Times Ledger - New horse in Aqueduct bidding race by Howard Koplowitz

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Mohegan Sun, the Connecticut casino owned and operated by the native American Mohegan tribe, has entered the bidding for Aqueduct and the other two tracks that belong to the state's horse-racing franchise, a spokesman for one of the four suitors said Monday.

Mohegan Sun joined Capital Play Inc., which is headed by Australian businessman Karl O'Farrell, as a "VLT partner," according to Scott Gastel, a Capital Play spokesman. He was referring to video lottery terminals, devices similar to slot machines.

"It's exciting news to have [Mohegan Sun] joining the team," Gastel said.

VLTs are slated to be installed at Aqueduct Race Track in Ozone Park by late 2007 after state law was amended in 2001 that allowed for VLTs at the track. Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the state Legislature would need to sign off on VLTs for Belmont Race Track in Elmont, L.I. Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. is the third track that comprise the state's horse-racing franchise.

The New York Racing Association currently holds the franchise, which expires at the end of the year. The state has implemented a bidding process to pick the successor which has drawn four contenders: Capital Play along with Mohegan Sun; Excelsior Racing Associates; Empire Racing Associates; and the NYRA, which is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

"We are looking forward to continuing to compete for the bid," Gastel said. About 4,500 VLTs are to be installed at Aqueduct.

Capital Play welcomed Mohegan Sun to its team, which includes Triple Crown jockey Steve Cauthen, because of its success in running VLTs, Gastel said.

"Mohegan Sun has a tremendous record in terms of the amount of revenue it's able to generate out of the VLTs at its other facilities," he said, which includes its Uncasville, Conn. casino - the second-largest in the world - and Pocono Downs Racetrack in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

State Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway Beach) earlier told the TimesLedger that she was in favor of having VLTs at Aqueduct because they would generate a considerable amount of revenue for the state.

The Saratogian - Racetrack bids are due today

The Saratogian - Racetrack bids are due today:

Racetrack Bids are Due Today

by Paul Post, The Saratogian

08/07/2007

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Firms seeking the right to run Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct must submit revised plans to Gov. Eliot Spitzer's office today.

One of the firms - Capital Play Inc. - announced Monday that its bid for New York's racing franchise will include plans for a $30 million horse training facility in the Capital Region .

Australia-based Capital Play is one of three firms challenging New York Racing Association, whose current franchise expires Dec. 31, for the next 20-year contract. Excelsior Racing Associates and Empire Racing Associates are the others.

"There are a lot of trainers who would probably bring a lot more horses up here if they had stall space," said Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen, who supports Capital Play's bid.

"I feel it's time for a change and Capital Play has a great service to offer," he said. "A lot of their ideas will spread around the country, not just here."

Once considered a long-shot to get the franchise, Capital Play strengthened its bid considerably by partnering with Connecticut casino operator Mohegan Sun, which would run video gaming at Aqueduct and Belmont, if machines are allowed there.
Capital Play has financial backing from Plainfield Assets Management and Canada's CIBC.

The firm has a roughly $1.8 billion business proposal that calls for $700 million worth of track improvements, $650 million at Belmont and Aqueduct and $50 million at Saratoga. CEO Karl O'Farrell said his firm would seek input from local civic and community leaders before making any changes in Saratoga.

"We've got some ideas, but we also want everyone to be happy about how it's spent," he said.

The horse training facility would have an artificial Polytrack surface, capacity for 500 horses and employ about 150 people, O'Farrell said.

"It would probably take about 300 acres and two to three years to build out," he said.

Plans call for making it year-round, weather permitting, while acknowledging that it might not be possible to train horses locally in December, January and February. A site has not been selected.

Spitzer's office urged each bidder to consider the possibility of joining forces with one of the other three entities. O'Farrell said Capital Play met with Empire to discuss ideas without creating a formal alliance. NYRA and Excelsior declined offers to meet with Capital Play, he said.

Capital Play's bid includes a $1 billion plan to build separate hotels at Belmont and Aqueduct, which O'Farrell said should be kept open. The firm hopes to market Aqueduct toward a younger crowd, while making Belmont attractive to a more mature clientele.

O'Farrell said about 5 million people visit Australia's racetracks each year, which represents about 25 percent of the country's population.

The firm's marketing strategy is geared toward young women, by making tracks a fun place to go. "Then, of course, men follow," he said.

Queens Courier Online: Spitzer hints at finish line for Aqueduct by Victor G. Mimoni...

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Spitzer hints at finish line for Aqueduct by Victor G. Mimoni

Recently, Governor Eliot Spitzer announced further steps in the process for awarding the franchise to operate New York’s three state-owned horseracing facilities: Belmont Park, Saratoga Racecourse and Aqueduct Racetrack.

In the July 20 announcement, Spitzer cited “significant changes” to the ownership and structure of some of the four groups bidding on the franchise rights and asked that they update the proposals submitted in April, explaining any changes.

Spitzer set an August 7 deadline for submitting the revised or confirmed proposals.

Since the proposals were submitted, The New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association ended their association with bidder Empire Racing Associates in June.

In mid-July, bidder Capitol Play, the New York-based subsidiary of an Australian firm with a similar name, was joined by Mohegan Sun, the casino operator owned by a Native American tribe in Connecticut. Bidder and current track operator, the New York Racing Authority, (NYRA) remains under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court, where a judge has yet to rule on their claim of ownership of the land under the tracks.

Excelsior Racing, named best bidder by the Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing in New York in February, lost George Steinbrenner and the Yankees as partners in the beginning of April. A few days later, casino mogul Steve Wynn joined the group, along with “several high-powered finance, real estate and development partners,” according to a statement on their web site.

Spitzer’s statement declared that he intends to make a recommendation to the Legislature regarding disposition of the franchise and related matters no later than September 4.

Since taking office, Spitzer has intimated that he might propose closing Aqueduct entirely, and seek to use the property for other purposes, rather than keep the track open, and build a gaming facility to contain the 4,500 Video Lottery Terminals authorized by the Legislature.

An indication that Spitzer will propose closing Aqueduct can be found in the latest statement, which says the Governor “may name one operator for both gaming and development/racing or name an operator for each.” This is the first time the word “development” is used as an alternative to “racing” in an official statement.

No matter what Spitzer proposes, the Legislature will have to agree before the plan moves forward, and there is strong opposition in both the Senate and Assembly to closing Aqueduct.

Assemblymember Audrey Pheffer, who represents the district which includes Aqueduct, has already said she would “fight to the death” to keep horseracing there as it has been for 115 years.

Senator John Sabini, who was named to the judging committee after it was reconstituted by Spitzer after he took office in January, is on record as supporting continued racing in Queens.

Any plans involving the Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga locations will not only have to pass the Legislature, but await the judge’s decision on NYRA’s claim of ownership.

So the end of the NYRA operating franchise on December 31 may not be the finish line at all.

City Is Rebuffed on the Release of ’04 Records - New York Times

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City Is Rebuffed on the Release of ’04 Records

By ROBERT D. McFADDEN

Published: August 7, 2007

A federal judge yesterday rejected New York City’s efforts to prevent the release of nearly 2,000 pages of raw intelligence reports and other documents detailing the Police Department’s covert surveillance of protest groups and individual activists before the Republican National Convention in 2004.

In a 20-page ruling, Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV ordered the disclosure of hundreds of field intelligence reports by undercover investigators who infiltrated and compiled dossiers on protest groups in a huge operation that the police said was needed to head off violence and disruptions at the convention.

But at the behest of the city and with the concurrence of civil liberties lawyers representing plaintiffs swept up in mass arrests during the convention, the judge agreed to the deletion of sensitive information in the documents to protect the identities of undercover officers and confidential informants and to safeguard police investigative methods and the privacy of individuals caught up in investigations.

The city had largely based its bid for nondisclosure on the need to protect those identities and methods, and argued that the public might misinterpret the documents or the news media sensationalize them. But the civil liberties lawyers insisted that the documents — even without the sensitive materials — were needed to show in court that the police had overstepped legal boundaries in arresting, detaining and fingerprinting hundreds of people instead of handing out summonses for minor offenses.

The order was the latest development in the long-running case, which posed thorny questions about the free speech rights of protesters and the means used by law enforcement officials to maintain public order.

It appeared that the plaintiffs, who had denounced the police for trampling on the civil liberties of protesters who were fingerprinted and detained at length for minor offenses, had largely won the day, while the city had achieved a more limited objective.

Christopher Dunn, the associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which represents the lead defendants in a barrage of more than 80 lawsuits, said of the judge’s ruling: “He’s given us everything we asked for. He has redacted the names of undercover agents and the particulars of surveillance techniques. We agreed to that. But he has said the city cannot withhold the information it gathered in these operations.”

Peter Farrell, the city’s senior lawyer in the case, offered a narrower interpretation of the disclosure order. “Judge Francis held that the city properly invoked the law enforcement privilege in a document-by-document review,” he said in a statement released by the Law Department. “While he has ordered some limited information disclosed, he has also provided for restricted access.”

As for a possible appeal, Mr. Farrell said: “We are in the process of reviewing the information the judge has ordered produced to determine whether the disclosure will compromise the programs or personnel of the N.Y.P.D. Intelligence Division. Once we have completed that review, we’ll make a determination on appealing.”

The city and the Police Department have come under intense scrutiny over the surveillance tactics, in which for more than a year before the convention undercover officers traveled to cities across the country, and to Canada and Europe, to conduct covert observations of people who planned to attend. But beyond potential troublemakers, those placed under surveillance included street theater companies, church groups, antiwar activists, environmentalists, and people opposed to the death penalty, globalization and other government policies.

And as the convention unfolded, more than 1,800 people were arrested, mostly for minor violations, and many were herded into pens at a Hudson River pier and fingerprinted instead of being released on summonses or desk appearance tickets, which are more customary for charges that amount to little more than a traffic ticket.

As scores of federal lawsuits challenging the mass arrests on Aug. 31, 2004, were filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, with plaintiffs claiming wrongful detentions of up to two days and other violations by the police to keep protesters off the streets, the outlines of the extensive covert surveillance operation began to emerge from court records.

In March, The New York Times disclosed details of the sweeping operation, including a sample of raw intelligence documents and summaries of observations from field agents and the police cyberintelligence unit. Some plaintiffs and their lawyers, seeking to bolster their cases, asked the court to disclose the documents. In May, Judge Francis allowed the disclosure of 600 pages of documents relating to security preparations before the convention.

But a second batch of documents, including pictures and reports by undercover agents detailing which protest groups were infiltrated and the results of the surveillance operations, remained in contention. The city argued that disclosure would reveal sources, methods and other information that might compromise current and future investigations, while the plaintiffs contended that the reports would disprove city claims that the protesters planned to engage in violence, and would show that mass arrests had been unnecessary.

In his ruling yesterday, Judge Francis acknowledged that some information in the documents needed to be protected. He himself edited out what he regarded as privileged law enforcement information in many “field intelligence reports” from agents covering confidential sources and techniques. And he did not order the release of documents in which the Republican convention was not mentioned.

But he rebuffed city arguments that general information gathered about an organization would necessarily jeopardize confidential police matters. “It is difficult to imagine how someone could determine the identity of an undercover officer simply from the fact that he or she was present at a meeting or protest attended by dozens, if not hundreds, of people,” the judge declared.

In addition to the field intelligence reports, two other categories of documents whose contents and even subject matter have never been publicly discussed — 84 documents that the city contended were privileged in their entirety and 177 that the city agreed to release with its own editing — were ordered disclosed in part by the judge.

The city, he said, did not explain “why the documents in the first category are privileged, nor does it explain why it is necessary to redact information from documents in the second category,” adding: “The court can only guess at why the city believed that they are subject to privilege.”

Parts of the documents, which could be released in 10 days unless the city appeals, are expected to be used in court by the plaintiffs, either as evidence in challenging the motives and conduct of the police in the arrests, fingerprinting and detention of protesters, or in formulating questions for cross-examining witnesses for the city, including David Cohen, the deputy police commissioner for intelligence.

Mr. Dunn, of the civil liberties union, said that Commissioner Cohen had been giving a deposition when the dispute over the documents arose, and the judge granted a city motion to postpone the deposition.

“We believe that these documents will disprove the N.Y.P.D.’s claim that demonstrators planned to engage in violence,” Mr. Dunn said. “We believe these documents will reveal not only the vast scope of the N.Y.P.D.’s political surveillance operation, but also that there was no need for the Police Department’s harsh treatment of protesters.”

AOL News: Photos - Dead Bluefish in Jamaica Bay at Gateway National Park...

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Dead Bluefish in Jamaica Bay at Gateway National Park in Brooklyn New York where study shows wildlife-rich saltwater marsh islands are rapidly dissapearing

REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES) (MIKE SEGAR)

A dead bluefish lies in a tidal creek in Jamaica Bay along the Eastern shore of the Gateway National Recreation Area National Park in the Brooklyn Section of New York City, August 3, 2007. A new study shows that New York's wildlife-rich saltwater marsh islands within Jamaica Bay, a sensitive tidal bird and fish habitat near JFK International Airport, are disappearing faster than had been known due to rapid degradation that may be caused by dumping of treated sewage and a cutting off of sediments that feed the marshes. Some 20 percent of America's sensitive migratory bird species stop in Jamaica Bay's marshes.

Reuters

Courier-Life Publications: Sneak peek inside new Penn Park - Site goes from landfill to green spot by Leslie Grimm..

I recently visited this park and I have to agree that the site is coming along great...I particularly liked the exclusive use of the native grasses and vegetation...

Courier-Life Publications - Sneak peek inside new Penn Park - Site goes from landfill to green spot:

Sneak peek inside new Penn Park - Site goes from landfill to green spot
By Lesley Grimm 07/27/2007

Can something so disgusting be transformed into idyllic parkland?

The answer, it appears, is yes.

Two giant mountains of rotting garbage in Brooklyn are being converted into remarkably beautiful public parks.

The former Pennsylvania Avenue and Fountain Avenue landfills, just south of the Belt Parkway near Starrett City, are the subjects of a $230 million makeover.

Recently, neighborhood residents and stakeholders were given a rare “sneak peak” at the two colossal sites.

“It’s fantastic! Absolutely mind-boggling!” exclaimed Lee Shelley, chairperson of the project’s Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC), as he inspected the progress.

Shelley was one of more than 100 people that took part in the July 17 public tour.

“Unbelievable — it’s been an amazing transformation,” said Ida Sanoff of the Natural Resources Protective Association. “What a difference!”

“I’m very impressed,” said Don Riepe of the American Littoral Society. “This is a great addition to the ecology of the Jamaica Bay ecosystem.”

To the amazement and delight of those who surveyed the adjoining properties, the two sites are looking much less like dumps these days and much more like attractive parks.

And that is precisely the goal.

According to construction manager Nayan Shah of the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, the 100-acre Penn Park is on track to open in the fall of 2009.

Its big sister, the sprawling 300-acre Fountain Park, is a year behind and could be unveiled to the public in the fall of 2010, pending state approval.

The parks will become part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, which is managed by the National Parks Service.

The Department of Environmental Protection is describing the project as “ecological restoration.”

It is the largest and most-complex restoration ever completed in New York City.

Before the tour, consultant George Leahy from design and construction firm URS described the process.

“It was a very laborious project,” Leahy said, describing the remediation work that began in 2002. “We did it step by step by step.”

Leahy explained how the landfills were “capped”: the first step in the process was to cover the landfills with a layer of heavy-duty plastic.

This was critical to prevent rain from leaking down through the garbage and waste.

The liquid that is produced when this happens is called “leachate” and can harm the environment.

Now that the flow of that ammonia-rich leachate has been stemmed, scientists are already seeing marked improvements in Jamaica Bay with the return of tiny invertebrate creatures. They are a key component in the natural food chain.

After the plastic liner, the entire area was then covered in a five-foot layer of dirt.

About three million cubic yards of sand and soil was brought to the site by barge.

“You could fill the Empire State Building with that much material,” Leahy stated.

Then the “green” phase began. When this stage is complete, between 30-40,000 trees and shrubs will have been planted.

Planting at Pennsylvania Avenue is complete, with native prairie grasses and wild flowers now covering the site.

Hundreds of small trees have also been planted. While they still need stakes for support, it’s hoped that one day they will grow strong and tall and become a bayside forest.

Planting at Fountain Avenue should be finished next year.

The plant species were carefully selected and then planted in designated “communities” to replicate the way the plants would grow together in nature.

DEP restoration ecologist John McLaughlin said many of the trees, shrubs and grasses are rare and endangered species. In some cases, the species have been wiped from the area and are now being reintroduced.

While the facilities will likely open in coming years, McLaughlin said the true beauty of the parks will be enjoyed by future generations when the woodlands and wetlands become well established.

“It’s just a good thing to do, and it’s the right thing to do,” McLaughlin said. “We have to be responsible stewards of the land.”

The parks are expected to include biking and hiking trails, and there is also talk of boat launches and a band-shell-type outdoor concert facility.

But the biggest draw to these parks may simply be the view.

The top of Pennsylvania Avenue is 90 feet above sea level, while the peak of Fountain Avenue is 120 feet high.

“No other park in the city has this kind of view,” CAC’s Shelley said. “On a clear day, you can see forever.”

Visitors can enjoy a 360-degree panoramic view of every borough in New York City, as well as sweeping views of Jamaica Bay.

The property was originally low-lying wetlands, but “grew” taller through decades of dumping.

While the landfills were closed in 1985, they continue to generate methane gas as the buried waste decomposes.

At both sites engineers have installed a network of underground pipes to collect the gas.

Each of the two sites then uses a “flare” to burn off the methane.

The Fountain Avenue landfill produces a significant amount of methane. It took in more residential waste, and rotting food produces the methane gas.

In the future, that gas from Fountain may be harvested and used to generate electricity or steam.

NY Daily News: Free Service Offers Jamaica Bay Boat Owners Way to Come Clean...

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We want your sewage!

BY KAREN ANGEL

DAILY NEWS WRITER

Sunday, July 29th 2007, 4:00 AM

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"Hey, you workin' today?" boat owner Sal Zeppetella calls to Jim Ferchland.

The answer is yes. Ferchland, 32, works every day. When he isn't working as a New York City firefighter with Engine 266 in Rockaway Beach, he is out on NY/NJBaykeeper's 24-foot sewage-pumpout vessel, which provides a free service to boat owners docked or anchored in Jamaica Bay from April through October.

Baykeeper launched the service four years ago, using $100,000 from the settlement of a 1999 lawsuit the clean-water advocacy group filed against the city for excess nitrogen discharges from four sewage treatment plants in the bay and the East River.

Ferchland, who grew up and still lives in Broad Channel, runs the pumpout boat about three days a week, for up to eight hours, depending on demand and his schedule. The gig came about after Ferchland spotted the vessel and a help-wanted sign at the New York National Boat Show four years ago.

"This is something I've always wanted to do, just to clean up the bay because people take it ... for granted," he said.

Marketed under the slogan "Help Protect Jamaica Bay One Gallon at a Time!", the service offers boat owners who might otherwise illegally discharge their sewage into the bay a convenient way to dispose of it. Though there are stiff fines for dumping sewage in the bay, boaters say it's nearly impossible to catch someone doing it. And because of the service, many boaters say, the bay is looking cleaner now than it has in years.

"It seems to be working," said Andy Willner, executive director of NY/NJBaykeeper, which hopes to raise enough money to add two more pumpout boats, one off Staten Island and one in Raritan Bay. "Hundreds of people are using this pumpout boat. We have a lot of repeat customers."

Boat owners can call Ferchland and make an appointment to have him pump out their sewage-holding tanks. But many, like Zeppetella, 64, a retired plumber, and Mike Bracci, just flag him down when they see him out on the bay or tooling around Gateway Marina, where the pumpout boat receives a courtesy slip. Then Ferchland ties up alongside their boats and vacuums out the sewage through a hose attached to a pump.

Bracci, 65, a recently retired fence builder from Breezy Point who was relaxing on his 30-foot sailboat, said the service is great.

Noting he grew up on the bay in Mill Basin, he said: "I remember when the fishing was truly, truly great, and then when you wouldn't dare eat anything from the bay. And it's coming back."

Vince Daly, 56, a homicide detective in Suffolk County, said the service is especially helpful to sailboats like his 36-foot sloop because the mast is too tall to fit under the bridges on the way to the various pumpout stations.

"It becomes essential for people like us, and Gateway Marina doesn't do it," he said.

The nearby Coney Island Boat Pumpout Station is where Ferchland empties his 225-gallon sewage tank. Then the sewage goes to the plant for treatment.

On the way to the pumpout station, Ferchland pointed out some menhaden.

"See the fish jumping?" he asked, breaking into a broad grin. "Who says this bay is dying?"

In four years of doing this work, he has "never, ever" seen another boat at the pumpout pier, he said, suggesting boaters were either illegally dumping their sewage in the bay out of laziness or waiting to legally discharge it when they were at least 3 miles from shore.

Ferchland also investigates reports of pollution, and gets the word out about the pumpout service to yacht clubs and marinas. He and Willner recently have started brainstorming ways to remove the derelict boats rotting on the marshes.

"He's really become a valued member of the Baykeeper team," Willner said.

"It's gone way beyond just being an operator of the boat."

Courier-Life Publications - Not just for the Birds by Helen Klein...

Read original - Not just for the birds:

Brooklynites have long known the rag-tag nature of Floyd Bennett Field.

Before the recent opening of the Aviator Sports Complex, the field – one segment of Gateway National Recreation Area – was a patchwork of old runways and roads, weedy expanses and not much else, despite the fact that it is, among other things, a bird-watching paradise with over 330 species of birds nesting in the area.

All of that may change, however, if efforts by the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) come to fruition. NPCA recently sponsored a design competition intended to get architects and designers thinking about how to reinvent the area, which was rated poor in a State of the Parks report released by NPCA in May.

Winners in the competition, which was put together by NPCA, the Van Alen Institute and the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, planning and Preservation, envisioned a very different environment, one which capitalizes on Floyd Bennett Field’s resources and reshapes them to make them more accessible to the general public.

“Designers from around the world rose to the challenge and presented imaginative plans that unified Gateway’s diverse landscapes and took into account its strong historical routes,” noted Van Alen Institute Executive director Adi Shamir.

For instance, the first prize winners – Ashley Scott Kelly and Rikako Wakabayashi – developed a design, entitled “Mapping the Ecotone” that invites strollers in to explore the area’s diversity, and also brings natural changes back into the area, which has gradually been losing its wetlands.

Kelly, a Brooklyn resident who has worked at Gateway, said that the design was intended to, “Consolidate a lot of different ecologies that happen across Gateway.” In particular, he said, the two designers had chosen to utilize “The tides and sea level rise because of global warming to make people recognize it is an issue.

“Because this place will probably e in the flood plain within the next 30 years,” Kelly added, “we were trying to make it a place that will still exist after sea level has risen a few feet.”

To that end, said Kelly, the designers had devised, “A series of jetties and piers that interact with the rising sea level to create a shifting wetland habitat that is then interspersed with land areas to play soccer or volleyball or other recreational activities.”

By marrying solid land, wetlands and the water, the two designers, said Kelly, were, “Trying to create a new sense of an urban park.” While, he pointed out, such city oases as Prospect Park and Central Park are “manicured,” the park envisioned by the duo for Gateway would, “Work with natural processes such as the tides and how wetland vegetation grows.”

But, the sole purpose of the design is not beauty. Besides crafting a plan that would showcase Gateway’s natural treasures, said Kelly, the designers hope that their proposal would actually, “Work toward reversing the loss of marshland in Jamaica Bay.”

To accomplish this, said Kelly, they envision cutting a channel that would, “Allow sediment to wash back into the bay, what the wetland needs to sustain itself,” and what it has been deprived of by, “The pavement and cement and berms that keep the natural processes from happening.

“Over the past 40 years,” Kelly stressed, “Jamaica Bay has lost about 40 percent of its wetlands. That’s quite dramatic.”

The design created by Kelly and Wakabayashi can be seen on NPCA’s website, www. npca.org/gateway, as can the designs of the other finalists: The second prize-winning “Reassembling Ecologies by North design Office, Toronto, Canada; the third place design, “Marks,” by Laurel McSherry, Terry Surjan and Rob Holmes of Virginia Tech, in Alexandria, Virginia; and three honorable mentions, “[Un]natural Selection” by Archipelago Architecture and Landscape Architecture, New York City; “Urban Barometer” by Christopher Marcinkoski and Andrew Moddrell of loopl8, Larchmont, N.Y.; and “H2grOw” by Frank Gesualdi and Hayley Eber of New York City. The six finalists were chosen from a field of 230 entrants from 23 countries. Of the 182 U.S. entries, exactly half, 91, were by designers from the tri-state area.

Those who go to the website can not only view the designs but vote on them, emphasized NPCA Regional Director Alexander Brash. “The designers have had their hot, the jury has narrowed the field, and now it is up to the American public to vote,” Brash said. “We hope that a transparent process, followed by extensive public input, will engage New Yorkers, regional residents and all Americans to ponder the park as it is, consider what it might be and encourage our elected officials to support a new vision for Gateway.”

Gateway is one of the country’s largest urban national parks, including not only Floyd Bennett Field, but also parts of Queens and Staten Island as well as a portion of New Jersey. Despite its size, it has been the victim of “Chronic funding shortfalls, resulting in crumbling buildings and threatened natural resources,” according to NPCA. While, said the group, over $92 million was authorized to restore Gateway at the time it was created, in 1972, that money was never appropriated.

“Letting thousands of acres with great potential for recreation to lie fallow is a sad waste,” contended Brash. “Now is the time, as the Park Service prepares for its centennial in 2016 and as New Yorkers reach for a greener city by 2030, for our Congress, city and state, to reinvest in Gateway and create an iconic national park that our region’s residents deserve and were promised.”

The Wave: Committee Responds To Draft Plans To Save Jamaica Bay by Miriam Rosenberg...

Committee Responds To Draft Plans To Save Jamaica Bay:

Committee Responds To Draft Plans To Save Jamaica Bay
By Miriam Rosenberg

As the marshlands disappear and animals who depend on it face great jeopardy, the city and the Department of Environmental Protection have begun working on plans to save Jamaica Bay.

On June 1, the Jamaica Bay Watershed Plan Advisory Committee responded to the DEP's Draft of the Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan that the agency submitted to the mayor and the City Council in March.

In July of 2005, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed Local Law 71, calling for the DEP to develop a plan to save the resources of Jamaica Bay. The law also formed an advisory committee to comment on the DEP's plan.

While the DEP Draft Report does contain objectives to restore the ecology, to improve water quality and to increase public access to the bay, the committee is concerned that the draft report does not suggest any concreate actions to save the bay, as required by the law Bloomberg signed.

"While the Draft Plan demonstrated the considerable dedication and skill of the agency staff working on this project, it included neither a set of actions (rather it set forth an array of possible actions still under consideration) nor an implementation process," wrote the co-chairs of the committee - Brad Sewell and Doug Adamo - in a letter to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and NYCDEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd.

Jamaica Bay is home to various species of wildlife; and many endangered and threatened species live in, or visit, the bay. For more than 80 species of fish, the wetland fringes and marsh islands of the bay are an important habitat. The advisory committee's report calls Jamaica Bay "one of the largest and most productive coastal ecosystems in the northeastern United States."

The committee has asked to be allowed to review and comment on a more complete draft plan, but has not heard from the DEP on this request.

In the short-term, the committee believes the following must be included in any plan for Jamaica Bay: "1) an aggressive Jamaica Bay nitrogen control strategy, 2) a comprehensive stormwater 'best management practices' (BMP) program throughout the Jamaica Bay watershed/sewershed, 3) a habitat protection and restoration program targeting the bay's peripheral tidal wetlands and upland buffer areas, including immediate protection from development, 4) an expansion of efforts to restore the bay's interior salt marshes, and 5) a comprehensive science program for the bay.

"Further, the plan must include a detailed implementation plan to include, as required by Local Law 71, specific goals and interim and final milestones for both the goals and the plan's measures."

In their summary, the advisory committee points out that Jamaica Bay's resources are already in jeopardy.

"Thousands of acres of the bay's marshlands are disappearing. Between 1924 and 1999, more than 50 percent of the bay's marshes have disappeared. At the current rate of loss, the marsh islands will completely vanish by 2024. Poor water quality is a continuing problem for the bay. Nitrogen from the New York City wastewater treatment plants is the leading pollutant, and may even be spurring the marsh loss. Natural areas around the periphery of the bay, already too few in number and limited in size, continue to be lost to development."

Sewell and Adamo concluded their letter to Speaker Quinn and the DEP's Lloyd by saying: "In our view, this represents an extraordinary opportunity for the city - which is fortunate enough to have a unit of the National Park Service within its borders - to craft an effective watershed plan to rescue this great ecological resource. Not only does Jamaica Bay warrant such an effort, but it would serve as a model for other cities and waterbodies, and would represent a lasting legacy for the DEP and the city."

The DEP is scheduled to turn in a final plan in October. Following that, the committee has said it will also submit its own recommendations for the bay.

NY1: A-Rod Hits 500th Homerun at the Stadium...

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For Yankee fans the wait is finally over – Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th home run Saturday afternoon, officially becoming the youngest player in baseball history to do so.

NY1: Ognibene Plays Gallagher's Flunky...

NY1: NY1 ItCH


On Monday’s “Inside City Hall,” Tom Ognibene, a close political ally and former boss of Dennis Gallagher, says he has some questions about the rape charges filed against the Queens lawmaker. [hiband/loband].

wnbc-tv News: Report: Pollution-Related Beach Warnings On Rise ...

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Testing the Waters 2007 - A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches

NEW YORK -- The state's beaches have seen a major increase in health-related advisories or closings due to pollution concerns, according to a report released Tuesday.

In 2006, New York beaches had 1,280 days with closings or advisories, up from 827 days in 2005, according to "Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches," issued by the Natural Resources Defense Council.


About two-thirds of the closings and advisories were pre-emptive, the report said. Rainfall can take pollution from overflowing sewers and land and send it into larger water bodies. The report said that beach water quality tests that found unhealthy bacteria levels resulted in 29 percent of the closings and advisories.

Suffolk County beaches had the most closings and advisories, the report found, accounting for almost 40 percent of the state's total. The report said most closings and advisories at New York City beaches were pre-emptive rather than because tests showed unhealthy bacteria levels.

In New Jersey, there were 134 closing and advisory days in 2006, up from 79 in 2005, the report said. Sixty-five percent of the days were due to pre-emptive closings; the other 35 percent to water-sampling results showing unsafe bacteria levels.

Nationwide, there were more than 25,000 closing or advisory days.

The report blamed sewage and storm drainage systems for most of the problem, saying they were aging and poorly designed. It also cited urban development.

"A summer rainstorm should not have to mean that endless amounts of pollution are washed down to the beach, or that sewers will overflow. We can fix leaky pipes; we can require coastal developers to plant trees and grass to absorb rain. The solutions are out there," said Nancy Stoner, director of the NRDC's Clean Water Project.

7Online.com: Makeshift submarine found in East River...

Vessel Found Feet from Queen Mary 2

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(New York- WABC, August 3, 2007) - Several people are being questioned by police after being stopped apparently attempting to set sail off Brooklyn in a makeshift submarine-type vessel.

The handmade wood and fiberglass vessel, at the end of a tow rope tied to an inflatable boat, was spotted by police near the luxury ocean liner docked at the cruise ship terminal in the Buttermilk Channel off Red Hook in Brooklyn.

"It was a strange sight," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Angelia Rorison.

Police held the artist, Philip "Duke" Riley, and two other men, both from Rhode Island, for questioning. But there was no indication the trio meant any harm with the replica of the 1776 "Turtle submarine."

One of the Rhode Island men claimed he was descendant of David Bushnell, the inventor of the original one-man vessel that inspired the replica, police said.

The makeshift sub "is the creative craft of three adventuresome individuals," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a statement. "It does not pose any terrorist threat. ... We can best summarize today's incident as marine mischief."

The brown, egg-shaped wooden vessel was a replica of a submarine used during the American Revolution, Rorison said. The inflatable boat was towing the submarine, authorities said.

Rorison said the vessel resembled a diving bell, with a hatch on top, and was about 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. It was propelled by a pedal-operated paddle.

The Coast Guard issued two citations to Riley, 35, of Brooklyn - one for having an unsafe vessel, the other for violating a security zone. The sub came within 200 feet of the bow of the Queen Mary 2, Rorison said.

"Basically, the vessel was not safe to sail. It had no lights, no flares. It was not registered," she said. "Instead of safety violations, this could have turned into a search and rescue."

Riley is a sculptor and performance artist whose work "addresses the prospect of residual but forgotten unclaimed frontiers on the edge and inside overdeveloped urban areas, and their unsuspected autonomy," according to his Web site.

The investigation began after a New York police detective noticed the sub and the raft and summoned the Harbor Unit. Rorison said all three men were taken in for questioning by the NYPD.

"All three males are expected to be charged with a number of violations and both vessels will be secured by the Harbor Unit," the NYPD said.

(Copyright 2007 WABC-TV)

wnbc-tv: Gabe's View: George Washington & The Egg-Shaped Submarine - Politics News Story - WNBC | New York

Gabe's View: George Washington & The Egg-Shaped Submarine - Politics News Story - WNBC | New York:

Gabe's got the right idea about Duke Riley...I hope the judge is a history buff too...

The other day a Brooklyn artist caused what the tabloids described as ''a terror scare'' by bringing a replica of a Revolutionary War submarine close to the Queen Mary.The story was headlined ''Sub-Standard Brains'' in one newspaper -- after the artist and the friends who towed his contraption into sight of the Queen Mary were taken into custody. Perhaps the artist didn't anticipate the stir he would create as helicopters, police boats and cops with machine guns converged on the egg-shaped wooden vessel -- but for history buffs it was a moment to savor.

Images: Brooklyn Sub

Video: Sub Part Of Art, History Experiment

The submarine that 35-year-old Duke Riley created was inspired by a unique moment in American history: the first time that a submarine made an underwater attack on a warship.

And, when that original submarine set out on its mission, no other than George Washington was at the Battery to cheer the hero on.

The date was Sept. 7, 1776 -- and David Bushnell, a Yale graduate, designed the submarine and persuaded Washington to let him try it out. The contraption was called ''Bushnell's Turtle'' and, according to historian Edward Ellis, the Turtle was large enough for just one man to stand inside. He used two foot-operated pumps to ascend or descend and a hand crank to turn a wooden propeller. The plan was to blow up one of the British warships anchored in New York Harbor.

A whaleboat towed the submarine to the foot of Whitehall Street at the Battery. A magazine containing 130 pounds of gunpowder was attached to the submarine. The idea was to detach the magazine from the Turtle and fasten it to a warship with a timing device that would give the pilot, Sergeant Ezra Lee of Lyme, Conn., 30 minutes to escape.

It was midnight and very dark. Washington and some of his officers watched from the Battery as Lee steered his egg-shaped contraption toward the target -- Admiral Howe's flagship, the Eagle.

But Lee was unable to attach the magazine with the gunpowder to the warship's keel. He had to set the container adrift and it exploded in the East River. Lee managed to crank his submarine back to the Battery, where Washington and the others congratulated him for his courage. Red-coated British soldiers standing on Governors Island had witnessed the incident and one British officer wrote: ''the ingenuity of these people is singular in their secret modes of mischief.''Interestingly, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly used similar language about the current incident, saying it could best be described as ''marine mischief.'

'But Riley has a date with a judge on August 28. ''I know I've scared some people and I know I wasted a lot of people's time, but also a lot of people were amused by it. I don't know if I regret it. I'm sure when I know how the judge reacts I'll have a better idea.

''It the judge is a history buff, maybe Duke Riley will get a break.

NY Daily News: Cops swarm craft after it sails too close to Queen Mary 2

Cops swarm craft after it sails too close to Queen Mary 2:

A homemade replica of a Revolutionary War submarine triggered a wild terror scare in New York Harbor yesterday after it drifted too close to the majestic Queen Mary 2.

The egg-shaped wooden sub - built by a Brooklyn artist and launched by a man who claims he's a descendant of the Revolutionary War hero who designed the original - was hauled out of the water.

The pilot and his two pals were questioned by cops and Coast Guard officers and given a raft of summonses.

"I think I'll take a break from the submarine business for awhile," Brooklyn artist Duke Riley, 35, said after he was released from custody. "I think I'll let it collect barnacles."

Riley built the plywood contraption in a friend's wood shop with the idea that he would maneuver it as close as he could get to the QM2 and take some photos.

He thought he'd get a reaction - but the helicopters, police boats and machine-gun-toting cops were more than he bargained for.

"All hell broke loose," said Danilo Parra, 22, who filmed Riley as the submarine bobbed within the luxury liner's 200-foot security zone, towed by two of Riley's friends in a rubber boat.

"He made it almost there. He was about 25 feet away from it. Then - police, Coast Guard, everybody was there. There were helicopters. One of the officers held a machine gun. It was very intense," Parra said.

A self-proclaimed artist patriot, Riley told friends he expected to get busted.

But first he had hoped to recreate the last time a wooden submarine trolled New York waters - in 1776, when the submarine snuck under a British flagship that commanded access to the Hudson River, hoping to blow it up.

"I guess it was kind of a metaphor," Riley said of the Queen Mary 2. "It is the most iconic cruise ship; the largest in the world."

After weighting the craft with lead and sandbags, Riley climbed in and launched the sub into Buttermilk Channel.

Two Rhode Island buddies, Michael Kushing, 23, and Jesse Bushnell, 35, towed the submarine behind a 10-foot inflatable raft.

Bushnell was a good choice for co-pilot, police said, because he claimed to be a relative of Revolutionary War tinkerer David Bushnell, the original designer of the submarine known as the Turtle.

As the trio drifted near the docked QM2, a member of the NYPD Intelligence Division on the deck of the ship spotted the raft and the bobbing sub next to it.

Each time the QM2 comes into port, NYPD officers board the ship and ride it to the dock, accompanied by harbor and aviation units.

As the submarine entered the QM2's security zone, those security units swung into action.

"A helicopter hovered right over the sub. The guy inside opened the hatch and looked up and realized he was caught," a dock employee said.

Parra said the machine-gun-toting cops wanted details about the submarine.

"They must have thought it was packed with explosives," Parra said.

Riley and his pals were questioned for several hours and released after getting summonses from the NYPD and the Coast Guard for reckless operation, reckless towing, violating a safety zone and creating a hazardous condition.

"We can best summarize today's incident as marine mischief," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

Riley, who graduated from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and the Rhode Island School of Design, started building the sub in March.

He took it on a practice sail about a week ago and then fine-tuned it. The entire project has been chronicled on Riley's Web site as "Adventures with an Egg."

"I know I've scared some people and I know I wasted a lot of people's time today, but also a lot of people were amused by it," said Riley, who has to appear in court Aug. 28. "I don't know if I regret it. I'm sure when I know how the judge reacts, I'll have a better idea."

agendar@nydailynews.com