed, however, that he was delighted with the move to Arverne from Brooklyn. “My neighbors are outstanding, the development is beautiful, and I can’t wait for the YMCA to open up so I can back into a gym routine,” he said.

Arverne by the Sea sales manager, Laura Sporney, said that 40 per cent of her business came from the referrals of residents. “To have that high a level of referrals, well it means you’re doing something right,” she said cheerfully.

According to developers, the YMCA and the Stop and Shop should be completed within 18 months. Nick Masem predicts that once these amenities are in place, another 20 to 30 homes will automatically be sold in the development.

“Property values will go up and jobs will be created. Everybody wants to see this succeed,” he said.

And indeed expectations for the project are high. As Rohan Sinha, a banker who moved to Arverne with his wife in August, put it, “What could be better than waking up every morning with a view of the ocean?”